The Setting Sun, The Coming
Day.
A Private Time for Each of Us.
Episode 24 begins
with a telecast showing Tokyo covered by dense, Arigami foliage. The
announcer talks of the scenery as a presage to numerous natural disasters -
unless, that is, they sacrifice a girl named, Momiji
Fujimiya. People all across Japan are being evacuated to emergency
shelters where they are uneasy, wondering what will become of them. Many
of them are watching the telecast and when they hear that the sacrifice of one
girl will bring about stability, their fear drives them to the callous
attitude of "better her than me".
It's an attitude not shared by everyone however.
Somewhere in Tokyo, Kusanagi is standing atop a skyscraper, contemplating the
huge Aragami plant that houses both Kaede and Susanoh-oh. In his mind,
he questions Kaede's actions. As he does so, a maple leaf blows by him
(remember, Momiji means maple in Japanese ^_^) and he seizes it, staring at
it. Meanwhile, inside the giant plant, Kaede stands in lonely vigil next
to the huge, cocoon-like Mitama where Lord Susano-oh sleeps, her face
untroubled by the things that plague Kusanagi's thoughts.
Later, deeper inside the city, the Prime Minister is at the
command center, taking stock of the situation. Kusanagi delivers a phone
to him from which he receives a phone call from Mr. Kunikida. The two
exchange words.
Mr. Kunikida chides the Prime Minister for selling Momiji's
life over public television, but the Prime Minister informs him that he wasn't
responsible for the broadcast. Kunikida reaches the conclusion that
there is an Aragami traitor in the government. While they are talking,
terrible things begin to happen: volcanoes begin erupting, earthquakes shake
many areas and tsunamis batter the Japanese coastline, immersing several
emergency evacuation shelters underwater. Having no clear plan of what
course of action to take, and disturbed by what is going on, Kunikida hangs
up. He wonders what he should do and then hears a melody. It's
Momiji.
Ms. Matsudaira has placed her under the artificial
Kushinada pulse that they have created and it triggered the same melody that
played when Momiji touched Kaede. They discover that the Aragami tissue
which was immune to just the artificial pulse they had been experimenting on,
falls apart when combined with Momiji's Kushinada pulse. The experiment,
though, leaves Momiji weak, and doesn't seem to be viable solution until Ms.
Matsudaira says she believes that she can electronically amplify Momiji's
natural pulse. They decide that if they use in conjunction with the rite of
Matsuri that Momiji says she will perform they may be able to stop Susano-oh.
Mr. Kunikida meets with the Prime Minister, to tell him of their plans, and
during their conversation, he learns that the Japanese government has asked
the Americans to step in and use nuclear missiles if necessary. Kunikida tells
him to have the altar of sacrifice ready for them. Their conversation
has been heard by one of the Aragami spies and they relay this information to
Murakumo, who makes plans of his own. The next scene switches abruptly
to Kusanagi who is sitting on top of Sakura's apartment buliding,
contemplating the maple leaf he captured earlier (hmmm... I wonder what he's
thinking about ^_^) Momiji joins him and he hurriedly shoves the leaf in
his pocket to hide it from her, especially since she asks him what he's
thinking about. They talk about the ceremony of sacrifice that's going
to be performed, and Momiji, sensing Kusanagi's unease, tells him she won't
just give up without even trying. She leans into him, and he puts his
arm around her. There tete a tete comes to a close as Kunikida returns
from his talk with the Prime Minister in a helicopter. Inside, Mr.
Kunikida tells them he is dissolving the TAC and tells them of the governments
plan to rely on US nuclear missiles should their plan fail. He tells the
team to take the rest of the day off: spend it doing what they want to do, and
decide if they still want to fight. If they decide to fight, they are to
join him in front of the Diet Building at sunrise the next day. The next few
scenes involve the members pairing off: Kunikida and Takeuchi, Yaegashi and
Kome, and of course, Momiji and Kusanagi and their respective private
conversations. The episode ends at night, Kaede keeping watch over
Susano-oh and Momiji and Kusanagi keeping watch over the giant plant where
Kaede is. Then a solitary maple leaf is caught by the wind and carried
into the moonlight....
