What They Say:
“Double Joker (Part 2)”
It’s spy vs. spy as D-Agency and Wind Agency both race to prevent Japan’s “Grand Strategy” from falling into enemy hands
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
At this point, I am giving up all hope for an overarching storyline, and yes, I am a bit disappointed. That’s not to say I consider this show bad by any means. It’s still greatly entertaining if you appreciate a well told and pretty realistic spy story, and there’s still tons of detail to keep you busy. I just kind of wish it had more of a continuity. Oh, well, I guess I’ll just roll with it and keep enjoying it for what it is, which, I repeat, is by no means a bad show or even a mediocre one. And we still have a few more episodes to go, so who knows?
Here we have the second part and conclusion to the Double Joker storyline. If you have been paying any attention you’ll grasp the way this is going to go well in advance. First, we get to see all the boys from Wind agency, just see, not meet by the way. There’s really no need to meet them. I guess you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all. I even feel bad saying this. Anyway, they’re staying at an inn in Izu under the guise of a businessman in training, in reality, this is going to be their spy graduation according to the man we know as Gamou. Their plan, which comes as no surprise, consists of gathering the information needed via an unwilling helper, this time is a young man by the name of Morishima Kunio, a houseboy at Shirahata’s village. He’s been bullied into helping thanks to the fact that his parents faked medical records in order to get him dismissed from military service, which could, of course, mean jail time or immediate dispatching to the front lines. Or so the story goes, but notice anything familiar about Morishima? Because I sure do. And just the small detail of Morishima being a houseboy for over a year should already tell you Wind agency is coming late to the party.
Morishima, (or should I call him Jitsui?) tells Gamou what he wants to hear, the documents are at the desk in Shirahata’s office and there is something different going on tonight. Shirahata usually lets Churchill, the dog (Churchill, get it? Also, more dog symbolism) out at night but tonight he’s keeping him in the dog house. It must be a sign, right? Gamou assures Morishima he’ll let him off the hook of course, he promised and we all know how reliable his promises are, so he immediately makes him drink sake laced with something to make him sleep and insists he gets a ride with one of his men. I’m pretty sure the “I’m tipsy” routine Jitsui performs in front of the waitress is no accident.
Meanwhile, Gamou and his boys prepare to attack the villa, the leader hoping he’ll run into colonel Yuuki himself so he can kill him which would do exactly nothing really, but I guess his pride is hurt and trust me, this guy lives and dies by his pride. It’s also kind of funny because he’s already run into Yuuki, he just didn’t recognize him. To be fair, I didn’t either because he’s just that good. In any case, they get to the villa but no one is there, not even the dog. Everything is deserted, they finally began to suspect something’s up, and then Yuuki makes his appearance.
Turns out D Agency has no intention of arresting Shirahata or exposing any of this ordeal, they need a connection to the British and Shirathata is all they have. Colonel Yuuki is not even worried about the leaking of the Grand Strategy since his assessment of it is it’s all nonsense, pure theory and no real strategy at all. Nothing useful to anyone, and this, he says, is why he has no use for army college graduates. They’re too narrow-minded, incapable of looking beyond their very basic training. He’s not wrong at all, since the reveal of the D agency spies (Hatano and Kaminata are also there rounding out the other Wind agency spies) goes to show they have only been looking at the most immediate event while D Agency has been playing the long game. They are aware in order to win the battle you need a little give and take, it makes no sense to sweep all your obvious enemies at once when they could still be of use. Wind agency, as he sees it, are only playing at being spies, while D Agency lives and breathes the lifestyle. Gamou can’t even fathom that Morishima would be a spy because he’s been at the villa for over a year. Again, short sighted. Morishima/Jitsui is fine by the way, he never drank the sake, just faked it. And I swear I’ve seen a similar method used somewhere before but I just can’t put my finger on it.
Of course, Gamou lashes at Yuuki , and there was this funny moment when the colonel points his cane at Gamou’s forehead. For a second there, he’s terrified and then he remembers: oh, yeah, this guy can’t kill me. Too flustered to think straight, I guess. And them he threatens with court martial (Ineffective since he has no proof or any wrong doing), then he tries to kill him. Then I guess he commits suicide. We don’t see it but the episode ends with a shotgun and well, I said before the guy lives and dies by his pride, and Yuuki kind of destroyed him by pointing out the many flaws in his training and all the mistakes he committed which were not few.
A couple of extra details. The code name Gamou gave to Shirahata: Huxley. I’d be willing to bet it’s a reference to Adolf Huxley, the author, while best know for Brave New World, he also penned Ends and means, a series of tracts on war, ethics, nationalism and religion. Considering Huxley was a pacifist and the Imperial army saw Shirahata as an enemy, it seems fitting. Also the song Gamou is singing at the beginning is an old Japanese song (1944 as far as I could tell), by the name of Makuro ke no ke. It seems to refer to something which seems pretty or important but is actually empty and has no value. It would tie directly to Yuuki’s speech about the Imperial army’s emblem.
In Summary:
As I said, I’m kind of disappointed this didn’t develop into a longer storyline, and while everything the happened made sense, I would love to see D Agency go up against some worthy enemy. There doesn’t seem to be any. That being said, I’m still enjoying this greatly and I look forward to next week’s episode. Even if episodic in nature, it’s still a very clever show and it does paint an interesting portrait of a spy’s work.
Grade: A
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
