Kazukiyo thinks to himself about how Nishida’s ideals couldn’t have housed real people for any length of time. He thinks he is alone. Misuzu comes outside, where a car is waiting for her. Kiyoharu thinks of Misuzu. Kazukiyo claims true creation only takes place in the midst of destruction. Kiyotsugu and Yonetani work on a Kugai where the test with Miharu’s Fake occurred. Phantom asks Kazukiyo why he seeks the Gasaraki. Kazukiyo says he wants to negate everything and to destroy the structure this nation has created such that he will be a lord, reigning over time. Phantom thinks he represents the karma of desire resident in all humans. Yushiro appears, saying this is wrong and that destruction only brings about more suffering. Miharu also appears and says the hearts of people is what causes creation. Kazukiyo thinks these ideals are limited and he’ll go further until he realizes ultimate destruction. A pair of men in biological containment suits come out of a van, holding the dinosaur like creature that had appeared from the sky the previous night, the ‘core’, with them. The Kugai’s surface has been covered with laser panels and solenoids and they will use the core, and grow new structures around it, resulting in a perfect replica of the original Kugai. Kiyotsugu says it will be difficult to create an original entity quickly without Yushiro around. Kazukiyo says not to worry and that the Kai will arrive soon. A car carried Kiyoharu and Misuzu into the city. The TA Company sits outside of Nishida’s room. Ataka says that he killed himself since words have little influence over people and this would calm people down with much more effect. Hirokawa and Hayakawa stand over Nishida’s corpse. Hirokawa hands Hayakawa a note written by Nishida, showing that his intention was the break up the JSSDF, and to eliminate all state sponsored coercion and military forces from Japan. The core is placed into the Kugai. The technicians work on having more electric power rerouted from the computer center to support their experiment. Kazukiyo thinks of a test he underwent years before which found him to not be a Kai. The car with Kiyoharu and Misuzu arrives. Kiyotsugu is upset at Kazukiyo’s willingness to experiment on Misuzu and says he’s not human. Kazukiyo says their life diverges from normal human life and that the two of them supported this mentality when they agreed to make him head of the family. Kazukiyo orders the experiment to continue. Kiyoharu tells Kiyotsugu that he has contacted their father and that he will be arriving shortly. Kazukiyo pushes Misuzu towards the Kugai and asks her if she can hear the voice of the Kugai speaking out to her. He tells her that she possesses the same powers as Yushiro and is a Kai. The Kugai’s eyes light up. Yushiro, inside, senses something. The Kugai starts gathering crystals towards itself. Yushiro realizes something is wrong and he and Miharu run outside. Phantom claims the memory of a millennium is about to be restored. Misuzu thinks of opening doors when she was younger, calling for Yushiro. She also recalls going to his grave and seeing an apparition of him appear in the cemetery. Misuzu says he has come back and starts walking towards the Kugai. Kazukiyo tells her that her real brother who died 8 years ago is inside the Kugai as well, and will connect her to him. Misuzu says she is a Kai. A light appears from the core of the Kugai, through Misuzu. Yushiro and Miharu arrive. Yushiro calls out for Misuzu, who looks at Miharu. She shouts to stay away. Kazukiyo says this is not her real brother and to see him she must wring out more of her powers as a Kai. A light and wave of energy starts appearing in the sky again. General Gowa wonders if the Gasaraki is going to appear again. Daizoburu arrives and says he won’t let Kazukiyo do this. He walks towards Misuzu, asking her to come back to him. Misuzu starts to turn back to normal and reach for him, but Kazukiyo shoots him in the back. Yushiro runs towards Daizoburu, who is dead. Kazukiyo says no one will get in the way. Miharu asks Kazukiyo why he keeps doing terrible acts like this. Kazukiyo claims they are no better than the “fool who just perished” and that his acts serve an eternal will, unconcerned with the emotions of mortals. Yushiro claims this way of thinking is causing endless pain.
Phantom arrives and says the anger of the Kai is the anger of multitudes of victims that have fallen in the last thousand years, and it is the door leading to the eternal terror. Kazukiyo tells Yushiro his mere existence constitutes this world’s terror. The light going through Misuzu goes through Yushiro and Miharu as well. Kazukiyo claims their anger and sorrow will invite the Gasaraki. The light and wave of energy from the sky lower. Yonetani finds the energy in the Kugai increasing and Misuzu’s heart rate and brainwaves increasing. Symbol analyzes what is happening via their space satellite. The crystals start coming off the Kugai, which has formed its body beneath them, and the core’s eyes open. Depressions appear in the ground and the light flows out with greater strength. The Kugai’s body implodes on itself into the core. Miharu and Yushiro struggle to turn and both disappear. The core starts rising into the sky and the energy increases too much to be measured. Claiming to be formerly a Kai himself, Phantom submits himself to what is happening and also disappears. Symbol’s satellite vanishes, prohibiting them from being able to watch any further. Kazukiyo asks the Gasaraki to grant him passage into infinity. The core glows gold and crumbles, forming a multitude of gold colored humanoids that grasp onto Misuzu. In a similarly gold colored landscape, Kazukiyo is pleased to see he has been allowed in. Misuzu speaks in a deep voice, as if possessed by the gold humanoids, saying that they have waited for millions of years. Miharu asks who they are. She says they are who they see before them. Nature, time and space. They claim to be alive within them. Their fantasy of desire for limitless was broken, and they started on the path of self destruction, entrusting their dream onto them. Phantom asks why he was doomed to roam for 2,000 years. Yushiro asks what brought about their doom. They claim it was the belief that civilizations could change the nature of life. In seeking to secure an existence as immortals, they rewrote the inordinate systems that made up the structure of life. Yushiro claims they lost their true nature and meddled with the source of life. Miharu says they were robbed of the place for lives to return home to and found themselves stuck in this barren realm. They state that they found the basis for new genetic information, full of vitality and life. Yushiro asks if they looked upon them as a means of escape and if their fates were rewritten by them. Kazukiyo says that gave birth to Gasaraki. The gold humanoids claim they extracted the genetic thread from those that possessed the greatest potential to be their successor, and used a tracking device to monitor their evolution. Yushiro asks if this is what the Kai is. Misuzu asks what about their hearts and minds. Yushiro claims this was all a means to an end. Miharu asks how many countless lives were played with as a result of this. Kazukiyo claims their fate is but an empty fantasy. Miharu says they tell them to inherit their will, but what is most important to her is the share the joys and pains that come with their brief existence. Yushiro agrees saying that if they had such limitless power they couldn’t be led by their own will. He wants to live out his life, even if it is limited. Miharu says the same. Misuzu says she wants to go back home. Phantom ages, decays, then turns into one of the gold humanoids. Misuzu says she doesn’t want to be alone. She asks Yushiro to never forget her. Yushiro says she should wish hard to be back with everyone else. Both he and Miharu reach for her and say they should go home. Misuzu says she wants to go home. The gold humanoids release their hold on her. Yushiro and Miharu catch her. Kazukiyo demands Yushiro stop. Misuzu and Yushiro shout go away. The gold humanoid crumble and start vanishing. Kazukiyo calls to the Gasaraki to grant him passage and deliver him to infinite power. He is caught up in the energy and vanishes along with it. Miharu awakens, as the sun rises. She sees Yushiro next to her, holding Misuzu in his arms. Yushiro says they are alive. As the ending credits play, the TA Company runs towards them. Meth looks down from a helicopter as Miharu looks to the sky. Kiyoharu and Kiyotsugu get out of the command vehicle. Hirokawa sits before Nishida. Mrs. Gowa feeds fish at the Gowa estate. Wakisawa sleeps before a dossier with Gowa written on it. Sorachi is praying in the storehouse. Yushiro looks down at Misuzu, a tear falls from her eyes.
Having wrapped up the political aspects of the storyline in the penultimate episode, the finale of Gasaraki focuses on the more mystical aspects of the show, and does resolve some of the biggest questions of that part of the storyline, in particular what is Gasaraki? This leads to an extremely bizarre 5+ minute sequence where Gasaraki is revealed to be alien-like beings, who much like the Gowas have led humanity. It is one of the most bizarre sequences I have seen in anime, complete with CGI, real life footage, watercolors and other interesting effects. In the end, Yushiro and Miharu were able to live their own lives and drive the Gasaraki away, while Kazukiyo, clearly the biggest villain in the show got what he deserved. Now that the show is over with, what are my overall thoughts? I think the creators of this show had some great, unique ideas, and truly did make this a mecha show that was unlike a lot of the stuff out there, combining the extremely realistic mecha action and global politics with Shinto-mysticism. The show has been claimed to be an Evangelion clone, but I really only got that sense during the Gasaraki sequence in this episode. Aside from that, the shows weren’t much alike at all. Music and animation quality were excellent throughout, and the effects certainly were great in the final episode. That said, proper execution at times in this show was sorely lacking. The show certainly had its pace problems, even though it did pick up tremendously in the middle with the flashbacks and the final three episodes. Overall, the show’s biggest flaw was the inability of the writers to properly develop the two leads. Both were among the worst developed main characters in any mecha anime I’ve seen. Other characters, particularly Kazukiyo, Nishida and Hayakawa were well developed but it would have been nice if they could have toned down some of the very long Nishida monologues to give some better development for Yushiro and Miharu. It’s an enjoyable series, but did end up getting the lowest overall ratings of any of the shows I have reviewed for MAHQ.
Gasaraki Info
Director:
Ryosuke Takahashi
Writer:
Toru Nozaki
Mechanical Designer(s):
Shinji Aramaki
Yutaka Izubuchi
Character Designer:
Shukou Murase
Musical Composer:
Kuniaki Haishima
Format:
25 episodes
Airdates:
Japan 10.04.1998 – 03.28.1999
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