I’ve wanted to make a post about this scene for a while, because it’s one of my absolute favourites, and I feel like it doesn’t get enough attention.
Here’s the scene, best watched in its entirety, because Kiryu’s speech to Makoto is really only a small part of the importance it serves as a whole (Major spoilers for 0, obviously).
I want to point out a few things here in this scene.
The entire time Makoto is speaking, Kiryu listens to her. He doesn’t interject, ask questions, just lets her talk. He’s not normally the type to interrupt anyways, but I believe he understands how much she’s gone through as a victim at the centre of the whole empty lot incident, and before all of that as well.
Makoto has been shipped around and treated more like the land she (unknowingly) owns than a living, breathing human being. Her disability causes everyone to treat her like a delicate child, as opposed to an adult. Lee and Majima conspire and leave her out of their plans, Majima stashes her in a warehouse; she’s a target, and she’s felt helpless the entire time, people are dying for her, around her, and she can’t even do anything about it. She wants to get stronger.
She is finally away from Majima and Lee, her self-appointed protectors, and instead falls in the hands of Kiryu. Intended to be more or less “bought” for her land, being shipped by the man she soon discovers to be the one who had caused her immense psycholigical trauma - enough to lose her sight.
She’s given a hidden blade by Sera, using it to free herself from Oda. She finally gets a moment to be strong, not having to rely on anyone else.
It’s after this, that we are given this scene, where she talks about her own past, her feelings, and Kiryu listens to her. He’s really not involved, he has no reason to offer help; his job was to transport her safely. But he can see that Makoto is in a similar situation to his own. Caught at a crossroads and feeling utterly powerless. Not only in a physical sense, but at the events unfolding around them too.
Kiryu doesn’t treat Makoto like a frail, helpless woman, he tells her he’ll do what he can to help. He removes himself from the role of the hero, and offers support. He knows that she needs to forge her own path.
For the first time, she’s not being pitied or babied for her disability. She’s being told she can overcome it, and he’s there to push her back into the ring if she falters.
I believe this may be at least one major contributing factor that causes Makoto to regain her sight. She’s determined to take her fate into her own hands, so much so that both symbolically and literally, she can now stand on her own two feet and walk towards her future, without help from anyone else.
Another significant note about this scene is that Kiryu does not look at Makoto until he begins to speak directly to her. The words he says apply to him as well, and it appears to be something he needs to hear just as much as Makoto does. He’s speaking from experience. He feels helpless, having his life paid for by Tachibana, waiting on him, counting on a man he - at first - hardly trusts at all. He can’t fight his way out of the situation, it’s not that simple. He’s been ready to give up, telling Nishiki to kill him and use his death as leverage to climb the ranks. He thinks, at the very least, his life will have some meaning if he can help his sworn brother have an easy and comfortable life after he’s gone.
It’s at that moment that Kiryu decides that he’ll “stand still and cry”, as he puts it. He’s given up. But he keeps going, and he fights for his life, relying on himself, pushing away Nishiki. He takes the necessary steps to survive, and to keep others safe in the process.
And then he looks to Makoto. She can’t see him, of course, but he still makes eye contact. It’s one more thing done to normalize the situation. Again, he’s treating her like a completely capable person.
He doesn’t pity her, he tells her he’ll be her backup. And she accepts.
It’s such an important scene for both Makoto and Kiryu, because they stand together in solidarity, in completely different, and yet strikingly similar circumstances. This moment most definitely influences Makoto’s decision to attempt to bargain with Dojima, and despite it not going as she had hoped, she still did the most she could at the time.
Had she stuck with Majima throughout this entire part of her arc, it’s extremely unlikely she would have grown at all, and that’s why I think this scene is so great. It gave both of them the courage to go on.
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