Sticky – The episode begins with a brief scene in the past that suggests Masa Sakamoto (Hidetoshi Nishijima) was working as an enforcer for Hime (You). At Masa’s funeral, Suzie Sakamoto (Rashid Jones) questions Noriko Sakamoto (Judy Ongg) about Hime’s attendance. Noriko plays dumb but this only adds to Suzie’s intrigue. She is sidelined by the sudden arrival of Masa’s college friend, Kato (Motoki Kobayashi). Suzie pays him very little attention until he mentions meeting Shigeru and him helping Masa overcome Masa’s isolation. Suzie is obviously stunned with the prospect of Masa’s father being alive and Noriko capitalizes by forcefully leading her into the kitchen.
Suzie’s persistence pays off when she gets Noriko to share the story of Masa’s ‘sticky’ cousin, Yumiko. Yumiko wanted nothing more than to get married but had a difficult time doing so because of her looks. When she did get married, Yumiko had an even harder time convincing herself that her husband actually loved her. Her doubt led to him following her husband from work. While doing so one day, she slipped and broke several ribs. While recovering from that injury, the doctors found a tumor. Yumiko’s husband took her to every chemotherapy appointment which ultimately led to him falling in love with Yumiko’s nurse.
Suzie is obviously insulted when Noriko claims she reminds her of Yumiko but doesn’t get a chance to fully digest it thanks to the arrival of Sunny (Jonna Sotomura). Suzie is still stinging from the insult when she runs into Mixxy (Annie the Clumsy) at the entrance, who has apparently shown up for the free food. When Sunny reappears to apologize for the earlier interruption, the trio finds themselves outside, debating why Noriko would lie about Masa’s father. After Sunny’s search fails to provide answers, they end up at a small bodega where they can feed Mixxy while also getting a printout of Masa’s family tree (Koseki). Suzie is once again followed by the older man disguised at the neighborhood food truck vendor.
At the bodega, Sunny learns that Shigeru isn’t even listed on Masa’s koseki, but there is a more in-depth document known as a kaiseigen koseki. The only problem is that it takes a direct descendent to obtain such a file. Suzie is just about to give up when Mixxy’s suggestion of going home to take a relaxing bath causes her to remember a bathhouse that Masa used to frequent.
It appears that the bathhouse is going to be another dead end when the Attendant (Shuto Chino) informs them that the women’s side has just closed. However, once back outside, Suzie realizes that although Sunny isn’t programmed to steal for her, it can lie for her. It takes a bit of convincing but a cleverly devised plan about her master being trapped in a bath outside gets the Attendant to leave his post. Suzie and Mixxy immediately seize the opportunity to sneak into the men’s baths but almost instantly have to hide in the sauna thanks to the arrival of what appears to be several heavily tattooed Yakuza men. It is also during this time that the faux food truck driver is revealed to be Hemi’s spy. She orders him to keep a close watch on Sunny and send Tetsu to the bathhouse.
After issuing orders to her spy, Hemi speaks with her father (Minori Terada) about naming his successor as the head of the Yakuza. It appears that her father is getting on in age and his not yet naming a successor is causing some dissidence within the ranks. With Hemi’s cousin Jin being his second in command for 20 years, Hemi’s father appears hesitant to give Hemi the ranks without ‘The Dark Manual.’ He tells her to reproach him with the request when she has the manual.
At the bathhouse, one of the men is revealed as Jin when one of his associates tells him about his previous night’s encounter with Hemi. This eventually segues into Hemi meeting with her father and the possibility of Jin taking the old man out himself.
Sunny visits Noriko under the guise of being sent by Suzie to help with the funeral cleanup. Noriko is obviously suspicious but doesn’t refuse the help. Sunny eventually convinces her to have a drink in Masa’s honor. At nearly the same time, Tetsu arrives at the bathhouse with the same suspicion. Jin takes immediate blame for the immediate and says that he asked Botan to meet him here to discuss his participation in the upcoming Pachinko Operation. Being that Botan is one of Hemi’s most loyal and fierce men, Tetsu says he would need to give it some consideration.
By the time Jin and his men leave Tetsu alone with Botan, Noriko is drunk and falls asleep on the couch. Suzie and Maxxi watch in horror as Tetsu questions and beats Botan to death. When Suzie and Maxxi finally find the opportunity to leave the baths, Sunny overrides its programming and steals Noriko’s device. When Sunny, Suzie, and Maxxi reunite, Sunny has discovered that Shigeru isn’t Masa’s father. According to the stolen documents, Masa’s real father is a man named Hiromasa Matsumoto.
Matsumoto is not only revealed to be alive but it appears that Masa named him a beneficiary days before the tragedy of Flight 405. The episode ends with Suzie returning home to find that her apartment has been ransacked. The destruction of Zen’s room is almost too much for her to bear.
Sunny Review
I wouldn’t say the episode was horrible but it felt needlessly too long. It was just under 40 minutes, but something about it made it clunky and long-winded at times. It wasn’t horrible and I’d give it a 5.4 out of 10, but it could have been better. I understand the need for the whole family angle but wasn’t thrilled with the whole episode being centered on the search for Masa’s family tree records.
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In Loving Memory Of Minori Terada
This episode was dedicated to the actor who played Hemi’s father and powerful Yakuza boss. Over the years, Minori became somewhat of a global icon for his contributions to Kamen Rider W. He is said to have starred in over 200 titles and lived to be the ripe old age of 81. He succumbed to lung cancer on March 14th, 2024.
