The Millionaire Detective - Balance: UNLIMITED

Episode 6

Who is Sayuri Kambe and why was she murdered? That the name of the woman and the fact of her death were shown in the final scene of this week's episode of The Millionaire Detective is almost certainly an indication that the answer to those questions forms the backbone of the show, or at least the backstory of why Daisuke joined the police in the first place. But it seems to go farther than that, as episode six picks up in the aftermath of episode five (something we haven't really seen before in this show) in order to continue the case of the corrupt leader of Poliador and just what his connection with the Kambe family might be.

That the issue climbs to the highest levels of government almost goes without saying. Whatever those materials were that Ricardo used to try and off the Poliadorian president, they certainly weren't supposed to be in Japan, and Ricardo is more likely to have stolen them from the embassy than to have managed to smuggle them in himself; he was just a bodyguard, not an overtly political figure. But the fact that they figured at all in his plans indicates that he has political backing somewhere, although whether or not they share his hatred of the efforts to submerge indigenous ruins is up in the air. It feels more like Ricardo simply got taken advantage of by people who considered him expendable, very possibly people on the Japanese side. And that could mean that they're members of the Kambe family, which is frankly starting to sound like some sort of wealthy, scientifically-inclined white collar crime family.

So if the goal wasn't to stop the president of Poliador, that he was an acceptable loss, then what does that make the actual desired outcome of the plan? I think we can guess that there is one based on the events of this week. Haru was essentially made to take the blame for Ricardo's death (his subordinates kind of suck), which effectively removed him from the entire case. That could, given Daisuke's cozy relationship with the highest-ranking police officials, have been done in order to protect him, but the fact that he was removed from his previous unit also makes him a very convenient scapegoat, because he's already got a record of shame. It also frees him up to work alongside Cho, who appears to be playing some sort of long game with his dogged pursuit of Imura, the woman he and Daisuke separately work to bring in, the latter with appalling ruthlessness. Imura is somehow tied to the devices Ricardo used, the ones containing information that is inaccessible to Daisuke, and her refusal to talk and attempts at intimidating the police definitely make her incredibly suspicious. Cho and Daisuke may not be aware that their goal is the same, but it works out nonetheless – except that they didn't factor in one very important thing: if Imura has a boss, that means that she's not the highest-ranking person in the company. And that means that she is expendable.

In all honesty, I didn't see her death coming until it was seconds away, not because of her status in the company, but because she was so adamant in her refusal to talk, even when her private files were revealed. Despite that, however, with her son's potential criminal record and her visibility to the police, she was a liability, and the coolness with which both she and her innocent young lawyer were dispatched speaks of a very determined, vicious group. Loyalty didn't pay off for Imura in the long run, which perhaps ought to make Daisuke at least a little nervous, because he's actively poking a hornets' nest – and that almost never ends well.

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The Millionaire Detective - Balance: UNLIMITED is currently streaming on Funimation.