This episode had a very intriguing detail in it. I have a theory regarding what might’ve happened although I’m not exactly sure if it’s correct, but it does sound right to me. The ending also promises to escalate the situation heavily judging by what one of the characters demands.
The episode leads with Kujirai B peeling a talisman/sticker marked with Kowloon off a wall in an alley. When she later runs into Kudo, who’s complaining about how his coffee order was messed up since he had specifically requested for no sugar, Kujirai B interjects that his timing is great ’cause her getting eggs from Hiyo means that they can make French toast with the sugar by sprinkling in the sugar on the bread after it is placed on the egg yolk. It’s a huge hit with Kudo with him loving the caramelized sugar. Apparently, it’s Kujirai B’s late mother’s recipe, and her parents decided in an accident when she was young. Everything from the taste to the recipe itself makes her think of her mother. When Kudo asks if thinking about that stuff doesn’t make her sad, she merely states that she’s not sad, and it’s that she’s weak that she’s not sad. She then says something about what she used to think about memories after telling him that she’s not the type to read a second volume of a book, and we’re not sure why she said that, but it seemed as if she was going to give an answer to why that’s the case until it was clear that the kettle was at boiling temperatures. I guess this is perhaps further foreshadowing of something to be saved for later.
We then see Kudo all by himself drinking beer, and he thinks back to him being in bed with Reiko with her reaching out to him, but we see with the dark figure of Kujirai B that the ghost of Kujirai B still clings to him, and viewers get a glimpse of sunflowers in the vicinity again, followed by Kudo stating, “I know”, which may be a sign that he’s aware that Kujirai B is the one who fills all the room in his heart, and he likely had sex with Reiko to give him the feeling of being close to Kujirai B again.
Reiko, Yaomay, and Gwen then have a meeting, and Yaomay shares that she met someone online who also wants to prove that Kowloon exists with her being about to reveal that it’s always summer in Kowloon until the drinks she and Reiko ordered arrive. ‘Cause she desperately wants to believe that Kowloon and the things in it are real, she immediately drinks all of her iced coffee and proceeded to forget all about what she had intended to say like a ditz, which got Gwen confirmation that he shouldn’t eat or drink anything in Kowloon. Yaomay then had an exchange with Yulong through text messages, and she had forgotten about what she had realized earlier, resulting in her replying in a really breezy way, answering the question correctly without realizing that that was indeed what she had come to realize the day before. Yulong then comes to the same conclusion I did regarding her consuming food she knows she shouldn’t ’cause of her desire to prove that her friend exists, and he concludes that merely taking an interest in the place is enough to get you swallowed up by Kowloon.
Miyuki then tries to have a basket of goodies sent to the Club Flower Garden he had been to in Episode 7, and the shop whose services he is using isn’t accepting electronic payments since the collapse the other day led to the machine being busted, and he got bailed out by Gwen. Miyuki quickly tries to get away from him, saying that they’ve broken up and knocks some things over in an alley that blocks Gwen’s way. Gwen told him that Kudo is real and to not consume anything made in Kowloon, which are things Miyuki already knew, and as he left, Gwen was screaming his name. At the same time, Yulong was pondering how the Second Kowloon is something no longer there, which led to him making a breakthrough in realizing that being stuck in the past is a key to figuring out the mysteries around Kowloon. Miyuki then found the path to Dr. Wong’s clinic, and he was about to enter it until he got a call from Yulong, who asked him why he was in Kowloon considering he’s supposed to be in Kowloon today, which prompted Miyuki to look at Dr. Wong’s clinic and then say he’s heading back, almost as if he forgot his intention to go in moments ago, which suggests that merely taking an interest in the place is enough to get you swallowed up by Kowloon as Yulong had speculated earlier.
Reiko and Yaomay then have lunch together with Yaomay being really busy since she’s preparing outfits for burlesque dancers, likely the ones from Club Flower Garden. Xiaohei then comes by to inspect their fire alarm, which is a pretext to spy on them, and Reiko and Yaomay ask him what’s his favourite dress since they think he’s big on fashion given the interest he showed in the dresses, saying it doesn’t matter that he’s a guy, which prompts Xiaohei to say he likes outfits with lots of frills and some bows, both big and small with babydoll being what he likes most silhouette-wise. When he goes overboard with it, they point that he is into this sort of stuff, but he interjects that he’s grown out of them due to his size. Before Xiaohei does his investigation, Yaomay asks for his vest, likely ’cause she plans to redesign it.
Then we’re back to Gwen, and he feels that he’s discovering new sides to Miyuki since coming to Kowloon, which leads him to think maybe he didn’t know Miyuki that well in the first place, which has me thinking back to when Kudo threw the question about how well do you know the guy back at Gwen when he had asked that to him about Reiko in the past and said that Gwen is here to make sure he (Gwen) doesn’t end up like him, possibly an allusion to him being a broken man after Kujirai B died. He then wonders why Kudo isn’t affected by the food and drink in Kowloon while Yaomay is but draws no conclusion about things, but I suspect it’s ’cause Kudo’s very existence is tied to this Kowloon’s existence. He then made a point that ’cause this Kowloon feels familiar he may’ve been unwittingly letting his guard down, which he comes to realize is the same as losing his grip, which had happened to Yaomay.
Xiaohei then talks to himself, thinking how he’ll report things to Papa Hebinuma since the fake Kujirai Reiko gives off a different impression than the original one with the original one not being the type to befriend Yaomay. He figures she’s been living here as her own person. And Yaomay did indeed redesign his vest to his liking. He then thought to himself that what would happen if things you’re not sure are real, things that are precious, and things you don’t want to disappear were to grow one by one.
His codename is Snakeberry, and he notes that the accuracy of the replica is quite high except with some roads that shouldn’t exist and some thing you wouldn’t expect being reproduced, so it’s not perfect. But if my feng shui theory is accurate, yin and yang could play into this as there’d be a mixture of new and old, so that could explain why there are roads that shouldn’t exist since this Kowloon could be trying to have some new things come into existence, and it could also be why the door of Yaomay’s apartment is high tech. He says that the dead being replicated proves inconsistencies, and the generic Reiko is also full of inconsistencies herself due to her behaviour and speech are like that of a different person. Even so, he wants to draw attention to a dead person being replicated as a living being, which leads to him concluding that the Zirconian project might be viable, strictly within the confines of the generic Kowloon though. He shared with Papa Hebinuma Miyuki’s test that found that the generic version and the original can’t coexist in Kowloon without sharing that young girl Xiaohei is a generic version that exists even though, he, the original version is around, so he’s not revealing all his cards. Papa Hebinuma then asks about an unspecified “that”, which Xiaohei confirms he has been finding and disposes of it inside Kowloon, and when Papa Hebinuma tells him to not let any get outside, Xiaohei reassures him that there’s nothing to fear since anything made in generic Kowloon will disappear once taken outside. What doesn’t disappear was either brought in from the outside, or it was here to begin with after Kowloon was demolished with many storefronts abandoning their stock during the eviction three years ago. Xiaohei believes that the generic Reiko will likely disappear if she leaves Kowloon, and Papa Hebinuma asks that even if the original no longer exists in the world, a generic disappears outside of Kowloon, and Xiaohei says he believes Miyuki believes the same and is waiting for him to act. Papa Hebinuma then orders Xiaohei to try taking a generic outside and see what happens with him being allowed to use Reiko if he can’t find one. When he starts protesting after what he learned about generics living their own lives, Papa Hebinuma says that he’s not interested in his opinion.
Yulong and Miyuki then have a meeting, and Yulong asks Miyuki whether he regrets his choice becoming part of the Hebinuma family, everything leading up to today, all of it. Yulong says Dr. Wong probably wouldn’t be opposed if he were the one after revenge since he’s not the type to regret things while Miyuki is, and Miyuki just says that he can’t turn back now. Yulong says that making a choice not knowing if you’ll regret it is how we learn but knowing you’ll regret it and choosing that path anyway is disgraceful, something only a fool would do. Miyuki then tells him to shut and help him like he always has and decides to take Dr. Wong for lunch after hearing that he’s feeling down, and when he asks Yulong whether he wants to come with, Yulong just says that he’s got things to do. Yulong then says that Miyuki is too obsessed with Kowloon and says that he’s going to go the route he won’t regret after showing he knows about the bug Xiaohei placed at his computer terminal. Miyuki, while at lunch with Dr. Wong, does think about what if he hadn’t contacted Hebinuma Group, if he hadn’t left his mom and had chosen Gwen instead, but there isn’t a lot of focus on it, and it’s clear he thinks he’s in too deep to considering changing course.
Kudo then shows up to Reiko’s apartment, and when he finds out that she doesn’t know how to make French toast, he leaves her since he doesn’t like being reminded of her differences from Kujirai B. He’s such a jerk given Reiko was looking forward to spending time with him. Reiko, in bed, then thinks back to Kudo’s promise to her to never go anyway, thinking that he feels so distant when he’s so close with it being implied she believes he’s still hung up over Kujirai B. She then takes out her box of things, such as her glasses, clip-on earings, and the outfit Kujirai B used to wear, and then the strangest thing happens when Reiko puts on her glasses… She sees what Kujirai B previously saw when she peeled a talisman/stick marked with Kowloon off a wall before being so started that she took them off quickly.
What I think happened with that scene in which Reiko saw what Kujirai previously did is that Kowloon Generic Romance might’ve included some karma element into the story in addition to feng shui (from Episode 6) with how the flashback had Kujirai B peeling off a talisman/sticker labeled Kowloon from a wall, only this time it was foreshadowed rather than lore-dropped onto viewers as was the case three episodes back. When Reiko put on her glasses, she was able to observe what Kujirai B saw in the moment when she peeled it away, possibly suggesting some weird interaction involving karma or something else, whatever it is.
Karma involves actions, which have consequences that shape future experiences and lives, which would fit if Reiko is intended to be Kujirai B’s next life. This may have actually been foreshadowed in Episode 6 when she said that her story won’t continue but won’t end either. At the time, I thought the only interpretation is that Kujirai B planned to commit suicide, but this episode suggests it had a double meaning with Kujirai B believing that life continues after death. If the mangaka had actually planned this, then all I can say is “Well played, Mangaka-san.” This could be why the second volume of The Landing Case Files at the bookstore was unreadable as Reiko her being the Kujirai B’s next life could indicate that she’s meant to not deviate from her path too much. My main concern is adding yet another element to the story so late into it will make it hard to wrap up the story meaningfully.
The episode ends with Yulong and Xiaohei with the former being onto Xiaohei being a spy who listens to conversations with an earring in his left ear through a micro-listening device. Yulong tells Xiaohei to join his side with him being able to pay much more than Papa Hebinuma can and also dangling the prospects of being protected from Papa Hebinuma. When Xiaohei quickly asks Yulong what he wants to do, Yulong orders him to kill Reiko, probably either ’cause Yulong believes Miyuki’s revenge story will be over if Reiko is erased or ’cause he has figured out that Kudo is central to this generic Kowloon’s existence with him being stuck in the past with Reiko being at the center of things. While on the surface it seems like we’ll find out next episode whether Reiko will disappear if she leaves Kowloon, I believe it’s more likely that Xiaohei will out the detail that a girl version of him exists in Kowloon and push to have her leave Kowloon instead since that’d be the easiest way to test having a generic leave Kowloon while keeping Reiko safe. This discrepancy on why there’s a male and female Xiaohei is likely key to explaining why this Kowloon exists.