Oh my god. I knew what was going to happen! I freaking knew that Christopher and Aneke were about to die! And yet this episode was so gut-wrenchingly sad. Seriously, this episode was absolutely incredible, and Porfy no Nagai Tabi has without a doubt become the best series of the season, even though we’ve only finished the first quarter of this anime.
Anyway, onto the summary. The earthquake happens really quickly, and it’s over after just thirty seconds. Porfy was standing right next to the church when it happened, but thankfully it had been built well and didn’t collapse. The same can’t be said about the rest of the village, though. Porfy rushes to the village, while passing Corrina’s house, which has been completely destroyed. Any sign of life is Corrina’s doll.
Porfy then reaches the local inn, where the three guys that he saw in the last episode hae survived the ordeal, due to the fact that they were sitting outside, so they weren’t below an entire house that fell down. One of them says that it’s the first time since he witnessed an earthquake this big. Porfy says that when he was at the church, he could see smoke coming from the village, after which the three guys get even more worried about the possibility that fires occurred. The three say that they must hurry as fast as possible, and one of them tells Porfy that he’s better get to his own house as fast as possible.
Porfy runs away, and as he passes Zaimis’s house, he sees that that one too has been completely demolished. He then runs into one of the goats, and it seems to be doing fine. As he arrives at Patagos Grand Station, it’s been turned into a wreck, and even the gas pump is destroyed. One of the other goats was also unfortunate enough to be caught under the rubble, and perished.
The real tragedy, however, begins when Porfy arrives at his own house, as there’s nothing left standing. His wooden carved angel somehow made it outside, but there’s no sign of Christopher, Aneke or Mina. He tries his best to remove the rubble, and he does find Aneke’s scarf, though he remains a young boy. His energy soon disappears and he passes out. We just see Barnes arrive at the scene. The Americans have felt the earthquake as well, and he probably rushed over to Porfy’s as quickly as he could.
We then switch to a small camp that has been set up because of the earthquake, where the survivors and victims have been brought to. Porfy wakes up, and tries to think of what happened, and where he is, as he sees the people around him, all hurt in some way. Medics are carrying someone around who looks like Christopher, though it turns out to be somebody else. Porfy runs around a bit, trying to find someone among the bodies who he knows, as a nearby nun notices him.
She tries to comfort him, and asks whether he’s hurt or not. Porfy says that he isn’t hurt, and asks where they are. The nun answers that they’re at a wrecked church (probably a different one than before), where the wounded have been brought. The nun asks for Porfy’s name, and he answers how he’s Porfy, and how his father runs a car repair station in Simitra. He asks where his parents and Mina are, though the nun doesn’t know. She says that she will look into it for him.
The nun then gets called for something else, and then finally someone recognizes him. It’s one of the women from the village: Louisa. Porfy asks her what happened in the village, and she says that there’s been an earthquake, and lots of people died. Louise’s mother was one of the people who died, and she’s now all alone left with her son. She then brings the news that the village chief’s family has died as well, INCLUDING Corrina! Louisa asks whether Porfy has heard anything of his own family, though there’s still no news, and she hopes that they’re all safe. Her son then says how he’s hungry, so she leaves.
The nun then arrives, looking in a hurry. She then takes Porfy to another tent with injured, and there Mina lies. She’s been beaten up, her forehead is wrapped in bandages, though she’s fine. Porfy freaks out by the fact that she’s asleep, though the nun says that she’ll be fine. He then asks where his mother and father are, but before the nun can answer, Barnes appears. Porfy runs to him. Barnes asks whether Porfy and Mina are fine, and Porfy answers that both of them will be all right. Mina just needs to wake up. Though he still hasn’t heard anything about his parents.
Barnes then takes Porfy outside, where the dead bodies have been placed. He then asks him to come to the sea. Barnes says that even though all the terrible things have happened here, the ocean still remains the same. Porfy then says he’d rather return and stay by Mina’s side, and search for his parents. Barnes tells him to wait, and that he was the one who brought Christopher and Aneke to the camp. He tells Porfy to listen carefully: Christopher and Aneke couldn’t be saved. Porfy first can’t believe it. Barnes says that it’s tough, but the truth. When he arrived in Simitra, he rushed over to Porfy’s house, and found him unconscious. Mina was also found quite quickly, though the same can’t be said for Chirstopher and Aneke.
Porfy still has trouble to believe it, and says how Christopher said that he’d protect his family, and he’s probably still searching for him. Barnes, however, says that it’s true, even though it’s painful. He then hands Porfy Aneke’s watch, and says it’s okay to cry. From now on, Porfy and Mina are going to have to live together, and Porfy will be the only one who can protect Mina, that’s why it’s okay to cry now. Instead, Porfy goes back to Mina, in case she wakes up when he’s gone.
When Porfy gets back to Mina, the nun is also with her. She then wakes up, and asks what happened, and where she is. Porfy immediately embraces her, thankful that at least she’s alright. Mina still hurts, though, so he quickly lets go. The nun introduces herself as Helena, and she and Porfy explain where she is. Mina then remembers the earthquake that happened, and how the house was collapsing. Christopher said to run, though Mina couldn’t move her legs. She then asks where Christopher and Aneke are, so Porfy quickly changes the subject by asking whether she’s hungry. She isn’t, she just wants to see her father and mother again.
Porfy, however, is just too scared to bring her the bad news, so Mina goes out to search on her own. Helena tries to stop her and tells her to rest, though Mina says she’s fine. As she tries to look around the bondaged people that are sleeping, calling out for her parents, Porfy stops her, saying how she shouldn’t wake up everyone. She then retorts that she’s doing this because Porfy doesn’t want to say anything. Porfy then finally says that Aneke and Chistopher aren’t there, so Mina asks where they went. Porfy then shows her Aneke’s broken watch, and tells her to hold onto it. Mina then gets even more upset, saying that it’s a precious possession of her mother. It’s too early for her to get it. Porfy can’t think of a good excuse, so he just tells her to hold on to it.
Mina then gets scared of her brother’s strange behaviour, and calls out to her mother again. Porfy then finally yells that their father and mother have died. Helena then comes between them, and brings Mina back to her bed, after which she falls asleep. A bit later, Helena tells him that the dinner has been prepared, though Porfy doesn’t want any. She then asks whether he has any relatives, though Porfy hasn’t. His family just consisted out of his parents and Mina. Helena then says that God will protect him, which may not have been the right word to say to him at that moment, since that “God” just killed off his parents.
That evening, Porfy still can’t sleep, so he heads outside. He then sees Damon again, who only seems to have hurt his hand. Damon is also glad that Porfy is okay, and says that God must have been watching over him. Pofty yells that he doesn’t need God. If there was a god, then why did Christopher and Aneke have to die? They didn’t do anything wrong. He then returns the picture of christ, saying he doesn’t need it anymore.
Porfy and Damon then say a few things I couldn’t understand, though Damon closes with the message that as long as he remains alive, something good will happen to Porfy, and he hands back the picture of Christ. We then switch to the next day, when Porfy wakes up, to find Mina gone. She’s outside, looking at Zaimis. His mother isn’t doing well, though because of different reasons than the earthquake: she’s about to give birth to her baby! Helena tells Porfy not to worry.
However, Zaimis did lose his father. He’s also grieved to hear that Christopher and Aneke are gone too, and prays to god for his mother and her baby, which really make Porfy think about the things he said that evening. A while later, Zaimis is all worried, though then the cries of a baby appear. Helena then arrives, with the message that the girl is healthy. And so the episode ends with at least one joyful moment after the tragedy.
On a side-note: from now on, I’m going to shorten my summaries. They’ll still be detailed, but I feel that I won’t be able to keep up with such an extensive one as I’m doing right now. There was another time where I also wrote very detailed summaries for the shows I watched (just check back on some of the older Higurashi, Simoun or Ergo Proxy-entries), but I just couldn’t keep it up to write so much.
But really, this episode was awesome, and the exact reason why I’ve come to love the World Masterpiece Theatre. They may be slow at times, but they never waste their slow moments, and use them to flesh out their characters. Because of this, when the drama appears, you can be sure that the characters are all dynamic.
