Tagusari Bros. Episode 5 Recap: Did Makoto And Minoru Find Any Information On Their Parents’ Killer?

The fifth episode of Netflix’s “Tagusari Bros.” shows the broken state of Minoru and Makoto, who think that the handgun inside that toy robot belonged to their father, Sakutaro. But while Makoto seems uninterested in the matter altogether, Minoru is fixated on finding the truth, and this disagreement eventually turns into a heated argument between the two brothers. Minoru eagerly wants to find why Sakutaro kept the handgun, however, Makoto does not want to dig further into it as he is a bit scared to face the aftermath if they end up finding out something they don’t want to know. As the brothers fight among themselves, the Aoi Police Station faces a new case, which blows all their minds. 

Spoilers Ahead

Is Narita A Murderer?

According to the police records, Ichijo has died from a massive brain stroke, where the blood vessels in his brain have ruptured. After Narita voluntarily surrenders to the Aoi Police Station, Koike and other officials get confused – even Makoto, who is well-known for sniffing out crimes, gets frustrated with the situation. For hours, Narita has been sitting quietly in the interrogation room, which creates a tense environment in the police station, leaving the police no other option but to abandon the investigation, at least for the time being. However, Minoru keeps stressing on the possibility of Ichijo’s death being a murder, leaving Makoto and Kudo out there, investigating. The two of them find out that Narita, who is actually a student of toxicology, has been preparing for the Jinnan National University entrance exams for months. According to Narita’s mother, Atsuko, the boy has not even left his room, and he has never been close to Ichijo’s house. Makoto predicts that Narita is not a murderer and it is true; he may have good knowledge on the usage of toxins, but in reality, his mother is the one who killed Ichijo. The police initially suspect Narita being the killer because studying in Jinnan National University has always been his dream. He is a great fan of Professor Enomoto, a world renowned name in toxin research, and has always wanted to attend his lectures at the university. Makoto even notices a book on toxins by Enomoto in Narita’s house, but he fails to make much out of it.

How Does Narita Use The Police To Expose Jinnan National University?

The police do not find Ichijo’s killer right away because Narita has intentionally tried to be a distraction on their path. He knows that the police are eventually going to investigate the case and find out everything else but the killer. When Narita sat for the entrance examinations, he worked very hard to achieve the cut-off, which resonates with the alibi that his mother gave. Things got out of hand after students accused the new AI grading system used by the university of being faulty. After the results were announced, Narita found out that he had failed and it broke his heart.; He was always confident that he would pass the exam and after other students in social media raised their voice against the university, he got infuriated. Thanks to Narita’s constant insistence, the Tagusari brothers find out through Haruko that a part of the Ministry Of Education agreed to fund Jinnan National University if they use the AI grading system. Since Ichijo was the Chairman of the Board in Jinnan National, Narita was angry at him after he failed. Narita claimed that according to his own gradation, he was worthy enough to pass the examination. 

How Did Atsuko Kill Ichijo?

Narita’s efforts effectively helped to expose Ichijo and Jinnan National University, but how did his mother kill the old man? Although Narita was out of the police radar, Makoto never gave up investigating the case; he told Minoru about the boy’s humble background and understood that the University was his only choice. Narita never applied elsewhere and this made Makoto pursue the case because he always had a hunch – remember, during the interrogations, Narita, who was always silent, flinched and protested only when Makoto talked about investigating Atsuko? It was clear to Makoto that Narita valued his toxicology and Atasuko more than anything in this world, so, he might be distracting the police all along to protect his mother. Kudo finds out that Atsuko has been to Ichijo’s place a handful of times after the grade cards have been published. While digging further, the police discover that Atsuko, who works at a hotel as a cleaner, recently took a job at a restaurant after quitting her previous one, of a pharmacist. She even brought hypertension medication from her pharmacy that mainly contained anti-platelet drugs. After Minoru suggests that NSAIDs have the power to rupture blood vessels in the brain if they are combined with anti-platelet medication, Makoto understands that Atsuko has killed Ichijo in this manner.

Why Does Makoto Let Atsuko Go?

The police do not have the right to arrest Atsuko based on a hunch; unless they get dispersed NSAIDs in her garbage dump, the discrepancy in pharmacy sales alone is not enough. Kudo and Makoto fail to arrest Atsuko because by the time they reach her house, go through the garbage, the truck may have taken it away, mixing the evidence with a thousand other things. Instead of arresting Atsuko and forcing a confession out of her, Makoto lets her go, but also makes sure that she knows about his hunch. Quite obviously, Narita’s mother fails to hold up much, and her mood swings clearly prove that she has killed the Chairman due to her son’s failure. Makoto, who’s comforting Atsuko, doesn’t miss the Teleseek notification on her phone; he finds it weird for her to have a messenger app that temporarily stores messages.

How Does Makoto Save Narita and Atsuko’s Future?

Atsuko’s grudge against Ichijo would’ve been legit if Narita actually had the capacity to pass the Jinnan National University examination. Although Narita studied hard, had the confidence to mark his own answer paper, it was necessary to take the assessment from someone who would never be biased. That’s why, Makoto sought help from an expert and graded Narita’s exam paper, which turned out to be quite shocking. Narita discovers that he has failed in the evaluation after Makoto hands him over the checked answer paper. The shocked reaction we see in Narita, is due to his overconfident nature that may cost dearly in future, if he does not give more effort. Apart from giving him a much-needed reality check, Makoto also shares Minoru’s contact card for seeking help on cracking exams.

Does Makoto And Minoru Discover Any New Information On Their Parents’ Killer?

The brothers were fixated upon finding about the hand gun found in their father’s gift; Makoto sought help from Haruko and found out that there were two shooting incidents at Kanagawa District before his father died. Regardless, situations forced the Tagusaris to believe their father, Sakutaro, was probably a killer. Minoru, who had gone to Fumi’s house, received a threatening gaze from her so-called “sick” husband while going through the tax documents. When Minoru goes to the tax accountants office to find out the document that enlists procured raw metals for the Karashima Metal Factory, he finds a huge discrepancy. Tsuda, who has been actively investigating the factory, has also prepared a list. When the Tagusaris compare the two lists, they find out that the factory ledger has purposefully left out the name of SNCM, a metal that’s used to make jet engines, valves and guns. Makoto has previously learnt from the Section Chief that Igarashi-gumi has been involved in the two shootings; since they were smuggling guns out of the factory, Tsuda was sniffing around the place. So, did the Igarashi-gumi kill Sakutaro and Yuka?

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