ZETMAN - Episode 5

How Kōga will manage to see in this thing is still a mystery...

From the start, "justice" appeared to be one of the main themes of the story. As an adamant believer in upholding justice, Kōga constantly tried to do what he thought was "fair" or "just". However, this episode was, in a way, the start of what I believe to be major character development for him. With one of the EVOL members toying with him, Kōga's vision of justice is now blurred. The decision he was given - whether to save his sister or three of his fans - was undoubtedly one that tests a person's view of justice. Unfortunately for Kōga, his decision was apparently wrong and resulted in the death of three of his peers. And as these "tests" grow harder in difficulty, it won't be surprising if Kōga ends up becoming traumatized, given that a wrong decision results in the death of others.

As for Jin, he's still more of a mystery than Kōga in terms of his ideals and motivations. While he explicitly stated that he chose to become ZET because he wanted to protect the people close to him, one must wonder if that's all that he wants. Does part of him seek the power that comes with being ZET? Or is he secretly aiming for something else? Whatever the case may be, the current situation he faces is indeed unpleasant to say the least. I'm quite sure he does genuinely care for Konoha and it must be heartbreaking to have to protect her by not telling her anything about what's happening now. Similarly, I feel sorry for Konoha as she continues being confused and saddened by Jin's seemingly "strange" behaviour. Adding the new girl, Tanaka, whom I slightly dislike, into the mix and you've got quite the mess.

As the episode drew to an end, I could sense that the meeting between ZET and ALPHAS is just around the corner; more specifically, the next episode. And with that, comes what I'm assuming will be the breakdown of the fragile relationship between Jin and Kōga due to their idealistic differences. To make things worse, poor Konoha will then have to see it all, and be subject to the decision of choosing which of the two to side with - her love interest or her brother. Unfortunately, ZETMAN is slowly becoming uninteresting to me so I hope that with the next episode, it'll be able to impress me enough so that my faith in the show is restored.