The Secret of "The Secret"
Summary
Tsubasa is approached by a woman named Mizuho, who offers to recruit him as her sidekick after seeing him successfully evade the police. As it turns out, she seeks to acquire "The Secret", a painting by the late master Takeo Aota. Mizuho's greed for the masterpiece causes her to turn into Kagaku-ki, but she freezes up, unwilling to attack people. Sensing that there's more to Mizuho than she lets on, Tsubasa decides to listen to her story.
As "The Secret" is to be auctioned off, Tsubasa and Mizuho attend the auction in order to make a winning bid. However, they're not the only ones after the painting...
Tropes
- Ax-Crazy: Zig-zagged. Even as Kagaku-Ki, Mizuho is mostly in control of herself. As Kagaku-King however, not so much.
- "Blackmail" Is Such an Ugly Word: “Everyone, behold. We have a wanted criminal in our midst.”
- Breather Episode: Following the Duel to the Death last week, the most that happens here is the Mid-Season Upgrade.
- Brick Joke:
- Haruka bids for "The Secret" in kibi-dango, which causes the entire auction house to do a Face Fault. Later on, even after Mizuho wins the painting for 50 million yen, Haruka gets off the phone with Kaito and still attempts to bargain with Sano for the painting with an offer of 100 million kibi-dango, at which point Shinichi urges her to drop it.
- While being tasked to guard the real "The Secret", Haruka is asked to model by its current owner Sano, who paints her as she blows up a balloon. Haruka then gives the finished painting to Kaito as a replacement for the now-destroyed "The Secret", only for it to be revealed as a Fernando Botero
-esque picture that Kaito immediately rejects.
- Contrived Coincidence: For a reason or another, most of the Donbrothers are at the same auction, with their sights set on obtaining "The Secret".
- Tsubasa supports Mizuho in obtaining the painting due to her blackmailing him with reporting him to the police.
- Shinichi and Haruka are there on Kaito's behalf as he simply wanted the painting as a decoration for Donbura. When the value clearly goes way beyond their budget, Kaito still has them continue to further bid... in kibi-dango.
- Tsuyoshi and his boss Yamada are also at the auction on behalf of Pheasant Consultant's President, who wants the painting for unknown reasons.
- A Day in the Limelight: Another Tsubasa-oriented episode, with the rest of the Donbrothers temporarily becoming his enemies due to him assisting Kagaku-Ki in the process.
- Dramatic Irony: After Tsubasa evades the police again, one of the cops asks if they could bring in Kenji for help. The other states that he retired, both of them unaware about his Jūto status.
- Face Fault: The entire auction hall does this (sans the Pheasant Consultant duo, Mizuho, and Tsubasa) when they hear Haruka bid for 9 million... in kibidango.
- Flashback: The auction is interspersed with scenes of Takeo painting "The Secret", with Mizuho modeling.
- Have We Met?: Sano fails to recognise Mizuho as the woman in "The Secret" and asks this when they meet to deal for the painting itself.
- Heroic Willpower: Mizuho is the first person to resist giving into their desires and become a monster, even managing to keep herself sane so she doesn't attack people. This (and the blackmail) is what finally convinces Tsubasa to hear her out instead of engaging her. She does not retain this intellect as Kagaku-King however due to her desire overwhelming her and has to be defeated by Toradora Onitaijin.
- In Medias Res: As with the previous episode, we begin with Inu Brother and Kagaku-Ki running away with the painting and being confronted by the other Donbrothers, with an explanation as to how it got to that point.
- Last Request: Takeo labels "The Secret" as a failure and requests Mizuho to burn his final piece if he dies. Tsubasa theorizes that Takeo's love for her was so strong, he couldn't express it in art form.
- Mercy Kill: Realizing the evolved Kagaku-King is too far gone to restrain herself, Inu Brother resolves to defeat her alongside the others.
- Out-Gambitted: Mizuho manages to win "The Secret" at 50 million yen, but pays up in a whole bag of fake bills. It turns out "The Secret" that was put up for auction was a fake too, with Sano accidentally withholding the genuine copy stolen from his master.
- Out of Focus: Taro and Jiro only show up for the fight at the end of the episode, with Jiro just arriving to do his Finishing Move.
- Rivals Team Up: Invoked by Don Momotaro to convince the two Jiros to create Toradora Onitaijin.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Upon arrived on-scene of the second battle, Don Momotaro delivers a deadpan "What are you doing, Inu Brother?"
