Hello Multivery readers, and welcome to another weekly recap of Hulu’s show, Hit Monkey. This episode is action-packed from the beginning and gives the audience some clues to where the overall storylines are going. Monkey is going to have to pay for all the chaos he’s caused, thus far, and see how he gets out of it.
1. Bounty Hunting
With all the Yakuza bodies that Monkey has been leaving all over Japan, it was only a matter of time before it started to catch up with him. The audience is introduced to “The Wiseman,” “The Skeptic,” and finally a body to the name “Rooster” that we got from the last episode. They realize how real of a threat he is to their organization and decide to put out a 150 million yen bounty on his head. The message is sent out to every organized killer, psycho, and weirdo in Japan and ensures chaos for our main characters. I look at it as a fun buffet-like meal because we’re going to see Monkey go up against different styled killers rather than just the run-of-the-mill Yakuza with an automatic gun. There’s a ninja-like motorist, an influencer psycho, and a guy known as “The Poacher” who is shown stuffing dead animals, so that’s something strange all on its own. It’s also a good clue that Monkey and Bryce are onto something with their journey because Rooster was one of the people who proposed they need to take this threat seriously. Monkey may have been shooting first rather than getting information, but he’s found a trail now that’s leading somewhere serious.
2. Ito’s Lessons
During Monkey’s run through the city trying to survive, he ends up killing a dirty cop that’s involved with the Yakuza. Haruka feels obliged to hunt the Monkey down since he killed a fellow officer, but Ito is hesitant because he knows the cop was up to no good. According to Ito, that cop came from a family of cops involved with the Yakuza and had to educate his young partner that things may not always be as black and white as they seem. Haruka has only seen the aftermath of what the Monkey has done, but she hasn’t noticed the details in the people who end up dead. Ito finally gets into the action as he attempts to stop the influencer psycho from driving a sports car by getting in the way. Monkey luckily grabs the wheel at the last minute and locks eyes with the detective as they spin out of control, confirming that the monkey may have some decency after all.
3. Yuki
What would this show be without the superhero/supernatural element in every episode? (Not counting Bryce’s ghost presence.) Monkey’s killing has gotten the attention of the leaders of the Yakuza but an ancient Japanese spirit is known as Yuki. This is where the real action is at because she not only goes after Monkey, but she also attacks Bryce. From what we’ve seen so far, Bryce has just been a tool to get out of tough situations, but now that he’s been attacked, he’s starting to get curious about what he may be able to do as a spirit. However, Yuki’s main target is Monkey, and she attacks first, asks questions second until she sees him save Ito at the very last minute. Her realization of Monkey’s code about killing the wicked and protecting the innocent opens her eyes, and she decides to live with him alone. The trippy part when she leaves is that she mentions that if Monkey ever needs her, she’ll be an ally for him. Monkey’s good karma is starting to build up during the midpoint of the season with a new ghost friend and Fat Cobra from the previous episode, showing that he may be able to have some help when it comes down to the big battle.
4. Political Connection
The connection between the political campaign and Monkey is finally revealed. After Shinji Yokohama delivers a speech, a reporter asks him about the recent killings around the city, and he manages to evade the question on the way back to his car. Still, his niece decides to answer for him. Akiko mentions the recent attempt on her life and blames their political opponent, Ozu, by name. Once she gets into the car with Shinji, they get into an argument about the killings and how at least someone is doing something about the Yakuza rather than simply talking about it. Her temperament and goals are aligned in the fact that she would much rather face things head-on, and perhaps more violently, than talk about an action that will never happen. This is why she’s not scared of Monkey when he pops by her house because she trusts him and believes in what he is doing.
5. Rooster
Monkey survives his bounty attempt and kills most of the Yakuza leaders that started the whole thing. One of the survivors is Rooster, who organized the hit on the politician who started the entire thing and double-crossed Bryce. Rooster gets out of the building but ends up arrested by all of the cops outside, waiting for the madness to end. We’ve already seen Monkey break into a high-security prison to get some information so getting to him inside a police station just seems like the next logical step. I got the “Who” for the political hit, but there is still no answer for the “Why” involved with it. At the beginning of the episode, there was even a mention by the other leaders that going after a politician is bad for business all around. There was very little shown about Rooster in this episode, so I’m still unsure of where he ranked on the Yakuza hierarchy, but it seemed more middle of the pack than anything.
