Ikigami: The Ultimate Limit 19.1

Ikigami: The Ultimate Limit Vol 10

By Motoro Mase

Episode 19: Entrusted Words

Act 1

Mamoru Nakagami, a police officer with the Ministry of Welfare and Health, has a history excessive violence on the job. He tends to rough up and injure suspects considerably more than is necessary. He grew up poor and was shy. His tendency to overcompensate for what he sees as his shortcomings is what leads to his outbursts of violence.

Naoko Sasamura, is part of a delegation from Japan which is considering adopting a National Welfare law similar to the one already in place in the country where Mr. Fujimoto lives. She works for the Statistics and Information Department of the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare in Japan.

Ms. Sasamura is nursing emotional wounds from the loss of her 8-year-old daughter who was born with a defective heart. She wasn’t there when her daughter died because she was working late. She riles up Mamoru when she says disparaging things about his country when she compares it to Japan.

Fujimoto talks with Mr. Ishii about some information that leaked from their department. Fujimoto is the source of the leak but he doesn’t tell Mr. Ishii. He believes he has covered his tracks and that the information won’t be traced back to him.

The chapter ends with Fujimoto taking the team from Japan with him to observe as he delivers an Ikigami. The recipient in Mamoru Nakagami. Naoko Sasamura is stunned when she sees him receive the Ikigami.

Thoughts

The biggest bombshell in this installment is that this series does not take place in Japan. It blew my mind when I read that. It is unclear where it takes place but it is almost as if the islands of Japan were divided into two countries, Japan and the one where Ikigami takes place. They explicitly say that both countries share the same language and culture so I think it it logical to conclude that it takes place on one of the Japanese Islands.

I was a bit confused at first as to who was going to receive the Ikigami this time around. I wasn’t surprised to learn that it was Mamoru. He is clearly younger and considering that Naoko comes from Japan she should not have have been inoculated like he was.

I wonder why Motoro Mase chose this point in the story to make clear that the story does not take place in Japan. Did he have this planned all along? It seems like very odd timing.