Spoiler: show
Maybe watching this show a second time will help me understand it better. Our show starts with an unknown person attempting to draw money out of an atm and finding he has none. He then uses a strange black card that asks him if he wants to make a deal and choose an opponent. A strange car pulls up and he goes to “The financial district” as they teleport through a wall. As we get exposition we get a bird’s eye view off this district, with strange people, strange creatures. The man giving the exposition talks to a creature called Q and teleports. We see Q eating black paper money. An even stranger man, Masakaki addresses this man known as Mikuni. He transports him to a street where the two men battle, apparently with money and the strange creatures. Mikuni wins the battle with ease and we dissolve to a classroom. We see our man character Yoga Kimimaro and his friend Hanabi. They talk about classes and jobs, when they are interrupted and he runs out to see that he is down to about 8000 yen. Our opening is all about money while our main character runs with a red horned creature floats along with him ending on a splash of Kimimaro attacking Mikuni. However we cut back to the man who lost the battle with Mikuni earlier, he throws himself in front of a subway train that Kimimaro just happens to be riding. Kimimaro spends his nights working two connivance stores worrying about jobs and money. While at his second job, Hanabi stops by with notes and a lecture. We gets home late and spends the night studying until he passes out. He hears a knock at the door when Masakaki appears (literally) and says he is from the Midas Bank. Kimimaro closes the door on him but Masakaki appears behind him telling him he can earn money in a better way. He then transports him to the Matrix white room where they talk about him being randomly selected to be a part of the financial district. I will say this, Masakaki is really strange, if you took the mad hatter and combined him with the caterpillar from Alice in wonderland you’d come to about half of his strange. He then tells Kimimaro that to join the financial district you have to offer up your future as collateral. What your future is yet to be determined. Kimimaro declines, wakes up then wakes up again and goes to the atm the next day to find 500,000 yen added to his account. He talks to his coworkers about the money and what they would do. One says to keep it, the other says to turn it in, but in today’s economy he just might keep it. He takes 10,000 yen when he hears Masakaki taunting him. He tells him the district added the money and that if he had money his father might not have disappeared. He gives Kimimaro the card as we see a short shot of the horned creature from the opening as our episode ends with Kimimaro and Masakaki drive off into the Financial District. Hopefully more gets explained next episode!
Episode 2
Spoiler: show
Kimimaro enters Midas Square as Masakaki welcomes him and tells him of Assets. The creatures we saw before. He explains that once a week members of the Financial District are required to participate in “Deals” which are battles between assets and their owners. Mikuni hears of Kimimaro’s entrance and makes a bet on his winning his first battle with his comrades. Masakaki shows Kimimaro to his opponent and has him summon his own asset Mysu (pronounced Mashu). Mysu is normal female height with a ruffly red skirt, red tube top, and long brown hair with a red flower in it, with long red horns with two white stripes about halfway up. Apparently she is a rookie asset just like Kimimaro is a rookie dealer? I don’t know what to call people that are in here. Assets embody a person’s future, so Mysu is his future in “human form”. In battle you can have your asset attack or you can attack yourself with a “direct” attack. Each is powered by money. Our opponents’ asset, Gig, attacks with “Micro” and a monetary amount, while the entire district watches his attack. I will say here, I do not get the micro, macro, and other attacks by the assets. They attempt to run when Mysu is damaged and we see Kimimaro worry about his asset. This is apparently not normal. Mysu explains that if he gets hurt, he loses money and they attempt to get serious when Mysu’s foot is crushed and held down. She yells at Kimimaro to swipe his hand across the card and “invest” by saying “Mezzoflation 10 million”. This corresponds to the attack “Scorched Earth” from Mysu. She lets loose a while attack burning a huge area and winning. Everyone, even Msyu is amazed. After learning Msyu is safe, Kimimaro passes out and Masakaki takes him home. We cut to Mikuni to learn that no rookie has won their first battle since Mikuni did. We have a small cut to an important woman we will learn about next episode and we are only at the half ladies and gentlemen! Kimimaro wakes up and is congratulated by Masakaki being stranger than before. Masakaki leaves and mentions he can talk to his asset via his black Midas card. We see Mysu doing highly robotic rehab after her battle. Kimimaro can now see the black Midas money when he checks his bank account to notice he has over 30 million yen. We see Mikuni in the real word as apparently the head of a large corporation. His goal, keep the money moving and gather as much of it as he can, also his desk is a giant ant colony lit by blue lights, and it’s rather epic. At his job he thinks the black Midas money is play money. Mysu explains the money is from the Financial District. It starts causing problems for his customers when Mikuni tracks him down and they talk about his deal, Midas money, and his current state of affairs. He introduces himself as he walks away while the important woman watches him walk away and our episode ends. Next episode, the blonde haired woman!
Episode 3
Spoiler: show
We start this episode with exposition from our blonde haired mystery woman as we see she has a gold Midas card. The driver calls her Ms. Sato as they go into the District. She recounts the number of deals she has had 11, and the number of times she has entered 51, as she is hit by the opening. We learn some facts about the financial district. Like the size of a Financial District is proportional to the size of the country’s economy. There are many in the world and the Far Eastern District, that contains Japan, is rather large compared to the others. Her asset is a giant white wolf with a horn and wings named Georges. He takes her to watch a deal with many others. We now have a flash back with Kimimaro to 5 days ago. He thinks about his meeting with Mikuni and says that he does not want to end up like him. In the same timeline we cut to Sato as she talks about the organization she is a part of and how they are obsessed with the Financial District. She tails Kimimaro but falls prey to a donut shop as she is taken over by pixels at random and her donut shop randomly becomes a taiyaki shop. She gives us some background information about Mikuni and how he seems to have powerful swing in the financial world of Japan. From here we cut two months into the past to see how she gained access to the Financial District, going to be called FD from now on. Another cut to Kimimaro as he visits his aunt to talk about his mother and father. All she has left from them is a shoe box with random items and a diary left by his father. The diary contains information about Midas money and he wants to find and talk to Masakaki. We learn that Sato doesn’t choose her opponents and is often called to fight on Wednesdays. We learn that assets cannot attack without an order from their Entre, the people who they fight for and their attacks are called “-flations” and there are 3 levels: Macro, Mezzo, and Micro aka Large, Medium, and small. Oh these make sense now, ha. She also explains that to activate the attack you have to use money. The example she gives is to use a Micro attack you must use at least 100 thousand, Mezzo is at least a million, Macro being 10 million. Also, if you go bankrupt you are banished from the FD and Sato only wins by a small margin each time, to keep her opponents similar. Now we are back to Kimimaro talking to Masakaki trying to get information from him when he is interrupted by Mikuni. He takes him to a strange man who we have seen taking pictures. This man is an information broker, selling secrets at the highest price. After being paid for his information he learns his father was also an Entre who went bankrupt and ended up killing himself. Mikuni and Kimimaro talk and we learn about Mikuni’s past, his sick little sister, and how he took over his father’s company. We also learn Kimimaro’s father was obsessed with money so he could provide for his family. Mikuni bids Kimimaro to make money and find a use for it. Mikuni leaves, Kimimaro broods a bit over his father, and we get more exposition from Sato. She learns from her company that stopping Midas money might cause problems. While she lists her doubts and wonders on the FD we cut back to the present and Kimimaro’s second deal is about to begin. His opponent? His teacher at college. Next episode Kimimaro is taught a lesson!
Episode 4
Spoiler: show
Our episode starts off with cuts between the battle with Kimimaro and his Sensei and the classroom where we learn his Sensei’s wife is pregnant with his third child. In the battle Kimimaro is poisoned and has to sell of part of Mysu’s stock which Mikuni buys in a heartbeat. Kimimaro launches an attack against his teacher and wins, bankrupting his teacher, who claims cheating. Masakaki explains that you can buy an assets’ stocks, which they have 10 and buy them back later. Kimimaro starts to question what happens when a person loses. In a cut we learn that Mikuni’s guild. Named Starling, has 1200 members and controls a third of the Far East FD. It turns into the next day and we see Kimimaro in class and goes to talk to his Sensei, Mr. Ebara. He invites him into his house and while walking around we see small children appear behind Kimimaro’s shadow. Kimimaro and Ebara talk about the deals and why he participates. Kimimaro learns that Ebara’s “future” that he lost, was his 3 children. They just magically disappeared and only those who are a part of the FD notice these changes in the world around them. Ebara tells Kimimaro that Mikuni’s guild keeps the changing effects in the real to a minimum and makes sure their members do not go bankrupt. By now you should be noticing that whenever Masakaki moves he makes money sounds, coins chinking, cash register dings. But it’s time for Mikuni’s deal which are very popular in the FD. His opponent, a Mr. Kikuchi. Mikuni’s asset for this battle is named Kakazuzu, a human with a wolf mask on his face; Kikuchi’s asset is Hurste, a snake chain metal monster thing. They notice that even though on the major offensive, Hurste is hemorrhaging money and will lose. Kikuchi sells of one of his last 2 stocks and begins a frontal assault. Mikuni senses his attack but is caught by surprise. This causes Mikuni to summon another asset, Sleeping Beauty who emerges from a hole in Kakazuzu’s chest. Sleeping Beauty attacks Hurste and Mikuni lands a Direct attack winning by just 1%. Kimimaro congratulates Mikuni, but mentions how he doesn’t want to be like him. Our episode ends with Kimimaro deciding to fight like Mikuni to minimize the effect on the real world. Next episode we learn more about everything.
Episode 5
Spoiler: show
This episode starts out with predominant members of the Starling guild participating in a Deals and winning those deals by very small margins. Kimimaro and Mikuni talk about how to win deals by just that 1% to keep reality from changing too much. Kimimaro wants to learn about assets and we cut to his next Deal. Before the deal starts we see the other guild members paying dues. Kimimaro loses this deal by that 1% and we cut to Mikuni dealing with someone within the government. Once again we learn that what is meant by your “future” is vague. What changes in Kimimaro’s life? It could be his Aunt’s appendix, or it could be the fact that he alone failed a class, or it could be Hanabi getting to teach at her old secondary school. In a small aside we see Ms. Sato meeting with someone to gain information about the FD. Back with Kimimaro, he talks to Mysu while she yells at him about the last Deal, saying they could have won if he didn’t stop her attack at the last minute. Kimimaro eats dinner and Mysu wonders just what food is, since assets don’t eat. She says he should give her some, and in a rather cute moment she puts her lips to the card and Kimimaro just downs the instant ramen. Now we see a rather important deal, between two wealthy people, one of whom is the person Mikuni just beat. These two are just going all out, without care for the outside world. In the real world, we see that because of this battle, Kikuchi’s company Basho Pharmaceutical, in the real world is going bankrupt, and if it happened to do so, the real world would have a major problem. Kimimaro goes to Ebara to talk about the problem and learns his wife left him. Now Mysu and Kimimaro talk strategy while Mysu eats instant ramen, which is rather strange. The information broker appears and lets Kimimaro know that Mikuni’s own drug company has bought Basho to keep the problems from going too far. Kimimaro meets up with Mikuni and he takes him to his office and they talk about the FD. After a few scenes we learn that Kimimaro officially joined the Starling Guild and or episode ends on Kimimaro’s next Deal starting. Kimimaro learns something important next episode.
Episode 6
Spoiler: show
We start off in this episode learning about Kimimaro’s next from Sato. His name is Kou Sennoza, who has only lost 1 deal. However before we get to that battle, we see Kimimaro win the battle before that by strategy and Mysu is rather pleased with this. While Mysu and Kimimaro are eating more ramen, they are approached by Sennoza, who wants him to pass on his battle with him even though none of his opponents have taken the offer. Kimimaro learns that Sennoza is an important volunteer. While walking home, he is picked up in a van by Sato who also just wants to talk. At this point you begin to notice that she is always eating. She wants Kimimaro to work with her to bring down the FD. While driving Kimimaro back they are attacked by a random car, but escape by going into the FD. She tells Kimimaro that he should talk to Sennoza and they talk about the flow of Midas money. He brings him into a room where he has pictures that children he has helped around the world. He noticed that when he lost, only once, a few of those pictures changed. Back in the FD Kimimaro runs into Mikuni, who is on a date with his asset Q. They talk about Kimimaro’s upcoming deal and how their views clash. Finally we get to the Deal with Sennoza and Kimimaro. Sennoza summons his asset, Karma, who is insanely strong. Within 2 hits Msyu is covered in her own blood and damaged pretty badly. Kimimaro doesn’t want to win, but doesn’t want to lose. Msyu and Kimimaro hold hands as we wipe to after the battle, guess we aren’t lucky enough to see it. We do see, however, that Sennoza has moved out of his larger office and we learn a bit about the battle we didn’t see. We learn that Kimimaro won, somehow, and he asks about the pictures in the room, which we also don’t learn about. How are we supposed to know about the effects on the real world if we never see them anime? Oh well, next episode we get Mikuni’s back story.
Episode 7
Spoiler: show
Our episode starts out with Mikuni’s father teaching a young orange haired Mikuni about money and how it has the possibility to become power. We are in Mikuni’s past. We learn he used to be in a band however they disbanded right before they got a record deal. We see Mikuni’s humble start as his father’s secretary, learning networking from his father. We cut to Mikuni in a hospital talking to a brown haired girl who enjoyed his music. At this point I’m going to assume that is his little sister. Her condition gets worse and we learn she needs treatment in America, when we also learn that his father’s business is failing and will go bankrupt because someone messed with his network. His father tells Mikuni that his sister will not be sent to America because they do not have the money. We see that his father is a monster, caring for his money and company first, than his family, only after those have been taken care of. Mikuni is then locked in his room for days, for fear he will ruin his father’s reputation. He is taken to the hospital to see his sister in poor condition. She slipped into a coma and Mikuni became obsessed with work and that was when Masakaki showed up. After the break we get everything from Mysu’s side. She tries to make sense of the Entre she has been pared up with. She thinks back to previous deals and how unique he is. Msyu again explains that assets are the lost futures of the Entres given form. We see that Msyu has started t worry about “human” things like the future and Kimimaro’s worries. Kimimaro and Mysu head to an outdoor eatery when they encounter his first opponent. We also see that because Mysu is eating other Entres are doing the same trying to make their assets stronger. We learn that Msyu enjoys being around Kimimaro, maybe even starting to like him in a human way. Kimimaro runs back to the eater and punches a guy who tried to force his entre to eat, just so he didn’t make a mistake. We cut back to Msyu and Kimimaro watching TV when we see Msyu is interesting in kissing and wants to try it with Kimimaro. He says you should only kiss someone you like 30 times more than normal. On the way to FD Kimimaro notices that a few skyscrapers are missing and things are just a bit different. Our episode ends with him going “Huh?” and the screen going black. Hopefully they explain that next time!
Episode 8
Spoiler: show
Today’s episode starts out with the South East Asian FD, Singapore, and we see that it is losing a ton of money and rather fast. Mikuni says we should prepare for “C”. We learn that with C whole countries can disappear and one of the guild members doesn’t believe it because he was once part of an area that this happened to known as the Lehman Shock. Another asks him if he knows of the Caribbean Sea. Apparently, there was a large economic power called the Caribbean Republic that disappeared with the collapse of the South American FD. We cut to Sato walking around in a city that “used to be very lively” as she talks to our information broker in the real world. They don’t talk about much but what is important is that the broker thinks he has seen his asset before and maybe with Kimimaro’s father. We start to see the effects of C as Kimimaro’s classroom becomes empty. As he walks to work the streets become less crowded and businesses close. Mikuni is attempting to work against this and we see Ebara maybe attempting to suicide by throwing himself off a roof. Kimimaro sees this and catches him as he is about to fall. He says he feels like he has no future since he lost and how he understands Masakaki now. He goes to the FD to talk to Masakaki, he wants to buy back his teachers future. Masakaki says it is impossible and he goes to the information broker to see what he knows, which is a lot, but nothing helpful. A small cut later we see Sato talking to a high ranking member of the Starling guild and we are back now with Mikuni as he tries to thwart the effects of C. We see Hanabi reading a letter she got from her teaching practice but she cuts it up. I don’t know here people. In a scene with Kimimaro we learn that Ebara was killed by a drunk driver. A passing mother gives her child some money that blows over to Kimimaro. He goes to hand it back to him when he is overtaken by pixels and the child disappears. Kimimaro walks by the information broker as he explains he doesn’t want money, but trust. We get a weird trippy cut of a woman talking about her just born child and what to name it. We hear Kimimaro say to call her Mashu. Back in the FD Kimimaro burns a bunch of Midas money he had taken out to give to Ebara. Kimimaro confronts Mikuni about the future as we learn that C is about to start, and Singapore will probably disappear this time. We cut to the South East Asian FD as its money counter hits zero and starts to dissolve away, real world and FD. Strange tentacle things come down and grab the large coin counter as we see a different colored Masakaki laughing with a giant smile as our episode ends. Yeah, I do not know what I just saw either people. Next week, answers!
Episode 9
Spoiler: show
We start 3 hours earlier in an English speaking conference talking about the FD. They mention once again the Caribbean Republic disappearing because of the South American FD going under. We cut back to the SEAFD, South East Asian financial district, as it disappears pixel by pixel. We see assets blowing up into Midas money, and the island that Singapore was on is gone. We have a small cut of Masakaki looking at it from the edge of the Far East FD and it looks like he is looking at the edge of the universe as it explodes. Even further into the past, 11 hours, we see Mikuni talking to Masakaki as they take an elevator upwards somewhere. We cut to the real world as Stocks plummet as people cannot remember Singapore. We see that C has minimal effects on Hong Kong; we cut to Shanghai where they lost a small portion of their town as well. We get back to Mikuni 30 minutes before C arrives in Japan. Once again we cut back to 11 hours into the past and see Mikuni and Masakaki’s elevator ride stops above the huge coin that sits in the middle of all FDs. Masakaki says they will print as much money as Mikuni wishes. The coin falls on its side and a hexagonal pillar falls from the sky with tentacles attached to it. A waterfall appears around it and Masakaki calls it the rotary press of the Midas Bank. Mikuni is given an orb that lets him see the futures that disappear as Midas money is printed and a very large sum of Midas money is printed. Back in the present we see C arriving in Japan. Mikuni uses the money to buy anything he can to halt C. We see that Mikuni has stopped C from getting Japan as Masakaki talks about settlement for the money he printed. We learn that Japan has fallen back economically to how it was during the 1980’s. Kimimaro talks to Sato about his father and the information broker apparently his pictures of his father’s asset, which turns out to be exactly like Msyu but her hair was black and her name was Mau. Kimimaro talks with Sato again about what assets mean to a person’s future and the similarities between his father and him. We cut to Kimimaro going to visit Hanabi, who seems to be in bed with a cold, but I think she is majorly depressed. We see the settlement coming from the money Mikuni took, areas filled with people, change, disappear, and we see his co-worker disappear before his very eyes. We see that even Hanabi’s family is hit and she is borderline insane. Kimimaro agrees to work with Sato. Kimimaro talks to Msyu as she wants him to kiss her because she is fine with the way things are now. He kisses her on the forehead. As our episode ends we get some troubling information that in all of Japan, only 3 children were born that day. Again our episode ends with Masakaki just looking over everything laughing. This man scares me. Next week, it’s the second to last episode.
Episode 10
Spoiler: show
We see that the American Financial District is using other world currencies to stop the chain reaction from C. We see a Map of North America with quite a few landmasses that I have never seen before, a few of them quite large. These disappear as we learned they did do investing in the United States. We see Asian Masakaki talking to the American Masakaki, who talks with a Japanese accent, as they repel the chain reaction of C. Back in the FD Mikuni asks Masakaki to start the money press again to protect Japan at the cost of its own future, and only people with black darkness cards can do it. The plan to protect Japan? They are going to start a deal with Mikuni, drive him bankrupt, and get his darkness card. And with his fortune, they would drive down the value of the Yen, making the Midas money associated with it worthless as well. You guys following? They steal the money from the last printing and disburse it around all of Japan, even dropping it out of helicopters. Sato is the first to challenge Mikuni and Kimimaro faces Horii, another top ranking member. Msyu is in pain so he doesn’t have her fight and because of this he starts getting beaten up badly. Horii’s asset, Insider, breaks because of the use and from the pain from the money press and Kimimaro gets the upper hand. Insider at this point is useless and Kimimaro and Msyu have a talk about how he felt he always felt like he had to protect her, not only now but in his future. After kicking Insider he comes back to life and Kimimaro brings Msyu forth. She says she has always felt safe with him, as he uses a Macroflation, Overheated Economy, which utterly destroys Horii, making him bankrupt. As Msyu leaves we see her horns start to crack. We now see Mikuni and Sato battle. Her first move is that she steals Mikuni’s first asset and uses it against him. Mikuni then summons Q and uses her Macroflation, Cannibalization and eats Kakazuzu. Q sneaks up on her and she calls out to Kimimaro we see Q got half of her. She gives Georges stock for sale, entrusting her future to Kimimaro. He buys the stocks as she goes bankrupt. Mikuni learns that they have caused hyper-inflation of the Yen with his money ask he calls Masakaki to start the money press again. Kimimaro rushes Mikuni as he tells him he has no way to stop him. BUT WAIT. Masakaki jumps in with an, OH ISNT YOUR CARD BLACK AS WELL? And just like that, Kimimaro has had a darkness card all along. Kimimaro orders Masakaki to reverse the money press as we prepare for the final battle. Next episode, Kimimaro vs Mikuni, Q vs Msyu and Japan’s future is at stake!
Episode 11
Spoiler: show
We see scenes from around the world as the exchange rate from Yen to Dollars is 3000 Yen to 1 dollar and C is heading back towards Japan. The deal is approved between Mikuni and Kimimaro and after the opening we shall see who wins! Mikuni sends out Sleeping Beauty as Mikuni and Kimimaro battle it out with Direct attacks. Kimimaro switches Msyu out for Georges and starts attacking anew. He calls out Q as she takes a bite out of Georges. Kimimaro switches back to Msyu as Mikuni says he hoped Kimimaro would be his successor. Msyu tells him to use Macroflation as Q does the same with, Economic Blockade. Man I love these attack names. Msyu counters with Overheated Economy, however they are stopped in time by Economic Blockade. Outside in the real world, the Yen has stopped being accepted and Mikuni has become powerless. Msyu attacks Q and she yells at Q for not understanding the situation which Q says is fine to her. Mikuni and Kimimaro exchange Direct attacks as they talk about that which is important to them, the people around them and their futures. Q and Msyu begin fighting on their own as Msyu tells Q that she is the image of Mikuni’s little sister, making her his future. In the real world, everyone can see the Midas money and we see Q’s hair turn black, like his little sister. Mikuni and Kimimaro are still fighting in direct attacks and he orders Q to direct attack as he looks up and see’s his little sister and not Q. Kimimaro lands a large direct attack as the Far East FD has a Market Closer, and we lose all color and go to black and white as Kimimaro Punches Mikuni right in the jaw, as we get a whited out dream of Mikuni talking to his little sister as she vanishes. We see that C’s chain reaction passed through Japan without any influence, and as Masakaki tells us, the Japanese Yen became worthless making the Midas money worthless as well and the Far East FD will disappear as well. Mikuni acknowledges his loss as Kimimaro orders Masakaki to reverse the money press. His darkness card attaches to the money press with the worlds, “You have control”. Mikuni bids farewell to Q she disappears. Kimimaro thanks Msyu as they share a kiss on the lips. Msyu says she loves him 40 more times than normal, is glad she met him, and she disappears as well. Mikuni says goodbye to Kimimaro who says “We will meet in the future”, but Mikuni will pass on that and, “Live in the present”. Kimimaro wakes up on a weird bed and talks to an oddly dressed Masakaki in a white robe. They talk about what he has done in the sake of the FD and is told the world he will wake up in will be different and we have our ending! Wait, that’s it? Is there more? Of course there is! Kimimaro wakes up on a park bench in a thriving town where the dollar the currency. He sees Hanabi as a happy kindergarten teacher when Masakaki appears. Kimimaro ask him why he is there, as he explains as long as there is a future, the FD will be there since it is indestructible. He also says that if Kimimaro wants to resume their partnership to just call. Our series ends with Kimimaro pulling out a picture of him, Msyu, Mikuni, and Q saying he should have smiled. We get the words, “To the future”.
