English Dub Review: Stand My Heroes: Piece of Truth “Piece 12”

 

Overview (Spoilers Below)
In a surprising way, Miyase’s backstory reveals itself to the audience. As the backstory quickly spirals into insanity, we finally learn that Miyase himself framed Kujo, due to a series of misdeeds committed by the Kujo family against his mother. Miyase found out about them via a fleeing Masayoshi Ida, who stopped by their home to give the info to him and his mother.

The members of STAND and the DCD crack this as well. They try to warn Rei, who went after Miyase last time but are too late. Rei and Miyase get to talking, but as Rei knows too much, Miyase points a gun to her head. Meanwhile, the two groups attempt to question Soma Kujo regarding Miyase in order to be able to locate him and Rei.

Out of nowhere though, Kujo disappears, heading to Miyase in his car. STAND and the DCD try to have Hiyama contact Kujo but to no avail. As it turns out though, Kujo’s car has tracking information, which authorized members of the Kujo family can access.

Soon after, Kujo arrives on scene and attempts to apologize for not being able to help Miyase in his struggles. Then, STAND and DCD arrive on scene to put an end to all this. Seeing his plan crumble, Miyase takes a shot at Kujo, only for Aoyama to save Kujo from the blow. Miyase then takes Rei at gunpoint and escapes into the forest. Miyase holds the gun towards Rei, but ultimately decides to make a run for it.

In the aftermath of the Anonymous Case’s cracking, government officials decide whether or not to keep STAND as an official governmental program. Aoyama, finally having closure, joins STAND. Rei vows to continue to seek out justice for those who have had wrong done onto them.

In a post-credit scene, Masayoshi Ida confronts Miyase in a dark alley-way.

Our Take
Holy shit. This finale is absolutely off the wall insanity. Going into this, I did not expect to come out satisfied with the ending. Yet, here I am, writing this review, absolutely dumbfounded at what I just witnessed on screen.

For starters, the twist here is incredibly shocking. Not once did I ever suspect him of pulling the job. I’m assuming that’s what the show writers wanted the audience to believe. Why suspect the one guy who’s always seen as super loyal to Kujo? I honestly have to give props for that alone. The dramatics at every point in this episode are intensely suspenseful because of the twist. Why the heck couldn’t the majority of the series be like this? Everything here hits right on target, creating the perfect storm of enjoyable programming. Yet, because of the confusing and semi-uninteresting nature of the majority of the show, the impact, while still large, feels a bit lacking overall.

Additionally, Miyase’s backstory felt like a complete 180 for this show. Never in a million years would I have expected Miyase to have this complicated and well-developed of a backstory. I honestly felt so sorry for the poor guy though. His entire existence is essentially something that was unwanted. It’s a horrifying thing to think about. To think that someone could be so cruel, so manipulative, to force themselves upon another. And yet, it seriously worries me on how many of these events actually happen in everyday society. It’s disgustingly terrible. Overall, I praise the writers for incorporating such a deeply impactful moment here. It really makes one think about, and want to help prevent these situations from happening within our society.

To continue, while things largely wrap up, the show leaves the doors wide open for a possible 2nd season. This honestly took me by surprise a bit. The way things were going on throughout the series lead me to believe that it would all be tied up nicely. And while the majority is, there’s still room for expansion. I’m honestly conflicted on whether or not I’d actually like to see this story continue. If the dramatics stay close by to how they were here, it could be a very intense, yet exciting watch. However, if it continues to clog the story with a confusing path and uninteresting introductions of characters, I’d have to give a 2nd season a hard pass.

To conclude, this finale honestly still leaves me with a feeling of surprise. I honestly cannot believe I legitimately enjoyed how the finale turned out. It’s disappointing that the rest of the series was nowhere near on par as this though. Unfortunately, a lot of the enjoyment comes from sticking close by a less than stellar series. However, if you’ve stuck with this the entire way through, I’d be surprised if you weren’t satisfied by this wildly thrilling and impactful finale.