Voice 09

Episode 09; Puccini - Part 2; プッチーニ後編
	Sexy Voice and Robo episode
Writer	Kizara Izumi
Original air date	June 5, 2007
Viewership	8.7%
Forum Thread	Thread
Episode chronology
← Previous; Voice 08	Next →; Voice 10

Sexy Voice and Robo
< Voice 08	Puccini - Part 2 プッチーニ後編	Voice 10 >

Plot

Robo struggles as his sense of justice conflicts with his newfound love. Meanwhile, Niko attempts to keep Puccini from finding and killing Maki.

Shouko / Puccini #1 - Kobayashi Satomi → 昭子 / プッチーニ #1 - 小林聡美

Megumi / Puccini #2 - Motai Masako → 恵 / プッチーニ #2 - もたいまさこ

Emiri / Puccini #3 - Tomosaka Rie → 絵美理 / プッチーニ #3 - ともさかりえ

Ono Ichirou (Boss' comrade/lover) - Mike Maki → 小野一朗 - マイク眞木

Sakiyama - Tsuruta Shinobu → 崎山 - 鶴田忍

Nurse #1 - Nobutomo Youko → - 延友陽子

Businessman singing Max Robo #1 - Chiyoda Shinichi → - 千代田信一

Businessman singing Max Robo #2 - Yamagishi Takuo → - 山岸拓生

Nurse #2 - ??? → - 小形里美

Room renter #1 - Hirano Yasuyuki → - 平野靖幸

Room renter #2 - Sekine Ayaka → - 関根綾佳

Younger photo of Asaoka Ruriko

Betsuko's face is never shown, but there is a photo of Puccini posing with her. For some reason only the top of her head is shown, so she's either standing on a shorter platform or she's a lot shorter than the other women. The full picture can be seen when Shouko flips it around to read the back, but it's too blurry to see what it is. There's a possibility that the reason she's so short is because Betsuko is portrayed by Niko's actress in that photo.
Sakiyama, a patient recovering from what appears to be a stroke, plays a major part of this episode. As a former gangster, the gun and rifle were apparently taken from his collection. At the end of the episode, his wish becomes Puccini's final job. His handwriting is notably shaky, since he's partially paralyzed on one side. He also made sakura blossoms during rehabilitation. In Japan, sakura blossoms symbolize the transience of life. He comments that he doesn't like it when he hears about other patients dying. Probably because he knows his own time is coming soon.
In the original broadcast version, the scene where Robo forgives Niko mirrors Maki being forgiven by her lover. Niko's lines are exactly like the boss's lines in that scene. In the DVD version, Niko has one extra line where she asks again in detail.

Episode motifs:

Death doesn't change anything
- Puccini does what they do so that those on the outside don't forget those who are dying in the hospital.
- Even though Betsuko set about this enormous change in their lives, she is slowly being forgotten all the same. Her wish to be forgotten was slowly coming to fruition, despite Puccini misguidedly doing all they could to prevent it.

Series motifs:

Yocchan's professional song. Yocchan sings it as he prepares Jizoudou for reopening.

Maki recalls Niko's line from Voice 01 about how forgetting something doesn't mean it didn't happen.
Maki brings up the idea of proof of living from Voice 01 whe she sees someone wrote on a school desk.
Niko praying shows her move away from total skeptic as seen in Voice 05.
Maki recalls her lines from Voice 01 about how we are all unavoidably connected and don't live alone.

Since Shouko had taken Robo's phone, he warns Niko by yelling in the street. Niko can hear him since her hearing is extraordinary.

Robo - "Even if I throw myself away...even if Shouko-san were the last boss, I would love you!"
Emiri - "The patients that can't sleep look out at the lighted city from their dark rooms, while wondering if they'll return to that city."
Shouko - "I don't like a world where a person can die and nothing changes."

Robo's Max phrases: