Okay, so the official chart got updated after Episode 14, and I’ve been staring at it way longer than I’d like to admit.
If you’re not caught up, stop here. Seriously. Everything below spoils Season 2 up to Episode 14.
Two new names on the board
The refreshed chart now includes AI Hayato and Han Linxin, and both matter more than their small portraits suggest.
Hayato is the Beppan’s supercomputer, the brain of the unit, voiced by Minami Takayama. The show teased him well before the season started. During a live special before the premiere, the producers announced a new character called Hayato but kept the actor and role under wraps. It’s a fun reveal that the “actor” turned out to be a voice.
Then there’s Han Linxin. She’s a former head of the 6th Bureau of China’s Ministry of Public Security, and she now runs Xinxi, the Chinese equivalent of the Beppan. Her arrival tells me the story has stopped being about one terrorist group. It’s global now, and honestly a little overwhelming.
Nozaki. Nozaki?!
This is the one that stung.
Episode 14 reveals that the abduction of five Beppan members was Nozaki’s doing. He’s the Public Security officer who met Nogi in Barka and saved his life, played by Hiroshi Abe. The chart now marks him “Be Careful!!” and notes that he’s connected to Xinxi, feeding them Beppan information.
I’ll admit I never saw it coming. Abe plays him with such steady warmth that I’d filed him under “the one guy Nogi can count on.” Rewatching that Barka storyline in my head now feels strange, like finding out a friendly neighbor has been reading your mail.
Shinjo gets the final word
The chart’s other big edit is Shinjo’s. His entry now says “dead,” explaining that he was caught in Thailand, tried to escape during transfer, and was shot.
Here’s what makes this one interesting. Shinjo wasn’t innocent. He was revealed in the Season 1 finale as Tent’s informant, the “Monitor”, and in the Season 2 premiere, AI Hayato rated him the most likely leaker at 95%. The show wanted us to point at him. But Nogi eventually learns Shinjo had nothing to do with the Beppan abductions.
So he was guilty of one betrayal and blamed for another. I keep going back and forth on whether that makes him tragic or just unlucky. There were also odd little moments in earlier scenes that led some viewers to believe he might still be alive, so seeing the word “dead” on the chart felt like a door closing. Though, this is VIVANT. I’m not fully ready to trust anything.
Who’s left to trust?
The chart still sorts everyone into four camps: the Beppan, Tent, Public Security, and Marubishi Corporation. That structure used to feel tidy. Now it feels like a map with the borders redrawn in pencil. A Public Security officer is working against the Beppan, a rival Chinese organization has entered the picture, and even a corporate executive turned up as a Beppan member. That was Nagano, the Marubishi managing director played by Fumiyo Kohinata.
My bet for the remaining episodes is that more of these labels are going to change. The chart is basically a living spoiler, and I mean that as a compliment.
Over to you
Did you see the Nozaki twist coming? Do you think Shinjo’s really gone? Tell me in the comments. I’ll be here, refreshing the chart.