| Desert Punk | |
| Episode 2 | |
 | |
| Air date | October 11, 2004 |
| Episode Guide | |
| previous Demon and Boobies |
next Tank and Machine Guns |
Sand and Rain (砂と、雨 Suna to Ame) is the second episode of the anime series Desert Punk. It originally aired on October 11, 2004. The English name of this episode in the FUNimation dub is Rock, Paper, Scissors. This episode adapts Chapter 3 of the manga.
Credits[]
- Direction: Takahiro Harada
- Storyboard: Takayuki Inagaki
- Screenplay: Hiroshi Yamaguchi
- Animation Director: Hiroaki Karasu
Plot[]
On the way to Water Station 22, a woman and an old man are pulling a cart in the heat of the desert, discussing the old man's health. It isn't very long until the old man passes out due to exhaustion and coughs up blood. Somewhere else, Desert Punk is collecting payment from a group of thugs, reminiscing about how easily he was fooled by Junko Asagiri. In the distance, he hears talking amongst a group of people and heads to check it out.
Two gunmen are staring down the notorious Rain Spider (Amagumo), a repo man who is perceived to be able to collect not just money, but also souls. He quickly makes work of the two by distracting them with wire and disarms them. For wasting his time, Rain Spider removes their pants and forces them to return to their village half-naked. Punk reveals himself and the two share a few words about each other's reputation.
Punk returns home to accept a new job from his supplier, Mugenya. A man named Kazuo Koike received a loan from Akashio Loans and has yet to repay his debts. Punk finds Koike's home, only to see a rundown shack with Rain Spider sitting next to Koike. It is realized by both handymen that Koike took money from two different banks and has yet to pay back either loan, so they roughhouse him and rummage through the house for anything valuable to sell. Koike's daughter, Noriko, walks in and questions just what is going on. She explains that her father's illness prevents him from earning any money, and that she simply doesn't have the skill to do any kind of work. Punk begins to feel sympathy for the family, and agrees to push back the repayment date for his bank. Rain Spider on the other hand believes that selling Noriko would be profitable enough to pay Koike's debts, but Punk is against this and wants to buy Noriko himself. Due to conflicting views, the two loan sharks decide to fight for who gets the girl.
Punk and Spider begin to have their battle on the outskirts of a village, with many villagers looking on. The village elder sings an off-key song about the two of them, but is dragged home by his granddaughter. Both mercenaries agree he was a terrible singer. A series of fights ensue in their struggle, ranging from the use of guns to knives to grenades to rubber bands. At the climax of their fight, both launch a flying fist to the other's face, knocking each other to the ground. They soon sit back up and laugh at their thrilling fight, agreeing to do it again sometime. Whilst talking, Noriko sneaks from behind and knocks both Punk and Spider out with a blunt object, takes the I.O.U. contracts, and burns them.
Noriko and Koike are back on the road, discussing their manipulation of the mercenaries and how they no longer owe money to anyone. Noriko notes that she now realizes why her father took two loans from different banks at the same time, and why he made the collection day her mother's memorial day; supposedly for good luck. Koike asks where they are headed off to now, and Noriko remarks wherever they're going, she is getting new clothes. Her father continues drinking some juice as they head onward. Back home, Desert Punk is licking his wounds from another embarrassing defeat and counting his accumulated debt, which totals 1,693,452 Yen.
Differences from the manga[]
- The beginning scene of Noriko and her father traveling is exclusive to the anime.
- The scene afterward where Desert Punk is fighting several thugs and knocks out their leader is only in the anime.
- The general setting of the episode is Water Station 22, whereas in the manga this is not specified. Instead, the sign pointing to the path for Water Station 22 is a sign pointing to Water Station 3 in the manga.
- In the manga, Desert Punk does not meet Mugenya to get his next assignment, he just goes straight to Koike's house.
- The Elder is not a character in the manga, but there are songs for both Desert Punk and Rain Spider.
- In the manga when the two of them duel, Desert Punk and Rain Spider start with their main weapons, then their side pistols, and finally their club and whip, respectively. In the anime, they use these in addition to grenades, knives, rocks, and even rubber band finger guns. Additionally, at the end of their fight, the part where the thugs try to kill the two mercenaries but fail is only in the anime.
Trivia[]
- This episode marks the first appearance of Uncle Totan, who can be seen in the scene where Kanta returns to town to see Mugenya (see gallery below).
Songs used[]
- Sand Mission (Opening Theme) — Sunabōzu OST
- Utsukushiki Shunkan — Sunabōzu OST
- Machi no Fūkei — Sunabōzu OST
- Kosuna Theme — Sunabōzu OST
- Rain Spider Theme (Part 2) — Sunabōzu OST
- Rain Spider Theme (Part 1) — Sunabōzu OST
- Sunabōzu no Uta — Sunabōzu OST
- Amagumo no Uta — Sunabōzu OST
- Konoyo wa Bara-iro!? — Sunabōzu OST
- Machi no Benriya — Sunabōzu OST
- Sunabōzu Ekaki-uta (Ending Theme) — Sunabōzu OST
Gallery[]
Concept art[]
General[]
