Hayami's pacifism now butts heads with Commander Iga of Blue Submarine No. 6, currently under orders to proceed to Antarctica to
nuke Zorndyke. The glimmers of hope don't shine from the military might of the Blue Fleet nor the villainous sludge on the
Phantom Ship. Hayami alone realizes that the cycle of war imbedded in the emotions and philosophies of all creatures on
Earth will play out until life itself is eradicated forever.
Hayami's arc moves from utter apathy about the fate of the world to a passionate need to save humanity. And in this
journey he exorcises laden guilt from his past primarily from his relationship with Katsuma, a friend and fellow
submariner who years ago dragged him along on an initial secret meeting with Zorndyke. In 'Pilots' Hayami learned that
Katsuma didn't die in the botched operation but, instead, was partially transformed by Zorndyke into an aquatic mutant.
And the transmogrified Katsuma is currently helping the Blue Fleet get to the Antarctic base, being the only one who has
ever returned from it. This opens up the floodgates, so to speak, of Hayami's memories.
As he sinks to the bottom of the ocean in the episode's opening sequence, glimpses of his relationship with Katsuma
flash before his eyes. He confesses that he has a fear of water instigated by a boyhood accident in which he was cast
into the sea without being able to swim and had to be rescued. Katsuma also saves him from the sea when they both failed
to reach Zorndyke the first time. And now the amphibious woman, who finally has a name, Mutio, saves Hayami from the sea.
Despite his talents in the deep, Hayami belongs on land. This becomes the central issue when Hayami encounters the
musuca who recognizes the commonality of all the beings on Earth and the propensity they have to murder each other.
Therefore the great musuca becomes more akin to Hayami than any of the humans. Like Hayami, this musuca hasn't followed the
chain of command blindly. It questions the violence ingrained on each side, questions the eradication of an entire species,
and questions the intentions of the mysterious Zorndyke whose actions actually infer a higher purpose. The musuca asks,
"Why did papa grant us sentience?" Hayami iterates in less direct introspection, "All I do is get rescued from the sea."
But in this line he questions why he has been granted talents in the sea if all he does is get saved from it. Both the
musuca and Hayami begin to hear a call to Zorndyke's higher purpose. And both are ready to sacrifice themselves for this
purpose despite not knowing what it is.
However, the Phantom Ship and Blue 6 have each exhumed dormant nuclear weapons to use as a last resort against the
other, polarizing the narrative between the pacifists and the war mongers rather than the good guys and the bad guys.
In "Hearts,"
director Mahiro Maeda draws even clearer similarities between the Blue 6 and Phantom Ship crews. One of
the sailors validates Kino's waning convictions against Zorndyke by declaring that the Blue Fleet is fighting to avenge
the deaths of ten billion people and to keep humanity alive. One species life, then, is worth another's death. The exact
same sentiment slithers through Verg's villainous teeth when he says, "They saved the life of a human, the enemy we are
sworn to destroy." And this statement echoes the bloodlust from the first episode when Hayami saves Mutio to the chagrin
of an armed Kino ready to blow her away.
"Hearts" continues to march defiantly away from promoting self-righteous patriotism, re-examining culturally entrenched
perceptions of right and wrong.