New prison guard Naoki Oikawa gets assigned to the death row section. He strikes a friendship with Watase Mitsuru, who, rather conveniently (contrast with Freeze Me), far from being a sadist, a sociopathic killer or rapist, dangerous to society or even particularly cruel, is actually quite a sympathetic character, someone that, unable to get justice from the system, killed the man that murdered his parents. The fact that he did not target defenceless and innocent victims for no good reason, but rather had a motive that could be understood, allows the guard to put himself in his shoes and understand his reasons and point of view, and provides a contrast between the unfairness of his circumstances, his undeserved fate, and the fact that system had failed to vindicate his parents, leaving him with no other alternative besides being cast in the role of the powerless victim. Gradually Naoki begins to wonder about the necessity of the death penalty and the meanings of such concepts as repentance and forgiveness.
