As readers of the original manga will likely have noticed, The Disastrous Life of Saiki K. repeatedly repeats its second-year high school years. No matter how many seasons pass, Kusuo and his friends remain in Class 2-3. While it's common in anime for characters not to age, The Disastrous Life of Saiki K. foreshadows this second-year high school loop and plays an important role toward the final episode. So, today, we'll introduce this looping world.
How long will Kusuo and his friends remain in Class 2-3?
The characters wear summer and winter uniforms. "The Disastrous Life of Saiki K." features a variety of seasonal school events, from sports festivals and cultural festivals to school trips and New Year's celebrations. While the stories are generally themed around events that coincide with the release of Shonen Jump magazine, Kusuo and his friends never seem to age. While it's customary for a new transfer student to arrive at the new school term, Kusuo and his friends remain in Class 2-3, no matter how many new semesters come around.
Is a volcanic eruption the reason Kusuo and his friends never age?
The reason Kusuo and his friends don't age... is largely due to the eruption of Mount Owari in Oshima Prefecture. Mount Owari in Oshima Prefecture is clearly an extraordinary place, and on April 10th, Mount Owari erupted, causing devastating damage to Japan. Kusuo struggles every year to contain the eruption, but he's never quite succeeded. Each time he fails, he uses his restoration ability to turn back time on Earth by one year to avert Japan's demise.
The psychic duo of Kusuo and Aibo will face the massive eruption!
The psychic duo of Kusuo and Aibo will take on the task of containing the massive eruption of Mount Miwari. First, Kusuo uses his clone ability (double) to create multiple clones of himself. Next, Aibo uses his precognitive ability to predict the location of the eruption. Kusuo's clones will travel to that location in advance and contain the eruption. After suppressing the eruption, Saiki would search for the next eruption site and use Kusuo's clones to suppress the eruption in the same way. However, with each clone, Kusuo's clone ability became less and less like the original, and the last clone he created ultimately failed.
Kusuo prepared 10 clones for the final battle!
Based on his previous failure, Kusuo prepared 10 clones for the final episode! Among them, just like last time, was Asio, drawn by an assistant (lol). Other characters include Tareo with droopy eyes, Kuseo with curly hair, Shakuo with a jutting chin, and Dehao with overly bucktooth... While they all resemble Kusuo, they're somehow different. Unlike the previous failed attempt, instead of using Aibo's precognitive abilities to "predict the next eruption location after it has begun," I asked him to "predict the location of the eruption in advance," assuming that I had brought Kusuo's clone and suppressed the eruption. (By bringing Kusuo's clone to the site of the first eruption, I could suppress the eruption at that location and predict the location of the next eruption in the future.)
A plan to escape the loop! Where did the suppressed magma go?
Before embarking on this mission, Kusuo visited Kusuke to get advice on what to do. Kusuke gave him three main instructions: 1. Break down the large eruption into smaller pieces. 2. To do this, gradually absorb the eruption using teleportation. 3. Release the magma absorbed by teleportation into space. To carry out this mission, Kusuo's clones work to "suppress the eruption while teleporting the magma into space." After using a certain amount of power, they begin the operation of concentrating on suppressing the eruption and handing it over to the next clone. By the way, it was Kusuo's advice that 10 clones would be needed to suppress the eruption.
Successfully escape the loop? The world begins to move!
Each clone does their utmost to suppress the eruption and teleport away, bringing Kusuo and his friends to the brink of failure. However, the eruption point being suppressed by the tenth clone is too powerful, and their plan is on the verge of failure once again. Then, Kusuo himself appears. If Kusuo were to take damage, all of the damage would be transferred to his clone, so he hadn't participated in this operation up to this point. However, this was the final location of the eruption. Kusuo, willing to take damage, managed to contain the eruption, and despite being left battered and bruised, he succeeded.
The eruption stopped, and it was a happy ending! Or so you might think...
The most important aspect of the plan to stop this eruption was to avoid being discovered by the companions who happened to be traveling to Shinobu together. Before the class reassignment, everyone was on a trip, but Kusuo was gone to suppress the eruption, so he used Toritsuka to take his place. The hypnotic effects caused the others to see Toritsuka as Kusuo. Everything seemed to be going well, but... Saiko happened to spot them suppressing the eruption from a helicopter and became suspicious of the fact that there were two Kusuos, so he brought everyone here to show them proof that there were two.
Kusuo's true identity is revealed!? But it was that unexpected person who saved them from the predicament!
The group is confused when they see two Kusuos in the same place. Asked to explain, Kusuo tries to get away with saying they're twins. However, his other clones appear... He begins an even more lame excuse: that they're actually sextuplets. This is far-fetched, and they press him to stop hiding things. Kusuo still insists he can't tell them the truth right now. But then, Nendo comes to his rescue. "I'll wait until you feel like talking. That's what being a friend means, isn't it?" Everyone agreed with Nondo's cool words, and the situation was resolved peacefully.
Back to the previous world. Time returns to one day ago.
Inspired by his friends' feelings, Kusuo finally shows a troubled smile and speaks his true voice, not telepathically. With that smile, Kusuo once again travels back in time to one day ago, this time crashing Saiko's helicopter and suppressing the eruption in the same way, finally ending the loop of daily life without being seen by anyone. Afterward, Kusuo seals his psychic powers with the "psychic power sealing device" created by Kusuke, and resolves to live a normal life as an ordinary person.
Summary up to the escape from the loop
So far, we've focused on the story of the Mt. Owari eruption, which is the starting point of the loop. What did you think? Just when you thought Kusuo would end up becoming an ordinary person, he suddenly senses a power resembling psychic powers after seeing an insect... And so, for now, the story comes to a close. The story continues, but the loop ends with the eruption being suppressed. If you're curious to know what happens next, be sure to check out "The Disastrous Life of Saiki K.: The Beginning of Psi"!
