WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Police in a Pod Episode 2, “Beginner's Luck / Police Jungle,” now streaming on Funimation.
Being a cop is definitely one of the more difficult careers out there, and Episode 2 of Police in a Pod shows exactly why. Mai Kawai is still adjusting to her new partner Seiko Fuji and how their dynamic plays out on a day-to-day basis. Even though Kawai has reservations about continuing to be a police officer, she learns that their job can make a positive difference in people's lives. While police have many tools at their disposal to help them carry out their work effectively, from radar guns to handcuffs, Episode 2 of Police in a Pod reveals their strongest tool of all -- observation.
Episode 2 "Beginner's Luck / Police Jungle" has Kawai and Fuji out on foot patrol, which seems to be a lot of what they do. As they go around issuing warnings for public smokers, Kawai notices a young girl alone in a park and something feels off. They decide to bring her in for questioning, at the very least to see why she's not at home or in school.
They bring the runaway girl into the station for more of a police scolding than actual questioning, but it's revealed that she's been working as a type of escort. Kawai has literally no experience with anything sexual and isn't quite sure how to handle the course of the conversation, and the young girl seems to direct the flow. However, when Fuji interrupts to tell the girl her mother is on the way to pick her up, the girl admits that she ran away from home to give her mother and her new husband some space. But something seems off.
When the girl's mother and her husband come to pick her up, the mother is extremely apologetic and all seems right with the world. However, the husband won't make eye contact and won't approach her. Immediately, Fuji asks the girl to return to the interrogation room as she's "forgotten a signature." When the girl returns, Fuji asks her if she has something she wants to tell them, and the girl immediately breaks down. Although it takes her a while, she ends up admitting that when her mom works nights, her husband rapes her -- that's why she ran away from home.
The husband ultimately gets brought in for questioning, and it's implied that he's kept for his crime. The girl is able to return home without fear. Without Fuji's incredible observation skills, the girl would have gone home to an abuser and a life of trauma and pain. Fuji noticed that the husband wasn't exactly thrilled that the girl was found and that he seemed incredibly uncomfortable in the police station. It's very subtle, and the anime didn't give away any prior hints to suggest the truth of the matter. It only occurs when Fuji picks up on the weirdness of the husband.
Episode 2 covers more story than this, but it ultimately shows that a cop's strongest tool is their observation. Without it, they may not notice that someone is truly suffering, especially when they're trying to hide it. In this specific circumstance, it saved a young girl from further harm, and that's worth everything.
