Hope someone will read and respond to this ..
1. Did I miss something or didn't they explain why the movie is called 13 steps? I guess it has somehow the same meaning as the green mile, but I might be wrong.
2. If Kihara was not guilty(and he wasn't), how could he possibly remember going down some steps(apparently the steps of the temple)?
That's it for the time being .. thanks, Michael.
To my knowledge, Kihara was a forced accomplice. Utsugi, who was the rehabilitation officer for both Kihara and Ando was perhaps having an appointment with Kihara when Ando arrived to kill Utsugi-san. Utsugi was blackmailing Ando, the wealthy hotel owner, and threatening to reveal his past murder to his daughter. I believe Ando used the axe to kill Utsugi while Kihara was there. Afterwards Kihara was forced to help hide the murder weapon, and then Ando attempted to kill him and make it look like an accident, but he failed to do so.
What I don't get is when Nango tells Ando that he is the client on the basis that Ando has money and defended for Kihara, but a scene later Junichi tells Samura that Samura used the money Junichi's father paid in court to Samura to pay them to investigate the crime.
It's been a very log time, but anyway...
I don't think that Kihara was involved in the murder. He was either a witness, or Ando tried to kill him to prevent him from finding the bodies.
Nango suspected Ando to be their client, but he was wrong. He didn't realise Ando was the killer at the time. Samura hired them so he could set-up Junichi. Samura and Utsugi were friends, that's how he knew about the temple nearby. Samura invented the recollection of 13 steps to take them to the temple, he also planted the map with the temple's location inside the house.
I just don't like the fact that the film has so many coincidences. The temple where Samura was trying to set them up is also the location of the real evidence. And for some bizarre reason Ando didn't destroy the bankbook, the only evidence that could connect him to the murder.