The ties that bind can leave deep scars. What They Say:
Episode 7: All I Can Do
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Narumi’s attempt to get to the heart of the matter of the animosity between Renji and Yondaime has already been met by a stone wall from Yondaime but Renji takes the matter further, declaring their friendship now dead and telling Narumi that when next they meet it will be as enemies. When Narumi calls on the pact they made Renji finally decides to share the source of the distance between him and Yondaime.
Renji and Yondaime used to share an apartment with a young woman named Hison that they both loved but mutually decided that they wouldn’t pursue until/unless the other young man found a girl they cared for more first. It was an ideal time for Renji as he was able to hang out with his friends everyday and just live life at his own pace. Renji says that those days ended when the gang they were fighting with attacked Yondaime, but he used Hison as a shield and she died. Even worse, Yondaime used his power to cover up that she had ever existed and Renji never even got to see her body.
Narumi refuses to believe that Yondaime was capable of the acts Renji describes and he decides to continue perusing the truth despite the cost it may have for him with respect to the two men he took an oath of brotherhood with. Yondaime refuses to answer any of Narumi’s questions and so Narumi is left with only one alternative-see how far he can get Alice to help him despite her unwillingness to lend assistance in this manner.
When Alice does eventually get Yondaime’s permission can even she crack the case or is there a limit to her abilities? Is it possible that Narumi’s part time promotion work and T-shirt provide all the answers they seek? And will the answers arrive before an irrevocable act occurs that will change everything?
It is often said that the key to comedy is timing but this is true in drama as well. This at least four story act has some powerful writing that might resonate better if placed later in the series. As it is, the anime audience has barely been introduced to Narumi and Yondaime so it creates a bit of barrier to fully empathizing with the emotions that the writers are attempting to be express. With such little familiarity with the key players it is difficult to understand and sympathize with Narumi’s belief in his friend or be shaken by the accusations against Yondaime as the audience hasn’t been given enough time to really feel him out either. Trying to play on the ties that bind the three then feels like it comes up short in the impact department, and the limiting of Alice and the other NEET Detectives doesn’t help when they were a bigger part of the draw of the series than the lead to me in the episodes prior to these.
In Summary:
Episode 7 is a solidly written piece that falls flat because it is just too soon to be trying to get the characters involved in the story they are placed in. This mistiming makes it difficult to fully convey the emotional weight they feel to the audience who is still feeling them out as characters. The episode probably would fit better in a latter series of episodes (if the series gets more than the 12 currently listed) but placed where it is in the series as it exists is simply too much to try to get the audience to connect to with the characters as currently developed.
Grade: B-
Simulcast By: The Anime Network
Review Equipment:
Toshiba 15.4” Notebook
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