Well, this was an interesting week for Adult Swim. Inu-Yasha got better, Champloo sported big gay foreigners, Paranoia Agent lacked Li’l Slugger, and s-CRY-ed…well…s-CRY-ed still sucked, but what do you expect, really? And luckily, since I’m not playing some mad catch-up game, I’ll be able to go a little more into detail on each one. Except s-CRY-ed. I kinda tuned that one out and started reading MariMite manga. Hey, can you blame me though?
Inu-Yasha - Episode 105
After three episodes of plot masquerading as filler, this Band of Seven arc finally gets the ball moving and really mixes things up. Inu-Yasha is forced to carry everyone to safety after they were poisoned by Mukotsu in the last episode, all the while being pursued by the newest Band of Seven member, Ginkotsu, who’s this freaky-looking guy in bladed armor who throws saw blades around and continuously says something like “durrrrsh” or “gurrrrsh” as the bulk of his dialogue (Negs, does he do this in the sub or is this a dub-only thing?). Hiding the others in a cave and leaving them in Shippo & Kilala’s (Kirara’s…I’ve given up on how Viz wants that name handled) care, Inu-Yasha heads out to face Ginkotsu, only to be deceived and lured away by the metalman so that he would have a clear shot at the poisoned members of the group. Inu-Yasha discovers the plan, and makes it back to the cave in the nick of time as Shippo & Kilala are getting their asses handed to them. Instructing them to take the others and find safer ground, Inu-Yasha stays behind and fights Ginkotsu on his own (at this point, Ginkotsu begins inserting actual words between his stupid little “gdurrrrsh” thngs), and after getting owned by some freaky metal wire trick, Inu-Yasha ultimately manages to find an opening and pound Ginkotsu into the ground with his Wind Scar technique before heading off after the others. Meanwhile, Shippo & Kilala land the others at some Buddhist temple, which as fate would have it turns out to be the one occupied by Renkotsu. Kagome wakes up and identifies the man, but is paralyzed to the point of being unable to speak, and is put back to sleep with some sort of insense.
This has to be the best episode of the Band of Seven arc to date. It’s not just introducing another gimmicky member of the group, having them fight, having them lose, and our gang of heroes moving on to the next. Rather, there are actual plot developments with the group needing immediate medical attention due to Mukotsu’s poisoning previously, being taken in by the villain (who, interestingly enough, suggests that he plans to keep them alive for ransom), and Inu-Yasha apparently being separated from the rest of the group. There’s also Jakotsu, who is apparently being sent off reluctantly by Renkotsu to meet with someone (or at least that’s what I remember it being). My guess is he’s being sent for either Bankotsu or Naraku (like there’s really anyone else?). All in all, it’s a big improvement over the previous episodes, and lends a lot of anticipation to future ones. I’m quite wondering what it is that Renkotsu needs Inu-Yasha for. Perhaps he’s seeking to overthrow Bankotsu as the leader of the Band of Seven? Or perhaps the entire group’s like Kagura and just seeks liberation from Naraku? Also, my guess is Ginkotsu isn’t quite dead yet (I don’t exactly remember if they showed him crawling out of that hole Inu-Yasha put him in, but don’t suspect we’ve seen the last of him regardless).
Samurai Champloo - Episode 6
Last week’s episode, with the ukiyo-e paintings, brought Champloo’s sense of slick, stylish action back up to top form, and this week’s episode returns comedy to the series in spades. Starving, as seems to be the norm, the main trio sign up for an eating contest in order to, well, eat, and put their weapons on the line as a means of peying the entry fee (the way Jin reacted to having to hand over his swords was priceless: “I’m sorry, but I cannot simply hand over the embodiment of a warrior’s–…hey…!”). Fuu nearly wins, but ends up losing to a giant foreign guy who then holds everyone’s weapons hostage in exchange for a tour of Edo (a place Mugen, Jin, & Fuu have only just stepped into themselves). Jin shuts the others up and agrees, resulting in the three putting on some absolute BS trip for this giant, loud European who vehemently insists he’s Japanese. Meanwhile, the Edo police force is trying to track down and arrest “the European,” finally catching up with him & the trio at some restaurant. A fight breaks out, with Mugen being forced to go hand-to-hand & Jin managing to dismantle two men at once with a teacup, and the group splits and ducks into a theatre at the foreigner’s request. The big guy ends up falling for the main actress and goes backstage to meet her, only to discover it’s actually a man. To everyone’s surprise, the foreigner (yeah, I hate reusing that term, but I can’t recall the guy’s name, sorry) actually likes it better that way, and it’s revealed that he traveled to Japan from Holland after reading a book that made Japan out to be Big Gay Paradise. Another fight breaks out in the theatre, the foreigner returns our heroes’ weapons, the cops corner him, and right around that time another group of foreigners appear with some local government official, revealing that the guy Mugen & Co. have been leading around is actually a representative for some company, and is being recalled (note: recalled by his subordinates—the other foreigners—not recalled by the police force, as they simply wanted to arrest him for being foreign). Before leaving, he imparts some hints to Fuu as to the Sunflower Samurai’s whereabouts, and she convinces the others to leave Edo for Nagasaki as a result.
So…apparently Samurai Champloo is broken up into very deliberate chapters, given that this episode sported a title card at the end (much to Mugen & Jin’s surprise, at that) signifying the end of the “Edo chapter” and telling everyone to get ready for the “Nagasaki chapter.” Strange. Anyway, this was actually an episode I was anticipating for quite a while, seeing as how it’s usually one of the first one to come up among people who’ve seen this show in fansub. I can see why, as it’s certainly one of the most comedic episodes thus far, as well as one that most would expect to have problems on North American TV (thankfully it aired completely uncut, barring a couple scratched out words that Standards & Practices tend to frown upon). Funny stuff, especially with Jin’s reaction to being without his swords, as well as the big foreign guy’s reaction to various aspects of Japanese culture (Fuu is a ninja, it would seem). All in all, the show remains strong, and I hope to see it continue that way.
Paranoia Agent - Episode 4
This episode seems to backtrack a little bit, stopping immediately after Harumi’s attack in episode three to explore the events leading up to “Li’l Slugger’s” arrest. Basically, there’s this cop named Masami Hirukawa, who claims to be a devoted family man, yet at the same time accepts bribes from a local yakuza boss and makes frequent use of their prostitution ring (he was one of Maria’s biggest clients). For what its worth, his insistence that they call him “Daddy” leads me to believe there’s some pedo in him, too. Anyway, he’s eventually approached by the yakuza boss’…boss, Makabe, who seeks to reclaim the money his underling lost to Hirukawa. He initially demands 2 million yen in three days (eventually upped to 5 million), which makes Hirukawa go desperate and resort to robbery in a pink wrestling mask & red track suit. As he commits robbery after robbery, he constantly reflects on some yakuza manga he keeps reading, apparently trying to reassure himself that he’s “walking the right path.” Eventually he starts to crack, and Makabe begins drugging him with pills to ensure he keeps up the “good work.” This seems to result in one robbery ending in the sexual assault of one family’s daughter, but that’s not been confirmed. Not yet, anyway. After a night of drinking with his good friend Detective Ikari, one of our two main detectives hunting down Li’l Slugger, he gets all messed up and cries out for someone to stop him. Enter Li’l Slugger, pa-pow, Hirukawa goes down, just like before, right? Wrong. Hirukawa gets up and throws his shoe at “Li’l Slugger,” knocking him down, and then proceeds to run up and stomp the crap out of him. The kid gets arrested, Hirukawa gets all this television coverage (it’s unknown exactly if Makabe stopped demanding money from him, as we only see his car drive off during a press conference), and our two lead detectives are given this “Li’l Slugger” for questioning.
To be straightforward with you, I don’t think this is the real Li’l Slugger. Just seems too convenient that he’s randomly thwarted one day by some drunk, crooked cop. For him to suddenly be caught like this is too simple and too anticlimactic given the story thus far. Also, this entire attack just seemed a bit out of place when put alongside the others. The biggest thing that stands out in that regard is that this “Li’l Slugger” only hit Hirukawa. Where in the past, he’d hit the stressed and their primary stressor, here Makabe got off clean and Hirukawa…apparently wasn’t hit that hard. It’s also difficult to tell whether Hirukawa actually came away with a clearer mind after the attack like the others did, or if Makabe simply fucked off of his own accord. Something tells me this’ll just be one of those bored Japanese schoolkids that decides to start doing copycat crimes of the resident front-page felon just for laughs, and the real Li’l Slugger’ll nail him, or somebody else, prompting the case to stay wide open. Also of note is how Sagi continues to hold a deep interested in everything that’s going on. The Adorable One still has a bigger part to play yet.
s-CRY-ed - Episode 4
Something about Kazuma escaping housekeeping duty with the loli-Lacus (her name’s Kanami or Konami or something…whatever, she looks like a custom-built Lacus for pedos) to accept a job to free civilians from some HOLY internment camp. Gets aid from this other Alter (who’s reasonably unique-looking for a Hirai character) capable of turning solid matter into water, and together they bust up this really fruity HOLD member who’s Alter power is apparently being obnoxious and generating a giant pinkish revolver. Basically, the plot doesn’t advance, it’s one giant filler episode, and aside from the water-powered Alter (Ayase I think her name was), this was about as dull as the past three episodes. As I said, I kinda tuned it out for more entertaining things.
Really, with every show except s-CRY-ed now fully hitting an entertaining stride, should I really continue to cover it and end these things on a downer note? I mean, I want to give it every chance to improve, but I’m having my doubts that’ll happen.
If I can recall Scyred goes on an Alter of the week kinda of deal. There will some minor ones and a couple of major ones that will be important later on. A couple of them are funny though but I can’t remember which episodes they appeared.
As far as Inuyasha goes… Ginkotsu in the sub says maybe five words the entire arc. The rest of the time it’s this harsh metalling GUSH GUSH GUSH sort of sound which is supposed to be him laughing I think, but just sounds retarded. That character really lets down the rest of them, actually.
Anyway, next episode is really good, and also has one of the few true cliffhangers in the whole series so far.