Unbreakable Machine-Doll – 03

Who ordered the love doll?

I want to say that Machine-Doll is doing better and better. But when I take a step back and look at it from a distance, I have to say the show certainly has its problems.

Power-Up Time

Thought I’d just drop by.

The thing about Machine-Doll is that it’s a non-stop ride, except seemingly without any continuity. Episode one suddenly there’s a train wreck (I mean literally here) and Raishin goes to school. Episode two suddenly there’s a crazy doll killer at school and Raishin’s sucky past is revealed. Episode three suddenly the much-spoken-of Shouko appears and twists abound about crazy doll killer. Notice I use the word “suddenly” repeatedly. Things keep happening one after another, but it’s all just thrown at us without much order, connectedness, or even explanation. It’s like someone was brainstorming ideas and decided to plunge on ahead without organizing his thoughts. Look at what happened in the first half of this episode. We’ve heard Raishin talk all about Shouko because apparently he has a crush on her or something. And then she just shows up.

They forgot to censor your boobs so let me.

I guess you could say that’s kind of appropriate given the amount of audio time she’s given (and in mention only). But it seems way too convenient for her to pop up on the eve of the showdown with Cannibal Candy to fondle Yaya and thus give the sexually frustrated doll a power-up. That’s not to say that just the fact that she’s here is bad writing. Rather, the way it was presented makes her arrival seem almost deus ex machina. We have a formidable foe who is clearly powerful enough to take down many dolls with ease. And what happens next? Our very own heroes get a boost of their own. Maybe it’ll be more smoothed out by next episode when we hopefully see more of Shouko and it’s made apparent that she’s here for reasons beyond PLOT. But as it stands, I’m not too impressed with her abrupt arrival.

Twists

A ban doll and what’s left of her original.

On the topic of Cannibal Candy, turns out his identity is Felix, the friendly neighborhood disciplinary officer! And his doll is a ban doll made from the remains of the former aide Lisette (now dead)! Snap crackle pop! Bet you didn’t see that one coming! Well of course we didn’t; we’ve only had one episode to contemplate the mystery of Cannibal Candy. And most of the revelations came in a landslide in this very episode. Making things worse, this is a rather trite development, so needless to say my reaction to the mind-blowing revelation was that of a rather diminutive eye-rolling. If you’re going to throw random ideas at us and not present them well, at least make them original. But really, no one should be expected to come up with everything original. That’s harder than it sounds and sometimes the results of trying to be original turn out to be bad anyway. So at least put some thought into these well-used ideas and develop them better if you’re going to use them.

Cannibal Candy and his predator.

Oh, but we’re not done yet. Remember Raishin’s horrible past and the suggestion that Magnus might or might not be the culprit as well as a disciple of the Akabane style gone bad? Well, when Shouko butts into the show without warning, she also drops big bombs about this without much more warning either. To be fair, it was technically Irori who brought it up and not Shouko, but the former is part of the latter’s entourage so I blame Shouko equally. Anyway, they’ve basically made it very much apparent that Magnus is Raishin’s evil onii-chan who turned on and massacred his family. I’m getting some Naruto vibes here, but that title’s probably taboo so I’ll refrain from mentioning it ever again. Returning from my digression, let me succinctly describe everything wrong with how this was presented: it didn’t seem like a “proper” development at all. Instead, Shouko and Irori just casually talking about it was almost too reminiscent of logging onto Twatter and getting a show spoiled. Sure, they haven’t revealed everything (Magnus’s motives weren’t mentioned). But regardless, the “oh by the way” manner in which it was introduced rubs me the wrong way.

Now, I know I’ve unloaded a lot of negativity on the show. But I don’t want it to sound like Machine-Doll is absolutely horrible and irredeemable in any way. In spite of its shortcomings, I still find the show somehow quite enjoyable. I have to say at the moment I’m really curious about the circumstances of Raishin’s family, and given Magnus’s apparent role of last boss, at least this part of the story might be done well. I would be fine with everything else just being stepping stones for Raishin to reach his brother and either obtain revenge or show some mercy. In fact, that’s pretty much the case. So perhaps you can understand if I don’t care too much for Cannibal Candy, especially when the whole thing feels like an ass pull anyway. I mean, obviously what’s gonna happen is Raishin will give Felix a bloody beating and thus get into the Rounds and earn the right to be taken seriously for capturing a notorious criminal.

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