Concrete Revolutio 05-07
She’s got a beast in there alright.
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They sure aren’t doing a very good job of convincing us that Future Jiro is a villain to anyone, even the Bureau that’s actually after him for apparently being such. Fuurouta went out for dinner and a show with him. Oooo~ how despicable. Jiro rode a train, oh no. Well, okay, he did stop the train and jump out, but that was in retaliation. It’s not like he’s going around stopping trains here and there, and frankly that’s not even that high on the villainous scale. |
Matsumoto’s reappearance was surprising enough to raise an eyebrow (which is not very, but still). Considering that there hasn’t been much (if any) direct continuity between episodes, it’s helpful that we get to spend a little bit more time with them instead of another character rotation. Not that the normal routine has been detrimental (so far), there’s just much more that can be accomplished with greater efficiency this way. The shorter a character’s appearance, the more of an impact they need to have in order to stay memorable. This is especially difficult when you’re cycling characters constantly. The only previous characters I remember any measure beyond “vaguely” would be Raito and Matsumoto (and gang). The former because we were given his point of view for a longer time than some others were even on screen which had the effect of us becoming more intimate and astute with his character. The latter because his story was (briefly) continued. This is just one example, but really, can you remember what Megasshin looked like before the combination? I sure can’t even though he/she was in the same episode as Raito, and I can recall everything about him. It’s all about how it’s executed, and continuing things where they left off naturally lends a hand, making it easier to form the connections in our mind.
Who’s this other girl that’s clearly designed differently than the other bystanders?
In a world of superhumans, there’s bound to be some…less desirable powers. Every one of the Mountain Horse members gain a power that’s flawed in some way. Dee can turn into metal, but can’t move and retains the ability to feel, although greatly reduced; basically a statue that can move some of the time. Haru can pull things toward him but not push. This could be useful in a number of situations (why didn’t he pull the guns from the robbers?), but really, it’s still only half of telekinesis. Freeze can emit electricity, but it doesn’t seem anywhere near powerful enough to do anything besides basic electrotheraphy. Don can phase through material which, again, would be helpful in certain scenarios, but would become pretty useless for anything above sabotage and espionage. At the very least, when you compare Mountain Horse to the members of the Superhuman Bureau (well, Kikko, Jiro, and Emi), they’re pretty lackluster in capabilities. Only individually however, as their powers may be mediocre while separate, they complemented one another’s very well during their personal mission. One death per conspiracy thwarted isn’t too bad a mortality rate. It was kinda weird how quickly they got over Dee’s death though. I think I was sadder about it than they were.
I immediately thought Judas seemed like the type of person to join Future Jiro’s coalition and, well, the ending sure cinched that. I’m starting to think Jiro’s plan is to start a revolution in fashion design. All of his posse are dressed so much fancier in the future. Fuurouta can try to hide it as he is flirting with the enemy, but we all know attached to the bow-tie peeking out is the rest of his clown outfit, and Judas got rid of his bandages to assimilate with the Borg. If you don’t believe me, take into consideration that he was previously wearing a male sailor uniform. That may not be what it really is, but it’s how I choose to see it, which remains reminiscent of the dilemma with Earth-chan. Somewhere along the line of protecting people, Earth-chan became the deciding force for everyone on what is infallibly good. This isn’t reality though, as there are multiple times where Earth-chan’s justice can be disputed. The company that ended up with a hostage situation wasn’t as direct as taking hostages, but profiteering off others lack of responsibility isn’t exactly a prime example of righteousness. The same can be said for disrupting all those factories; while certain outcomes from their business are far from ideal, they aren’t handled in the best way either (if at all). This is because Earth-chan bases her entire perception of good vs bad on her response to others requesting for help. If someone’s in trouble, whatever’s causing it has to be bad, right? Nothing is singled out as good, it’s just that if A stops B because B is evil, then C will think A is good because they stopped evil B. In this case, Earth-chan stopped whatever, because they were bad, and she didn’t want to be evil. It hits closer to home after it’s brought to attention that Earth-chan herself is reprehensible because she inherently likes others being in distress. She isn’t some irreproachable hero; she’s just someone struggling to cope with the feelings she can’t help but have. The fallacy was thinking that good had anything to do with it at all. Between Earth-chan and the people who put her on a pedestal, Judas was the one who had originally thought there was some middle ground, and his action of trying to rescue the person at the protest despite breaking his promise to her about refusing to use his power was the catalyst for her beginning to understand that as well.
Bonus Earth-chan
It seems more and more likely the series will end with Jiro’s turn to the dark(?) side, and that’s a shame. Again, there’s nothing wrong with that (even though I’ll make it seem like there is in a second), but the future sequences have delved into a classic pitfall from showing too much. With these types of scenes, you want them to last just long enough to be a tease for what will eventually come to be, but they’ve been used so frivolously that I find myself rather wanting to watch what’s going on then instead of now (except Judas and Earth-chan, I want way more of them after that). It’s become less of that tease and more like I’m actually watching a prologue to the main narrative. The present events turn out to be superhumans of the week, but the future appears bound to a much stronger storyline, and that’s where I’m left wanting. It still isn’t a hindrance; I just sometimes wonder what the series would’ve been like reversed, with the future as the present and flashbacks to these events as needed. If the series is continued further, I wouldn’t be surprised if, structurally, it mirrored the seasons of Tokyo Ghoul and Root A fairly closely, because it already toes that line to the extent of which you could tell that it would probably be the most obvious (and best; I’m still trying to think of another) way things can play out.
About Kyon
I am a fear of life, I am afraid of life, and I am a fantasm of life, always a flame, always aflame, and always the same.
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
What is this kemonomimi-like feature that seeks to entice me to this show?!
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