*pomf*

Everyone’s all grown up. Jin has become the brooding youth from the mean streets that we all expected. Kouga’s like the Carlton Banks of the show, and Konoha is, well, a girl in an anime about boys. I actually do think this episode (quick synopsis: an arsonist is on the loose and our heroes must stop him) is a step up from last week’s offering, but the story nevertheless teeters between potentially interesting and incredibly lame.

The Good

• The two male protagonists are actually somewhat compelling as characters. There was speculation last week as to whether or not Jin could understand human morality (at least that’s what I got out of Taka’s comments). Is he, like the other Players, inevitably doomed to a life of violence and destruction? Or can Jin, with the help of his loved ones, forge himself a new path in life? It sounds kind of cheesy, but my point is that Jin isn’t a perfect hero. He’s a diamond in the rough in more ways than one.

In this week’s heroic rescue attempt, Jin tries to save the lives of entire family despite Kouga’s pleas that he may end up dooming them all. Jin’s reasoning: “if they do die, at least they’ll die together.” In some sense, therefore, Jin has developed a code of ethics, but it’s not one most of us would find entirely comfortable. Most of us would try to save the entire family too, but that’s because we’re idealistic. It’s not certain whether or not Jin has any such idealism, but he definitely has taken his grandfather’s death to, I think, extreme lengths. Sometimes, triage is the best course of action, even if it means living on while others die.

• In the early goings, it definitely seems as though Kouga will serve as Jin’s foil. As a result, it does call into question whether or not he counts as a good guy. Unlike Jin, Kouga doesn’t have any innate powers; he can’t turn into a super alien freak (I’m not exactly certain what Zetman’s powers are besides super strength and fast health regeneration). Instead, he employs a bevy of gadgets like a poor man’s Batman. He even has employees from his (father’s?) company to help him out. Unfortunately, an anti-heat gel and an anaerobic extinguisher don’t exactly live up to anything in Batman’s arsenal. Like I’ve said, Kouga is the Carlton Banks of the show: well-intentioned but dorky and naive.

There is, however, a more meaningful contrast between the two (former?) friends. We saw this last week when Kouga scolded Jin for helping people for monetary gain. Kouga believes in justice or so he claims. He goes after this week’s arsonist because he wants to “work for justice.” On the other hand, we’re not entirely sure why Jin is also at the scene. Unless I’ve missed something, Jin just kinda shows up and starts fighting.

What I find interesting about Kouga, however, is how poorly he reacted to being told, more or less, that he is wrong. He believed that the best course of action was to save only the children in the family, letting the mother die. When Jin refused to sacrifice the mother, Kouga seemed unnaturally angry. I think doubt would start to creep in for most of us when facing a similar situation, i.e. “Well gosh, maybe I am wrong and we can save everybody.” Kouga, however, is adamant that he isn’t wrong. Could this hubris end up being Kouga’s undoing? By the end of the episode, it seems as though he’ll take credit for Jin’s actions. Might he fall into that familiar trap where those in pursuit of justice begin to fetishize it?

The Bad

• The rest of the cast, however, lets the anime down. Everyone besides the two guys I talked about above are completely one dimensional. I can give Konoha a pass for now as I expect her role to expand as the plot progresses. At the moment, however, she’s a bystander who gets to cry and be passive while the men in her life does all the heavy-lifting.

The villains, on the other hand, remain unquestionably lame. The worst culprit is the evil scientist guy (who looks a whole lot like Revolver Ocelot, by the way); he doesn’t have any nuance whatsoever to his characterization.

• The character designs also fail to excite. I don’t always care for shounen-y action, but if there’s going to be a fight, I expect a little better than this:

The fighters above just look kinda lame, especially the arsonist and strange torso. Ironically, the fighting has easily been the least interesting aspect in either episodes.

The Ugly

• Okay, so you go after Jin’s aunt to piss him off and/or attain valuable leverage. Did you really have to strip her naked too?

How was this necessary whatsoever? Even if the cliffhanger at the end of the episode was nothing more than one of Jin’s fevered dreams, why the hell is he dreaming about her in that way? It’s just bizarre. Even if you say that sex sells, who’s going to start fapping at that point in the story? “Welp, the hero saved the day, but he has to nurse his wounds in the hospital. If only I had some eye candy to start spanking it!”

• The song in the OP is horrendous.