Well, that was quite the first impression. Sparks of Tomorrow transports us to a world full of steam. Literally just steam everywhere. You can’t even see the sky anymore. You can’t escape it by hiding indoors either. A few daring hopefuls, however, dream of an electrified world — one that would finally see the fog finally cleared away. One such individual was Seiroku, a brilliant inventor who was seemingly on the cusp of ushering in that electric revolution. Unfortunately, he went to war and never came back, a common fate for young men in those days. As far as we know, all that remains is Seiroku’s younger brother Kihachi, who is bitter and broken-hearted. He also has to fend for himself in a world choked by steam, a constant reminder of his brother’s failure to change the world. All he can do is let off some steam by calling out scammers.

But like always, a chance encounter with Inako, the clumsy young daughter of a brewery company, would change both their lives forever… presumably. The electric dream is still alive. It’s just barely breathing. For some reason, the 20th Century Electrical Catalog, Seiroku’s manual containing perhaps his thoughts and secrets about electricity, is in Inako’s sister’s possession. And people really want their hands on it. Yosuke, a rather creepy heir to a zaibatsu, coerces Inako’s father into giving the girl away for marriage just to get his hands on the catalog. And the latter agrees! More scumbag dads! Yosuke immediately starts tearing the home apart, reasoning that he’s now family so he can do whatever he wants. Elsewhere, Inako tells her big sis Noriko about her encounter with Kihachi, the woman suddenly connects the dots. She tells Inako to quickly take the catalog with her and bring it to Kihachi. No time for explanations, though! Unfortunately, I have so many questions.

Why is the catalog here? Inako’s family must have some history with Seiroku, but when and how? He clearly must have trusted them quite a bit if the catalog is now in Noriko’s possession, but did Seiroku mention his younger brother at all? Did the family try to locate the kid but failed to do so? Was her fiancee war buddies with Seiroku? And why does Kihachi know nothing about this family and their connection to his brother? If Kihachi and Inako hadn’t fortuitously bumped into each other that morning, what would Noriko had done instead with the catalog? Could Seiroku possibly still be alive? Is he out there waiting to be found? And yes, we can probably tell from both Yosuke’s looks and mannerisms that he is a bad guy. He just wanted Inako’s hand in marriage to get the catalog, right? He wouldn’t actually do anything to her, right? But what is he really after? Ushering in the age of electricity (that’s good!) but monopolizing it (that’s bad!)? Well, that’s probably safe to assume. As always, the true big bad is… capitalism.

It’s evident that Kihachi needs to pick up his brother’s torch — … er, electric lamp…? — and carry it forward into the future. He needs to fulfill the promise that Seiroku failed to keep. Along the way, maybe he can also save Inako from this doomed engagement — even better if he simply gives her the impetus to save herself. But more importantly, he can provide her a much-needed sense of closure. The first time we meet Inako, she is desperately praying to a deity. She wishes only to talk to her deceased mother again. It isn’t difficult to imagine why; dad ain’t much to speak of. Anyway, Inako’s second encounter with Keihachi has her enthralled. His short-lived, electric-powered slideshow gives both of them the briefest glimpse into paradise, but even a few short, phantasmagorical seconds with her mother is transformative. Needless to say, Keihachi seemingly holds Inako’s happiness in his inventions. Just a little extra motivation on top of carrying his brother’s legacy, I suppose.

Stray thoughts & observations:

— As expected, the show is a visual feast. Each and every scene has just so much detail packed into every corner. But there are lots of stylistic flair as well. I guess this is what it looks like when people yap endlessly about their passions. Some scenes are a little too indulgent, though. Like this one. Try getting your eyeball this close to someone else’s eyeball!

— When Seiroku and his buddies light up the night, the contrast is striking. It’s like the world before us has been wiped clean. Yes, yes, we wouldn’t have all this steam around if we could get electricity up and running, but let’s not pretend that generating electricity is necessarily clean. Plus, you can generate electricity with steam. They need not be mutually exclusive. I wonder how the story will approach this issue in the future (if it does so at all).

— So… are these drugs or what? Steam vapes?

— Even the dream sequences have their own distinctive look. KyoAni is just flexing on us now.

— I wonder how Kihachi is going to get himself out of this predicament with the catalog in tact. I mean, he doesn’t know Yosuke, right? So he wouldn’t know what Yosuke is also after (the catalog). Maybe Inako is quick-thinking enough to hide the book? But she’s still clueless about the engagement. She has no idea that her father basically sold her off just to pay down some debt.

— Yeah…. yeah, I guess this is going to be one of the primary shows I blog about this season. The “What if” scenario is intriguing. But this show also comes out on Sundays along with You and I Are Polar Opposites. Hm, timing-wise, how should I cover both of them? I don’t really wanna spend my Sundays doing nothing but watching and writing about anime. Welp, that’s a problem for future me to figure out! I’m Seiroku’ing my Kihachi self. For now, these posts can both go up on the same day. There’s no guarantee that I’ll have anything to blog on Mondays, so one of these could just end up being a day late.