Hello everyone, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m eager to dive right back into Star Driver, having been thoroughly impressed by its first episode. The show has offered beautiful character acting and storyboarding so far, while also demonstrating the thematic complexity and clarity that you’d expect from an Enokido production. That first episode threw a lot of fantastical variables at us, but they all seemed to fit within a thematic paradigm centering on adolescence, sexuality, and sexual agency in particular.

Both the language of the masked actors and the prominent cage imagery seemed to frame the shrine maidens as passive figures, objects to be “acted upon” by their male controllers. The correlation of that patriarchal perspective with the traditional figure of the shrine maiden surely isn’t a coincidence; moving forward, we can probably assume that Takuto and his companions will be providing a more progressive counterpoint, where female agency and desire is respected just as much as male power. I’m also interested in seeing if the last act’s aesthetic debt to Utena signifies more of a structural parallel to that series, but all of this is likely getting a dozen or so episodes ahead of ourselves. For now, let’s see what Star Driver’s second episode has in store!

Episode 2

Gosh this show has bright colors. We open on a shot of the sunny beach, emphasizing the hot pink decor of the school building. It’s a very retro color scheme; garish, neon, and clearly indebted to pop art, a very “Miami Vice” look

I find it interesting that this show’s main female character designs all have relatively mundane hairstyles with normal human colors, while the main male characters all have ostentatious and color-rich hair designs. In a show all about adolescent courtship, that doesn’t seem like an accidental choice either – they’re like peacocks, with the males of the species exhibiting extravagant displays of feathers

“Through the glass, yes or no?” The girl behind Takuto engages in an interesting courtship ritual with a boy outside, ending in a kiss mediated by the glass window. Once again, permission, invasion, and sexual agency serve as a constant undercurrent even in this show’s incidental moments. I like the concept of these kids turning barriers (social or physical) like this glass into new ways of expressing their sexual agency

Apparently that guy wasn’t her boyfriend, just some total stranger. Her name is Kanako

The stern-looking class president doesn’t approve of such games, to which Kanako explicitly responds “so conservative”

And apparently Kanako is already married!

She responds “how lovey-dovey” when Sugata asks Takuto to hang out after school. Given the explicitly gendered nature of the conservative faction’s behavior, I imagine we might be breaking down some gender essentialism here, too!

After school, we meet Sarina Endo, who appears to be the head of the drama club

The two maids are also students, and their names are actually Jaguar and Tiger. Some very Doremi-reminiscent pouting as Jaguar frets about her title, good stuff

And we at last meet the show’s requisite Little Furry Thing, some kind of fox creature

Sarina gets right into it, immediately asking Takuto if he can pilot a Cybody. Also emphasizes his “bishonen” energy – seems like they might be leaning into the idea of a “pretty boy” as a rejection of previous gender ideals

“Right now, Cybodies can only function in that zero-time space. In real time, they’re nothing but gigantic dolls.” A really interesting way to conceptualize giant robots

So the masked organization is working towards allowing the Cybodies to be activated in real time

In the evening, the sun paints all of the island in rainbow colors. Considering the whole world went greyscale when time stopped, this may also be thematically purposeful – the world is alive in color when people are moving forward, but desaturated when they’re lingering in a still moment. Shades of Utena there, in the need to move on from adolescence versus making a personal prison of it

At last, our title drop: “The Challenge of the Kiraboshi Order of Cross”

Both the class president and Kanako are members of the masked order, introduced with great fanfare

The leader claims they were “able to use the electric bier to pilot a Cybody.” A bier is like a funeral platform, so are they implying the “breaking of the shrine maiden’s seal” is like a kind of death? That would fit with their conservative gender essentialism, tethering the shrine maiden’s very life to her virginity

They resolve to destroy the Ginga Bishonen

Later on, Benio nearly seduces Takuto in the dorm baths. Hormones really running wild from the start here!

Really effective integration of falling cherry blossoms as we head outside, adding a great sense of solemnity to our reunion with Tetsuya

Joji, the first defeated opponent, has been holed up in his room training ever since. Given his green hair and similar disposition, he feels like a pretty direct callback to Utena’s first defeated rival, Saionji

Tetsuya is going to seek revenge. The combination of falling cherry blossoms and organ track make this scene feel like a funeral procession, appropriate for his doomed confrontation with the Ginga Bishounen

Apparently Sugata has the ability to connect with the “greatest Cybody,” but Wako forbids him from doing so, as there’s something unique about his Cybody

“Scarlet Kiss’s first phase is the ability to manipulate any man she kisses. But deep down, she’s fallen for Sugata Shindo. The inability to wait is the mark of youth.” Unsurprising that sexuality is already being explicitly framed as a weapon, given this show’s, y’know, basically everything

Also interesting that the “First Phase” actually doesn’t involve Cybodies at all, and is more of a personal superpower. If completing the phases is supposed to signify your escape from adolescence, then I suppose the first phase might be framed as play-acting adult sexuality in your adolescent form, before you assume the “evolved” or “adult” self of the Cybody

Wako would rather have Takuto simply transfer out, and save himself from this conflict

The caged girl Sakana tells a story of a man who either fell in love with a woman or the galaxy itself. An interesting cautionary tale – it is easy to confuse the giddy feeling of maturing into personal freedom with the passion of love

I’ll be interested to see if this story truly does emphasize the ephemerality of adolescent passion along with its raw power. Anime is all about celebrating the passion of youth, but youthful passion is also reckless, stupid, and easily misdirected or spent. Given we’ve already had moments of “youthful male passion” resulting in an outright attack on women, it seems like Star Driver may be emphasizing the fundamental untrustworthiness of youthful fervor

The masks used by the Kiraboshi members also play into the idea of persona, the private and public self, a dichotomy that is also built up through childhood and adolescence. Since the pilots take off their masks to pilot the Cybodies, perhaps these are supposed to be their most authentic selves?

“The nail that sticks up gets hammered down!” Even Kiraboshi’s taunts reflect their conservative perspective

God, these fight sequences are so good. I really like the stark use of full black shading for Tauburn in these cuts – it feels like the aesthetic of the OP in motion, the kind of shading you expect in a comic book, not actual animation

And of course, the motorcycle enthusiast has a motorcycle transformation for his mech

And Done

Man, this show isn’t wasting any time! I suppose it makes sense; in previous eras, an original production of this scale would frequently receive around fifty episodes to tell its story. With just half that number in its arsenal, Star Driver has no time to waste obscuring the true nature of its school, and thus Takuto has already been introduced to the anti-Kiraboshi faction. The parallels between Kiraboshi and Utena’s student council feel even stronger after this episode, but it’s clear that Star Driver is charting its own path in terms of its approach to gender and sexuality. With the initial alliances and duel paradigm established, I’m hoping episode three will provide a bit more human texture for our lead actors – but either way, it’s delightful just sharing a conversation with this thematically rich production.

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