Hello everyone, and welcome the heck back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’d like to dive back into Star Driver, that intriguing combination of Igarashi and Enokido’s sensibilities. Between FLCL, Utena, Evangelion, Doremi, and Diebuster, the two of them were collectively involved in like a quarter of my most favorite anime, so it’s no surprise that I’m having a great time with Star Driver.
Last episode saw us finally spending some quiet time with Takuto and Wako, as the island fell under a Cybody-empowered spell. We learned that Wako once dreamed of leaving this island, but is bound here by her duty as a shrine maiden. Only breaking a maiden’s seal will allow them to leave – but with all the other seals broken, if Wako’s does as well, the Cybodies will be released.
Of course, given this is an Igarashi/Enokido joint, all this shrine maiden business mostly seems like a metaphor for the course of adolescence, and the demands for “purity” that so often restrict young women. Wako’s admission that “my grandma was supposed to teach me when I joined junior high. But when I was still in grammar school, I apprivoised on my own” maps perfectly to the awkward progress of puberty, implying the Cybodies are linked to our sexual maturation. Enokido has exploited similar metaphors throughout his career, from FLCL’s robot boners to their spiritual successors in Diebuster, not to mention Utena and Captain Earth. He is perhaps the greatest writer of one of anime’s most persistent narratives: “adolescence projected as apocalyptic external drama.” Let’s see how this metaphor develops from here!
Episode 5
This vocalist is truly a master of that bratty, almost indifferent pop-punk affectation of the early ‘00s. I was never particularly into that sort of music, but I also grew up right during its popular heyday, meaning songs like these still sound profoundly nostalgic to me. And this is actually a good one!
We open on class rep Kate, clearly up to no good as she mixes potions in her laboratory. So far, Kate has been defined mostly as the opposite of Kanako, a prudish counterpoint to Kanako’s proud sexuality. Though the mechanism of the shrine maidens hinges on preserving versus stealing purity, it seems like the individuals attempting to free the Cybodies aren’t really united through any shared philosophy of sexuality
After she leaves, an ominous hand secures a vial marked “Mandrake.” Mandrake is both poisonous and prone to causing hallucinations, meaning it’s been classically associated with magical rituals (as celebrated in Flying Witch’s incredible first episode punchline)
As the president urges them to exercise outside for “fan service,” I am once again cheered by this show’s proudly equal opportunity horniness. That’s more important here than ever, given this show is literally about our presentation of sexuality
We’re introduced to Tsubasa Aoki, who handles the club’s lighting and audio needs. Welp, every secondary episodic character ends up getting stuck in a machine, so I apologize in advance, Aoki
“Don’t worry. Your big sisters will take you by the hand and tell you what to do.” Girls can also be horny! I’d expect no less from Enokido, but goddamn are anime’s usual paradigms of adolescent behavior stifling
Apparently, our six club members are the only ones who know about the Cybodies
A sudden earthquake sends Aoki tumbling off a ladder
Aoki is a little flustered by the cute nurse. Another welcome inversion of expectations here, with the new male character being far more timid about close contact than any of the girls
Apparently the nurse has got it bad for pretty boys. An incredible cut of animation as her horniness is nearly discovered, and she slams her catalog back into the desk
The headmaster comes in with a proposal offer from a well-to-do man, but horny nurse Okamoto ain’t interested
And of course, she can’t actually remember the names of her female students
As the advisor for the science club, Okamoto is naturally also involved in the management of the science team’s own Cybody
Her villain name is Professor Green
And now it seems she’s re-infiltrating the school in the guise of a very pro-kissing student
“A girl doing the asking? How vulgar.” Hah. Kanako’s acceptance of sexual agency goes precisely as far as she personally desires, and not one step farther. Her philosophy is not about general liberation, it is about being able to do what she personally wants, while still looking down her nose at as many people as possible
“Blowing kisses… it’s not imaginary!” With a few years of experience on them, the expressions of sexuality that these students see as legendary or impossible are easy for her. There is nothing so sturdy from the one side and insubstantial from the other as adolescent insecurity
But Aoki actually seems more immune to her charms in this form. Apparently he’s into older women
Kate catches Okamoto in the process of stealing more science club materials
“So it was you all along – the one who’s been pilfering the mandrake love potion”
Apparently this potion both only works for teens and is also fatal for them. In a conservative framework of sexual expression, consummation is often associated with death
“As Yodoc’s driver, you’re the only one who can drink it.” So Okamoto is using the power to mess with time in order to drink a pheromone potion and better hit on her students. Jesus christ, lady
Okamoto’s alter ego “Hina” sends Takuto a note, but it seems our leads are already wise to her nature
“There’s a Star Driver whose first phase is the ability to reverse their age.” I see, so her power is actually quite limited overall. And frankly kind of tragic – it’s simply facilitating her reverie of perpetual adolescence, preventing her from actually ascending into adulthood
And abusing that power is what’s causing all these earthquakes. Apparently, when an island’s seal is broken, it’s prone to more cataclysmic seismic activity
Incredible expression work as Takuto reveals his note to the female members of the group. Igarashi faces are absolutely undefeated, as any fans of Sailor Moon or Ojamajo Doremi well know
Strong layouts, too. I like the sense of space and expectation in this low-angle shot of Takuto approaching Hina
“So what if I am? Is it against the school rules to cause an earthquake?” Aw jeez, I think I love her
We return to our pair of mysterious storytellers with the line, “if there’s something you want, take it!” That is essentially the power that Okamoto is abusing here – the certainty of position and acceptance of risk that in part defines adult maturity, and allows her to cut through the indecisiveness of these teenagers through her willingness to actually take what she wants
This pair seem like a cross between Utena’s shadow puppets and student council meetings – a tad more directly involved than the puppets, but still mostly designed to riff on the themes of any given episode
And of course, Okamoto can’t help but drool over Takuto’s entrance to their battle
More wild pose-to-pose shifts and dramatic shadow work as the fight begins, along with that frame modulation that Imaishi and his contemporaries took on from the Kanada revolution. Dramatic shading and furious movement between held poses compliment each other quite well; the in-betweens are largely a blur, resolving into ornately shaded compositions before dissolving again
That said, the effect is far less pronounced than last episode, making me assume it’s not that same animator
The science team’s invention is a “Precognition System,” allowing her to see Takuto’s moves ahead of time
Unfortunately, Okamoto is distracted by horniness, and promptly defeated
Oh my god, and Aoki actually confesses to her at the end. I’m not sure she really “earned” this happy ending, but uh, go you, Okamoto
And Done
Ahaha, what a ridiculous episode. Okamoto is just so shamelessly horny and self-obsessed that it was hard not to love her, particularly after it led to her immediate and dramatic undoing. And it seemed the animators were having a lot of fun with this episode too, taking advantage of Okamoto’s alternately predatory and hopeless personality to sneak in lots of goofy character acting. In spite of Star Driver’s more mature premise, this episode felt like classic Igarashi silliness, and a fine counterpoint to last episode’s serious tone. Follow your (toxic, predatory, and outright illegal) dreams, Okamoto.
This article was made possible by reader support. Thank you all for all that you do.