And we’re back! Excited to see where this goes. Last week’s episode did a lot of work to bolster my faith in this series – I didn’t really care about Mirai’s sadsack past in the first half, but the second established a legitimate bond between the main two, giving Mirai a little substance and retroactively adding some interesting undertones to Akihito’s upbeat facade, pursuit of Mirai, and other relationships besides. A lot of efficient work for one I CAN’T CONTROL THE RAGE INSIDE ME RAAAH light novel sequence.
Speaking of which, yeah, this is obviously all Dark Flame Master as fuck. That doesn’t really matter to me – virtually every plot is a variation on other plots, and all I care about is the execution. Will they sell me on these characters to the point where I care, where I feel? Will the scenes be visualized and directed in such a way to create a compelling mood, tone, or world? Will it be about something, and will what it has to say be articulated well enough to have some resonance, or even some truth? This all seems like a very calculated effort, but in practice it really isn’t – if these things work, I’ll know they’re working because I’ll give a damn. Because in spite of all crustiness to the contrary, I’ll naturally care about what’s happening, and what this piece can show me.
Alright, enough of my own melodrama. I’ll let the show handle that.