It’s hard to talk about this episode because it unfortunately took the show in a direction I did not want it to go for me: Disinterest. While I don’t know for sure if this is a precursor to a lackluster series, Active Raid episode 4 was much different and felt a lot less entertaining as a whole. There are many reasons for this but the easiest way to discuss it is to bring to attention something all episodes seemed to have that this one did not contain to quite the extent: Active Raid usually succeeds because it inverts some sort of trope and allows a sentai theme to be questioned or played up for laughs. Episode 4 is the first episode of Active Raid to make me wonder if this trope will genuinely succeed or the show will find itself reaching a stale point of contention- and will they go back to actually relatable victims or people in danger? Seriously, this episode featured someone in distress that I did not care about at all, only the people around him really mattered to me.
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The main focus of this episode was on a plane in a bomb, and for once the team seemed to be pretty efficient in fixing their ‘deal with the problem in a timely manner’ problem. However one of the successful things about the show was the level of, to be slightly off color in terms, foreplay they used to bring in the suits and make sure the mission was going to be hilarious. Instead of having a truly hilarious plot, which this show is generally very good at, they more or less rehashed the tensions and arguments between the two lead male characters. This ended up being less funny and more confusing, because this tension was artificially created in the beginning of the series and then essentially ignored.
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When I say ignored I don’t mean it didn’t exist, but merely that the show allowed it to exist because it was an element of the show and it wanted it to be there. Ignored isn’t the correct term truthfully, the better way to say it is that Active Raid allowed the tensions of the main characters to blend in together and exist as a seamless thread in the shows plot that cannot sustain itself on its own. We have known from episode 1 that these characters have issues working together despite their actual capacity to work together, yet the focus on it this episode just made me feel as if I was watching for nothing. Nothing ‘new’ was added and the ‘plot’ this episode was putting in front of us was more monotonous and less fulfilling. That isn’t to say nothing good happened- there was the occasional dialogue and fight scene that pulled you in.
In fact it’s not that nothing happened in episode 4 of Active Raid: it’s that for the most part nothing really eye catching or engaging happened in episode 4 of Active Raid. While the previous episodes could catch my attention with a funny joke or something interesting to dwell on about the characters, this episode made it hard to keep my eyes on the screen. I am hoping this is more or less just working out the kinks: maybe this episode exists to tie a lot of plot threads together that I can’t possibly know about. The good part about being an episodic reviewer is I have the potential to further examine what comes next: is Active Raid going to continue on the path of a fun loving tongue in cheek show with a neatly threaded plot, or will it be less engaging in an attempt to be more serious? While I can’t answer that now, I am hoping to enjoy next weeks episode a little more.
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The animation is still perfect though, and I love Soichiro so much I don’t care if most of his actual plot gets downplayed to have arguments with Takeru, he is my husbando . .takin out the trash. BUT WHY DID THEY BARELY MENTION THE BETA VERSION OF THE SUITS AND WHY IS THIS HACKER SO ONE DIMENSIONAL? Srsly.
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Oki
Given Raid’s a 2-cour series, there’s a possibility the mystery of hacker boy and his loli may not be covered this season. They could save it for the Summer cour.
Someone translated some info from the anime’s website, which details the Raid universe:
-Asami did really go study overseas and is a returnee.
-Willwear was developed in Japan for use in reconstructing Tokyo when parts of it were being damaged by the quicksand. Since it was actually so ultra-effective, security forces and foreign nations have started looking at its application for military purpose.
-Rank C ammo is for intimidation purpose, emitting light and sound.
Rank B ammo is for capturing targets, which involves EMP nets, adhesive glue and low-impact bullets to only damage the outer shell of the willwear.
Rank A ammo is lethal use ammo, involving armor-penetration bullets and explosives. Mainly used by the military.
Thanks! This adds a lot of relevance to stuff for me! 😀
I would tend to disagree, because for me the episode was a nice change of pace. The previous conflicts weren’t all that risky, to be honest, which is why I thought it was good to see a different kind of threat rather than yet another crazy individual in an enemy power suit. Not because I cared about the individuals in danger, but because in my personal opinion it’s easier to relate to a plane crashing than to somebody tearing up a school or ruining an idol’s performance.
In terms of plot, I liked that the episodic story seems to be foreshadowing what will happen in the future. It established what the villains are actually looking for (the Orochi system) as well as introduced a new character from the military faction who might eventually play a larger role and has a past connection to poor Sena. They didn’t speak too much, but I still liked their exchange.
Concerning the main focus, here we have two individuals with contrasting personalities, so it’s natural that they would continue to clash. There have been scenes in previous episodes showing this too, but the series had treated their interactions as a secondary or tertiary element. Therefore, the latest episode simply decided to increase the focus on that subject, comparatively speaking, because it hadn’t been a priority before. Which might not work for everyone, but it was still pretty amusing for me.
That said, the show definitely seems to be rotating its points of emphasis and subject matter on a regular basis. It is quite episodic after all, even though there will probably be more of a central plot much later on. Which is why it’s not unusual that different people will appreciate different episodes for different reasons. Next week looks like things will become sillier again.
I disagree, the mission that posed a high risk for suffocating an entire building of students was fairly high risk. I digress, I do like knowing there is foreshadowing and my issue is not with these things existing: but the execution. I could not keep my eyes on the screen, and given the last 3 episodes kept me largely engaged that was disappointing.
My main issue was not that they continue to argue, but that it was focused on in a way that almost functioned as if we didn’t know they did: it focused on it like it was a large element of the show we didn’t grasp, but we did! So that was frustrating.
Trust me when I say I don’t want the show to be completely silly, all I’m hoping for is the show to engage me more when the plot is serious. 🙂