Shadow’s Impression
I’m here filling in for Berry this week since they are away so you’re stuck with me for this review. But enough self deprecation, let’s get into the review. I’m glad they just cut straight to Madarame receiving the calling card. I was actually just thinking that it’d be best for the episode to start off with that, so that was a nice surprise. I did really like the first part of the episode where they showed Madarame’s shadow appear before Yusuke after receiving the calling card and the art museum heist that they pulled off.
Unfortunately, that’s where the good pacing kind of ends since the rest of the episode had some pretty awkward pacing which the series is known for at this point. Once they find out that the treasure they stole was a fake, Madarame comes forward, revealing he had the real treasure, the real Sayuri painting, showing it to be a little different from the one that is publicly shown. Instead of the weird smoke that is shown from her chest down, there is a baby. And MAN did this part hit me with a lot of feels when Yusuke mutters “mom”. And it must have hurt Yusuke even more when Madarame goes on about how he viewed her as a disposable tool as well and even let her die when she had a seizure in front of him just so that he could take her painting without any strings attached. That laugh though that Yusuke did. He just sounded SO DONE with Madarame at that point and tells him he’s lost all ounce of his respect and reason to forgive him has all but vanished.
I was a bit disappointed with this fight because of how quickly they were able to get the best of Madarame and probably because there wasn’t enough Yusuke fighting action (though the last reason was a biased one, but I digress). Though the fighting dynamics are getting better from how they started with the first few episodes by using their weapons and guns, not just their personas. After Madarame was defeated, Yusuke’s last words to him felt so chilling and packed full with resentment and disappointment in his his expression and voice. “At least put an end to all this and use your own artwork for once.” I just love that line of dialogue. I think the weird thing that I immediately noticed from this part was that “the one in the black mask” was not mentioned like it was in the game. The black mask was a pretty prevalent mystery in the game, especially since it makes the thieves realize “we’re not the only ones who can come in here.” I’m really wondering why they’re not mentioning it at all. Are they saving it for later? Maybe they’ll drop the line later, but I guess we’ll just have to wait and find out.
Now, Madarame’s confession comes in almost immediately after the fight without any content in between, making it feel abrupt without the necessary breathing room. I feel like they could have at least put some sort of scene between the fight and confession to make it feel less abrupt but I really could go on about how to fix pacing forever so I’ll leave it at that. That smirk that Nakanohara did seemed very evil to me, but I feel like it was more so “hah, you got what you deserved” kind of look. It just looked really ominous to me. Though I got excited when my favorite girl appeared again very briefly, watching the news of Madarame’s confession. I’M ALSO SUPER EXCITED BECAUSE WE’RE PROBABLY GOING TO SEE MORE OF HER FROM NOW ON AHHHHHH. Sorry, I lost myself for a moment. Moving on!
With the aftermath of Madarame’s confession, everyone is talking about the Phantom Thieves a lot more since they took down such a big target. With all the buzz, the thieves decide to lay low for a little bit and decide to finally celebrate their victory while also celebrating the addition of Yusuke. Welcome aboard ma boi! Yusuke moves out of the old shack he once lived in with Madarame and because he doesn’t believe the student dorms would be a good artistic environment, decides to move in with Ann at her place. He even got a gift for her parents… This is why I love him. And he says it like nothing is wrong! And he’s legitimately shocked when Ann says no and confesses he spent all that he had left on the sweets he got. The first example of many of Yusuke’s terrible spending habits. He seems to grown quite attached to Ann, which I find endearing. But boy, he’s not the sharpest tool in the shed when it comes to social norms. Though I’m sure his eccentricity is why we all love him.
In the end, Morgana invites Yusuke to stay with him and Ren for the time being. And it’s kind of weird to see Sojiro pretty laid back about the whole thing. He’s so indifferent in the anime as opposed to being hostile and reprimanding in the game. It’s… kind of weird since it takes away from how bad I feel for Ren in his situation.
Speaking of which, everyone kind of has sharing time after they eat up the hotpot with Ryuji stating that he’s known Ann since they were in middle school. Everyone in their little group has been outcasted by their peers and screwed over by adults. Ryuji’s plans of getting a track scholarship were shot when he took a swing at Kamoshida, who broke his leg in retaliation and has since been viewed as delinquent. Ann was ostracized because of her looks by her peers and was sexually harassed by Kamoshida. Yusuke is mostly ignored by his peers because of his eccentricity and was used as a tool by Madarame. And Ren is treated as a no good delinquent with a record of assault because of that one guy who sued him for getting in his way. Different circumstances, yet similar backgrounds, which binds all of these characters together and has them strive to change society one heart at a time.
After the sleepover with Yusuke, the next morning he decides to live at the student dorms. I love the small bits of development in Yusuke early on as even though he doesn’t like the idea 100%, he realizes he needs to experience interacting with different people. I am so proud of him because he does want to change and is willing to take steps in the right direction to do so. And it also says a lot of him leaving the original Sayuri behind at Leblanc. He’s not leaving it behind, rather, he left it in a place he can regularly return back to whenever he wants.
This episode’s pacing was weird. It was really fast paced in the beginning half and then got pretty slow during the second. So pacing whiplash much? It was a decent episode though with lots of Yusuke and a moment of Yusuke x Ann that gave me my otp feels for the day~ Though the next episode has me mildly worried. Are they really going to spend the entire episode on that…?
