Nakanohito Genome [Jikkyouchuu] or The Ones Within [Genome] ended exactly the way I expected it too. With an opening ending, no actual questions answered and a more questions pending then you could shake a pair of Paca ears at.
Episode 12 focuses on a bonus round instead of the 10th task, for this bonus round. The group must play a bunch of RPG casino like games to gather coins. The prizes included in this are all Paca items and one special item that allows them to grant any wish within the realm of the game. (So I suppose nothing like ‘Let me go home’) So, dressed in special RPG gear the group goes to work. Sadly, most of them are absolutely awful at gambling. Anya and Yuzu probably being the worst of the group.
Karin plays it too safe and never takes risks. So she never really gains anything.
Himiko won’t play in the slightest because she says she’s bad and thus ends up giving her coins to Yuzu and Anya.
I think the part of the episode that got the biggest laugh out of me was when Kaikoku and Zakuro wander into a Super Mario looking area and despite all warnings, Kaikoku moves straight down one of the warp pipes. The change in animation to a game style, him coming out of the warp pipe with a Mario mustache.
Akatsuki stumbles upon a dice game with everyone and being the game maniac he is, volunteers to go first. He has a pretty solid start, two good rolls right in the beginning but things go downhill on the third one as he falls into a pitfall trap. He must escape by the end of the bonus rounds time limit or become a dropout, unable to play with the others. Well, this doesn’t sit well with anyone. If they almost wore themselves ragid to bring back Kaikoku then surely they’re going to try to save Akatsuki.
The problem is, almost none of them have coins…except for the ever faithful and spacy Makino. Who has amassed a large amount by sitting and winning on the slot machines for the entire bonus round. He has half of what they need to buy the wish granting ticket and drag Akatsuki back into their fold.
Meanwhile, while the group works on figuring out how to double their coins. Akatsuki wanders through a wasteland, haunted by memories of a woman. I can only assume that this is his mother or step-mother perhaps?
The group plays the game that Karin was playing earlier. High or Low, a card game where you try to figure out if your card is higher or lower then the dealers card. They end up in a bad spot with an eight card, right in the middle so it’s not easy to guess if the dealer will have a higher or a lower card.
They flashback to a conversation at the beginning of the episode about Makino’s ‘girlfriend’ and if she was younger or older then him. Akatsuki was the only one to vote older, and thus they put it all on the luck that the card is higher then their eight. They win and bring Akatsuki back.
We’re treated to a really neat mix of the opening as the group is reunited. Then, as the bonus round ends. We cut away from the island and the group to people we’ve never seen. No, that’s not right. We’ve seen this woman, the woman who’s image was haunting Akatsuki just now.
She speaks with what I can assume is her husband and thanks him for worrying about her. She’s alright though and he can do what he has too, so he steps out of the house and meets with an unusual group of people. Anya’s brother, what i can assume is Zakuro and Sakura’s Father, and someone else perhaps related to Kaikoku based on the look.
WHAT THE ACTUAL HELL? Have they grouped up to find the kids? Are they part of what’s going on? I have SO many questions.
We cut back to the island as Paca calls the beginning of the next round and we get a general pan of the group and the underground drop outs doing their thing and we pend on that. As the episode title says ‘The journey continues’.
Final Impressions
I’m really caught here. Yes, i’m mad we ended in a place with so many questions left unanswered, yes, i’m mad that we’re probably never going to see a season two and I don’t feel there is a chance we’re ever even going to see the manga officially published in the states.
Do I regret watching this show? Hell no. If you asked me all season, it was absolutely my favorite show of the season. Which is funny, because in the same breathe I would admit that it is one of the weakest shows. Fruits Basket had better pacing and storytelling, Given was more emotionally driven, Dr. Stone beats it in every way possible from writing to animation, even…as much as i hate to admit this, to opening music. There was something about it that I adored though and I think i’ve finally figured it out.
It was the characters. Which is silly, because in retrospect, even they were a little silly and tropey but hear me out.
-Akatsuki was a genuinely delightful character, he had an upbeat personality but he could drop real emotional moments and there was always a air of mystery surrounding him that made him a genuinely interesting character.
-Anya was sort of your typical angry character, but he had a solid reasoning behind him and you could see how his illness effected him and the way he thought. You could also see how his history with his brothers shaped him.
-Yuzu also carried that air of mystery around her, she was over the top and yandere’s aren’t really my thing but she was still a pretty balanced character. Because while she was something of a yandere, it wasn’t so bad that she couldn’t interact with other members of the cast.
-Himiko was sweet and kind, but also quick to panic and resort to pulling out her flash grenades. So while she was kind, she also had something of a violent streak.
-Zakuro and Kaikoku mostly did their own thing in the series, not acting as part of the unit. Their personal dynamic though was fantastic and I was fond of how both of their characters progressed throughout the series. Kaikoku coming to grow a little closer to the group and Zakuro trying to open up and make friends with Makino and get over his fear of girls.
-Makino was amazing, honestly I don’t have much else to say. He was charming, funny, and something of a plot device for the series and he filled that role with flying colors.
-Karin to me was the weakest character, but honestly, that’s just a personal preference as I am not fond of the violent tsundere troupe. You can do a tsundere without having her senselessly beat men up over misunderstandings.
The opening, sung by Anya’s VA stood out as my favorite of the season and i was always hyped up when I heard it.
Once again, my biggest complaint about this show is that it isn’t complete. Which I honestly knew it wouldn’t be from the start. So I guess I can’t complain too much. Hopefully we’ll see more content for this stateside in the future, if not though, it was a good ride. Was it perfect? No, was it better then any other show I was watching this season? Also no, but was it my favorite despite all logic?
Yes, it was and that’s what made it special to me.
9/10 because of NO ANSWERED QUESTIONS.