After such an action-packed episode last week, we slow things down a lot this time. The group head out of the Shinkansen and make their way back to Kansai, but without Hacker. Master and Pupil executioners are suspended and Boss gets scolded by the higher ups, causing her to make an announcement for all executioners to find and kill our Akudama group. And while Master seemingly accepts Boss’ decision, he still won’t let the loss go.
Even though the episode was slow, it was a great episode to get to know some of the characters more and see some tension rising between them. Doctor has kind of been in the background for awhile, having a couple good moments here and there but she hasn’t gotten my attention too much. While you could say she was “bullying” the kids to give her an answer to who they are, I don’t really blame her. They did put bomb collars on their necks so it doesn’t surprise me that she’d want to know who they are and if they could really trust them. As amazing as she is with her first aid, I don’t think Doctor can fix herself up after an explosion. I’m really liking the tension rising up between her and Swindler, as it adds a bit of a dynamic within the group. They’ve mostly been pretty buddy-buddy with each other, such as the bromance between Brawler and Hoodlum, and they’ve all worked with each other pretty well but it seems like their trust is starting to crumble just a little bit. Doctor is going to be keeping an eye on Swindler, and I believe if there’s even a little but of distrust that it’ll just keep building up with the rest of them, but we’ll see where this goes.
I’m really surprised that Hacker just up and left! He mentioned his dream of going to Kanto over and over again, but I didn’t think he’d actually go through with it so soon in the story. It makes me wonder though, did he even survive going there? For one thing, how did he get the Shinkansen to start? Second, Cat (the Children) mentioned that once they reached Kanto that they’d be killed. And third, wouldn’t he just die without the little girl’s barrier? Maybe Hacker miraculously survived, but I feel like the chances of it are low. And if he did die…well, that’s a lame way to get rid of him. :/
So, I’m going to hope he didn’t die and that we’ll see him again somehow!
As for the Children, which I guess I’ll call them now (Boy and Girl respectively), at first it sounded like they were a product of human experimentation. And that could still be it, but the rabbit and shark presentations have always been relevant in each episode and they mentioned Kyushu Plant. We know that many things are made there, such as Courier’s bike for example. It could be that the Children were made there too? The way they spoke about food and not feeling hunger just made them not sound human. This Professor of theirs is probably their creator and programmed them to do a certain task, and whether that task is going to be done at Expo Park we don’t know yet. Well, we don’t really know anything because Swindler stepped in. Maybe a little frustrating in terms of not getting info, but I’m not going to lie Swindler playing big sister to them was pretty adorable. Whether they’re robots or actual experimented children, it’s a toss up.
The rest of the episode was actually pretty chill, we got some nice interactions between the characters. The lunch box is insanely cool, I wish that were a real thing! The whole food segment was a great way to see a bit of the characters’ personalities through their food choices, such as Brawler going for meat, Doctor with a classier meal, and Courier going for takoyaki again (rip Hoodlum). Marshmallows for Cutthroat doesn’t surprise me too much with how maniacally…bouncy he is, but I would have expected a red food. Like strawberries or cherries, and then he’d smash them into juice to make it look like blood. Because of course he would. Swindler also got takoyaki, and honestly I feel like the show is really setting up for a ship between them.
Them picking the same food, talking to each other so casually and learning about each other. The pretty sunset in front of them, bickering about the coin like a couple with Hoodlum staring at them. Yeah, very shippy if you ask me. I’m not sure if I’m on board with this one, but we’ll see how it goes.
Looks like we’ll be back into the action next time as Master found their path. And judging by the preview, it sounds like we’ll be losing Brawler. Brawler’s character isn’t usually the type I like, but he’s so simple and easy going (sort of), and his bromance with Hoodlum is hilarious so if he does end up dying, I’ll be a little sad. We’ll see!
