Amagi Brilliant Park / First Impressions

「お金が足りない!」 (Okane ga Tarinai!)
“Not Enough Money”

This…was a hard episode for me to blog. No, it wasn’t a heavy episode; after the drama last week Amagi Brilliant Park has pulled back into pure comedy. Rather, it was because there was too much fun to contain in 36 screencaps and, having exceeded my quota twice over, I agonised long over all the silly shots I had to cut. Fans of the three faeries (no, not you) would no doubt have been pleased that they’ve dipped into their extra reserves of crazy this episode to ascend to outright lunacy. I would say they steal the show, but they pretty much are the show. Their natural habitat is not the land of hopes of dreams, but the land of irrational and disproportionate violence.

I was surprised how lightly Amagi Brilliant Park took itself this episode, because the conflict itself is actually serious subject matter. After running the park effectively pro bono for almost a month Seiya’s run out of money. I was actually looking forward to how Seiya was going to deal with this because, surely, running out of money was a completely predictable outcome of not making any money. Considering that Amaburi was already making steady losses I’m surprised they actually lasted this long, and I wanted Seiya to deal with the income issue and prove that he actually has a long-term plan. The thing I’ve been thinking about Seiya, ever since he took up this job, is that, when one gets down to it, he’s not really a manager. He’s a con artist. Seiya doesn’t have any managerial experience, and he’s just kind of winging it as he goes. He makes up for it by being omni-talented, magnetically charismatic, and over-prepared, but as we saw with last episode’s flooding emergency even Kanie Seiya can’t keep all the balls in the air all the time. So far he’s been what the park has needed—they were looking for a miracle, and only con artists sell miracles—but I still don’t know how he’s going to make it at the rate he’s going.

Well, selling otaku collections can only last so long, so we can deal with all that at a later point. We can an afford an episode like this devoted to just good fun. It’s not necessarily laugh-out-loud comedy (though I got a few chuckles now and again), but rather just a silly adventure. It reminded me of an episode of some other anime, though dressed in a different style of stupidity. And I couldn’t have been the only one thinking that the labyrinth would make for a pretty cool attraction, even if it’s not very child-friendly and entirely unsafe. I only wish the dragon, the teaser from last episode, got to be cool for longer, but I suppose that won’t be very fitting of an anime like this. Seiya also has the contractual right to look smarmy at least once an episode, and since he dutifully spent the rest of it playing the exasperated straight man I guess it’s only fair he gets to have his moment at the expense of the last boss. Oh right, Seiya’s mind powers! I almost forgot he had those. It’s like he only breaks that out for completely inconsequential things. I know he was trying to save his life, but in effect all it does is ruin people’s fun. That Seiya guy—what a wet blanket. He even stopped Moffle from going all Excalibur on the dragon. Yes, it would have been wrong, but part of me was still disappointed it didn’t go off. You’re still cool, Moffle! Don’t be too grumpy.

Oracles of the future – some hints

Despite all the new faces that came out of the adventure, the status quo is still mostly in place throughout the episode. The Elementario girls are still comical background nonsense, Isuzu is still awkward (but bless her for trying anyway). There is, however, still some slight progressions in the narrative. Seiya and Isuzu confirm a closer relationship in an almost touching scene where Seiya mourns over his bodyguard Isuzu sacrificing herself to save him, but our comedy had no time for his emotions. Perhaps more importantly, there were also further hints about Princess Latifa’s predecessor. At least that’s what I thought the interrupted conversation with Latifa was about, anyway. I’m glad to see Kyoto Animation diligently doing their ground work, even in a light episode like this one.

It’s unlikely that we’ll get the payoff just yet though; it seems that the faeries are up to no good again. What are those, anyway? Do they plan to grow a beanstalk? Are they magic embryos? I have no idea. Find out next week? I’ll still be here.

Full-length images: 03, 15, 18.

 

Preview

47 Comments

  4. Its like they turned all the bloody screws loose and went ballistic on the crazy.

    I reckon this isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but its pretty darn entertaining, and the fairies are growing on me, even the appropriately stupid Air Fairy.

    Feels like KyoAni’s getting some of that magic back again by making us focus on one aspect of the show and subtly dropping hints of potential serious drama. Latifa’s past could actually come as a shock (a good one) to those who don’t know the backstory and I’m looking forward to see how they handle it in the anime.

    I love all the crazy expressions and talk from the supposedly cute faeries. Those alone were a ton of fun. The supposed order, of course, is thrown out of wack.
    Show Spoiler ▼

    And its still good. It also looks like Seiya will be working his brand of magic with the stadium in mind too, so stay tuned.

    For the beans, all I can say is that the next episode should

    Show Spoiler ▼

    Once again, good work on the review. 🙂

    Owaranai
    Reply

  5. I got Angel Beats! vibes from this episode as well, both from the silly traps as well as the fact you’re almost rooting for some of the characters to get mauled (those psycho mascots, for one) cause that’s funny. ‘Funny’ is a word I’d describe this ep in general – while it was more fillerish in nature than the other eps so far, I was entertained enough that I didn’t even care.

    I liked Sento’s moments and her interactions with Seiya this ep a lot as well. She’s still as awkward and stoic as ever, but her and Seiya’s relationship has noticeably improved (also giving us one of the funniest moments this ep when Seiya was dearly worried when Sento fell into a hole but didn’t give a toss when the faerie fell in) and I’m interested to see how it’ll proceed next.

    And man, that air fairy is an airhead. ‘Skeleton!’ indeed.

    Dvalinn
    Reply

  6. Yes! What did I predict!? That the dragon will turn out to be good and they’re gonna use him for the park! And now they got a ton of great architects!

    … how come Dornell’s design very closely resembles Meow from Space Dandy, also a lazy otaku?

    starss
    Reply

  7. The mascots went all out with their hilarious expressions.
    https://randomc.net/image/Amagi%20Brilliant%20Park/Amagi%20Brilliant%20Park%20-%2005%20-%20Large%2016.jpg

    And speaking of expressions, Isuzu is just as incapable of expressing her emoticons as her own expressions. XD
    https://randomc.net/image/Amagi%20Brilliant%20Park/Amagi%20Brilliant%20Park%20-%2005%20-%20Large%2030.jpg

    LOL at SaberMoffle beating the crap out of Kotomine Kireilame-ass dragon. Expect parody crossover videos of AmaBri x FSN to pop up soon. 🙂

    I never knew a person’s otaku collection could still sell for so much even after so many years.

    PS Air remains an adorable airhead.

    echykr
    Reply

  9. Isuzu falls into a deep pit.
    Kanie: Sento!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    Macaron the sheep mascot falls into the same pit just seconds later
    https://randomc.net/image/Amagi%20Brilliant%20Park/Amagi%20Brilliant%20Park%20-%2005%20-%20Large%2013.jpg
    Kanie:……..Sento!!!!!!!!!!!!
    Tiramie the cat mascot:….Kanie-kun, you’re terrible.
    Moffle: Anyway,let’s go. (grabs Kanie’s collar and starts running)
    https://randomc.net/image/Amagi%20Brilliant%20Park/Amagi%20Brilliant%20Park%20-%2005%20-%20Large%2014.jpg

    Episode’s best joke right there =).

    Its a pity Kanie and Sento got separated early though…
    I would have liked to see a suspension bridge effect between them..

    Techim
    Reply

  10. Episode 1: Touring the park———————————————-> Introduction
    Episode 2: Business smarts + staff motivation ——————–> Philosophy
    Episode 3: Fanservice scene + Fight scene ————————> Action
    Episode 4: Solving problems + Kanie “entering” Isuzu route..–> Management
    Episode 5: Dungeon adventure——————————————> Comedy

    Seems like ABP is hitting up different genre(s) per episode..
    I wonder if there’s going to be horror / romance / feels episodes..

    Techim
    Reply

    1. You know, this is SO Shouji Gatoh + KyouAni.
      With Fumoffu as the prime example: there’s drama episode (Beach), there’s horror episode (the damned hospital), the philosophy episode (dat crazy art teacher), and many more.

      I thank Shouji, KyouAni, and everyone else who make Amaburi possible, because it make me feels so young again.

      Shieldheart
      Reply

  11. Sometimes even when you see the joke coming it’s hilarious. Once they entered the labyrinth it was pretty obvious what was happening but they did a good job of parodying the whole treasuring hunting genre. Seiya was only lacking an Indiana Jones hat and whip. And no episode can be bad if it has the Muse girls in it.

    Bear
    Reply

  12. [He even stopped Moffle from going all Excalibur on the dragon.]
    I was pretty sure Moffle said “Dragon Slave” as a reference to Slayers. That would have been an epic parody. LOL

    random viewer
    Reply

    2. The Japanese seem to really enjoy their limited edition goods, and companies will deliberately limit print runs to artificially create scarcity. This goes for everything from anime merchandise to soft drinks. Dornell’s many have owned rare collector’s items that can be very valuable to the right person. And if it’s an old collection then that just increases the vintage, and with it, price.

      Passerby
      Reply

  19. dude calling out for Isuzu had to be the hardest I’ve laughed at an anime in a long time. Episode 2 really tasted sour to me but so far every other episode has been a win. Glad I stuck with it, Good job as always Kyoani

    Kagehina13
    Reply

  25. still oddly underwhelmed by this series..

    great animation, interesting premise, decent characters.. but the whole feels less than the sum of its parts, feels like something is missing.

    a bit too slow & slice-of-life-y maybe

    lebleu
    Reply

      1. “the whole feels less than the sum of its parts, feels like something is missing”

        also – slice-of-life or not, the pace does seem very slow. considering the premise established in the early eps, i would expect it be a bit more dynamic.

        lebleu
        Reply

  26. Amagi Brilliant has been really good with the pacing, and the characters are enjoyable. XD
    I get a good laugh with this series, and I always love Random Curiousities reviews since Strike The Blood.

    Are you going to continue to review Madan ou no to Vandis and Cross Ange or no? o3o

    Kaiya
    Reply

  28. From last episode’s preview, I came in expecting Smaug. I got… Joji Nakata. As a adorable cowardly dragon. FUCK YEAH! Gosh dang it to heck, this episode was so much fun! Also, dudes could totally make some money off that RPG underground for some danger enthusiasts. Just… nix all those traps, mmkay?

    Anyone aboard the Seiya/Isuzu ship? Because I totally am!

    Murasaki
    Reply

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