「In The Air Tonight」

Now that’s what I call a return to form.

This week, Tilarna is back to being proportionately drawn, kicking butt, and taking names. She and Matoba arrived at the roof in time to find the fairy bomb that was to be powered by the latena of the royal fairy Tilarna had sworn to protect. The scene between the fairy and Tilarna where it’s revealed that Tilarna has known her since childhood was impactful in the sense that clarifying the bond between the pair made it easier to understand that the devotion Tilarna feels goes well beyond her duty as a knight, hence why she abandoned her sword. On top of that, it’s shown that she truly does trust Matoba as a partner when she returns from Semani to continue the case by his side. Maybe it was finding out he takes care of cats despite being allergic that pushed him firmly into her good books. It’s a pretty good indicator that he’s a softie, but if they’re going to be on such good terms now that she regularly refers to him as her partner it seems strange that she would still badmouth him in front of the medical examiner. As far as I can tell, it’s only in front of her that Tilarna has anything negative to say about Matoba, and considering he’s been pretty good to Tilarna I’m not sure what it’s is meant to accomplish. Surely they can bond other something other than Matoba. To that end, saving her from a blood-sucking vampire mummy will certainly be a good start. You do you, Tilarna.

The first quarter or so of the episode focused on wrapping up the first story arc, with Tilarna’s initial goal – saving the fairy- ending in failure. None of it was done poorly, it was just done a little too quickly. The battle didn’t last long enough to truly appreciate, which was a shame since Tilarna was beautifully animated during the sequence. There’s just only so long she can fight someone as frail as a Zelada, which was why he was more effective when paired with a younger villain. One hit and the battle was already done. Following that, there was a montage to indicate a short time skip that showed Matoba living his solitary life without Tilarna. This probably would have been more effective in one of three ways:

A) There had been more episodes to develop their relationship

B) Their separation occurred at the end of the previous episode, giving the viewers about a week to let it sink in and lending to the in-show passage of time

C) Throw out the montage and just show Matoba slowly going through the motions for most of the episode, followed by Tilarna appearing on his couch at the end.

Now, I would have to be blind not to see that this show is pushing Matoba and Tilarna as a couple. Even if Tilarna complaining about Matoba doesn’t make sense character-wise, it does make sense for the tsundere archetype. I would argue, however, that Tilarna doesn’t fit that particular mold. Sure, the show occasionally paints her in such a way that would suggest she does, but it shouldn’t. She’s dignified, focused, and brutal, but also playful, plainly affectionate, and sometimes naive. She doesn’t have to be anything else. These two don’t have an ounce of romantic chemistry together, but they do have chemistry as partners. Their bad cop/psycho cop routine is absolutely delightful to watch, so whatever happens, here’s hoping that remains the dynamic that receives the most development.

 

Preview

13 Comments

  1. Its Official. That new police chief is HILARIOUS!!! I nearly spit my drink up at his bullshit.

    What? people didnt like the pacing of the last episode? I thought it was brilliant, breakneck pace ftw!

    BROOKLYN otaku
  2. Seems like they somehow managed to lock the Teekyuu staff back up in their padded cell, and so we have a welcome return to form.

    Were things rushed? I don’t think so. The battle on the helipad would surely not have taken long to play out, so thankfully they weren’t playing any stupid shounen time-stretching tricks with it. And it was a given that Tilarna was going to come back, so why dwell on Matoba being alone?

    Angelus
  3. I loved the montage of Matoba’s everyday routine being interrupted by Tilarna on the couch.
    But I loved even more the bad cop done up to eleven by Tilarna who being medieval knight thinks nothing of torture and her idea of punishment sits right into “cruel and unusual” territory.
    And then there is the coffin, and the mummy that didnt stay dead.
    I presume when Tilarna freaked out after receiving news of where the coffin originated from that the thief blurted something amounting to “coffin was from Transylvania” in our culture…

    ewok40k
  4. https://randomc.net/image/Cop%20Craft/Cop%20Craft%20-%2004%20-%20Large%2010.jpg
    Nooo, the fairy died T_T now to look for more anime or manga with little fairies
    https://randomc.net/image/Cop%20Craft/Cop%20Craft%20-%2004%20-%20Large%2026.jpg
    the old “good cop and bad cop” scene. One problem, their both bad cops. Effective torture method.
    https://randomc.net/image/Cop%20Craft/Cop%20Craft%20-%2004%20-%20Large%2034.jpg
    I am shocked, when you see the words “blood, moon forbidden” on a coffin, I expect the modern detectives to think “vampire.” They obviously didn’t watch enough movies.

    Greed
  5. Seems like with Episode 4 and now Episode 5 they found their footing again and begin to “run” for real

    – Alien Nation (1988)
    – Bright (with Will Smith)

    If you need some research stuff

    Worldwidedepp

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