Enen no Shouboutai – 16

「俺たちは家族」 (Ore-tachi wa Kazoku)
“We Are Family”

One of the many things Enen no Shouboutai does right is comedy. I can appreciate the choice to add comedy into what would usually be tension-heavy situations. Or maybe I’m warming up to Arthur’s quirks a little more as the series progresses. Either way, it’s a refreshing necessity considered many of the episodes, without it, would have been quite sombre. There’s no better way to counter the intensity of battle than to attach a donkey‘s head to your crotch, that’s for sure. I really just want to justify why I chose to capture so many of Arthur in this episode. He was endearing even in his delusions with his trustee steed Silver.

However, that doesn’t mean comedic relief removes from an episode that’s emotionally charged. But before we dive deep into the cliffhanger we were left with, let’s look over some specifics, which might lead me to go on a conspiracy theory rant.

There was a high probability that more members of the White Cloak had infiltrated the Special Fire Force which is why the 8th Brigade went to investigate Asakusa and Benimaru’s people. After that last arc, all suspicions of the 7th Company were expunged resulting in an alliance between the 7th and 8th Brigade.

I didn’t expect a new suspect to reveal themselves so soon. Dr. Giovanni did seem suspicious when he was first introduced at the Special Fire Force meeting with the Tokyo Emperor Raffle III. His raspy voice, his overall character design, and the fact that he approached Hibana from the shadows already put a target on his back. When he approached Hibana in episode 10, right before the captain meeting, he said something along the lines of: “Has your allegiance changed?” to which she responded: “Don’t be ridiculous.” Although he referred to Haijima in his remark, could he have been talking about the Evangelist? If so, does that mean Hibana has successfully infiltrated the 8th Company as a faithful follower of the Evangelist?

Let’s hope not. If so, it would leave a lot of questions in regards to why she hasn’t already concocted a plan to get Shinra into the hands of her trusted organization. It would also mean she’s a horrible double-agent. So, I guess my faith in Hibana remains…for now. The other option is that information is being funnelled through Haijima channels to the White Cloak and in the interim, using Hibana to do their research.

There’s too much going on my brain needs a breather.

Alright, moving on. Vulcan is wrong. Haijima might have taken Amaterasu from his family but they haven’t taken everything just yet. Dr. Giovanni isn’t after Vulcan’s life to end his family line, but rather, needs a particular ‘key’, something I imagine his father and grandfather left behind. Of course, Vulcan is unaware of this and even worse, is unaware that Lisa, the distraught girl he took under his wing, works for Dr. Giovanni. Everything was set up so they could find this ‘key’ to Amaterasu.

This might be the tipping point for Vulcan. It’s the point in the episode where everything gets heavy, everything weighs you down, and watching the horror leaves you in a state of shock. If Vulcan survives this, he’ll have to choose sides. Not only has he lost his first family, but his second family is now being ripped apart before his very eyes.

I would leave you with a quirky remark but it wouldn’t feel right. We have a missing hero, a shot down child, a low confidence knight, and a beaten-down engineer. It all looks grim. But let’s try to look ahead and leap into the upcoming episode together. See what I did there? No? OK.

Let’s just hang on tight with Yuu and Vulcan until the next episode airs.