Posted by  |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
「姫と桃」 (Hime to Momo)
“The Princess and the Peach”
In the first- err, the fourth episode of Peach Boy Riverside, we see how Sally gave up her title as her kingdom’s princess to venture out into the outside world and seek out Mikoto for information on ogres and her glowing eye. But it is also here where Sally begins to see exactly why she should also be wary of Mikoto’s heroics considering his penchant for ogre-slaying.
If this was the first episode, the show would’ve gotten far more positive reception. Right away, we’re given background on what makes Sally a fun protagonist as she happily ducks her security and ends up befriending the one dude who happens to have a ton of background knowledge of the dangers the outside world provides. At the same time, we are given a better glimpse at Mikoto’s duality as Sally sees him as both a friendly, astute traveler and a monstrously vicious hero.
It’s such a missed opportunity because it would’ve been neat to have this information beforehand. As a story, it’s compelling to see how the idealism Sally has for the outside world is slowly diminished as she encounters the racism Frau faces, the onslaught of villainous ogres, and Mikoto’s savage side over time. It would also lend to the skepticism Sally has about her present-day ordeal where she might have wavering convictions about whether she can trust Mikoto when she’s seen a side of him that would easily try to murder her beast friends.
Additionally, we get better insight into Sally as a person with her lofty image of the outside world away from the restrictive nature of her role as the princess in a peaceful nation. While she’s definitely jumping into the outside world with a “grass is always greener” mentality, it took Mikoto’s knowledge as a traveler to give her the push she needed to explore the world by her own accord and push back against efforts to keep her enclosed in her comfortable role as a princess.
It was a pleasant surprise to see that the king was a chill person about Sally’s decision. Usually, you’re dealing with a narcissistic king who gets immediately furious and disowns a member of the royal family themselves if he feels like they aren’t abiding by their standards. That’s why it was refreshing for him to be happy that she’s changed her resolve so much. It feels less like he’s cutting ties entirely and is actually enthused that Sally is cheery enough to get her adventure started and charge forward with an energetic disposition.
It’s a bummer that Peach Boy Riverside didn’t just follow the chronological order because this fourth episode would have been a great place to start. It gives you a nice gist of who Sally and Mikoto are, why they would be interesting characters to follow, and why Sally wants to venture out into the wilderness. While I understand wanting to have Sally’s peach mode shift cap off the end of Episode 01, it lacks the gravitas that would have come from showing the beginning of Sally’s hopeful yet dangerous adventure. Fingers crossed that the rest of the series won’t rely on having to rewatch the show in chronological order to make for a pleasant viewing experience.
That was fast.
But I agree with you. I dont understand the out of order thing either.
The anime series director claims want to avoid an original anime ending since the manga is ongoing & maybe has a certain scene where he can’t see that manga version as a satisfying open-ending if he were to air this chronologically.
While I get he means well, using non-chronological storytelling only works well when it’s used as obvious flashbacks & this narrative doesn’t confuse the viewers too much with sudden plot development especially when the present timeline makes us notice why everything is happening like this with unsatisfactory feelings.
In fact, I don’t think the director’s decision would’ve made a difference because I’m sure we get an anime original ending when we get to final episode. Because if this non-chronological storytelling keeps on going like this, PeachSide is gonna be remembered with unsatisfying, if not clunky, non-chronological narrative.
This series could’ve been done like Boogiepop, but that happened because of the source material & the director remake knew how to pull off a non-chronological story without making readers/viewers feeling “WTF just happened”. PeachSide just happens to be the opposite unfortunately…😕
I don’t know about having Sally’s background in the first episode is a good idea or not. I believe it would’ve been better if we had seen Sally’s past and finding her raison d’etre on episode three; right after the destruction of the town Hawthorn lived in. Personally I too feel like it’s a little too late for character development now at episode four. Especially right after getting an ultimatum from both Mikoto and Sumeragi.
By the way, “those awfully kind ‘bad guys'” line, made me crack up each and every time.
And the: you are flat. I am a man too.
XDD
Kind of weird that everyone is so hung up on chronological order. If the show was about to end maybe that would be an issue but it’s really just getting underway. Too many shows plod along dismally and abuse flashbacks. It’s nice to see someone doing something different in that respect.
I didn’t really have any particular interest in the show and didn’t watch the first episode until the third one was almost out. But it seems pretty good so far and no harm was done.
Lol, I disagree with most of what you said. This episode didn’t lack impact because the achronological order. It lacked impact because the content was rather dull. I mean, it’s as generic as you get: traveler comes to a city (which happens to conveniently be a kingdom) by chance meets the happy-go-lucky princess. Bunch of monsters show up which he defeats with ease and so their travels begin. Whether it’s the fourth or first episode doesn’t really matter.
It was probably better if they didn’t just shuffle the episodes up but actually cut this episode up in the separate scenes, Showed the parts that were still relevant for the story in a flashback or something. Now we were just shown a lot of backstory we already knew.