Munou na Nana – 02

「時間遡行」 (Jikan Sokou)
“Time Traveller”

While there’s still plenty of questions concerning where Munou na Nana plans on going, it’s nice knowing just what this ride will be like. As if thinking whiplash and twisted expectations weren’t enough, this week was all about doubling down and showing—yet again—why you never ever trust pink hair. Seriously, such stereotypes could actually wind up saving your life.

As mentioned last week the main concern with Munou na Nana would be a refusal to properly identify the good guys and bad guys, and so far at least that worry has been dealt with. Nana has pretty much been made into the protagonist both in role and focus, although given the nature of her mission it’s not too difficult labelling her an anti-hero. Kill the espers to save humanity because they’re the true Enemy of Humanity? Not the first time a story has run with the concept (e.g. Shin Sekai Yori), but given how innocent Nana’s targets are being cast and their system of education it’s hard to define this premise as strictly black and white. For all the potential threat these teens supposedly pose, they have yet to actually live up to those fears, and unless (or until) they do, Nana is the boogieman all kids learn to fear.

Such moral musing, however, is secondary to what Munou na Nana is likely gearing up to be: a game of cat and mouse. Given it would be unfair (and boring) to let Nana run amuck through the henhouse without some competition, Kyouya is quickly being set up as the Holmes to Nana’s Moriarty. And honestly, he’s a pretty good match for the role. While the comparisons to Death Note’s L are going be riding high, Kyouya is arguably a more overt and calculating character who clearly suspects more than he’s letting on and thinks on similar wavelengths to Nana. Just take his discussion with Youhei and Nana: I guarantee the guy walked away from it because he recognized a losing duel of narrative and was unwilling to dig himself a hole hard to recover from. Kyouya provides a good check to Nana, however the key will be in what happens next; catching Nana too quick ruins the game, but you can only contrive so much to keep her safe before it gets annoying. With two classmates with close interactions with Nana now up and gone without a trace, her guilt in the eyes of Kyouya will certainly be higher, so it’s all going to come down to what this story does next.

Will Nana be caught red-handed? Will our pint-size gesugao trainee find an unsuspecting scapegoat to pin the blame on? Best stay tuned to find out just where this murder-mystery intends on heading next.

ED Sequence

ED: 「バケモノと呼ばれて」 (Bakemono to Yobarete) by Chiai Fujikawa

Preview