Sakugan – 04

“LADIES&GENTLEMEN”

Sakugan storytelling continues to be excellent, this week we start right from where we left off, I was left musing on some answers last week, and might have projected them unto Memenpu, via a (maybe a little bit harsh) scrutinization. Some agreed with me and others had different opinions, it was nice to see a dialogue started over how Memenpu might have rushed through the labyrinth, but in essence, she was just taking the shortest route, it just so happens the most succinct route is the most abandoned and dilapidated round the labyrinth has to offer. Maybe going through the safe route might have taken more days. But this episode made clear that Sakugan is not really interested in going on an adventure through the labyrinth, it doesn’t have much to say except that maybe the labyrinth itself are just interconnected tunnels outside of colonies. Nothing magical about it, or lore to build around it. And that’s perfectly fine! Not every story needs to be about minute details that make the exploring part unique. I think Sakugan is more interested in building tension and character drama between Memenpu and Gagumber, but that sometimes requires Memenpu to run around on her own exploring the things she wants to explore. Gagumber then causes a scene by hanging around at a bar and hitting up the wrong girls. Maybe out of self-pity, or maybe because he already had 12 rejections. But this girl specifically scouted him out, in order to trick him into owning her some cash.

Gagumber does have some gems, so why isn’t he more confident about money? He did try to haggle his way out of corporal punishment by the Bureau, the dandy-type character we saw last week first placed Gagumber in jail, after detaining them at the entrance of the colony, he was already waiting for them after all. Merooro (Hosoya, Yoshimasa) a smiling bureaucrat whose job is apparently to keep Gagumber in check, is not moved when Gagumber tries to buy his way out of the sentence. After a little while, he finds Memenpuu hooked to a machine that’s scanning her blood for any diseases that might be contagious, Merooro (what’s up with the names in this show!?) does the same to Gagumber, but eventually, they are let go. They are allowed the go and sightsee the outside the colony named Jolly-Jolly a Venice-inspired colony with an LCD panel over the trains, that displays flowing water. It’s just some type of ambiance kind of thing. Reminds me of Howl’s Moving Castle, or Spirited Away. this show is truly keeping the romance alive. Gagumber and Memenpuu go off and have some pizza, an old guy gives Memenpuu some ice cream, don’t worry it’s not creepy or anything, and a girl listens to them over an open mic to their conversation. Later revealed to be Zackletu (Hanazawa, Kana), she’s just one of those girls that are going to ask you for some money, she’s always out of money, or simply doesn’t have any money. Basically, she’s broke. AKA Rika from Wonder Egg, Zackletu, does drive a cool motorbike though, she’s cool, and get’s bored easily unless she has a plan. Of course, this was only my first impression of her.

Anyway, turns out Zackletu is involved with the Mafia, whose boss is also a little bit of an archetype, Gagumber gets thrown in jail once again, but this time it’s a torture cell, where the mafia boss takes no punches and reveals that Zackletu is actually digging her hands where they don’t belong so I wonder if she actually has a plan much larger than she’s telling. Nevertheless, it was interesting to see the inside and outside of this new colony, I wasn’t expecting the show to take us to the new sight’s so quickly, we’d didn’t spend that much time in the labyrinth after all, so I wonder how much time this new arc is going to take for them to dive deep into the labyrinth once again. Since that was the original hook of the show for me in the first place. I didn’t mind that much that Sakugan sidetracked, but as long as it continues on this ride of expanding its word, I’d fancy it to be a fun time. I wonder what other colonies are out there, and if the show conceives itself enough to give us complete answers by the end of it. I fear it might derail itself into new plot points that will make it forget its main thread. Let’s hope for Sakugan to keep its original promise.

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