Summertime Render – 08

「メメント」 (Memento)
“Memento”

As frustrating as it was, the odyssey of this week’s Summertime Render appealed to the “Four Yorkshiremen” in me. Back in the day we were truly at the mercy of fansubs – which wasn’t a problem with the really big shows, because there were dozens of sub groups. But when you were following something even remotely niche, it could be agony – waits of several days. Nowadays streaming has thinned the ranks of fansubbers to the bone, to the point where if something doesn’t get streamed in English, it might never be subbed at all. Waiting a few days for Summertime Render was annoying, but in a way it was quite nostalgic.

Was it worth the wait? Sure – every episode of Render has delivered the goods. I appreciate series which scratch an itch nothing else does. Especially when I’ve had the itch for as long as this one – it’s good in its own right but my appreciation for this show runs deeper because of that. One of the things I’m really enjoying here is the balance of comedy and horror – often juxtaposed in the very same scene. And Watanabe’s direction is never less than interesting, though I confess the huge dump of distorted faces this week was a bit of a jolt. I’m still not sure how I feel about that to be honest.

This episode was certainly notable for the emergence of Ushio as effectively a co-lead. She’s a huge personality, shadow or human – a real goofball. More than that, though, her presence here complicates things considerably. Hizuru was very explicit in stopping Shinpei from taking the philosophical road where shadows were concerned, because it brings questions to light she’d rather avoid. From her perspective any hesitation can be fatal in this war, one where humans are already fighting long odds. But that doesn’t make Shinpei’s problem go away. To him, this is Ushio, in every way that really matters.

Whatever the deal with Ushio is, it’s getting more complicated by the minute. When a girl can casually say “apparently I’m some kind of monster” you’d assume something was off. But Ushio’s regular personality seems to have been so quirky that Shinpei doesn’t bat an eye. Why is she in the Kofune house? Because she saw what happened at the shrine and she wants to warn him – apparently unaware that he knows, and was the reason why she looped in the first place. It’s also revealed that Shinpei was in love with her (not a surprise), but also that he left for Tokyo – and culinary school – so he could earn a living, never have to have Alan officially adopt him and make him Ushio’s brother, and come back to the island and marry her.

Ouch. That just makes all this harder for Shinpei. When Shadow Mio comes directly inside the house this time (another instance of Shinpei’s actions changing the “future”), it’s Ushio who saves him again. Whatever she is, she’s sincerely his ally – for now. But I can respect Hizuru and Nezu’s position on this. Whatever she’s doing now, she’s a shadow – the enemy. She could be “fixed” at any time, and fall back in line. Hizuru’s compromise is to not kill Ushio (she even “fixes” her injured arm by making it go away), but to terminate her partnership with Shinpei for as long as Ushio is with him. That strikes me as very reasonable.

Another mystery is added to the pile here, in that it was Ushio who called Hizuru and warned her about what was about to go down on the island. But was it human Ushio (and if so, how did she know?), or was it Shadow Ushio? There are logical issues with that too, since as far as we know this was the first time Shadow Ushio looped – but perhaps it wasn’t the first time. This Ushio has no memory of making the call, suggesting that it was the human before she died. Perhaps the video she finds on Ushio’s phone will settle the matter.

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