A battle of honorable thieves reinvigorates Roman’s attitude. Pity the same cannot be said about the audience’s attitude.
What They Say:
Roman secret identity has been found and challenged for the title of “second generation Nezumi Kozo” by Red!
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
You are the son of a legendary thief carrying on his legacy. Imagine the embarrassment you must feel to wake up one morning and find all of your possessions stolen from under your nose. This is the predicament Roman finds himself in, when a thief in a red loincloth challenges him for the right to use the Nezumi Kozo name. Roman’s blood and spirit boils at such a bold challenge. A best of three contest will decide who is worthy of the name.
Red wins the first two contests with ease, leaving Roman’s future in doubt. However, he pleads for one more chance, as he cannot shut down his helper or get-back business. His reason is personal; in one moment of weakness, he chose to save himself over fulfilling his promise to a young girl named Otsu. He heard she died shortly after, and Roman has dedicated himself to ensuring all his clients get their smiles back.
Cue up the predictable third contest with Roman’s life at stake; Roman wins the final battle, but Red, who just happens to be the former partner of Roman’s father, feels Roman still has yet to live up to the Nezumi Kozo name. As Roman’s good are returned, the priestess quickly checks a hidden box for a pair of decorative chopsticks. The episode closes with the mysterious assassin monk giving his gunslinger orders to find those chopsticks. Why? Because these chopsticks are part of the key to unlocking the mysterious Sprint Cherry Blossom. You know, that thing we are supposed to care about the bad guys not getting.
In Summary:
Predictable from start to finish, the only thing this battle of master thieves has stolen was my time and enthusiasm. This episode might have had more impact if it were the second or third episode at the latest. While it was great to see Roman built up as a flawed hero, we really need to have the series building more steam behind the chase for the Spring Cherry Blossom. If the series does not care much about it beyond random chopstick references, then why should the audience? Roman continues to be a frustrating series to watch, not because it is particularly awful. It has the components necessary to be a decent series but stubbornly refuses to do anything other than slap them haphazardly together for one banal episode after another.
Grade: C+
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
24” Early 2009 iMac, Firefox 17.0.1