Disasters mount as the fates conspire to derail episode 4. What will Aoi do?
What They Say:
Episode 3: “No More Recap Episodes”
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
So, the team is getting to work on “fixing” the character of Arupin, since Director Kinoshita has thrown everything into confusion with his demands for a rewrite and reworking of the animation in episode 4. 4 days before delivery day to the broadcaster. Aoi is trying to visualize the entire process of what she has to do, which is a lot of work liaising between the various departments in order to get things moving. There is a whirlwind rehearsal of what needs to be done. And then they all get to it.
Of course, things can’t all go well and Aoi eventually has a minor breakdown since she’s a newbie with major responsibilities thrust upon her. It takes a more seasoned assistant, Yano, to help her find her will to go on again. Naturally, things get even worse when it appears that the rented server Musani (the in-house short form of Musashino Animation) uses for transferring work from outside goes kaboom along with all of the backups. This almost torpedoes episode 4, since work outsourced to Komoro Studio that was meant to be up on the server so that it could be integrated into the rest of the episode isn’t there. But the troops rally and Komoro’s president will personally drive over the hard drive containing their work. So, episode four of Exodus, “Throw Some More Insults!” will be broadcast on time, including Kinoshita’s new vision of Arupin’s character.
While we are continuing with the “crisis of the week” formula, it was presented in a slightly different way here. The focus was very tightly on Aoi and her role in the process, as the production assistant assigned to an episode is shown truly to be the lynchpin in the entire operation. If a production assistant flakes out or cannot manage to be on top of the constant movements of the different pieces of the puzzle that is a single episode, the entire thing falls apart. While I am slightly tiring, as noted in my last episode review, of the constant crisis atmosphere, at least this episode presented it in a slightly different manner as we get a few glimpses of Aoi’s inner life as well (scary as those are, from the psychological standpoint.
Another interesting episode, again perhaps a touch more meaningful for those who are already familiar with the entire process on a basic level than for those only learning the ins and outs of animation production. The show so far is showing itself strongest in terms of setting and pacing, as we are not given much time to grow bored with what is, at root, a story about the process of telling a (possibly less interesting) story. There are, however, some weaknesses to the breathless pacing, especially the fact that the increasing cast of characters continues to fly by at light speed, with only the constant presence of Aoi there to help anchor us inside of this maelstrom. This is a potential danger, however. If we lose our anchoring point, the story could spin out of control, leaving us dazed and confused as to just who is doing what.
In Summary:
Aoi has her hands full as the retakes for episode 4 of Exodus need to be finished in just a few days, since Musani has to deliver the final broadcast cut for airing. Failure to do so would have serious consequences (say goodbye to being lead animation studio for a property, possibly forever). Though it seems that the fates are conspiring against her, Aoi manages to get all of the materials in, just under the wire. So, we continue with this process story about how animation is done in Japan, seeing the many, many ways it can all go wrong.
Episode Grade: B
Streamed by: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Apple iMac with 4GB RAM, Mac OS 10.6 Snow Leopard
