What They Say:
“Chapter 3 Akari / Chapter 4 Beyond the Bridge”
Who was that mysterious figure who stole his mail? And Akari’s job is what?! Tune in as we continue to explore Rei’s past
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
There were a lot of bridges in this episode of March, both literally and figurative. It’s still flowing as smooth as last week, easing you into the story little by little. I do need to admit to not knowing a lot about Shogi other than it’s a Japanese kind of chess (and that’s probably oversimplifying things), and Dan refers to the rank of each player. I’m guessing I’ll probably know a lot more by the time this series ends, but for now, let’s concentrate on the characters.
We’re introduced at first to Nikaido, the self- declared lifelong rival of Rei. He’s very energetic and appears to live in his own world, a shounen manga type of world as he himself declares which is why he also declares himself as Rei’s friend. After all that’s what happens between rivals in shounen manga, right? He’s just skipping ahead a couple of chapters. Actually all of Rei’s shounen opponents and rivals so far seem to be propelled by a source of boundless energy. There is also Issa Matsumoto, who, according to himself, plays manly Shogi (that means he only knows how to attack), and Smith, who I’m assuming to be a foreigner due to his name and blonde hair.
Rei beats Issa at the NHK cup, a tournament that guarantees the winner would get to play on national TV. The series does a good job of letting you feel the mood with subtle little hints. When Smith tells Rei the real reason Issa wanted to win (his grandfather who taught him how to play is very sick and Issa wanted him to see him play, but because he lives in the countryside, this was the only way), you can clearly tell how it pains Rei. Victory may indeed leave a sour taste in your mouth. It doesn’t last long though, Smith gets the brilliant idea of having Rei treat them to drinks since it’s his fault, after all, what else is he going to do with all that money at his age? Issa perks right up at the thought of going to see Akari, all troubles forgotten.
In case you’ve forgotten already, Akari is the older sister, who works as a hostess at a Ginza bar and she’s fantastic at it. As Rei wonders if she’s even the same person, you also get to see her through a different set of eyes. It’s a complicated answer of course, people are rarely if ever just one thing. Want to know how good she is at her job? Akari is so damn charming she convinces Issa to treat them instead of taking advantage of Rei and she does it in such a way it feels both natural and magical. Issa doesn´t even know what hit him but he’s not going to risk looking bad in front of Akari. The fun times are really just an excuse to segue into the real meat of the episode. As Akari pours Rei a glass of juice (he is a minor) they both remember how they met. It seems one night Rei was forced to drink by some older players or upperclassman (they use the word senpai, either one could be correct). Akari was leaving work when she found him outside, doubled over himself and after finding out he lived near her home, she took him with her. She took care off him and let him crash in their living room for the first time. At first the way she reminds him of this may seem a bit mean but I think it’s more like she was warning him as in: “If you’re ever in trouble again, don’t even think of keeping it from me”. It’s indicative of how the series keeps weaving in and out of these dark moods in between the moments of lightness, almost effortlessly making it all feel very realistic.
As a matter of fact, this week Rei voiced exactly how I felt during the first episode, when he says that just crossing the bridge to where the sisters live makes it seem as if the world lit up in color, so yes, the series is doing an excellent job of conveying the mood of the characters as well as the world they live in.
This is especially true during the last part of the episode which deals with the celebration of Obon, the Japanese festival to honor the souls of the dead, some people say the bridge between this world and the next opens up allowing the spirits to come visit and at the end of the festival, the family members float lanterns in the river to guide the spirits back home. It’s one more example of the heavy use of water and bridges as symbols for something else, a connection between people perhaps. Akari expertly manipulates Rei into joining them for dinner but it is made very clear during the reunion this family needs him as much as he needs them. I don’t know what kind of tragedy befell them but the wounds seem to be far from healed. They’ve both lost people and no one has really gotten over it. The way they keep joking and acting like everything’s the same makes the tension even more palpable.
In Summary:
To me, this episode was just as perfect as the first one. A lot of series have trouble finding balance between the comedy and the serious moments and it may feel jarring, but March just weaves them together expertly, not making a clear separation between the two. This is why the whole thing feels so real, because you don’t really have arcs in real life. You may laugh in moments of sadness or fell sad at a happy time in your life. There are moments and moments, nothing is ever absolute. March understands this very well, so the story never feels too heavy or too superfluous. And there’s a lot of story here, so it’s kind of hard to address everything but I’d be remiss not to mention how gorgeous everything looks, the backgrounds are especially beautiful and I love how the colors change depending on the mood of the scene.
Grade: A+
Streamed By: Crunchyroll, Daisuki