“Goth Ordeals”
What They Say:
“Clank, clank, clank, clank…” Today, the railroad crossing bar goes down again, stopping someone on their way somewhere. The various stories of youth, eros, art, first love, etc that occur during the time spent waiting at a railroad crossing… All railroad crossings, all the time. Bringing you a variety of short stories about railroad crossings!
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
As the series closes in on the halfway point I find myself simply enjoying it more and more for some of its subversive elements that I didn’t expect. With this episode, it focuses on Fukutome, your standard light goth girl that’s frustrated with the way things are going in her life in general, particularly the crows that always attack her at the crossing stop. When she bends over to pick up her hat that fell off from the crows, her life goes worse when she has that sudden pain in her back that feels like a sprain that would throw it out of whack. The scare is definitely there for someone so young that didn’t do anything out of the ordinary, but it’s also because she’s dressed as she is in her neighborhood with everyone potentially seeing it happen. The arrival of Saito just drives her further into a panic and it’s definitely amusing in how she handles all of this.
In Summary:
A chance encounter like this is certainly different than the rest of them that we’ve had so far and that’s actually been fairly standard. Each episode presents a good standalone piece that could expand into its own tale easily as they feel very lived in within just three minutes – something that a lot of shows struggle with in general. This one plays well with Fukutome though she’s far louder and screechy than I care for but it fits the situation and her struggle just right.
Grade: B
Streamed By: Crunchyroll