The past ties into the present in surprising ways, at least for Kimimaro.
What They Say:
While searching for clues about why he was chosen to be an Entrepreneur, Kimimaro makes an unsettling discovery after finding a notebook filled with numbers in his family’s storage. Meanwhile, an investigator following Mikuni takes interest in Kimimaro.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
As the series progresses, we start to get a better idea of some of the nuances of it, but also the opulence. This episode opens after the credits by talking about how each country has its own Financial District, which helps explains the reason this one is focused so much on the yen and all things Japanese, and why we may not see anyone else in here, at least for now. It is amusing though that as the narration goes for it, the Far East Financial District is considered the most beautiful and opulent of them all, which plays easily to the way people always want to believe what they have is the best of what there is. Of course, with the narration coming from an investigator who has talked with people that had access to the District, it’s little surprise that the information they’re getting is like that.
This episode wants to focus on a couple of areas that are pretty interesting and shows the way things are so interconnected in reality that you can easily miss the fantasy of this all. Part of it involves the investigator following Mikuni, who has innumerable positions on various boards and companies that it makes it easy for him to shift from place to place and have many resources at his disposal. Mikuni is an intriguing character as he has that elder feel to him and can impart sage advice because of the experiences he’s had. His sharing of them brings some new color to his interactions with Kimimaro, since you can’t exactly be sure what his game is. But if he’s involved with the District, then you know that almost everything he does has to be in pursuit of the larger picture, including sharing information like this.
The other storyline that unfolds here involves Kimimaro himself, which is good since he’s the lead character. Being thrust into the position of being an Entrepreneur has unnerved him to be certain, and he knows the stakes are definitely high, but instead of just going whole hog into it he does some research first. He returns back to where he great up and goes through some things that were in storage and discovers that there’s a ton of Midas money notes indicated in one of the notebooks. It’s hugely unsettling for him as it paints something of a legacy involvement that only opens up more questions than answers for him. He does get some answers in the District though as he gets clues about who his father was, but more time is spent there with Mikuni which helps to flesh out that world even more, including some neat little sequences with the Assets.
In Summary:
The series has a lot to offer this time around, even with a bit of a shoehorned in action sequence battle that occurs, and the mythology that’s being created for the Financial District is definitely being made clearer. The background material that arises for both Mikuni and Kimimaro is definitely welcome, and it feels a bit earlier than I might have expected it otherwise, but the two of them have roles here that feel like they’ll be the ones that could change the status quo. And there are issues with the Financial District that are slowly coming to light with some wonderfully teasing moments at the end, but it’s the character drama of the moment that really works. While Kimimaro may have destiny on his side, seeing him struggle with the revelations that are made and trying to gasp them makes for an engaging storyline all on its own. With just three episodes, this series has definitely made a significant impression as something that really needs to be watched closely and absorbed, making it very much worth the time investment so far.
Grade: B+
Simulcast By: FUNimation
Review Equipment:
Sony KDS-R70XBR2 70″ LCoS 1080P HDTV, Dell 10.1 Netbook via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.
