What They Say
The Japanese government has been frequently mistaking Shinichi’s orders for anime Blu-Rays and DVDs. Finally his patience has run out, and Shinichi demands to return to Japan so he can gather the lesson materials himself. However, Myucel manages to sneak along, and the two of them enjoy some unexpected time alone together.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
With news that the Cool Japan program in Japan getting $1 billion to invest in promoting Japanese culture, Outbreak Company and its parodic take on such a program is getting more surreal. Perhaps the peak of surreality is this: An episode where a “real” moe elf maid goes to a moe maid cafe. On a certain level, this episode is kind of a wonder of otaku and Japanese culture self-referencing, but on a more basic one, it’s kind of a lazy “date” episode, one typical of a harem comedy. So, it’s the usual balancing act for Outbreak Company.
Shinichi is upset because his acquisition requests for a lot of anime are getting screwed up, with the government picking up the wrong series, the wrong robot, or even adult videos that parody certain otaku properties. Because of this, he makes a special request to be able to return to Japan himself, even if he must be carried unconscious by the JSDF to keep the dimension-spanning portal a secret. The government reluctantly agrees, but tells him he must travel alone, making up an excuse about a deadly disease any inhabitant of Eldant would catch if they left their world. Shinichi doesn’t let Myucel know about this particular danger, so she packs herself in a suitcase and allows herself to be carried to Japan along with Shinichi.
So the couple of them end up in Japan, and after deciding that Myucel isn’t about to suffocate to death from disease, he offers to take her to Akiba. So we get the usual dating montage of a bunch of moe moments that’s supposed to make us love Myucel much like Shinichi does. What’s weird this time, though, is those “moments” are almost the same montage you might see on a show like The Simpsons, Family Guy, or South Park on the episode they go to Japan and see how weird it is. Myucel discovers the elaborate Japanese toilet. Myucel doesn’t get how the subway ticketing system works. She eats the entire blob of wasabi in one bite, much to her regret. She almost walks into an adult bookstore. Finally, she’s treated to omurice at a maid cafe, where other maids prepare it for her. Are the reactions of “the common gaijin” so typical that the Japanese have learned them, or is this some kind of reflection back of a Japanese viewer’s impressions of an episode of the Simpsons, or something similar? I’m glad an episode like this finally exists, or otherwise someone would have to invent it just for the sake of argument.
While charming, these “culture shock” moments are so well-known the show doesn’t really offer anything new to the picture. It’s certainly meta to see a Japanese show about a foreigner visiting Japan and eating too much wasabi, but there’s no real “spin” to it to make the observation work on any other level. Once the sights of Akiba are exhausted, it also returns to harem dating routine, with Shinichi noticing he’s alone with a girl and she has no clean underwear and she has to take a bath and it’s so awkward!
Nothing happens between the would-be lovers, because nothing ever does in a show like this, and upon waking up, everyone has been returned to Japan. Of course, we have the expected punchline that Shinichi actually forgot to buy everything he went looking for, so all of the JSDF’s efforts went to waste. Except for the fact that the episode had a ton of Milky Holmes references, which everyone can appreciate.
In Summary
The weird crossover where the inhabitant of a moe fantasy world comes to Japan to see the heart of the subculture that, in essence, created her. That this episode finally exists makes someone’s term paper much easier to write, I can only imagine. The basic form of the episode, though, is basically a harem date episode, with the destination being Akiba, with the point only being Myucel doing cute things. It doesn’t fail at what it attempts, it just doesn’t aim high. Still, Outbreak Company almost had to tread on this terrain to make its uncomfortably accurate funhouse mirror world of otaku culture fully complete.
Grade: B-
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment: Sony VAIO 17″ HD screen
