What They Say:
Harutora’s class is going to a special training camp, and Harutora and Natsume are excited to get a break from Suzuka. But when they get to the camp…
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Having had some “fun” where Suzuka really worked over Harutora in order to keep Natsume’s secret a secret, the two of them are quite excited to be away from the academy for awhile as they’re on a training camp with their class. It’s the kind of escape that should be good as it gets you away from the problem character for a bit that has changed the nature of the show some since she has such a different view on life, having come from wealth and rarely being denied anything. Which is certainly in contrast to the kind of lives that most of the students have, but also Harutora and Natsume specifically. So the joy they have in going on the trip coupled with the creepy nature of their teacher and what he knows is really going to happen is certainly amusing to watch unfold.
Naturally, Suzuka is there and waiting for them, which has the pair utterly in a panic over what the training experience will be like since it puts her into direct competition with Natsume since Suzuka wants to show her up in general due to the closeness with Harutora. And poor Harutora has nobody else to really cling to in a way since Touji is off working through his own issues with his heritage that are getting a look at. Still, there are some cute and fun moments as the training goes along and the characters interact, especially with Kon getting involved at times as a sort of layer of defense for Harutora. Not that he’s all that good at it. Interestingly, as much fun as this is, we also get Suzuka getting involved with Touji a bit and with the others afterwards as we get a bit more about his type of Ogre and some other mysteries that she’s heard, having been mor exposed to the world than they in many respects.
While we get some of these teases about the Ghost Squad and the Raven material, the show does want to spend a lot of its time on standard kinds of things you get at a training camp, including some late night hot spring time. That puts a few of the girls together at a time when Natsume goes out for a bath herself, in the boys side of course where nobody else is, and that leads to her hearing how Suzuka really doesn’t like her. It’s an easy reinforcement as she figured it already but just solidifying it definitely makes it worse. This and some of the later moments involving questioning Harutora over someone he lost, which we saw at the beginning of the series, and the kinds of feelings involved there has Natsume feeling even more out of it than normal, building all of it together in a way that really does a number on her. But it gives Harutora the realization that there may be something more there when it comes to Natsume.
In Summary:
Tokyo Ravens does a bit more seeding of things to come in the second half of the series with what some of the characters are facing, such as Touji and his ogre side, while others like Harutora are starting to get a clue about Natsume and what kind of person she is and the really good things she’s done that he’s missed. This episode is a mixed bag overall as there are some cute moments, but it’s all tied up in the training session which is minimal itself. It feels like there just isn’t enough substance to the episode to make it really worth it, but it does enough of the small but important nuance so as to be good in other ways. It’s a transitional episode in some aspects, but it’s also making me tire of Suzuka pretty quickly, which has me worried about the second half of the season.
Grade: B-
Streamed By: FUNimation
Review Equipment:
Sony KDL70R550A 70″ LED 1080P HDTV, Apple TV via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.
