Will the Rolling Girls be doomed to a life of servitude for a crime they didn’t commit?
What They Say:
Episode #4: “Dream”
The girls escape with the help of a Comima staff member, but a new threat appears. Can they clear their names and get Chiaya’s stone back?
The Review
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
The Rolling Girls are on the run! After being arrested as potential terrorists in the last episode, and not finding the missing moonlight stone to clear their name, it’s time to make a break for it! They discover their impounded rides are in danger of being repainted and use as communal rental bikes in the city. We find out that Yukina is actually a talented artist who was rescued once by the Noriko of the paint shop, and her enthusiastic mother. (Noriko was poking around last episode in the background.) The women explain some of the rules of Tokyo, or as it’s being called now ‘Always Comima.’
I missed the cues last week as to what that name was referring to. The whole city is in a continuous comic convention state, which explains the cosplaying and the marketing everywhere. A city where theft is a capital crime, and the guilty are sent to work as butlers or maids! The founder of Always Comina was a light novel author and the original pilot of one of those giant robots looming over the skyline. That can only mean that he might be the one who is the terrorist! Yeah, not a great snap judgement there Noriko.
None of that matters at the moment, because Thunderoad arrives to apologize to the girls. She discovered that having her statue wasn’t as important as the meaning behind wanting it. She admits she lost her stone, it wasn’t stolen. Ai isn’t happy about the apology but Nozomi is relieved. She didn’t want to skip town as a fugitive and fail her mission as Maccha Green’s understudy.
Chiaya’s stone is still missing though. Thunderroad tripped and sent the gem flying. A cleaning bot sucked it up, but which one? While they search for that stone a rival group is has unleashed a cleaning bot into the city with a bomb in it! Except this group isn’t malicious, they just want the eternal comic convention to end and are using bots as propaganda machines. Someone else went the extra mile to implant a real bomb into the bot for them.
Time is of the essence. Thunderoad needs a stone back to use her Best powers. They recall all the cleaning bots back to headquarters and start searching them for the gem. Nozomi ends up opening the bot with it in it but Thunderoad’s pet crow is faster and delivers the gem in the nick of time. We get the action scene of the episode, which isn’t as flashy as the first two episodes brawls, but Thunderoad is only fighting a roomba.
Noriko admits that the Bombers never existed after the whole incident is over. The explosion was just an accidental detonation of a shell from the war. Noriko just didn’t want to see Thunderoad retire. Thunderoad feels that there’s someone much better to lead the pack now though, and decides to step down as leader and pass the mantle on to Noriko. Chiaya leaves her stone with her.
The girls hit the road. Chiaya’s mother finally realizes her daughter is missing and when Chiaya calls home begs for her to return. I’m starting to get a picture of what might be going on with Chiaya and her overprotective mom and the gas mask… and I hope it doesn’t spell tragedy later on. (Chiaya certainly seems healthy to me.) Nozomi tells the others she plans to continue on her journey, and the others decide to continue on. Chiaya still wants to find more stones, and Ai wants to net her own. It turns out that all are fans of an old band called Momiage Hammers (which explains the song covers featured in the show from real bands.)
The end credits show the the next part of their journey and a run in with another group of Bests… and ends with what looks like them being stuck by lightning. I wonder how much of it is going to carry over to the next episode?
In Summary:
With the trouble in Tokyo out of the way the Rolling Girls are off to their next destination! United by the love of a old rock band they hit the water-colored road as a group. We now know what the heart shaped stones are the source of the powers the Best seem to wield, and that without them a person is just an average human. We still don’t know why Chiaya’s mother is so desperate to reclaim them, but I have a feeling that it’s all for Chiaya’s sake. Too bad Mom won’t take the time to tell her daughter that.
Episode Grade: B +
Streamed by: Funimation
Review Equipment: 27” iMac running OS 10.10.1, via Safari 8.0.2, FIOS 15/5 Mbps connection. Your milage may vary.
