Episode 8: Mystic Sugar
What They Say:
Yamada’s new phone and living arrangements, Todoroki’s birthday and benefits of Satou’s unfathomable incompetence, Takanashi’s violence, and Kirio’s interpretation.
The Review
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Despite the previous episode’s title, “Goodbye Yamada,” Yamada returns as Yamada in full Yamada form. (Surprise! …she’s not really leaving.) Honestly, Yamada’s departure and return represents the first major chunk of content in the episode and is a bit overkill for all its superfluous sentiment. The bookends—chibi Yamada’s harassment of Takanashi and the ol’ switcheroo yuk based on the running gag about the fictitious family name—are probably the best bits of the first five minutes (aside from a predictable but appreciated outburst from Otoo’s wife). The in-between, when Takanashi recalls Yamada’s formal announcement to the crew, otherwise extends the tenderness with which the last episode left off. It provides the contrast against which comedy would thrive, but effective jokes really don’t end up being cracked here to properly utilize the setup.
The funny continues to take a backseat in the following half-scene, in which Satou learns of Todoroki’s impending birthday. An over-dramatic inner monologue from a reluctantly sympathetic Mitsuki is supposed to be funny for its hyperactive delivery but just ends up being a text wall with little payoff other than adding another character to the chibified checklist. (I may be missing a visual reference which would have made this cleverer, especially as that format is repeated once more in the episode.) At least the cut to Takanashi brings about a good flow in the episode by transitioning to the restaurant’s other romantic couple.
The more subdued humor tied to Takanashi’s maniacally-focused perturbation stemming from Kirio’s continued interaction with Inami is all too quick (and better for it). Plot-wise, this half-scene exists only to yet again retread the issue of Takanashi grappling with admitting his feelings for Inami. It extends with slapstick only funny for its contrast of who’s throwing the “open hand blow” and the depiction of its delivery, but what this half-scene’s placement does really well is set up my favorite gag of the episode.
A transition to Souma by way of Mitsuki after a cut back to Satou is so well composed that it’s hard not to grin at its conclusion. Souma’s impetus for leaving his conversation with Mitsuki is an overheard scream from elsewhere in Wagnaria, and seeing his inner spy uncomfortably talking while trying to quickly wrap things up to see what’s happening is very entertaining. The audio cue transitions back to Kirio and Takanashi, where the egging on by the former inspires more violence from the latter (who also causes Inami to run to a safe place to let off some steam). After being joined by Souma for some tag team taunting, which is effectively charming for its childishness, one final cut to Inami’s refuge reveals the punchline to all this back-and-forth. It ends up being a clichéd line given new life for its workplace/situational pun, and the ominous squeak of the Wagnaria back door as Takanashi “take[s] out the trash” is a hilarious punctuation point (perhaps several) for its contrast with his previously built up frustration.
The last thing of note about this episode is Yamada’s extended wait for and frustrated reaction to her mother’s seemingly ambiguous mobile mail response. More precisely, this is about the adept portrayal of social inhibition via non-verbal communication. Yamada’s mother suffers from thinking so much that verbalization is strenuous if at all possible. When Todoroki suggests Yamada communicate a simple thought for immediate verification by her mother through mobile mail, the result is less than satisfactory for Aoi. Kirio, however, explains their mother’s response in terms that almost anyone who has a tendency to overthink things would understand. More to the point, Working!!! manages to effectively convey a character’s (albeit one with a trope-based affliction) motivation via something otherwise left to interpretation: a cellphone screen. As soon as I saw the reply, I knew the entirety of the text wall Kirio spews as translation to Aoi in interpretation for his mother.
In Summary:
This is another episode where storyboarding outperforms scripting. The back-and-forth of the previously expounded upon half-scenes gives a sense of architecture within Wagnaria via character movement, and subsequent framing allows for one of the funniest jokes in the whole 20-some minutes. Transitions are not seamless but instituted with skill to produce an ironclad narrative flow linking a multitude of characters. And even if the funny is subdued, looking back on the construction of the episode is impressive enough to warrant an above-average rating. But for a series I watch exclusively for the laughter-inspiring timing and twists, I feel the inability to work in more effective comedy less than excellent.
Grade: B
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Xbox360 running Crunchyroll app via HDMI to Toshiba 40” LED 1080P HDTV. Sony 5.1 home theater system.
