Tokine just can’t catch a break.
What They Say:
Tokine goes with her friends to see a monster movie in an extra-loud theater, where she has an awkward run-in with a co-worker… and another trip to Quizun!
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Nazotokine delivered a lackluster puzzle episode the last time around as we had the expected structure of story episode and puzzle solving episode. Which meant it was pretty dull and uninteresting in what it wanted to accomplish outside of some mild character moments. With this episode, everything shifts back to what I’m looking for with the series as it’s about Tokine and her life. She’s such a fun character when not saddled with the puzzle side of the series that it’s frustrating, though part of that comes from the way that the puzzles just don’t click for me in general and even worse when I’m less likely able to solve them due to cultural aspects of it.
The episode has her with her friends off at a wrestling event and with Hinata’s friends there as well, so we get a decent number of semi-familiar characters enjoying the show. Where it shifts from there is Tokine and others visiting her friend that moved recently to check out the new place with them, so we get a nice mix of adults and high school students that are able to see how their lives could be in the future. What they opt to do as a group, however, is go to the nearby theater that has a huge emphasis on big sound to see a monster movie. There’s some fun with the various posters, but everything is about putting Tokine and crew into a situation where Hacchin can launch the latest puzzle. The bulk of the episode is just the social side, however, and that works really well in its laid back approach and just the enjoyment of life.
In Summary:
With a nod toward one of Tokine’s coworkers being in the audience, which will likely play into the larger events of the series, the show mostly focuses on Tokine and her social circle of adults and high school students. And the fact that it’s just about them and not boys or relationships or the usual things that we get. It’s about having fun together watching a sumo match or heading to the theater. It’s a pretty fun episode overall that naturally makes the shift in the final minute toward the puzzle itself, but before that it’s just an enjoyable slice of life piece.
Grade: B-
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
