With Mario in custody, the plan is hatched to make sure he doesn’t end up in a lengthy prison sentence.
What They Say:
Mario’s still in custody, with ten days until his fate is decided. Scam sets out to gather written statements from the victims, including Junko, who was at the scene when Mario injured his teacher years earlier.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
With the incident in the bar now causing Mario to be picked up by the police, his options aren’t looking good. Having escaped from the reformatory and lived quietly for awhile now, it won’t reflect well on him and he’s likely to be prosecuted and sent to juvenile prison for seven years. Knowing what they do, Scam and the others have decided to do what they can to get him out of there at best and ease things at worst. It’s an interesting couple of tracks that are played out that highlights some good material about Mario and his past.
Under questioning, Mario still won’t talk about what happened that got him thrown in the reformatory with the teacher. The assault is something he hasn’t spoken of himself, but we start to get some flashbacks to it and see the blood on his hands that continues to haunt him. While being questioned and not giving anything up, Joe and Cabbage head to the girl’s school to talk to the young woman who was involved in the fight with the teacher, to understand what it was that went on as some sort of assault had happened. The sit down is really quite interesting as the truth comes out and it’s not exactly the kind of clear cut thing you’d expect, with a little twist to it that causes more problems for Mario in the short term. At the same time, Soldier and Turtle are off trying to convince the guy that Mario got into a fight with at the bar to drop the charges and that turns in a really creative direction by Soldier in order to obtain that signature.
Where the show really takes things to a truly good level, one you don’t see often, is when Scam confronts the official over things and implores him to do the right thing. Scam’s not above letting it all out there and he explains it fairly plainly what’s happened in the past with the reformatory and is ready to explain about the teacher incident that got him in there as well, even after the written statement he brought in is tossed out. What takes it further is Scam talking about what’s gone on in the past, his losses as his father was killed in Manchuria in a war started by that generation, and the way the young men of this day now have to try and survive and have lived through hard things because of their choices, choices that left them with repercussions they didn’t expect. It’s a great moment and one that helps elevate Scam to much more than he has been so far.
In Summary:
Rainbow continues to use the setting in which it takes place, the time frame and all, to wonderful effect. These characters aren’t just stereotypes, they’re characters that have pasts to them that haunt them and they’re able to bring that out for all to see when it’s truly needed. Mario’s troubles have taken up several episodes now overall and watching his arc from the rough type to where he is now has been great, but this episode stands strong because of characters like Scam and the way his friends worked hard to get the details and information needed to present the truth about what’s going on. And it stands well because someone actually listened for once and made a realistic assessment of things instead of just going by the book. Rainbow elevates itself with practically every episode, becoming more and more memorable and unique.
Originally Streamed By: Funimation
