content material warning: Suicidal ideas
What’s it about? Masakichi has simply been kicked off the Hyped-Up Sisters NewTube channel after throwing a punch throughout a livestream. Determined to make a comeback, Masakichi stumbles upon the right answer in Dwell, a vampire who has simply awoken from a 20-year dream of a girl who appears to be like precisely like Masakichi. The 2 strike a deal: if Dwell stars in movies and reaches 1,000,000 subscribers, Masakichi will supply himself up for dinner.
Generally the sky elements on the planet of anime, and an angel floats down from the clouds with a present made only for me. Final time it was “big robots piloted by a catastrophe bisexual doing Utena references.” And now I’m being handled to the delights of anime-original failgirl vampire Yuri made by PA Works, a studio recognized for having their reveals both completed or practically completed earlier than they ever air. The collection’ composer (Shirasaka Hideaki) is comparatively new to the business, however has labored with the director of MAYONAKA on scripts for earlier PA hits Sure boy Kongming!This will not be a assured success, but it surely’s a robust begin.
The episode is a feast for the eyes, with some notably lush nighttime backdrops, however what actually impressed me was how tightly it was executed from each a story and comedic perspective. The script spends roughly equal time on each leads, and in that point supplies an entire overview of the place the present can go from right here. Masakichi is very fascinating, and clearly the emotional anchor of the present: she inspired her sisters (who I feel are her blood family, however that is not 100% clear) to get into making movies, and caught with that when the “enjoyable factor to do collectively” became an expert profession, a psychological shift that Masakichi clearly struggled with.
Hers is a narrative that performs out each day on this sense, particularly among the many millennial/zillennial cusp, earlier than the industrialization of “content material” actually turned a normal. Masakichi is clearly ill-suited to the function of an web public determine: she acts impulsively, spirals downward and seethes when issues blow up, and digs in her heels even when she’s flawed. She’s positively not a human monster: it’s clear she regrets attempting to make it on her personal earlier than apologizing… however then she will get sucked into the spiral, the place actual criticism is changed by the wave of individuals calling her a talentless loser or a “violent bitch,” and stubbornness turns to frostbite. It’s straightforward to see why she retains digging her personal grave.
On the identical time, this isn’t a “wehhhh, cancel tradition” premise, regardless of the episode’s title (“The Canceled Woman and the Sleepy Vampire”). Masakichi is rightly traumatized in some methods by the web backlash, however she additionally makes the flawed determination at each junction after that preliminary blow, blaming the fuzzy minds of “the haters” with growing fervor till an izakaya service employee snaps at her for drunkenly screaming about her persecution and stops them from closing down, jolting Masakichi out of her “none of my habits has ever been the fault of something” defenses a bit. The writing is sympathetic to her grief but additionally acutely conscious that she’s sort of a bit of shit, and that makes using the rollercoaster of her fuckups extra enjoyable.
Dwell’s story is far less complicated. She took an extended nap, throughout which she apparently had just one very sexy dream a couple of scorching bare girl providing her blood (we solely see her from behind, however Dwell’s facial expressions do the remaining), and woke as much as two details: first, that her vampiric roommate Ichiko had run up an enormous quantity of debt by attempting to recreation the inventory market; and second, that this newfangled “smartphone” can present her the spitting picture of the girl from her dream. There’s lots of bodily comedy in these scenes, however in addition they don’t confuse quantity with comedy, which (together with the dearth of fanservice) went a good distance towards making the baby-faced Ichiko likable as an alternative of annoying.
I am additionally actually impressed with the needle the present threads throughout Dwell and Masakichi’s first assembly. Dwell appears to be like fairly creepy via Masakichi’s eyes, so when a chase ensues, it is clear that the alarm bells are for getting eaten relatively than wooed. In the meantime, Dwell monologues to herself about having a correct courtship, her still-hungry vampire instincts set on the closest heat physique. It is each creepy and humorous, and when the 2 lastly speak, it is clear that there is pathos at work alongside the visible gags.
Proper now, Dwell’s attraction to Masakichi is shrouded in bloodlust, however the entire “dreaming about bare girls” factor no less than suggests the potential for extra typical attraction. And the truth that the deal the 2 make is functionally a suicide pact on Masakichi’s half completely screams for the sort of “oh no, however you are NOT meals” twist that I am an absolute sucker for in any sort of monsterfucker story. MAYONAKA PUNCH has flown underneath the radar of pre-season chatter, however I encourage you in no unsure phrases to place it on the high of your listing. This one delivers.
