Meeting Date: 11/21/2020
Disclaimer: The Herald Anime Club discusses shows in a generally unmoderated format. Naturally, there will be spoilers for a given episode. You have been warned!
Samantha Ferreira: Hi everyone, and welcome to the Herald Anime Club. I’m Samantha, and I’m here with Anthony
Anthony Simpson: Evening
Samantha Ferreira: Tonight, we’re heading back to the mean streets of Ikebukuro for Ikebukuro West Gate Park episode 7: “Makoto just picked a whole bunch of oopsie daisies.” This week was the second part of the two-parter that began last week, which saw the G-Boys on the verge of a good old-fashioned gang war.
Anthony Simpson: And our old friends from the late-stage capitalism episode make a return.
Samantha Ferreira: It was a fun swerve, really. I’m glad they weren’t just forgotten after that humiliation. Granted, they dropped super-fast again this time.
But, well… it’s the thought that counts?
Anthony Simpson: I was not expecting them to be the ones causing the problems.
Well, I mean Shadow did kick some of their asses easily. Considering he took out Knight with little effort.
Samantha Ferreira: Definitely. That was impressive to see – the dude dropped Hiroto like a sack of potatoes.
Anthony Simpson: Well, he did need to dropped a peg or two.
Samantha Ferreira: Definitely. His carelessness allowed the Red Angels to get a bigger foothold in the city, after all.
Anthony Simpson: Siding with King’s faction was smart for them to do.
Samantha Ferreira: Definitely. Especially given that they just snuffed the entire thing out with the quickness. That said, I’m impressed at how ruthless Makoto was this time.
Anthony Simpson: He couldn’t be the nice guy this time around to stop the gang war.
Samantha Ferreira: It was a great shift, really.
Anthony Simpson: It was good that side of him came out. Considering that he is a helper to street gangs, he couldn’t be Mr. Nice Guy all the time.
Samantha Ferreira: Definitely It felt so weird that he was this vanilla “good boy” type that palled around with gangsters.
Anthony Simpson: Now I wonder if we are going to get more of a not-nice side going forward?
Samantha Ferreira: Likewise. I really liked seeing this part of him, where he’ll say “work him over” to a member of the underworld.
Anthony Simpson: Speaking of that I was SO SO glad they showed all of the fights in this episode. I was going to upset if they didn’t show them in full this time.
Samantha Ferreira: Same! Like… it felt like such a cop-out in previous instances. Where you came in and they were wrapping up, or you catch the beginning.
Or, well… the dude goes down like a wuss.
Speaking of, what is it with shit going down in the porno section? That’s two episodes in a row now.
Anthony Simpson: Maybe this was their way of getting some fanservice in that didn’t feel out of place. I mean they were in a video rental store.
And unless they are Blockbuster, they have adult sections.
Samantha Ferreira: True enough. I just thought it was funny.
Anthony Simpson: Agreed.
Samantha Ferreira: Honestly, I didn’t expect it to get this compelling early on – but now, we have these shifts in political power, grabs for control, and even movement in the underworld. it’s been pretty refreshing to see.
Anthony Simpson: I’m wondering now that this has happened if we are going to see more of this going forward.
Samantha Ferreira: Likewise. I sincerely do hope so, since there’s actual potential down this avenue. You can see something finally forming after those first three episodes.
Anthony Simpson: The gears are starting to mesh.
Speaking of we finally got to see the movie get completed.
Samantha Ferreira: Yeah… and the director leveled up with a porkpie hat.
Joking aside, I’m glad to see they really followed that to its conclusion. That was a fun subplot
Anthony Simpson: It was nice to see Makoto to help someone that wasn’t gang related thought King did get involved in the end.
Samantha Ferreira: Right? It was great to see how his connections with the cops and the info merchant really worked out in something that wasn’t a quirky side story.
Any other thoughts this week?
Anthony Simpson: Looking forward to the next episode.
Samantha Ferreira: Likewise. here’s hoping they can keep it up!
And ‘til next time, remember: in the right hands, a bunny mask can be terrifying.
Have a great night!
Anthony Simpson: Good night.
