Berry’s Impression
After last week’s strange and terrible episode, we get treated to a slightly better episode. I say slightly because we jump from one thing to another quickly, as usual.
We get a small glimpse of Makoto, the school council president following Ren around (with her upside down magazine), we find out why later. The first section, I suppose, of this episode is the gang having to do a social studies assignment and pick some place to study. Mishima had mentioned a TV studio, so Ren and the others decide to go there too. They all get to work and learn how studios work, we get a Hifumi cameo (shogi queen), and then the students get to take part in a TV program recording as part of the audience. The guest of the talk show is none other than young detective, Goro Akechi. He appears as a clear opposing force against the Phantom Thieves, saying that they should be tried under the law for their actions. While, yes, they have revealed the ugly case of Madarame and made him admit to his crimes, to which he agrees are terrible, he does not agree that the Phantom Thieves are using justice with their own judgment. He wants to believe that they really are just, but he also brings up the link between the auto and train accidents that have been rampant lately. Which…they actually haven’t really talked about much in the anime, which is ridiculous because it’s important, but whatever. He also brings up the how. How are they able to change people’s hearts? He and Ren have a little “confrontation” as the hostess puts Ren on the spot. Also, the weird bit of character Ren had last week? Gone. He could have shown some sort of aggression towards Akechi in the question portion, but Ren’s back to being a blank slate again. :/
Before they leave to go out to eat pancakes, Akechi bumps into Ren and the gang as they talk about what Akechi said. Of course, they didn’t like it and now he’s going to be on their radar. But…hmm, something about that scene…
The next part of the episode is dedicated to Makoto and the trouble in Shibuya. We know Makoto has been given the task by the principal to get info about the Phantom Thieves, and the anime doesn’t even show or tell us why unfortunately. That’s why she’s been pretty sneaky, and this time she was able to get a recording of them while they were all talking to each other in their usual spot in school. One thing about that scene I did not like was Ann turning on Makoto about the whole Shiho and Kamoshida incident. The reason why I didn’t like it in this case was because of how random it was. Again, the anime didn’t give much details or anything after the Kamoshida case, but in the game, the player finds out that the parents of the abused kids and the school faculty actually knew about the abuse cases but chose to ignore it. With Makoto working so close with the principal, it’s natural that Ann would think Makoto would be one of those people as well, even though she wasn’t. But the anime never mentioned that, so her bringing all that up…ugh.
Either way, Ann, who was showing some doubt in their actions, now doesn’t take back what they’ve done. It’s later than Makoto calls Ren and then makes him take her to their meeting spot to show them all the recording of them she so clearly got of them saying they’re the Phantom Thieves. However, instead of reporting them, she asks them for a favor to change someone’s heart. There’s a boss of a crime syndicate targeting young people, including students from Shujin, into doing jobs related to drug trafficking. Makoto wants them to find out who it is and change their heart. With no other choice, they agree and take on the lead that Makoto found out, such as running into these gang members in alleyways in Shibuya. She and Ren screw up though, so she leaves.
The group is at a standstill and don’t really know what to do, so they call Ohya, the reporter lady from before for some info. Ren and Ryuji go to Shinjuku to meet her at a bar, but Ryuji gets caught up in some other stuff. I’m not a fan of Ohya at all, but basically she gave him a name: Junya Kaneshiro.
With his name and the little info they got, the group comes together to throw around some words to maybe find this guy’s Palace. With his name, Shibuya, and “bank”, they enter the Metaverse and enter a world where money perpetually falls from the sky and with something in the sky! In the post credits scene, we actually get to see Kaneshiro’s face, along with another figure? Hmmmm…
I’m basically used to these episodes being quick, but compared to last week’s awkward as hell and terrible episode, so terrible and boring that I skipped through almost all of it on the plane coming back home, this one wasn’t so bad. We’re heading into a new arc and we’re getting to know Makoto, as well as getting more of Akechi and his viewpoint that will spread to others later on. So, while the pace was kinda bad, we’re getting some good stuff.
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