Back Arrow

Episode 4

We open on a flashback sequence from when Shu Bi and Kai were still children. Soldiers are seen leading them and other children in chains, because their village could not afford the tax and traded them in instead. Shu Bi and Kai grate against their capture but vow to make themselves known to the Capital and be free.

Back to the present, events are set in motion across Lingalind. At the border of the neutral zone, a sentai team colorful band of mercenaries known as the Four Fiends assault an outpost and cause elemental havoc. Meanwhile, our heroes aboard the Granedger are planning on crossing through the neutral area to trade for supplies.

Suddenly they find themselves attacked by the forces of Rekka lead by Ren and Shu Bi. A huge artillery barrage rains down on the Granedger, and before they can fly away the Four Fiends arrive and use decoupling spray to ground the battleship. It turns out the Four Fiends are being employed by Shu Bi, and Briheight battling ensues. The Four Fiends have our heroes on the ropes until Back Arrow reveals his ability to produce full clones of himself, defeating them in short order. Shu Bi then disables the remaining weapons the Rekka army has and reveals that his real motive was to see if the Granedger crew was worth joining. So he sends Ren packing and joins our heroes, while she journeys back to Rekka to inform Kai of Shu Bi's betrayal.

This series is growing on me by pure dint of the lighthearted joy coursing through its veins.

I was informed by a friend that the series is in fact written by none other than Kazuki Nakashima – who wrote titles such as Gurren Lagann and Kamen Rider Fourze – and that explains the show's abundance of energy. Back Arrow certainly reminds me of Gentaro in a few key ways, and I think this episode is a good indicator of where the show is going.

The big highlight of the episode is absolutely the Four Fiends. They have fun mechas with elemental powers, frenetic personalities, and clearly majored in Sun's Out Gun's Out with a minor in Full Plate-kinis. Their color-coded hair is expected, but the fact that their hairstyles and texture match their elements gave me a big goofy grin. Back Arrow nearly matches their ridiculous energy with his “I'm a guy who surprises myself!” line, weaponizing his plot-amnesia. Definitely one for the hot-blooded mecha pilot history books as far as I'm concerned.

I also appreciate that Shu Bi is very much leaning into the Zhuge Liang angle. “Surprise, I only summoned this army out here in order to see if you were strong enough to fight so I could betray my own army with secretly hidden explosives and turn my back on my confidant and closest friend!” I'm hoping we only get increasingly more complex, 19th-dimensional schemes from him as the series progresses.

Rating:

Grant is the cohost on the Blade Licking Thieves podcast and Super Senpai Podcast.

Back Arrow is currently streaming on FUNimation Entertainment.