Concrete Revolutio

Episode 16

Last week, I was cautiously optimistic about this new season of Concrete Revolutio. The show managed to turn out two solid episodes, with the second especially excelling at providing a coherent, easy-to-follow story along with its usual chewy themes. I've seen what a mess this show could become in the past and didn't want to get my hopes up too high. With episode 16, "Calling Your Name in the Town of Followers," it looks like I was right to hope after all. Concrete Revolutio continues to craft strong individual stories, without packing in too many details to lose its viewers this time. It's like Concrete Revolutio's creators knew there was a problem last season and decided to reign it in this time!

This episode is perhaps even simpler than the last two. It centers on a winter sports festival in Sapporo. Though it goes by a different name in the story, it's easy to infer based on the date (1972) that this is the Concrete Revolutio world's version of the Winter Olympics, which were held in Sapporo that year. It's an international festival, and there's a lot of pressure on our new characters for this episode to represent Japan well in the games. Most importantly, the athletes in question compete in men's ski jumping. Japan swept the medals for that event in the real Sapporo Olympics, its first ever medals in the Winter Games. Needless to say, it was a big moment in Japanese sports history, and it makes sense that Concrete Revolutio would reference that like it did the late 1960s student protests or The Beatles playing the Budokan.

This being Concrete Revolutio, superhumans are involved. In this version of the games, it's expected that the athletes will have at least some biological enhancements to make them into "artificial superhumans," although mechanical enhancements are banned. (This is likely related to how the Olympics were starting to iron out issues with doping and endorsements around this time, and the Sapporo Games had a major controversy with the latter.) The three superstar ski jumpers who've agreed to this are the Three Birdmen, going by Shin, Cobra and Gamba. Their test jumper, Koichi Amato, had the chance to accept these enhancements, but he refused. It doesn't matter though, when nature starts playing games with the athletes and attendees right before the opening ceremony. The Three Birdmen are still "normal humans" deep down, so they get zapped in the head with flowers just like everybody else who falls afoul of the mysterious giggling clouds.

Even in one of its most straightforward stories, Concrete Revolutio manages to get super weird super fast. Luckily, these pieces aren't as hard to put together as you'd think: the clouds come from a forest god, Pirikappi, who rules over the area where the games' field was built, and she's angry at being ignored. The flowers are part of a plan to turn the humans into trees and reclaim the forest—but also allow for the ritual that Amato remembers from his youth growing up in that forest. Every year, a boy in the village would have to shoot an arrow into the center of the grove of trees, where one had a bullseye. Here, he recognizes what Pirikappi is doing and shoots himself—from the ski jump—into the center of the tree-humans. Satisfied, the people are returned to their normal states, and the show can go on.

There is character drama between the episodic cast, but it's resolved pretty quickly by the episode's events. Birdman Gamba is furious at Amato when he thinks that he's behind the mysterious flowers on the team's head—which they can't have, because it makes Japan's star athletes look ridiculous and gets in the way of their helmets. Naturally, when the forest god presents itself later, they absolve Amato of their accusations. They and their handlers are also frustrated and confused as to why Amato won't get the enhancements and compete in the games, but he manages something about how he didn't have the courage to represent his country, and everyone is satisfied.

The main characters generally take a back seat here, which helps this episode's cohesion. Jiro shows up to try to recruit Amato to his cause before learning that he's not really a superhuman, and he also spars with Jaguar during the episode climax, before the group begrudgingly decides to work together to defeat the forest god's plan. Emi unconsciously merges with the forest god, and later mentions something about yokai being closer to animals and nature so they "tuned into each other a little too well." It says a lot about how much the focus is away from the leads that her lack of character development doesn't stand out here, and if anything, that is another small nod in the direction of Emi getting more to do later. Like many of Concrete Revolutio's episodes, this is a story of ordinary people in this superhuman world, away from the complicated threads of the main event. It's stronger for its simplicity.

In spite of that simplicity, episode 16 leaves us a lot to discuss. It's more on-the-nose with its meaning, but still offers multiple interpretations. Is the message about respecting the environment, honoring it along with human activity? This is indicated near the end when it's suggested that the events are "so human-centric" that the forest gods "must get a little lonely." Concrete Revolutio has had "respect the environment" episodes before, so it's not puzzling (especially since it aired on Earth Day). It could also represent how Japan's push to modernize and be respected among the post-war international community can lead to neglecting its history and traditions, which the forest gods could also represent. Early in the episode, we hear characters discussing how this competition, like earlier ones in the era (such as the 1964 Tokyo Olympics), will show the world that Japan is "post-war" now. Concrete Revolutio has also dwelt previously on learning the lessons of the past, and the forest gods, representing ancient knowledge and tradition, reflect that past. In Amato's case, he saves the day with his connection to that past: by recalling and recreating the forest ritual from his boyhood. It also refers back to his worry about not being able to represent his nation. In a way, Amato manages to represent Japan better than anybody else.

Episode 16 is a powerful testament to how less truly is more with Concrete Revolutio. The worst episodes of this series are overstuffed, throwing so many new ideas and characters at you that you can't make sense of them all. By keeping it simple, it's actually easier to plunge deeper into the bigger questions that this episode is posing, because there is less to dig through in order to get there. If Shō Aikawa and friends can keep this trend going, this second season could turn Concrete Revolutio into a truly great show.

Rating: A

Concrete Revolutio is currently streaming on Funimation.

Rose is a music Ph.D. student who loves overanalyzing anime soundtracks. Follow her on her media blog Rose's Turn, and on Twitter.