URAHARA

Episode 4

URAHARA is like a painting where the subjects have been given voices. They stand motionless, expostulating about their two-dimensional situation in a way that would be better expressed through action. This is the best way I can describe the contrast at the core of this flawed show—it is as stilted in story and dialogue as it is beautiful in character design and background art. Episode four, “Ice Cream Fever,” shares the same episodic structure as its predecessors. It has me thinking, if only they could take a little creativity out of the visuals and inject it into the plot!

Kotoko is worried about her two best friends, but she's not good at communicating this. Instead, she skulks around plucking hairs from their heads for experiments. She doesn't sleep and considers drawing Mari and Rito's blood to search for abnormalities. Her exhaustive research culminates not in a discovery, but when she collapses of exhaustion right on top of Rito's hand-drawn sign. Kotoko is convinced that her friends hate her now. “I'll end up all alone again,” she says repeatedly. What is the cause of Kotoko's anxiety? We find out the bulk of it through a monologue while the Crepe Lady lends a kindly ear. Kotoko explains how she never had any friends until she met Mari and Rito. Just imagine if, instead of panning across Kotoko's face, the anime had instead used this moment to show that first meeting. Imagine if we had seen Kotoko acting like her goofball self in school and how her classmates might have reacted. But no, we are stuck right here in front of the same two or three Harajuku backdrops, awkwardly standing around as our characters narrate their thoughts and feelings. It's no wonder that all the best moments in this episode happened when characters actually got up and moved. Kotoko's visual gag as the zombie nurse was fantastic. And at the end of the episode, when one character deceived the others through action, I was thrilled that URAHARA didn't feel like it had to spell the moment out for me.

As usual, the highlight of this episode is how it positively overflows with style. The cutesy blobs from the last Scooper that now live with the girls were omnipresent, helping Kotoko with her research, commenting on Mari's emotional state, and just sitting around looking cute. There are adorable details everywhere you look—from Kotoko's onigiri hair ties to the decorative garnishes on every ice cream sundae. Whatever other flaws it may have, I can at least count on the world of URAHARA to be jaw-droppingly beautiful.

In the end, Kotoko didn't have to worry about her friends abandoning her. They love her, and we know because they say so directly—the only way anything gets conveyed in this show. This week's episodic structure was identical to the last three, except for that one interesting reveal at the end. It looks like it isn't Crepe Lady we have to worry about, but cute little Misa and her fried shrimp companion. Could this wrench in the plot be enough to shake the boring pattern of exposition followed by battle followed by on-the-nose discussions of fashion and friendship? Let's hope so.

Rating: C

URAHARA is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Lauren writes about geek careers at Otaku Journalist.