Comet Lucifer

Episode 8

When confronted with a forest full of strangely colored plants, the average person would probably leave the freaky flora alone if possible. Sogo and his friends aren't exactly average, so after only five minutes or so in this multicolored woodland, they start chopping down trees to build a raft. If their planet's government has a forestry service, its employees are probably having heart attacks. This is why we can't have nice things, guys.

After deciding to follow the river to the glowing Altar, the kids start building their log raft. They run into Do Mon in the forest, which makes for a happy reunion until he starts scolding Sogo for putting himself and his friends in danger without thinking things through. This sends the show into a flashback, where we learn that Do Mon was assigned to protect Sogo's mother while she conducted research on a new energy source. Undeterred by the dangers that lay ahead, Sogo and Moura pledge to go on protecting Felia. They set out for the Altar in the middle of the night, leaving Kaon, Otto, Roman, and Do Mon behind. In the meantime, Zoneboyle takes a moment away from stargazing to have his political opponents assassinated, which is presumably the first step in a much larger plan.

For a series with a group of teenage protagonists, Comet Lucifer dedicated a surprising amount of time to its older characters this week. Do Mon's flashback provides an interesting break from the main story, and it certainly explains why he decided to take care of Sogo after the bodyguard mission ended in failure. I like the decision to have him play a significant role in the series, since he makes for a much more compelling voice of caution than any of the kids. That emotional depth must be contagious though, because it spreads to several other characters in this episode. Sogo and Moura have a nice moment of camaraderie as they decide to carry on with the quest, and Roman takes another break from his obnoxious rich guy routine during his conversation with Felia. Who are all these people, and what have they done with the generic main characters that struggled to hold my interest at the beginning of the series?

This episode isn't without its issues, however. I can see why Comet Lucifer would want to give a more detailed explanation of what exactly Moura and Felia are at this point, but the whole “cosmic seeds of life” scene is hard to take seriously. It lacks the thought-provoking insights that a more philosophically inclined series might offer to justify the silly visuals of actual seeds floating through space. It feels like the show is just including a trippy scene for the sake of having one, instead of using it to explore an interesting theme. The lapses in nuanced writing continue in Do Mon's encounter with Gus, though their showdown is at least free of out-of-body experiences. The conversation between these two former comrades is much too direct and melodramatic for its own good. I'd expect these two to talk carefully around their troubled past, but instead they just spout cheesy lines that wouldn't be out of place in a B-grade war movie. It could have been a good scene, but it needed another few rounds of revisions first.

While the script stumbles in a few places, the story is still moving in a good direction. Splitting up the main group throws a few extra wild cards into the deck for the end of the season, and a little unpredictability is a very good thing when you're working in a genre as crowded as this one. The split also has potential implications for the show's romantic side, as it gives Roman and Kaon an obvious opportunity to sort things out away from all the chaos that tends to surround Sogo and Felia. At this point, I'm more interested in seeing how Comet Lucifer's side plots play out than I am in Felia's fate once she reaches the big glowing ring in the sky. To heck with saving the world, just tell me if the serious girl is going to hook up with the flashy rich guy.

It's pretty clear that this episode's primary role is to set the stage for the show's final third, which it does reasonably well. In a plot-focused series like this, the occasional awkward scene isn't a huge deal as long as the ball keeps rolling. Like its own main characters, Comet Lucifer needed to take a moment and ponder if it's ready for things to start getting serious. The answer appears to be “yes,” and that's definitely a good thing.

Rating: B

Comet Lucifer is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Paul Jensen is a freelance writer and editor. You can follow more of his anime-related ramblings on Twitter.