Inuyashiki Last Hero

Episode 4

Episode 4 opens with a yakuza boss forcing a disrespectful younger thug to suck his dick until he climaxes. He proceeds to use sexual assault as a display of power by kidnapping, drugging, and raping young women, then thinking nothing of them dying of overdoses later. It's all to cement him as a remorseless villain and ensure that there won't be the slightest room for moral grayness when Ichiro eventually takes him on.

Ichiro doesn't come into the picture until around the halfway point of the episode though, and the only reference to Hiro is a background shot of a TV screen displaying a news item about the family he murdered at the end of last episode. Before then, the story spends its time establishing the yakuza boss and the young woman Fumino, who will be his next “conquest.” Her romance with fiancé-to-be Satoru is one of those sweet simple love stories about wholly ordinary people—intended to make the yakuza's crimes all the more galling. This prompts Ichiro to arrive on the scene, attempt to stop the yakuza from taking back the girl after she escapes the first time, and then actually succeed in rescuing her on a second attempt after several shots to the head knock him unconscious. In the process, he gets to wreak righteous retribution on a whole roomful of yakuza bosses and beat the villain to a pulp.

As trite and cynical as this all sounds, it plays out vastly better in execution for three key reasons. One is that Fumino is surprisingly strong figure—definitely stronger than the man she's chosen, who's too terrified to do anything against a yakuza who stands at least a full foot taller than him. (Admittedly, most people would be thoroughly paralyzed and intimidated in that situation.) Although she is victimized, she isn't a helpless pawn; despite being naked and in unfamiliar territory, she's able to keep her head well enough to use the yakuza's sword against him and wound him enough to escape on her own initially.

The second reason is something that's consistently been a strength of the series: its emotional core. This may not be tearjerker-level fare, but there is something genuine about the emotions its characters express that continues to resonate beyond most average heartstring-tugging titles. Despite them only first appearing in this episode, we don't need a detailed exploration of why Fumino and Satoru are in love; their feelings are plain and their interactions are devoid of artificiality. Supporting all this is the other key reason this episode works despite itself: the continued outstanding use of musical score and nuanced voice acting.

The one problem that those elements cannot offset is some choppy editing. In several places, the events jump too suddenly between scenes, as if this episode was edited down from something that was a couple minutes longer. I'm not sure what kind of effect was being aimed for with this style, but it doesn't work well. Ichiro's speech to the yakuza he has just permanently maimed can also come off as preachy.

Overall, this episode could have—probably should have—been immensely worse than it is. Even if the show isn't perfect, there's still some real magic going on here.

Rating: B+

Inuyashiki Last Hero is currently streaming on Amazon's Anime Strike.