Peach Boy Riverside

Episode 6

So this week's episode of Peach Boy Riverside does follow directly on from the one we watched last week. In theory that means following the ins and outs of its events should be relatively simple, but that would foolishly presume we were all caught up on the previous context that led our heroes to Vampire-Town in the first place. This go-around though, it's not just an issue of the way Carrot and Sally's crew continuously skirt around contextualizing their camaraderie because, hey, as far as they know we already saw how they got together, but we also have to reckon with the latter half of this episode fully following up on more events we haven't actually seen. If I was casually watching the show week-to-week this might just be an odd complication for me to deal with, but as an element involved in actually evaluating Peach Boy Riverside on an episode-by-episode basis, it's quickly becoming infuriating.

Because it really does detract from trying to enjoy the anime when instead of just following my own interest in the plot as it's being presented to me, I also have to expend half my energy charting out this ridiculous Pepe Silvia board the show insists I keep just to have an inkling of what anyone's talking about. We were 'introduced' to Mikoto's miniature nun companion Millia weeks ago, so here I come into this one thinking this is her first proper appearance among the show's cast. Except then she has some aside exposition, plus an oblique comment from Sally earlier in the episode, which makes clear that Millia's situation was actually set up in an earlier adventure that we've still yet to see! So instead of just appreciating the stages in this character's journey as they've been laid out, and how they might even form a neat parallel with Carrot's own process we see continuing in this episode, I'm stuck in a perpetual revelation loop of "Oh wait that's what her deal is?!"

Now I can hear what you're saying. "Chris, just read the manga if you want to be caught up on the context for the show as you're watching it!" Fair point I guess, so much of adapted anime these days barely exists as supplemental advertisements for the source material anyway. But then where would that even leave me as far as critiquing this thing? "What chapter did they hit 'shuffle' on and provide a workmanlike animated take on this week? How did this version of the story present things in a way you'd have much more enjoyment of if you could just sit back and enjoy it chronologically?" At this point, halfway into the season as we are, it's clear that any approach to try to evaluate Peach Boy Riverside as a work unto itself is futile, existing as it does continuously in conversation with its own source and the desperate adaptation choices of itself. I guess this is an inevitability when you're animating a manga that itself had to be remade once before already.

I have space to expend all those above paragraphs on a rant about the show's grating gacha-roll structure because, hey, turns out not a lot happens in this week's Peach Boy Riverside, at least as far as plot points we've been conditioned to care about. The main thing on the side of Sally's team is using the fallout from the vampire fight to follow up on that tedious racism sub-plot. Basically, Sally shows to Carrot that she's willing to throw hands over people being racist towards Frau so long as they're sustainedly annoying about it long enough. That's something we did already know from the earliest episode of the series, and seems to satisfy Carrot enough to compromise for the time being. Though she also notes that this means the town's cops will be coming for Sally over the assault, which just makes it even more baffling that apparently even Carrot was aware of the issues with starting these kinds of conflicts in the town and still pushed for the violent solution. It just ends up making everyone look only partially principled and entirely like idiots. Except for Hawthorn, I guess, who continues to maintain his cool and even provides the most entertaining bit of the episode as he resolves to haul Sally off for a quick stay in jail for her impulses.

I want to say the latter half of this episode, concerning Mikoto's meeting of Millia, is supposed to be playing into this same overarching question of species-wide compromise, if only we can give peace a chance. But as I already denigratingly detailed, much of the context surrounding the conflict here is locked behind unseen story beats. Millia's Oni status is revealed decently quickly at least for those of us unaware of the dramatic irony from the start, but then Mikoto's Momotaro-motivated urge to kill her turns out to be wrapped up in additional extra layers of character complexity. Per the revelation by his dog friend (who I hilariously realized this week is simply named 'Dog'), the Kibitsu Mikoto we're following in Peach Boy Riverside isn't the 'original' version, but instead a successor to his name carrying on his will in some way. You know what kills this? This could be a dramatic beat teasing at an overall revelation to come in developing the character later, or it's a reference to a plot point we were supposed to have already known about, and within the context of the show itself, I have no idea which it actually is! Marvel at the PBR's one-of-a-kind ability to mismanage even actual plot twists with the most poorly-considered rearranged episode order ever!

Yes, there is potential for a very interesting parallel between Carrot coming to accept her halfway-human status among Sally's party while Millia makes the hard choice for that same sort of existence on Mikoto's side. It could even tie into the overarching questions of comparisons and divides between the species if the show actually seemed at all interested in exploring that with any measure of depth. But we don't get that. We get some beats that feel like major steps in the story, presented with all the resonance (and gratuitous blood) that I would expect from functional pathos, but framed with only vestiges of context. Even though this episode is technically a continuation of the preceding one, I feel like that issue with the show's construction really came to a head this week, as so much of the affectation of this story was predicated on previously-seen stories that we weren't aware of until the characters 'helpfully' reminded us about things we hadn't actually seen. It's not that the story of Peach Boy Riverside is really 'confusing' in this condition, I can technically follow what's going on just fine. But beyond the base noting of events that are taking place, in order for story elements to resonate or get their concepts across, they need to be contextualized properly and get us immersed. And as exemplified by pretty much everything about this episode, the show's format has utterly failed to do that.

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Peach Boy Riverside is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Chris is a freelance writer who appreciates anime, action figures, and additional ancillary artistry. He can be found staying up way too late posting screencaps on his Twitter.