Shy Season 2

Episode 24

Shy wraps up its second season with a tearful goodbye and a slightly awkward press conference. It's a subdued conclusion indicative of the serial nature of the source manga. There's still plenty left to adapt, and there are numerous narrative threads left dangling, but the tale of the twin shinobi comes to a satisfying end.

I'm glad that Mai's resolution isn't too neat. There was plenty of reason to be sunny after Teru's super stunt last week, but this denouement snaps us back to reality, where there usually aren't unilaterally happy endings. Mai can't stick around, after all. You can be of two minds about this. On one hand, it's a little frustrating that Mai has to die after all of that struggle to stop her from martyring herself. On the other hand, this development works for me because it isn't about Mai martyring herself. She's not aiming for some noble sacrifice. She's accepting herself and her fate. For the first time in this entire arc, we see her truly at peace.

The ring that she gifts Teru supports her acceptance of her own death. The lotus flower is an important symbol in many Asian religions, but Mai's description of it hews closely to its Buddhist significance. As a beautiful bloom that rises out of the muck and mud, it stands for the possibility of spiritual enlightenment despite the evils and attachments of the physical world. For Mai in particular, it represents the peace Ai and Teru gave her after her years of suffering and hollowness within the seedy assassin underworld. Now, it's a little goofy that, on top of this personal/religious meaning, the ring also grants Teru the use of Mai's special shinobi ability. That's very video-gamey, but at the end of the day, this is a superhero comic written for children. It's allowed to be a little goofy.

Yet again, my main problem with this episode is its pacing. It drags out Mai's goodbye to an extent that undercuts its dramatic potential. I timed it, and Mai's body fades away over the course of nine treacly minutes, which is nearly half of the entire runtime. That in itself isn't necessarily terrible—you can coax some effective melodrama out of an unrealistically protracted death scene—but Shy spends most of those minutes repeating itself. I know I just said this is written for children, but I don't think kids need their hands held this much for them to pick up on what Mai's arc was about. Trust your audience more. That being said, I did like the reveal that Tokimaru was the heron the sisters had rescued. I think that folk tale magical realism intersects well with this series' take on superheroes.

And overall, I still enjoyed the finale. The press conference exhibits both Teru's budding confidence and still-overpowering anxiety, and reporter Asuka's presence is a cute bookend to the season. Kufufu's capture is a surprising development, but it makes sense. She's gotten the most development out of the current Amarariruku members (and that's including Stigma), so she has the most potential as an ally and/or informant. And the biggest open question is Shine, Japan's previous hero. I believe this is the first time she's been named, and it might even be the first time the series has acknowledged that Teru is a successor to the title. That's a big deal, especially because it explains a lot of Teru's feelings of inadequacy. Given the similar hero names, as well as the previously established presence of another departed older female character, I'm also inclined to think that Shine is/was Teru's sister—which, again, would explain a lot! That in itself is a sufficient morsel to tease the next season, should it arrive.

It's safe to say Shy hasn't enjoyed the kind of popularity and cultural penetration of a peer like My Hero Academia. While they're cut from the same cloth, Shy's approach is more oblique, and its execution is more muddied. However, I have a lot of affection for Shy's heart and emphasis on the interiorities of its heroes and villains. While it can be a slow and sometimes redundant burn, it still burns.

Rating:

Shy Season 2 is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Steve is on Twitter while it lasts. If he has misspelled "Amarariruku" anywhere in the above review, you have permission to rub it in his face. You can also catch him chatting about trash and treasure alike on This Week in Anime.