Tasokare Hotel

Episode 10

This is a shockingly busy episode of Tasokare Hotel, although I'm doubtful how much substance it adds. That's going to depend on how the rest of this arc plays out. However, I do not need to be prematurely negative when I had a pretty good time this week. Tasokare Hotel doles out intrigue, twists, jokes, and a jumpscare from Ali Project in 2025. That's what I call good room service.

The big reveal is that Masaki knifed both Neko and Atori in the living world, and the three of them have been hanging out in the hotel (mostly) blissfully unaware of that fact. It's a nuanced situation. They aren't friends, but the narrative so far has taken steps to deepen their camaraderie. While Neko has always been suspicious of Masaki, they've worked together to solve guests' problems. However, we've also been privy to Masaki's schemes and manipulations, and the trio has stuck together largely thanks to the unique circumstances of their purgatorial situation. They're not besties. As such, this twist is more awkward than it is tragic.

The way Tasokare Hotel presents this development is also pretty awkward. Neko first receives an inkling about her stabbing thanks to a chance encounter with Masaki, after which she confirms it several scenes later in his secret torture chamber. I think this would have had more impact without her dream, which would have made the one-two punch of learning about her and Atori's attacks much more potent. I also don't understand why she would keep this a secret from Atori. My only assumption is that she doesn't want Atori to realize that he's dead, but she's putting him in even more dire existential danger by keeping him in the dark. Their earlier conversation even confirmed that Atori had already accepted the likelihood that he was dead. Maybe Neko is the one who doesn't want to confront death, but in this situation, it makes her look like she's trying to protect Masaki's secret.

I've previously pointed out how Neko and Masaki's adversarial relationship belies a strange kinship. Now that she knows he's the one who put her in the hotel, she has even more of a personal interest in defeating him mano a mano. Masaki, helpfully, also spells out their parallels to Moriarty and Holmes in plain English. Their confrontation happens poolside as well, which may be an allusion to the first meeting between Holmes and Moriarty in the BBC series. Now, echoing these archetypes is hardly novel territory for a mystery-adjacent series, but I don't think it's a crime to acknowledge your roots either. The key lies in what they do with this relationship going forward.

To that end, I hope the connection between Atori and Masaki is less obvious than this episode makes it out to be. It's all but explicitly stated that parental neglect drove Masaki to serial killing. For some reason, his parents instead fixated on Atori as a model son on whom they lavished love and expensive watches. Masaki, therefore, built up his murder resume and applied that experience to killing Atori, only to realize that killing him didn't let him become him. There's also an undercurrent of homoerotic obsession, which is schlocky, but that's in concert with the tone of this material.

I'm glad, too, that Tasokare Hotel doesn't take itself too seriously. This episode has some good jokes! When Neko and Masaki have their climactic encounter in the hotel pool, a gaggle of guests walk in and wonder why a couple of weirdos are hogging the recreation area. I also love that Neko doesn't know who Moriarty is until Atori tells her. These details deflate Masaki's big villainous speech in a very satisfying way. It also lends the episode's contemplative moments more gravitas by contrast. After punching the manager awake, Neko has a frank and metaphysical conversation with him about the nature of the hotel and justice. It gets about as deep as a Philosophy 101 lecture, but I still welcome the modicum of thoughtfulness.

Arguably the biggest twist, however, is the Ali Project ED. I was surprised by how well it fits the show, so I was much less surprised to learn that this was a recreation of the opening for the Tasokare Hotel game. That's a nice little nod for the fans. However, it also reminds me how much this anime could have benefited from a more visually adventurous style. Alas. I still enjoyed this episode about as much as I've enjoyed any installment of Tasokare Hotel, so if this is the prelude to its final arc, it has begun on the right foot.

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Steve is on Bluesky now. He can check out of social media any time, but he can never leave. You can also catch him chatting about trash and treasure alike on This Week in Anime.