URAHARA

Episode 5

That's more like it, URAHARA. Last week, I wished this high-style but low-plot story would try a little harder to show instead of tell, and this week's “Gummy Gummy Dummy” was my favorite episode yet. It's not only that the action began right off the bat, but character beats are finally becoming clear and our initial good vs. evil conflict is starting to deepen. Not all the jokes are landing, and there's definitely still more style than substance here, but now the story is breaking out of its preset mold, and I'm wondering where it'll take us next.

It took a while for me to warm up to Rito, Mari, and Kotoko, but I can finally say I'm getting there. I previously would have been at a loss to describe them, but thanks to last week's focus on Kotoko, they're starting to become more fleshed-out characters. Mari's theatrical reactions and gestures make her the trio's drama queen. She and Kotoko have a sort of unfunny joke rapport now, but at least URAHARA is trying. It's only Rito who I'd call a generic everygirl. She's a talented artist who loves cats, but I still don't really know what makes her tick. This week, she plays the role of a kindly older sister, patting Misa on the head, sharing a box of sparkling beads, and even giving her a present.

It's really Misa who's the most interesting character right now because she has good and bad elements, and those disparate parts of her personality are clearing swirling with internal conflict. When a literal safari park of scoopers shows up in Harajuku to begin sucking the color and sparkle out of the neighborhood, Misa is so passionate that she begs to join the battle. “You had me sweating bullets,” her fried shrimp companion says in private later. There's some confusion on Misa's part about what the Safari Scoopers are doing here as well—she sees it as them edging in on her turf. But the scene demonstrates that Misa is beginning to develop an affection for Harajuku beyond the objects that exist there. She's definitely an antagonist, as demonstrated by last week's actions carefully calculated to keep Rito, Mari, and Kotoko in the dark about their situation, but it seems like she's beginning to care about the trio too—and they certainly aren't stingy with their tenderness toward Misa.

Once again, fantastic design choices are present down to the smallest detail. For example, Kotoko's math includes adorable emojis instead of variables! The Safari Scoopers incorporate a lot of neat anthropomorphic designs from baby lions to penguins. When the Scoopers get into a tight squeeze, Rito comes up with a creative idea to focus the Scoopers' attention to the center of the dome. What's interesting about Rito's brushstrokes is that they echo Misa's cleaning at the beginning, shaking her colorful glitter stick as if to purify the shop. Maybe her power of observation is what makes Rito stand out, but it's still not an especially strong character trait. “Creative people do unexpected things,” Fried Shrimp observes, and that's certainly becoming a theme—even living with them, Misa and the shrimp can't predict what the girls will do next.

URAHARA still isn't my favorite sort of anime. It's starting to pick up the pace, but it's still trudging behind the other anime I'm watching this season. I'm only now getting a feel for the characters and why they like each other, but this action-packed episode showed that there's hope yet for this gorgeous yet sluggish show to live up to my expectations.

Rating: B

URAHARA is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Lauren writes about geek careers at Otaku Journalist.