91 Days – 04

Todays episode reminded me a lot of an off kilter episode of cowboy bebop. Speaking in terms of plot progression it was rather poor, seeing as all we really get is that Avilio learns there is another person responsible for his family’s death. This was a fairly enclosed episode as an antagonist is introduced and shiftly defeated by episodes end. However that doesn’t make this a bad episode. I would like something with more meat to it but we did have some nice character moments with Avilio and Nero. As well as a nice action sequence. For a small change of pace this episode is fine. Assuming of course that the remaining episodes don’t take a similar format. I need some mafia in my mafia drama after all. Vanno may be dead but his presence hasn’t left the show yet. In this episode we have a flashback of him getting drunk and depressed over his sister getting married. That looks to be the reason why he was so confrontational at the wedding in the previous episode and no doubt he wouldn’t be happy about his sister being married off to a enemy mafia family to keep a truce. I have a feeling she won’t take her brother’s death well and could throw a wrench into Avilio’s plans for vengeance.

I like the way Nero interacted with the kids as it shows that despite the sins of his past, he is still a good man. Even Avilio I think is getting somewhat swayed by his charisma. I still think he is cautious of Avilio but this episode certainly doesn’t show it. The two make a good duo with Nero being the charming outgoing and Avilio the strong silent type. I adore the fact that despite having high intelligence, Avilio is a terrible driver It added some nice comedy to have him straight faced as he nearly crashes the car. Plus him holding a grudge against the signpost man outside the camp zone and scaring him when driving out was so childish and petty of him that it made me smile. Really, these two have great chemistry and it’s going to be a shame when Avilio moves to kill him. Why he hasn’t killed him yet hasn’t been made clear though perhaps he wanted to get more information about the murder of his family. Nero confessed that he was the one who nearly shot Avilio when he was running away from the house that night which should be quite disastrous for him seeing as Avilio is back to enact revenge count of monte cristo style. One interesting detail is that it appears the letter that was sent to Avilio left out a person who was also there that night which could be the person who sent him the letter in the first place. I am fairly certain that someone is trying to have Avilio do the dirty work for them.

The opening of the series is something I think has great visuals but I am not keen on the band they used. Maybe because it reminds me too much of Psycho Pass whom this band did the opening for. I would have personally prefered something along the lines of Baccano’s opening with a more melancholic tune. It might be the singer I am not all that fond of as they have a an exasperated way of singing. Ultimately I don’t think it fits the show. I really can’t let this episode go by without mentioning the Assassin sent after the two. He has the same quality of Fango in that he is very much out of place with the nature of the show. However unlike Fango I don’t quite reject his existence so heavily. He reminds me heavily of “the Cousins” from Breaking Bad in that he is almost a eternal near supernatural inhuman threat. Perhaps a greater comparison would be Pierrot le Fou from Cowboy Bebop as they hold the same level of being outwardly silly yet dominantly mencing. He at points turned this episode into a comedy, in particular when Nero and Avilio escaped the pub and ran him down with the car. All that was missing was the benny hill theme but the music got close to that. It was a nice reference to David and Goliath with Avilio using a sling to fling cans at the man though I don’t understand why he thought that would be more effective than a gun. I say this was a nice little side story to help endear the characters but next episode needs to get back to the main story. While Nero and Avilio’s excellent road adventure sounds like an interesting show in it’s own right, I think the main plot has too much potential to be sacrificed for that.

~AidanAK47~