Here’s another Taiso Samurai outing where the script sidelines Jotaro, who seems to be the main character in name only. Last week it was all about Leo and Rei, and this time we’re focusing on Tetsuo and… the NHK Cup broadcasters? I’d have said “the other competitors,” but they’re so lacking in presence, both in screen time and personality, that they hardly factor into my memory of the episode. Given the upcoming Chinese training camp plot, this new crop of gymnasts are certain to recur – even if they’d been created merely to get steamrolled by Tetsuo, though, they ought to have been given decent designs. Without a reason to remember them, it’ll be tough to generate interest in any Japanese gymnasts apart from Jotaro or Tetsuo going forward.
Does Taiso Samurai really want to create interest in Jotaro, though? During the course of the NHK Cup, he sneaks from 15th place to 6th between the two days of competition, which would be fantastic, except that we didn’t get to see a single one of his routines. We just heard about how awesome he was from Rei and Leo, and from the announcers about his composure amidst a sea of nervous newcomers. Omitting his performances was an odd choice, but if the goal was to highlight Tetsuo’s dominance, then that end was certainly achieved. The young high schooler stuck his landings on both the vault and the horizontal bar with a nonchalant expression, even as more seasoned athletes put feet out of place. There was some 3DCG involvement during particular gymnastics scenes, the most notable being Dojima’s pommel routine, but both vault cuts made good use of reference footage to deliver kinetic 2D work. Tetsuo’s was delivered in one “take” (without a second angle for the landing), which greatly contributed to the sense that he’s head and shoulders above the field.
Even though this episode zoomed in on the athletic side of things (thanks in no small part to the endless commentary that ran during the meet), TaiSam’s weirdness couldn’t be kept entirely out of play. Some examples: a spontaneous family rendition of “Wild Thing” broke out over dinner at the Aragaki household, which was promptly interrupted by Bigbird’s disapproving squawk. Also, the Matrix Agents made contact with Leo this week – an encounter which the show withheld in the same way that it omitted Jotaro’s NHK Cup performance. I’m more at peace with the direction of Leo’s character, though, since his sudden disappearance from Joe’s house seems to set up an explanation of who exactly he is. This is made even more likely by the fact that a major gymnastics competition just ended, so the show ought to have time to explore other plots next week – unless Jotaro’s approaching ‘work vs family’ conflict ends up eating an entire episode. Rachel is a sweet kid, so I’m hoping that Dad picks her birthday over the training camp. Happily, Jotaro is one of the few sports anime protagonists that I could see making that choice.
