Akudama Drive – 05 [Dead Man Walking]

It’s still too early to say if we’ll ever return to the sustained mayhem of Akudama Drive’s earliest offerings, but breathers like this episode aren’t so bad. Sure, the visuals might not be delivering in every single scene, but in terms of transitioning us into the show’s midgame, it did a fine job. There’s a departure and a new rivalry within the Akudama camp, and the Executioners are strengthening efforts to bring them in, putting the recently suspended Master and Pupil in a tough spot. Was there enough room for the show to say something meaningful about its characters during all this repositioning? I’d say no, but that’s certainly not for a lack of trying.

The part of Akudama Drive that most interests me at the moment is Hacker’s willingness to risk death for a shot at finding his purpose in Kanto. It goes without saying that this whole cast is crazy, but you have to be a special kind of nuts to stay on board a train headed for an organic matter destroyer. Why is Hacker so “bored,” as he puts it, that he’ll stake his life on a chance at occupation? I want to believe that there’s a reason beyond putting his genius to the test, but even if that’s all there is, I look forward to seeing how the show splits its time between its divided party members. Part of what got me interested in Hacker’s fate was the burgeoning French horn track that debuted as part of his farewell scene, adding an undercurrent of possibility to his exit. I’d love to hear it again when he returns for the droid he loaned to Swindler, perhaps with a different arrangement to signal that he found what he was searching for.

I suppose it’s a damning indictment of the other six Akudama that I’m most concerned about the guy who left, rather than those who remain. Still, the show managed to make use of them all (except Hoodlum, who’s of no use to anyone) during their stay at a temporary shelter. The android kids who they rescued from the vault are still heading up their mission, though the interest levels in phase two of said mission fluctuate from person to person. It’s only after a lot of debate (and a magic lunch tin that synthesizes food a la Star Trek) that the group agrees to continue transporting the kids to their destination. Choosing the Doctor to be the chief skeptic was a good move on the writing staff’s part, since she’s the sharpest character now that Hacker is gone. Swindler’s idealism requires a counterpoint so as not to be intolerable, and now we’ve got one – although some of the brighter electronic tracks during these scenes have me worried that “believe in other people” will end up being the show’s central thesis.

For now, though, the gang is in too much peril to succumb to optimism. The Kakashi-looking Executioner has caught up with them despite his suspension from the force, and he’s accompanied by a lurking presence with a glowing front piece – some kind of mech, perhaps? I’ve got no idea what he’s up to here. What’s much clearer is the state of high alert on which Kansai’s entire Execution Department now finds itself. The chief had a meeting with a council of masked avatars near the start of the episode, which I assume were Kanto bigwigs pulling the strings in their sister region. It was one of this week’s coolest-looking scenes, along with the vivid sunrise at the Akudama’s shelter. I especially liked the latter’s incorporation of color, restoring the show’s signature red and purple palette via natural light after an episode full of rainy gray backgrounds (as though it had been mourning Hacker’s departure). Even if the show has to continue biding its time before a final tour de force, this episode proves that its presentation doesn’t have to suffer in the meantime.