Welcome all, to another week of Michiko & Hatchin! This week sees us grow slightly closer to our finale, finally letting us meet Hiroshi in the present. Is it any good? Let’s dive in and talk about it.
First up is episode 15, “Graffiti in Vain”. This episode is a cute little love story between Hatchin and a local boy. It’s all about the idea of losing yourself, figuring out the new you, and how they really aren’t all that separate. As a stand alone episode, I thought it was cute. Hatchin gets to interact with more people her age, gets a small wholesome tryst, and comes away from it with an understanding that who you were need not be who you are now. And aside from some pacing issues regarding Lenine, and the knowledge that we will never see him again, it was a decent time. A perfect laid back episode after the assassins from last week. But that raises a very important question I think: Where the fuck are the assassins?
I’ve complained about this a lot in Michiko & Hatchin. How every episode is basically a cold open in a new location with a new problem, with very little carrying over. But this is the first time I’ve ever actually been angry about it. Episode 14 ended on a climax. Michiko was in a car with a man hired to kill her after another man jumped off a bridge to escape the cops. She was alone, no way to get home, split from Hatchin and in serious danger. It was a great setup for some more fun conflict, with my favorite old man assassin getting more screen time. So… where did all of that go? How did we end up in a whole new town, with no assassins, no Satoshi, and absolutely no danger? I honestly feel like I skipped an episode. And that pissed me off.
To me, this feels like Michiko & Hatchin’s single greatest narrative flaw. More then it’s pacing, more then the lack of a goal, there’s just no structure to it. And the damage goes far beyond just the individual episodes! It’s even starting to undo the feeling of the setting itself. The more it skips around locations like this, removing any and all locations between them, the more the setting begins to come undone. It’s a damn shame, because the setting was one of Michiko & Hatchin’s strongest parts. From the backgrounds and locations to the characters that lived in them, they all felt complete and connected. But the more I watch the less that feels like the case, as we end up in this almost European town or a hyper technological tomato growing facility. It all just feels… wrong.
Beyond that, my other major issue with the episode is Michiko and Hatchin’s relationship. There doesn’t feel like any progress is really being made here. They still don’t care to connect or understand each other, despite being 16 episodes in at this point. Michiko is still a terrible foster parent, striking and threatening Hatchin whenever she does something she doesn’t like. It’s not a found family story if they never become a fucking family. And with only 6 episodes left, along with Atsuko, Hiroshi and Satoshi’s stories to wrap up, I don’t see how Michiko & Hatchin can possibly tie up all of these loose ends. Suffice to say, the more I watch, the more concerned I get.
Moving on we come to episode 16, “Etude of Crimson Inconstancy”, where we finally catch up with Hiroshi. They make it to the actress/scientist lady, talk to her, and when it comes time to meet Hiroshi… he isn’t there. He ran away, again. And I’m starting to get annoyed by this because it feels like no progress is really being made. At least we now know that Hiroshi is purposefully avoiding them, knowing they were coming there and possibly even abandoning Hatchin at the start. It makes me think the “Found family” will come in when Hiroshi dumps them both, leaving them with only each other. Will that be a satisfying ending? Probably not. But Michiko & Hatchin at least has a shot of making it work if it can make me hate Hiroshi by the end.
As for the scientist lady, I have one big question surrounding her: Why? Why did she help them, not just by informing them about Hiroshi but by helping them escape the cops? Is it because she love’s Hiroshi and wants to see them reunited? Or is it perhaps spite at being abandoned just like he abandoned them, right when his past started to catch up? Whatever the answer is, I don’t think her motivations were made very clear, leaving me with a sense of confusion after the episode. It’s a damn shame, because I don’t think she’s ever going to show up again either. Most one-episode specific characters don’t, not even after taking our lead hostage at the end of the last episode. Yes, I’m still salty about Jair.
Atsuko meanwhile seems very… pissed? She’s another person I can’t quite get a read on. She seems like she’s trying to push herself to hate Michiko, but can’t. Like she has this admiration for her, but doesn’t like the fact that she does. For instance, she clearly could have taken the show in the elevator, but held off until they had already exited it. Was it because she didn’t want to hit Hatchin, a kid? I don’t think so, she seemed to shoot pretty freely until she saw Michiko. To me, this says that Atsuko doesn’t know what she wants. Only that by confronting Michiko, she hopes to figure that out. I really hope that Michiko & Hatchin is able to give her the time she needs, because this is probably the most interesting plot thread left in the show.
Finally, I want to talk about Hiroshi. Because for the first time across all of Michiko & Hatchin’s run, we not only have confirmation that he is alive, but that this guy we are chasing is really him. On top of that, he clearly hasn’t lost his memories. So the question becomes: Why is he here? Why did he run away from Michiko, or even stay in this country. Basically, what are his motivations? Because so far, we really only know him from Michiko’s highly biased perspective. I’m curious just how much of that is rose tinted glasses and how much is actual reality.
But yeah, all in all these were two pretty disappointing episodes. Michiko & Hatchin’s structure is starting to fall apart, and with only 6 episodes left I’m growing more and more concerned that we won’t actually get a satisfactory ending. In adaptations of longer running works this is more excusable, there’s a manga or something you can go and read, even if it’s not great. But for an original that’s never going to get another season, that is done, it really sucks. Hopefully Michiko & Hatchin can prove me wrong with these last few episodes. I’d really like it to.
I still prefer anime originals over adaptations, especially of Saudi adaptation Is based on a manga that is still ongoing. Still I can see why you be frustrated with an anime with no point.
I think it depends personally. An adaptation that’s 1 for 1 is definitely less engaging then an original. It’s just redoing something I’ve already seen, or has already been done. But I think an adaptation that transforms its source material, sees that anime is a different medium and treats it as such, can be jut as good. Because in those cases, it basically is an original, you know?
At the end of the day though, I just want good anime. Original or adaptation largely becomes secondary at that point imo.