Welcome everyone, to another week of Michiko & Hatchin! There’s been a lot of negativity in the past few episodes, lots of complaints about the lack of meaningful narrative. And I stand by those! But as if it heard my thoughts, this week is marked shift towards exactly what I was talking about. Is it perfect? No. Can more be done? I hope so. But its a step in the right direction. So lets talk about it.
Starting off we have episode 17, “Buckets of Blood! Opera that Stirs the Heart”. This episode was a pleasant surprise. It’s the first one in a long, long time to actually make me feel like these two are family. Not just in the big moments, like Hatchin trying to save Michiko, but the small ones to. Stuff like having their photo taken together and roughhousing, or the small hug at the end rather then Michiko hitting Hatchin for disobeying her. For once, I feel like Michiko and Hatchin are finally, FINALLY, starting to care for each other in a meaningful way. Not just in that they need each other to survive, but because of a true emotional connection. I’d rather this have started a long time ago, but I’m not going to begrudge Michiko & Hatchin for doing something food just because it’s late.
Getting into the actual content of the episode, it felt a lot like Nei and Babel, the father and son, were being used as a reflection of Michiko and Hatchin’s inner feelings. Of Hei wanting to be a hero for Hatchin, and Babel wanting to believe in Michiko/Nei but still being afraid for their life. It’s not a perfect comparison, but I feel like that’s what Michiko & Hatchin was going for. And ultimately? I did enjoy it. Nei is one of the few genuinely good people we’ve met. A bit crazy, considering what he did despite not knowing them. But still a good person, doing everything he can to steer Hatchin away from the bad parts of town and then helping her save Michiko. It’s odd, I feel like I have someone I can actually root for in the first time in forever.
That said, the thug/criminals were a bit… weird. All of these trials of luck and mentions of the Gods. Michiko & Hatchin hasn’t had much religious presence since we left the church in episode 2, and even then that’s a completely different faith. Maybe Michiko & Hatchin was just trying to show the different cultures in this country, but even that feels off since we still don’t really know where we are in comparison to everywhere else we’ve been. It’s like every new town is it’s own dome, existing separate from the others without any real influence. Maybe if we had more time to spend with them, to get to know them, they could have worked. But as they are now they just come off as sort of crazy. Still, they did lead to some fun such as admiring Michiko when she pulled Nei up, so I’ll forgive it.
Finally I want to talk about Shinsuke, because he’s alive! I’m really happy Shinsuke is alive. I was really concerned last week that this guy would be taken out by a random car accident, rather then something… interesting. So it was really nice to see that not only is he back, but he’s plotting to take down Satoshi. And he seems to be doing it in a… really poor way to be honest. Setting up other gangs to take him out under the promise of releasing them from Monstro’s umbrella? Basically weakening the organization he’s wanting to take over? Shinsuke’s playing a very dangerous “Burn down the house, live in the ashes” sort of game here. I don’t expect it to work either, as Monstro/Satoshi don’t seem like the kind of people to go down to a small rebellion. With only 4 episodes left though, only time will tell.
Next up is episode 18, “The Fool’s Ballistic Samba”. This was… a wild fucking episode. Continuing the theme Michiko and Hatchin actually caring about each other as family, this one sees Hatchin go on a quest just to make Michiko feel better. I was surprised at first at the lengths Hatchin would go to, sabotaging their own quest to find Hiroshi, just to lift Michiko’s spirits. It was really heart warming watching her care more and more about Michiko’s feelings. It’s like… The two are moving further and further away from actually caring about Hiroshi, and closer and closer to each other. This is a good thing! I’ve been asking for this for a while, I’m glad we’re finally getting it. My only concern is that, backloaded into the final few episodes, its going to feel rushed. And it does. But rushed good endings are better then bad endings.
As for the actual content, I won’t lie, the thing with the actor was really confusing at first. Not only does he look exactly like Hiroshi, but I we don’t know enough about Hiroshi to really be able to tell if he could pull off that kind of accent or attitude. Maybe that’s sort of the point though? That Michiko & Hatchin is pulling them closer and closer to their vision of what Hiroshi is while at the same time showing us that he isn’t actually that? It’s a really weird way to approach the story if that’s the case. Very confusing to the audience to if you ask me.
It’s not all bad though. The actor, Feliciano? He’s an absolute chad, and a surprisingly good guy. Once he figures out Hatchin isn’t some crazy stalker or fan, instead just a kid looking for her father/to cheer up her “mother”, he becomes really chill about things. He calls Michiko and tells some bullshit lie about how Hiroshi talked about her to cheer her up, then dances a samba with Hatchin in his luxury apartment. The broke glass and damage? What does he care, he’s rich! It makes sense, the dudes a total drama queen with his own vision for his show, of course he would embrace Hatchin’s story and play long. But it doesn’t make him any less of a chill and good dude, the 2nd such person we’ve met this week. So yeah, I really like his character, even if his place in the story was weird.
As for Hiroshi himself, the guy’s revealing himself to be more and more of a twat. Not only is he actively running away from them, but he’s going back to being a criminal to make some money and then stealing his partners share as well. Sure, it seems like he sent some of the left-over money back. But that doesn’t change how he ran away from Monstro and everything only to end up doing the same shit again. It makes me think he’s being set up as this sort of dead-beat loser so that Michiko and Hatchin can figure out at the end that he just isn’t worth the time.
Finally we have Atsuko, who seems to have cut ties with the police. I’ve long wondered if she was chasing them to try and get a promotion or out of a genuine desire to help, and it seems like we finally got that answer. She went out of her way to help Hatchin find the actor and get her into his hotel. On top of that she hid her from the police and called in her own resignation. The only question left is what will she do now? Will Atsuko tag along with Michiko and Hatchin? Or is that it for her story? I really hope she tags a long, because I feel like theres a lot more worth exploring with Atsuko’s character. This isn’t a very “final” feeling climax to her story, so hopefully Michiko & Hatchin has more in store.
So yeah, all in all these were a pair of pretty good episodes after last weeks disappointment. When it wants to, Michiko & Hatchin is pretty compelling. It has some great characters and I absolutely love stories about found family. The issue is just that Michiko & Hatchin rarely seems to care. Instead of progressing the story meaningfully, a lot of episodes are just one-shot side stories as we go from point A to point B. While these aren’t all bad, some like the river town are great, they don’t lend themselves to a strong overarching narrative. Hopefully the show can at least give me a decent finale. Endings are very important to me, so a good one here can forgive a lot. See you next week to find out.
