Welcome to another week of Michiko & Hatchin! It’s been a busy week, between catching up on posts and starting up a Mob Psycho review. A bunch of stuff needs to go out by new years and I’m not sure I can get it all done. So if a few things start to slip a bit, like maybe this post being late cough, don’t hold it against me yeah? Now without further ado, onto the episodes!
Overall this was an interesting week, as we get 2 solo episodes. This is the first time since episode 1 where Michiko and Hatchin haven’t been together, and the first time in the entire series they haven’t shared an episode. I’m honestly rather surprised by that. I thought that they would be reunited by the end of episode 10, at the latest. Instead this appears to be our new status quo, with both of them going their separate ways and heading further and further apart. Makes me wonder when they will reunite, if they ever will. Are they going to look for Hiroshi on their own, finding him at the very end with their own methods and reuniting as a family with all of them full self actualized? Won’t lie, that would be pretty cool if they came to miss and appreciate each other that way. Only time will tell.
Getting into the episodes, first up is episode 9, “The Chocolate Girl in Love”. The introduction to this, and episode 10 as well, was honestly kind of off putting. I had no idea where we were, it took like 3 minutes to orient myself and where Hatchin was, as well as just how she got here since we last saw her on a random train out of town. And I think that’s actually my biggest complaint, with both of these episodes. They felt almost like cold opens, with very little actually tying them together or to the previous one. Once I got over that hump it was good, sure. But as far as viewing experiences go, I think it was an unnecessary way to lead into the arcs.
As for the actual episode content, on the surface nothing much really happens. Unlike Michiko’s episode, Hatchin doesn’t make any progress towards finding Hiroshi nor does she meet anyone of particular importance. What she does do however is take the first step towards self actualization, which is very important. We’ve seen her growing in confidence throughout the last 8 episodes. Since this is the first time she’s truly on her own, it’s the perfect place to actually show that. To show her growing independence. No longer latching onto people for protection nor following their orders, making her own friends and finding her own community, taking initiative when reaching out to other people like Gino etc. Hatchin is taking control of her life. It’s with a circus, sure. But it’s hers and no one else’s. And I think that’s pretty cool.
Going back to Gino, his relationship with Rita, the young circus orphan, was the main thrust of the episode. A sort of one-way childish infatuation and the struggle of wanting to grow up and be seen as an adult. However instead of turning into some creepy child predator thing, these two actually get a happy ending! Gino ends up being a respectable, morally upstanding guy, if a bit of an airhead, and quits the circus to stay with the mother of his child. Rita comes to terms with that and gets over Gino after a sort of 7 Stages of Grief episode with the Maria statue wish debacle. And Hatchin joins the circus! Not the most exciting side-character story, sure. Definitely doesn’t hold a candle to Pepe and her sister from a few episodes back. But serviceable and pairs well with Hatchin’s own growth.
The main question to come out of this episode is: What is Hatchin going to do with the circus? Presumably she’s going to learn an act of some kind, or help out around the place. Earn some respect, travel to a lot of different cities, inevitably meet their criminal underworlds. But what kind of adventures will she get up to with them? Just how deep into the circus life will Michiko & Hatchin go? The best case scenario is that we keep getting these solo episodes, flipping back and froth for a bit, letting each character breathe and grow independently of each other. The worst case is that now that she’s safe we never see Hatchin again until they reunite. Now I don’t think that will happen, but it is a concern I have. With only 12 episodes left, she’s definitely going to have to get moving though.
Next up we have episode 10, “The Carnival of Hyenas”. This is Michiko’s solo episode, and like episode 9 it opens in the weirdest way possible. Completely disconnected both from the last episode and from episode 8. I’ve already talked about that though, so lets skip right to what the episode is actually about: Backstory. Lots and lots of backstory. Satoshi backstory, Hiroshi backstory, Michiko backstory, random side character backstory. I didn’t count the minutes, but I swear at least half of this episode is flashbacks. Now I’m now saying that’s a bad thing! I loved learning about these characters, and I’m really interested in this mystery that Michiko & Hatchin is slowly unweaving. Seeing Hiroshi as this soft spoken quiet guy, trying to quit a gang he joined only because Satoshi dragged him into with his lust for power. Its good stuff!
Speaking of Satoshi, we finally meet the real guy! I like him. The dudes clearly on a power trip, and has been since he was a kid. Trying to kill and overthrow gang leaders, settle vendettas, and generally assert himself as a big strong dude despite his otherwise small frame. What’s interesting about him though is that he doesn’t seem fully comfortable with all of the terrible actions he has to take in this job. He clearly looked away while killing Manabe, and even reprimands him for how much of a cruel boss he was himself. It all makes me wonder if Satoshi really did kill all those old bosses, or if someone else did it. Someone like… Hiroshi. We already saw Hiroshi was willing to shoot/kill when he saved Satoshi, and it’s always the quiet ones you have to look out for. Maybe Hiroshi was the real badass?
This is where I also get to say that I was right! Satoshi did in fact set Michiko up after making Kiril disappear, and was even responsible for Hiroshi’s bus bombing. The twist I wasn’t expecting though was for him to later admit that even he doesn’t know if Hiroshi is alive or not. I thought we just wouldn’t get an answer, that it would be an unsolved mystery for most of the show. But the more we learn the more the evidence points to Hiroshi being alive and well. Or, well, maybe not well, but alive at least. I’m actually starting to think he might have some kind of memory loss, or that he successfully got out and is living a nice and normal life with a whole new family. Suffice to say, I have no idea what happened to Hiroshi but I’m very interested to learn.
Finally we need to talk about Atsuko. She had a pretty big scene this episode! Atsuko came into the situation with kid gloves, ready to ransom Michiko from Satoshi alive and then let him go. Meanwhile her partner wanted to catch them both and get a big promotion. This inevitably turned into a scuffle with Atsuko basically fighting her own officers and both Satoshi and Michiko escaping, the latter being an explicit act of mercy from Atsuko. This all begs the question of why. Why did she let Michiko go, why did she not try to capture them both, why did she setup a deal with Satoshi, a known criminal, in the first place. These are all very good questions that I hope we get an answer to! But so far we know barely anything about Atsuko, so none of this makes much sense.
My hope is that next episode will be Atsuko centric. Let Hatchin and Michiko travel a bit, implement a time skip via spending time with Atsuko and telling us her story. I really want to know what their childhood was like! Growing up with Michiko, Satoshi, Hiroshi, etc. How she became a cop while they all became criminals. What their relationships were like, etc. As far as the core cast and their interwoven relationships go, it’s all great! We just need to start getting some answers. We’ve gotten a bit on Michiko’s end in regards to her relationship with Hiroshi. But we still don’t really know anything about Hiroshi. So yeah, all I want is more. More information, more show, more interaction. I suppose thats a good thing really, Michiko & Hatchin has gotten me invested. Gotten me through the front door! Now it needs to finish the job.
Anyways, all in all this was a good pair of episodes. Some weird structural issues with how the episodes open up, but other than that I’m really invested in what’s happening. I’ve said it before so I’ll leave this short, but Michiko & Hatchin really just has to keep doing what its doing and then wrap up all the threads in a satisfying way in a finale to be a success.
