Apologies for the wait everyone, but inspiration takes times, as Runway de Waratte taught us this week!
Runway starts off the week with Kokoro and Itsuko having a bit of a heart to heart. Talking about their dreams, why they want to become designers, etc etc. I actually think Runway does a decent job with Kokoro this week, as it jumps from that to Itsuko starting the competition, to getting Kokoro involved as well. And the way Runway got her involved was exactly what I wanted from the show. A look into the Modeling industry and how it practices. As we see that her agency is basically shutting down her dreams to keep her as a Model. Doing what is best for them, rather than what she wants, controlling her. Effectively locking her into a career because of how she was born. This is the kind of hard hitting look and critique of the fashion industry that could have made Runway great. Instead we get…
The beginning of Itsuko’s harem. Like that after the break sudden cut? I thought it was clever. Seriously though, throughout this episode we begin to see something… concerning forming. First he had Chiyuki, which alright, its a romance between leads. Makes sense, he stands up to her, etc. Yet now we see him gathering another in Kokoro whom he has known for all of 24 hours. Then we have Kaoru, who will no doubt inevitably be impressed by him and fall for him as well. Yes, 3 girls 5 episodes in isn’t the worst track record, but then again Runway isn’t selling itself as a harem rom-com. I expected something a bit more focused from it and so far I am not getting that. Hopefully I am being unjustly harsh this early and Runway course corrects, but I have my eye on it now.
As a follow up to the slowly building harem, I am very mixed on Itsuko as a protagonist. On one hand, we are getting to see him fail a bit. His first dress made of cheap patchwork just isn’t going to work, thank goodness. But on the other hand, he is just… mr.perfect. Breaking industry norms with his whole “I’m gonna be polite!” shtick. I understand that characters can be nice, but the way Runway is presenting Itsuko is almost oppressively so. With the big splash pages of “ooooh so brave”. It’s like Runway can’t decide if it wants to be a Non-Battle-Battle-Shounen or a character drama, and because of that it fails at both. There are sparks of something great here. Runway just isn’t using them very well.
The last bit I want to talk about is the fanservice, oh lord the fanservice. Now let me be real, I can appreciate some good T&A. I would prefer them to be over 18, but hey, its anime. Jotaro looks like a 30 year old man at 17. That said, Runway didn’t even try to hide it and I can’t decide if I am impressed or annoyed. On one hand, they are legitimate stretches, and showing how Chiyuki worked for what she wanted was good. Especially with her roughed up feet and all that. On the other hand, some of those angles were pretty suspicious, even when presented from Itsuko’s perspective. Basically its just me trying to figure out how much fanservice I am willing to put up with in the name of story. Also, admittedly, its a nice ass.
So all in all, how was this weeks episode of Runway? Pretty meh if you ask me. A fair bit of setup, lots of Itsuko stuff, with only 1 thing that really interested me. I think how Runway handles Kokoro’s story moving forward is going to be very important to my enjoyment. As it has already proven that it is willing to give Chiyuki and Itsuko everything, even a straight ticket to Paris. So at least one character needs to have a legitimate struggle, to overcome some actual challenge. My hope is that’s Kokoro, or maybe that things will eventually get hard for Itsuko. Beyond that, the production still isn’t that great. Runway isn’t exactly an action show, so its not that noticeable, and it did have some nice facial reactions. But it won’t be winning any awards anytime soon. Not for animation, or narrative.
