The screencaps above are a pretty good summation of my thoughts on SK8’s last two weeks. The vacation episode was bright and lively, while the angst episode was, well, angsty. The two weren’t totally divorced from one another, as the seeds of Reki and Langa’s breakup were carried through both installments until they bore fruit at the end of episode 7. That sort of continuity is a good thing, but when the payoff at the end is so emotionally blunt, it makes me wish the show would stick to the fun stuff. In that spirit, let’s start with the positives and talk about “Steamy Mystery Skating” after the jump!
I’m not a big hot springs episode enthusiast. They generally feel shoehorned into their larger stories, and they tend to exacerbate any weaknesses in an anime’s character writing, since they contain more dialogue than average (a consequence of focusing on a single location). SK8’s sixth episode breezed past these issues with style, though, thanks to its commitment to comedy. The first scene went to some lengths to justify the entire cast’s presence on a trip to Miyakojima (there’s the shoehorning I mentioned), but Takuya Igarashi’s storyboards made it the fun kind of contrivance. Even if you don’t know Igarashi’s name, you know his style: comedic sweating, stars flashing around characters’ innocent faces, people clutching one another in mock fright. I was strongly reminded of Ouran Koukou Host Club while watching this episode, which is what alerted me to Igarashi’s presence on staff – and thank goodness he worked on this episode, honestly, because not a lot of people can give a spark to this type of opening material.
The beach scenes that followed were a slam dunk, given that the characters got a chance to stretch their comedic muscles (somewhat literally), rather than being trapped on the deck of a cruise ship. It wasn’t all frolicking in the waves, though – Miya had what was probably the episode’s cleverest idea when he cockblocked Joe by pretending to be his kid (and implying that Cherry was his wife). Scenes like that one go a long way in making Joe and Cherry feel like part of the gang despite their age and status, so props are due to whichever writer conceptualized that gag. Actually, Joe had a more serious role in this episode too, functioning as a sounding board for Reki in the scene just before the eyecatch. The kid had already begun to feel walled off from Langa by that point (a feeling given form in the scratches on his board, indicating Langa’s prodigious improvement), so an older senpai’s willingness to lend an ear was key to keeping Reki’s discouragement at bay. Joe is both a total stud and a kind human being – a rare combination in anime, to say nothing of real life.
The discouragement that Reki felt at the gap between himself and Langa was inevitable, since they skate for totally different reasons. My post from two weeks ago theorized what those reasons might have been, but I needn’t have written it, because episode 7 was so blatant in its framing of the boys’ dynamic that reading between the lines turned out to be unnecessary. (Yes, I’m glossing over the horror-tinged second half of the hot springs episode now.) Reki dissolved their friendship at night in the pouring rain, while declaring himself unable to understand or keep up with daredevils like Langa and Adam. The overbearing drama of this scenario was bad enough, but with such transparent dialogue on top it became a sorely disappointing mark on SK8’s record where Reki and Langa are concerned. Episode 5 handled the tension between them with at least some subtlety, then the show blew its load with zero precision just two weeks later. Oh, and does anybody remember that scene at Crazy Rock where a trio of background characters started badmouthing Reki just in time for him to hear their gossip? What a crazy random happenstance!
This type of scripting, featuring convenient eavesdropping and heavy-handed conflict, isn’t impossible to forgive – I just don’t think that this series did much to warrant forgiveness this week. The characters’ banter during their meal at the hot springs inn last week was entertaining both on the page and on screen. It was snappy and it was fun. Episode 7, on the other hand, tripled down on Reki’s feelings of inferiority. Shadow dissed him, Cherry recited a sonnet about Langa’s genius, and the show’s exploration of the ‘talent vs effort’ question was just a momentary indulgence that made Reki more depressed. Everything to do with Adam was shunted to the side, too, which rendered his role in the episode totally inert. He’s pinning the blame for his corrupt dealings on his personal assistant, but who cares? The guy is a non-character, and the details of Adam’s political career are only slightly more tangible than dark matter. Just start the skateboarding tournament and be done with all this irrelevant shit.
I recently had a conversation with a friend about our five favorite shows of the season, and SK8 was on my list. It’s got looks, charm, and (irregularly) heart. Episodes like “We Don’t Balance Out” obscure that middle quality and stick a knife through the last one. This show needs to find its balance, and fast, because I don’t want to get to the end and regret giving it a portion of my quarterly optimism levels.
Huh, weird, because I really liked episode 7. I enjoyed how it started to work in the joint backstory of Cherry/Joe/Adam and how it paralleled what was happening with Reki/Langa now. How both Adam/Langa were both diving into skating to an unhealthy degree and seeking out more and more dangerous forms of it.
Beyond that while it was blunt, I enjoyed how it framed Reki/Langa’s friendship troubles. I thought the use of the star under the overpass as a physical representation of Reki’s struggle and Langa’s talent was done well and integrated rather naturally early on in the episode with the two just hanging out. I especially like how it was the MC dealing with this sort of “Talent vs hardwork” storyline as thats typically relegated to a supporting character. I’m looking forward to how Sk8 does it with our MC.
The assistant bit was a bit “We don’t know you” sure but I see this as an opportunity to start exploring him and use him as a window into Adams home life similar to how Joe and Cherry are windows into Adams skating life. If it does nothing with him then its a waste, 100%. But with 5 episodes left I think theres enough time to do something there.
Wild that we disagree that much on the episode. Hope the remaining 5 pick it back up for ya because its still my AotS
I’m glad you mentioned the star, because I did like it in concept. I almost dedicated a paragraph to comparing the scratches on Langa’s board (6) and the star (7) as a way of illustrating my problem with the latter episode. Reki interprets both marks as symbols of his inadequacy, but episode 7 pounds that drum so loudly that the star doesn’t stand out in the same way. It goes back to the issue of subtlety vs bluntness – your sweet spot on that scale is probably just different from mine.
Five episodes is plenty of time to turn things around, for sure. I’m the type of guy who can hate one episode and love the next, or vice versa (as evidenced by this very post). Different types of material being boarded and directed by different people results in peaks and valleys. SK8 ought to peak again before too long.
The show now has established and settled on three running plots (Reki getting over it, the tournament, the investigation into ADAM), so I am hopeful that that there’s a good chance it can nail all three before landing. Something like this tournament does give an opportunity for some well-deserved character development, especially ADAM which honestly, the dripfeed of backstory is getting a little irritating and nowhere near close to fully developing him as the antagonist.
If it can’t nail all three plotlines though, at least it still gets credit for trying. Which is more than I can say for male-focused sports anime that don’t even bother to try, including one currently airing this season. Looking at you Skate-Leading Stars.