Is Leo the stealth main character of Taiso Samurai? This episode certainly pointed in that direction, taking a prime opportunity for father-daughter bonding and making it a ninja-daughter pairing, instead. Once the Parent’s Day plot began to move toward center stage, I thought for sure that Leo would urge Jotaro to attend his little girl’s school event, but the show threw me for a loop and kept its lens on the freeloader until the end. I’m not displeased with the result, either, though I imagine that plenty of viewers are wondering where the gymnastics part of “gymnastics anime” wandered off to this week.
This point is going to be really short – maybe my quickest and dirtiest episode review of the year, inspired by all the single paragraph impressions I’ve been writing recently. For me, the main question for this post to answer is, “Why not tell a straightforward story about familial bonding?” It’s crystal clear at this point that Leo isn’t who he claims to be, since he dodges the question about prior familiarity with Jotaro’s career, and feels spiritually indebted to the Aragaki family. There’s still no way to guess at the precise nature of his connection to Jotaro, but we know it runs deep, since he treats the man’s daughter with the utmost respect. Involving himself in her school life is pretty weird (especially the scene where he stalks her outside a hallway, pictured above), but Leo has no concept of social boundaries or propriety. His alien behavior reads a lot like Haru from Tsuritama – this is my second time referencing a Kenji Nakamura work when talking about Taiso Samurai, and I’m sure it won’t be the last.
After finding Rachel’s discarded Parent Day flyer, Leo had the bright idea to show up in her father’s place unannounced, which completely missed the point of their talk at her mother’s graveside. She doesn’t want a replacement mom – she just needs her remaining parent to be a consistent part of her life. The parent in question is busy training for some big gymnastics meet, so she makes up her mind not to burden him, which could have set the stage for Jotaro to surprise her and impress the boys who were mocking his press conference from the premiere. “Could have” is the operative modal verb there, because the show doesn’t take that route. Why not?
My theory is that the show wants to keep Rachel in the “woman of the house” role, which means she’s got to be the most responsible character – especially because Leo is socially clueless. In the wake of her outburst at school, she listens to his sort-of apology and realizes how childishly pure his intentions are, which creates a precedent for her to function as his translator going forward. It’s a sound strategy from a Leo-centric perspective, but I prefer it when anime writers meet kids where they’re at, rather than using them to prop up adults or giving them burdensome tasks. Still, it may be that Jotaro’s failings as a father will be addressed before the fall season concludes, with this episode having laid the groundwork for his daughter’s unmet needs. Whether or not that scenario rolls around some day, I did like seeing Rachel express herself here, both as a lonely girl and a capable caretaker for the series’ most mysterious figure. I hope Jotaro succeeds in his mission to stay afloat in the gymnastics world, for her sake as much as his.
