Caligula

Episode 11

Caligula's penultimate episode isn't what I would call “good”, but it does offer glimpses into what a successful version of this show might have been. The story is split into two halves, one where Ritsu returns to the real world in an attempt to repair μ's faulty AI, and another where the rest of the Go-Home Club battles a crazed Marie wielding explosives. Both of these plotlines suffer from the weak visuals and janky scripting that has plagued most of Caligula's run, but they also contain elements that I found genuinely interesting, which makes it all the more frustrating that Caligula is only now beginning to take advantage of its premise.

The Go-Home Club plot is the simplest, as it's just an extended fight scene, but in a series that has suffered from a painful lack of both plot, spectacle, and momentum, even a simple action sequence can feel like a gift. In another series, Marie's sudden heel turn into full blown insanity might bother me more, but I couldn't care less about any of Caligula's characters at this point, so I'm mostly thankful for Marie giving the other club members an opportunity to use their powers for once. The animation and direction here is only serviceable, but there are a couple of standout moments, such as Kensuke's heroic stand against Marie, a surprisingly satisfying beat that also earns the guy his own Catharsis effect.

Shogo also gets another tense moment alone with Thorn, though her relationship with the deceased Ichika that Shogo has been mourning for so long isn't any clearer by the end of the episode. Honestly, one of this episode's biggest downsides is that it highlights how weak and ineffectual this series' antagonists are. The other Ostinato Musicians have been all but abandoned by the plot, Thorn is still just a mysterious cipher, and Marie/Wicked is simply possessed by a cliché lust for destruction and mayhem. The episode hints at her having a typically sad backstory, one that I suspect involves her being so sick in the real world that she is rendered immobile and helpless, to the point where her own family wishes that she were dead. It's tragedy porn of the highest order, but it's also delegated to a couple of throwaway lines, so Wicked is denied even an ironically entertaining backstory.

Ritsu's half of the episode's plot is more effective, as it finally gives our protagonist a modicum of depth and history. The episode even pulls off one of Caligula's first genuine surprises when it opens the episode by following a young man with Ritsu's face who's trying to deal with the plague of “Astral Syndrome” that affects the citizens being held inside Mobius. At this point, I expected the reveal to be that Ritsu was secretly μ's creator, and that he escaped into Mobius to hide from his guilt; it turns out I was only half right. The truth is that the man with Ritsu's face is actually a man named Shingo Tachibana, the charismatic leader of μ's development team, where the Ritsu we've come to know is a socially awkward mess who has long envied his boss' good looks and circle of friends, enough to where he took on his identity in the world of Mobius.

This is one of the most compelling plot developments Caligula has ever offered, at least in a vacuum. For the first time, the show has given its protagonist a discernable personality and the kind of impetus expected from a work of fiction. It's a shame that Ritsu has been such a waste of a hero up to this point, because this reveal certainly would have had more impact if we had been given any reason to care about him before this eleventh episode. As it stands, his shift toward a more proactive version of himself feels forced and lacking in impact.

With that abrupt realization of the value of living in the real world, Aria returns to bring Ritsu back into Mobius and finally bring μ back to her senses. It's a rushed and sloppy way to get Caligula to its finale, but it's also more compelling that 99% of what the series has delivered up to now. That doesn't redeem all of the hackneyed writing and wasted opportunities that make up the crux of this series, but it's enough to get the show across the finish line.

Rating: C

Caligula is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

James is an English teacher who has loved anime his entire life, and he spends way too much time on Twitter and his blog.