Concrete Revolutio

Episode 6

This episode of Concrete Revolutio is all about the power of rock! In this show's world, some rock stars are superhumans that can transmit superhuman powers through their music. This week, the show explores that concept by aiming its sights on one down-on-their-luck comedy band.

Mountain Horse is a goofy group that's caught Fuurouta's eye. They want to be rock stars, but they can't seem to catch a break. Sadly, this doesn't change once they gain superhuman abilities. They're all harmless powers—low-level electricity conduction, walking through walls, turning to stone, and pulling things through the air—that aren't remotely useful for stopping bad guys. The best they can do is impress audiences at their gigs, but because they're not "registered" superhumans, that becomes impossible too. It's too bad, because the latest thing in Japan is superhuman bands. Groups can debut with powers now, and all they have to do is sign a contract with the mysterious Fugimoto Productions.

This wave of superhuman bands began a year before the main timeline, when Jiro, Emi, and Fuurouta attended a concert at the Budokan by a mysterious yet popular band whose music has a "powerful effect" on humans. (This gives us another chance to see how much more "human" Jiro is compared to Emi, who remains unswayed by the sound.) The band in question is heavily hinted to be The Beatles, due to their similar vocal harmonies and the timeline signposts. In a flashback to the previous year, 1966, The Beatles became the first ever rock band to play at the Budokan. Because of the controversy surrounding the event (a foreign pop group in a Japanese martial arts hall?) and the precedent it set for the Budokan as a popular venue for touring artists, this concert is iconic in Japanese pop history. In any case, the psychedelic experience (as described by Jiro) results in a bunch of people gaining superhuman powers—including Mountain Horse themselves, who opened for the Not-Beatles. It says a lot about how superhumans changed the music world that it still takes Mountain Horse a year to be "noticed" by Fugimoto. They're hesitant to use their powers in a show, and they're even unsure about what kind of band they want to be. Do they want to get "big" or just be great at making people laugh?

Speaking of Fugimoto, their agents might look familiar; they had a hand in Beastly Radio Wave's kaiju stuff last week. It turns out that they have their own all-girl superhuman band, Angel Stars, and Fugimoto plans on using them to advertise a chocolate laced with Nainorin, an "anti-superhuman" drug. Angel Stars originally inspired fans to use their new powers to form bands, but now there are too many and Fugimoto needs to put a stop to it. There's an air of the Government Trying to Control the Hippies to all this, as they complain about too many kids starting bands and "men growing their hair long." (Wait, I thought that was normal in anime!) Mountain Horse's Ringo-alike drummer, Don, overhears this and runs back to his group with the news. They fight over it at first, because going along with Fugimoto would help them Get Big, but they ultimately decide they need to stand up for what's right. They destroy the chocolate at their factory, after a lengthy battle with the company executives, Angel Stars, and even a giant robot, because fame isn't worth betraying their fans. After all, silliness is a perfectly respectable thing to strive for! It's still enough to keep Fuurouta coming to their gigs years later.

The Superhuman Bureau shows up during the climactic battle, and we see some of their reactions to the music over the course of the episode. However, the focus is mostly away from the main cast, with some characters (like Kikko) barely showing up at all. It almost feels like filler starting out, but the episode combines a fun diversion with some key advancement of the plot and themes. We learn a lot more about the superhumans, their place in society, and what they might stand for. There were a bunch of them before the war, but ever since it ended, they've been regulated. Now corporations and the military want them for their own ends, while the public distrusts them. Are they meant to be weapons? Symbols of Japan's national pride or postwar cultural change? Just a Force Of Nature, separate from humanity like the kaiju? There are many places each person could go, and this episode brings us that much closer to everyone's answers, while also introducing some new characters.

This might also be the most cohesive episode so far, thanks to how it handles its time jumps. I don't know if I'm just used to them now, but there's a lot that should make this episode's timeline confusing, like the large number of jumps in a shorter time frame (1966-1969). And yet, the show easily broadcasts when we're going backward or forward in time by keeping certain events and environments exclusive to each period, so they become key visual indicators of a switch. The Budokan scenes take place in 1966 and Mountain Horse's comedy stint in a bar is later in 1969—which also fills more gaps in Jiro's character arc. 1969 is a little earlier than the last time we saw Anti-Bureau Jiro (1972), but he's already turned against them. He still has the same basic character design as his 1967 self, but he's already looking to recruit superhumans for his crusade, as he tells Fuurouta when they run into each other.

Mountain Horse, like the kaiju, want no place in a rebellion, but this is a deliberate choice in their case. They just want to focus on their music, comedy, and wherever their art takes them in life. Mountain Horse tried being a crimefighting outfit when they first discovered their powers, but they were better at performing and preferred it too. They'll stand up for themselves as needed, like when Fugimoto tries to take advantage of them, but that doesn't mean they're prepared for a good-vs-evil battle. (Their one mighty standoff against Fugimoto actually ends in the death of their John-alike.) Seeing how Fuurouta has followed them around in some way from 1967 and still visits their club two years later, I wonder if he isn't headed for the same fate. Maybe that's why Jiro greets him without animosity, even while telling Fuurouta that he's looking for people to fight against him. Perhaps Fuurouta has largely checked out of battle too.

This episode is a great example of what happens when superhuman abilities really do trickle down to the "ordinary" people—to paraphrase an anime title from last year, when the supernatural becomes commonplace. As a kid who grew up watching superhero shows, I used to wonder if I'd actually like being the "chosen one" of those stories, and if I'd really be willing to put my earthly hobbies and goals behind me. While this is far from the first anime to go there, Concrete Revolutio looks at this issue on a broader level. What if a whole bunch of ordinary people gained powers and became pawns in a political battle over them? Do they have a right to choose what they do with those powers? What would their different choices be? Would this all be good or bad for society?

Perhaps in future episodes, we'll find out. At least we're seeing where all our characters align in this scheme and how their beliefs influence their choices. Concrete Revolutio keeps getting better and better, and this is the show's strongest episode yet, so my hopes remain high.

Rating: A

Concrete Revolutio is currently streaming on Funimation.

Rose is a music Ph.D. student who loves overanalyzing anime soundtracks. Follow her on her media blog Rose's Turn.