Punch Line

Episode 4

So what is the true face of Punch Line going to be? Is it going to remain high-spirited and ridiculous, with the more serious content only as a sidelight? Or is the ridiculous side just the flavoring to a more serious overall story? The previous three episodes have strongly suggested the former, but episode 4 muddles that picture greatly thanks to a whipsaw tonal shift at the halfway point of the episode. That shift does finally lead to the establishment of a clear plot direction, but it happens at the expense of the sense of fun that the series has established to date.

Actually, the episode starts on a heavier note, too, with what is implied to be a flashback to Mikatan's past, where she talks to a fellow youth like they are part of some experiment into enhanced human capability. If she was being experimentally genetically enhanced then that would explain her combat capabilities as Strange Juice and why she might need to take the pill that she downs at the end of the episode. That is pretty typical sci fi fare, both in anime and out, so the real twist comes from Yuta seeming to recognize the song from the flashback, which Mikatan sings as her medicine takes effect. Is he, perhaps, the Ishigata mentioned in the flashback? That would certainly explain his seemingly superhuman nosebleeds.

After that intro, though, the first half is almost entirely comic. Yuta recognizes from the news that one of the other names on the Harakiri List has just died, so he's now concerned enough about her safety that he possesses Rabura in order to warn Ito. Not only does he run out of time in that form to actually complete his warning to Ito, but some questions he answers while possessing Rabura comically backfire later on when it turns out that the other girls were asking them because they were scouting on behalf of her upcoming date. That is compounded when we actually hear that song that he claimed was Rabura's favorite, which turns out to be an insipidly cutesy booty-shaking song by Mikatan's idol group.

After the eyecatch, though, the direction changes dramatically with the revelation that Rabura's date is actually an NSA agent who has been trying to get in touch with the difficult-to-contact Meika. It seems that the whole “asteroid striking the Earth” thing isn't a pure conspiracy after all, and that a nuclear missile-armed satellite has been deployed to deal with the threat. The problem is that a virus created by Qmay is interfering with the satellite working, and it's of such a complex nature that only one person – the super-genius hacker Meika – could clear it out. That Rabura takes this as her being used is no surprise, and that anger contributes to a fight amongst the girls and chilly behavior in an after-fight congregation in Mikatan's room. Even more ominously, Ito is shown actually being apparently dead in a flash-forward at the end of the episode, and the next episode is, in fact, titled “Ito Dies.”

So in some senses the story is starting to come together a little, but in other senses it is just throwing additional big curves into the mix. That is keeping the story lively and interesting, as the writer and director seem to be daring viewers to second-guess where this is all going, but the negative side of how it bounces around is how irregular its tone is. And this is not just a case where you have comedy asides thrown in with serious content, either. The interesting developments and character interactions are enough to maintain the series at this point, but it will need to find a better balance and smoother tone transitions tone to earn a higher rating.

Rating: C+

Punch Line is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.