Yurei Deco

Episodes 9-10

“Burning Brand” is the kind of episode that I've been waiting to see Yurei Deco deliver for a good bit now. Not only does it provide some much-needed backstory on the show's most enigmatic character, Finn, but it is also the first time in a while that the series' societal and technological allegories have felt clean enough to function properly. I won't call it great television, but it is solid enough to pass muster (which is my nice way of saying that it isn't a bad episode, despite how much of this review might consist of criticisms or muted praise).

What we learn from Finn's backstory doesn't necessarily excuse his abrupt heel turn from a couple of weeks ago, since that always played as a cliched contrivance that only existed to set up a cliffhanger that would immediately be resolved with no hard feelings, but it at least offers some context for why he would be so willing to push his found family away and manipulate them to secure the satellite's data chip. Growing up poor and sick, he's seen firsthand what has happened to the people of the slums in the shadow of the Customer Center's negligence, and he knows how swiftly the powers-that-be will bring their task forces down on anyone that is in violation of their draconian terms of service. So, sure, I'll buy that he'd be willing to go to such extreme lengths to try to fix his neighborhood's decaying purification system, and I can appreciate the parallel between his fractured found family of the past and the newer, more complete crew Finn has in the Detective Club. It's not prestige-level writing, but it works.

More to the point, I think the social commentary in this episode works better than episodes past, in spite of how simple its takes are (or, more likely, because of how simple they are). It might seem kind of basic to showcase how the people of the slums will happily lose themselves in their endless pursuit of Fake Internet Points in order to ignore the active harm that is being done to their environment and their own bodies, but you know what? In the year of our Lord 2022, it doesn't take more than a few minutes of browsing real social media to get to thinking that this plot isn't even science-fiction; it's just what the world is, right now.

That speaks to the main issue I have with the follow-up episode, “2 Fathoms to Heaven?”, which really ought to be a very exciting climax to the club's adventures. The gang being pursued as the supposed “real” Phantom Zero; the way that half the crew is tossed in prison by the Customer Center; the moment where Berry's parents realize she is alive and decide to forsake their own freedom to help their daughter? These are all of the big, emotional beats that an anime needs to be hitting as it barrels towards its resolution.

And yet, none of Episode 10's high stakes and Big Moments land with the impact or urgency that they need to achieve, and that's because, for all of Yurei Deco's ideas and attempts at world-building, Tom Sawyer Island has never quite managed to come together as a real, living place. At best, the show's characters and setting all function as fairly obvious but still reasonable abstractions that exist to serve whatever metaphor or social commentary the show is trying to examine. At worst, the crew and the world they inhabit feel adrift and aimless, lacking the real definition necessary to work as a compelling story on its own merits.

I hate to say it, but “2 Fathoms to Heaven” mostly just reminded me of how much I simply don't care about these characters, or this world, despite only having a couple of episodes left to go in the season. I admire the passion and creativity at work in the artists at Science SARU, and I've been wanting to love this anime ever since its premiere made such a stellar impression, but unfortunately, Yurei Deco hasn't been able to walk the walk. It's possible these final episodes will do something big to really knock it out of the park in the last inning, but I'm keeping my expectations in check.

Rating:

Yurei Deco is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

James is a writer with many thoughts and feelings about anime and other pop-culture, which can also be found on Twitter, his blog, and his podcast.