Sket Dance 24

In the first half, the Sket-dan get involved in a dispute between Shinzou and his delinquent little brother, Shinpei. They help Shinpei fight off thugs who stole his brother’s sword, then meet the conditions for him to make up with Shinzou. The second half is a flashback from when Switch was still an eighth-grader. The segment is narrated by his year-older brother Masofumi, who taught him how to program computers. Switch has surpassed him in everything, including that, but he’s proud of him. His friend and neighbor Sawa is being pursued by a stalker, who goes so far as to leave a death threat in her mail slot.

These two halves were both about brothers, but that’s where the similarities end. While I’m always up for a Shinzou episode just to hear his archaic way of speaking, if I had to choose a half, I’d pick the latter. Bossun and Himeko have both been shrunken down into kids, but Switch is the guy we know next to nothing about. And he finally talks here! Though it’s when he’s 14. At this point he hasn’t met Bossun or Himeko, but he knows of the latter.

I also like it when normally silly shows like Sket Dance get serious from time to time, and that certainly happens here, albeit with a fairly cliche’d stalker premise. This looks to be a parody, but rather than use slapstick, it’s played pretty straight. Most interesting is that Masofumi’s is the voice Switch uses when he types-to-speech in the present. I’m not sure this story will get that dark, but it’s possible Switch speaks with his brother’s voice is that perhaps it’s in honor of his memory. Interestingly, this half-segment won’t be resoleved until next week.

Rating: 3.5

Usagi Drop 11 (Fin)

Daikichi and Rin deliver food to Hitani as she recovers from a bug. While wrestling with her first loose teeth, Rin and the three other kids work on their jump rope, while Daikichi mingles with Hitani and the dads. After about a year with Rin, he’s watched her grow and they’ve shared countless experiences, a lot of them cause him stress and nervousness, but he seems to be learning that comes with the job.

Daikichi’s little sister Kazumi is getting married, but isn’t so hot about having a kid soon. She likes going out and drinking and having time for herself. Daikichi used to own all of his time, too, and while it’s obvious he’s lost something in his change of lifestyle for young Rin’s sake, he’s gained a lot more. This person loves him unconditionally, and he her. He may not be a real dad, and it may have just been a year, but he’s definitely become quite good at taking care of RIn.

What has more or less been a slice-of-life series has a reserved send-off, which looks back on the development of Daikichi and Rin, and looks toward the future as she grows bigger, stronger, and brighter. Rin has definitely been one of my favorite characters this season, and one of the better-acted kids I’ve seen in anime. There’s nothing earth-shattering about this story, but that’s not the point: it’s done a good job portraying the everyday and mundane, with all the little childhood firsts sprinkled in. And certainly the only anime I can think of where a guy’s aunt is so much younger than him, he could easily be her father.

Rating: 3.5

No. 6 11 (Fin)

Citizens of No. 6 start dying from the parasitic wasps within them. Shion and Rat have found Safu, but she’s become a medium for Elyurias, and while part of her remains to tell Shion she loves him, she isn’t quite Safu anymore. Rat sets a bomb on the main computer core and escapes with Shion, but Safu stays put. When the bomb blows, the prison begins to crumble, and is hastily evacuated. Both Nezumi and Rat are seriously wounded by gunfire from guards. Elyurias transforms into a giant wasp and spreads her power throughout No. 6, removing the infestation of wasps, tearing down the walls, and healing the guys. With eveything Shion hoped for accomplished, he and Nezumi go their separate ways, with Shion returning to a changed No. 6.

Eleven-episode runs can be killer for series with Really Big Ideas like No. 6. As the series progressed, it seemed unsure of how large a story to tell, and unsure how exactly to tell it. Episodes were spent with Nezumi and Rat just sitting around philosophizing. There’s a lot of exposition and lengthly explanation here, too. This was not a perfect ending, and I don’t think it was a great one, either. But it was pretty good.

I was disappointed that the guys came all that way to rescue Safu (though Rats primary goal was destroying the prison) only for her to say a few word and then basically die; she almost feels like a McGuffin. She’s obviously the kind of girl who knows who she loves no matter how little of him she actually sees, and Shion is a mess after Rat carries him off without her, having lost someone he had so much more to say to. But his pipe dream came true – in a deus ex machina, neat-little-package way kinda way. It had a definite ending, which is more than can be said of some 11-episode series.

Rating: 3