Concrete Revolutio Episode 14 – The Metal Detective’s Ironic Quest for Simplicity

Post-Episode Write-up:

I touched upon this concept in my write-up for the premiere of Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress last night, but shows that want to tackle philosophical questions often have to tackle the issue of telling us what the themes are early on, before it actually elaborates on them, and makes them fully-realized. ConRevo definitely is a show with a lot it wants to say (and you might want to take a look at the write-up I wrote for the first cour on that topic), so what does it do here? It doesn’t change the character this episode revolves around, Android Detective Shiba Raito, but it had presented it to us when our knowledge of the characters and the themes is much improved.

“Wait, what do you mean, it didn’t change the characters? Shiba Raito is a totally different person now!” And I hold that he isn’t. This episode was so terribly ironic on so many levels, but most of all, his. It kept cycling around how Raito transformed and then didn’t, that it’s hard not to look at it and be a tad amazed. But, let’s start from the beginning.

(There’s an updated chronological timeline at the bottom of this post. Also, full episodic notes.)

Concrete Revolutio Episode 13 (Finale) – When the Masks Come Off

Post-Episode Write-up:

This was quite the episode, and not entirely what I expected this to be. I was all but certain that we’d see why Jirou left the Bureau. Well, we knew from the get-go, to defend superhumans and because the Bureau doesn’t allow him to do that according to his beliefs, and episode 9 showed us that they didn’t part on bad terms, but this episode didn’t really show us a reason, within the show. Nor did it show us where the two sides became enemies, or even when Superhumans became so detested by the common population. The preview, furthermore, makes it clear we’re not going to simply jump ahead to after this whole thing, but that time-skipping, at least to a degree, is going to continue. So, this was interesting, and curious.

How adults see youth.

Before we delve into the thematic breakdown, a few shorter points/asides: The V for Vendetta moment was interesting, and it’s also interesting because it stood for anti-fascism and anti-Cold War and suppression of information, both of which hover in the background of the show, as it deals with late 1960s’ anti-war movement, wars that were fueled by the Cold War. Another point is, man, Jirou and Equus really went all EVA Unit 01, didn’t they? And then the scientist creator-father wondering if his child-creation hates him. In a way, children are always Frankenstein’s Monsters, part your creation, part someone else’s, and part luck and the environment. The generational rift is a common theme in anime, and not just that aimed at younger people – it was a main theme in Shinsekai Yori too, for instance.

Well, final finally: Bad news, seems timeline updates will still be necessary in cour 2. Good news, you’ve got me.

(There’s an updated chronological timeline at the bottom of this post. Also, full episodic notes.)