Re:CREATORS

Episode 5

Have you ever wondered why the authorities don't get involved immediately when disruptive events happen in anime series set in the "real world?" It looks like the creators of Re:CREATORS thought about that one too, since the government in Re:CREATORS won't remain blissfully ignorant or uninvolved in what's going down.

I feel a little uncomfortable calling this a plot twist, since that should be an expected part of a story like this, but giving what we're conditioned to seeing, bringing the authorities into the loop this week was a pleasantly unexpected surprise. The government becomes concretely aware that something beyond a mere hoax is going on when Alicetaria kidnaps her Creator right out of a police station, and they're further forced into action when Gigas Machina, the mecha from Monomagia: The Infinite OverMachine, showed up in the real world with its pilot, Rui. Given what little they knew about the situation, I honestly can't blame them for going in full tactical gear; they had no way of knowing if the mecha was a friendly contact or another incident like Alicetaria's. Thankfully, Meteora's cool head prevailed, allowing them to not only talk their way out of the situation but also get a pretty favorable deal in the process, which includes protected legal status for the "fictional" characters. All it took was laying all their cards on the table and sharing all their information on Military Uniform Princess' plans. The lingering side question is whether this might be a statement on how much smoother things can go when vigilante heroes actually cooperate with the authorities.

With only a modicum of action and the only major plot development prior to the epilogue being the government getting involved, the entertainment factor is once again largely in the details and character interactions this week. Fortunately, there's a lot of detail and character to go around. I especially liked the realization of Masaaki (the mecha scenario writer) that the way he wrote Rui for the story only makes him annoyingly petulant in real life, but Takashi's insistence that Silesia be treated as a person rather than just a Creation was also a welcome moment. Silesia also continues to delight, whether it's in her attempted interactions with Rui or the expression she shoots at Meteora when the matter of her “borrowing” JSDF equipment comes up. However, Meteora steals the show this week, both for her cool head and the sheepish way that she tries to talk her way out of the consequences for the trouble she has unwittingly caused. The conversation she has afterwards with Kikuchihara was also a nice touch, as an acknowledgement that non-otaku adults aren't necessarily unaware of the appeal that these Creations have in fiction. Finding out that the whole affair may have started from a burst of radio interference was also an interesting revelation, though how that led to the current circumstances will doubtless be speculation for some time, along with other big questions like how can that old guy actually fly?

Most or all of these questions are overshadowed by the episode's epilogue, however. Throughout the episode, Sota was conspicuously quiet whenever Military Uniform Princess' unknown identity came up, as if he was starting to get an inkling of the answer. Some have speculated that it might be one of his creations or have something to do with either a lost sister or Suicide Girl or both, but once his memory clicks into place, the much-anticipated truth comes out: Setsuna Shimazaki, aka Suicide Girl, was apparently a web novelist who Sota had encountered in person, and MUP is her creation. I couldn't read the Japanese text on the screen, but my impression is that her writing got heavily criticized (which would jive with the awkward way that MUP speaks), and perhaps she committed suicide because she couldn't handle the blowback. It would definitely explain why no one recognizes her and why MUP would have a negative enough opinion of the “realm of the gods” to want to destroy it. What isn't clear yet is whether or not Sota was the one who drew the picture that MUP's appearance is based on, as the translated on-screen text seems to suggest that he offered to do so. Perhaps his reluctance to draw her is also connected to that suicide. There's still more to be revealed, but bringing web novels into the picture is an intriguing new angle to ponder in the big picture of the series.

Rating: A-

Re:CREATORS is currently streaming on Amazon's Anime Strike.