Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 02

We left Mirai and Yuuki at a bit of a precarious point last time, and this episode picks up exactly where we left off – Mirai wishing for the world to just break, and the world breaking quite spectacularly.

I noticed this episode that Bones display the horror of an earthquake of this magnitude incredibly well. Remember the loudly dressed woman whose son gave Mirai an ice-cream ass? Remember they were having a photo taken beside the mini Statue of Liberty? Well…

Thank God they don’t spell it out explicitly, for it would have ruined the realisation that a whole family who were made to be the villains last week have (presumably) been wiped out. It’s quite stark, and it’s no wonder that Mirai’s attitude has changed from last time after her foreboding e-mail and events like this.

They have the perfect setting for building up tension – it’s a shopping mall, once bright, shiny and polished, now creaking, brown and floating in sewage. The step change in environment from last episode helps the realisation that this is serious business. Flashbacks to pre-earthquake scenes only serve to increase this. Also, since everyone knows that large earthquakes are always followed by aftershocks, my heart leapt at any groan or rumble. Exciting and scary stuff. Also, they sure do love the falling debris, right?

Part of me wants to scream at Mirai for being so stupid and hard-headed at running down some precarious stairs, then requiring saving (again). But it’s times like this when we really see what people are like.

The episode’s nadir is a particularly deep one. Mirai sees the above, and realises that one of these people could be Yuuki. Mari, the person who’s saved Mirai up until now, tells her to go outside and keep living. It’s quite emotional. Even more emotional is Yuuki and Mirai’s reunion. A baw-enducing scene in episode 2? It took Clannad a series and a half to get to that point of emotion.

Mirai semi-reverts to her annoying twelve year old self later, which is soon quashed by the fact that she’s finally met someone who isn’t a terrible human being. And knows the importance of round cakes on birthdays.

Overall, an excellent second episode, full of suspense, twists, solidarity and emotion. If it continues like this, it’ll certainly be a contender for anime of the season with no problems.