Movie Review: The Tunnel to Summer, the Exit of Goodbyes

Posted: 11/13/2023

Note: This review is based on the subtitled version. A dubbed version is apparently also circulating, but that was not shown in my area.

The Tunnel to Summer is a late 2022 movie which has only recently had a U.S. theatrical run, courtesy of HIDIVE. It adapts a 2019 light novel and is adapted and directed by Tomohisa Taguchi, the current director of Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War and past efforts including Twin Star Exorcists and the 2017 Kino’s Journey revival. Given his action-oriented pedigree, this project about love and loss is a distinct departure from the norm for Taguchi, but the result is an indication that he’s well-capable of branching out beyond action fare. It didn’t win an award at the 2023 Annecy Film Festival for nothing.

In the story, Kaoru Tono is a teenager in a rural area who has heard rumors about a secret area tunnel that can grant one who enters it a wish, but at the cost of 100 years of the person’s life. He certainly has a wish he’d like to see fulfilled, too: a younger sister died and he feels like he’s to blame, both for it and the way it tore his family apart. (And his father certainly thinks so.) One day while fleeing from strife at home, he stumbles across said tunnel, and after an initial experiment proves that there may be something to the stories, he finds himself joined by new classmate Anzu, who also has a wish she wants to see fulfilled. As they agree to study and quantify the properties of the tunnel before making a serious effort to journey to its end, a deeper relationship starts to blossom between the two. But even though they figure out some things about the tunnel, it ultimately isn’t what either of them initially thinks, and that leads to big complications when one of them eventually finds less reason to gamble on the possibilities the tunnel may offer.

I would be shocked if both original writer Mei Hachimoku and director Taguchi don’t admit to being at least partially influenced by the works of Makoto Shinkai, as The Tunnel to Summer has a very similar feel to his works. It doesn’t aim for the depth of sentimentality that Shinkai is known for, but themes about connections and separations across space and time resonate as powerfully here as they do in Shinkai’s works, as does the budding romance which lies as much as the core of the story as its more fantastical elements do. Kaoru and Anzu are two kids who find common ground in both being detached from their families (albeit for entirely different reasons) and seeking to recover something precious that they have lost. They are individually well-rounded and believable characters and make a convincing couple, and the development of their relationship from an initially somewhat antagonist one to a cooperative and supportive one feels very natural. That is absolutely critical to making the crisis which composes the last quarter of the movie emotionally effective. I won’t get into the details of that here, other than to say that certain aspects of it resemble a certain Shinkai work too much for it to be a coincidence.

The feel of the movie may be familiar and the plot may be on the simplistic side, but it certainly doesn’t lack for visual support. This is animated by studio CLAP, which previously earned attention for animating the wonderful-looking 2021 film Pompo: The Cinephile. Here the film takes a more subdued, realistic approach most of the time, with quality animation, detail work, and setting designs all being features. The only place it truly gets showy is in its vibrant depiction of the interior of the tunnel, but this is a film meant to impress more on the little details than on the big ones, and it does that quite well.

The Tunnel to Summer, the Exit of Goodbyes may not blow you away, but it will impress and entertain, and it is well worth checking out when HIDIVE eventually gets to the point of streaming it. (It is also due out in January on Blu-Ray.)

Overall Rating: A- (B+ for writing, A for visuals)

The Apothecary Diaries, episode 6

Rating: A-

More than any other, this particular shot strikes at the essence of how much of an adorable little freak Maomao is. It is the franchise’s signature moment, the one that any fan of the LN and/or manga versions was eagerly waiting to see, and the anime production has executed it well enough that it’s easily one of the top individual scenes of 2023. I fully expect that we’ll see a ton of memes of this as the weeks progress.

Actually, this shot may serve that purpose even better:

But the dramatic food poisoning incident at the garden party is hardly the only important thing going on in this episode. Such affairs are often seen as sources of high-level intrigue, and indeed, something is going on here with the misdirected poisoning attempt. However, at least as interesting is all of the cattiness going on behind the scenes between the ladies-in-waiting of the four high-ranking concubines. We saw back in episode 4 that the ladies-in-waiting can be very territorial even within the Rear Palace, and their tribalism is in even fuller display behind the banners while their mistresses are on display in front of them. Maomao is at her mischievous best in the confrontation with Lihua’s underlings, but also of interest is the thing with the hairpins. Lihua granting one to Maomao for the latter’s vital help in Lihua’s recovery is a loaded affair, as it’s both a gesture of respect and a bit of a stab at a rival, but military officer Lihaku looks like he’s just fishing for bites. (Anime-only viewers should remember him, as he’ll figure quite prominently into a later storyline.)

The other thing which comes out in those early scenes is at least a partial – and rather shocking – description about how the very young-looking concubine Lishu fits into the pictures. As I understand it, younger Lishu was a concubine to the previous emperor, while older Ah-duo was a concubine to the emperor’s son (the current emperor) at the same time, effectively making the nine-year-old a mother-in-law of the (at the time) 30-year-old. There’s definitely a lot more story to be told here about how this unusual situation came to be (including why a woman of Ah-duo’s age who doesn’t have a child would still be in the harem), but be assured that more explanation is coming.

The garden party itself is one of the few places where the anime version loses a bit to the print versions, as their extra elaboration on how the seating at the party carefully reflects one’s status gets lost; in the anime form, only one brief comment by Maomao refers to it at all, and then only obliquely. This is also the scene which emphasizes that Maomao’s delight at being a poison tester isn’t at all normal; even those watching recognize it as a harrowing job. It’s also where Lishu’s story really starts to take off.

At least some of what’s going on with Lishu can be pieced together from what’s shown here, in the scenes leading up to it, and in the scene later where Maomao asks Jinshi to call for Lishu about the poisoning. This reveals that Lishu doesn’t just not like mackerel; she’s actually strongly allergic to it, much as Maomao is allergic to buckwheat herself. Both Lishu “mistakenly” getting the salad with mackerel and the earlier kerfuffle over the color of her and her entourage’s robes being inappropriate suggests that someone is messing with her, and the poison tester is almost certainly in on it. However, the poison tester’s reaction to Maomao suggests that she didn’t intend to kill her mistress and had no idea that the fish was actually harmful to Lishu. It further suggests that she wasn’t involved with the actual poison, and ironically may have serendipitously avoided harm to herself if she did, indeed, arrange for Gyokuyou and Lishu’s food trays to be switched. In other words, she was only out to mess with Lishu, but someone out there is gunning for Lishu for real. That provides some juicy hooks for upcoming episodes.

And of course we can’t forget about Jinshi. The concern he shows for Maomao is definitely beyond just an official capacity; he’s clearly fond of her, though not necessarily in a romantic way. What’s more, the anime version more than just vaguely implies that Jinshi may actually be the emperor’s younger brother, rather than a eunuch. He certainly has the same eyes as the Empress Dowager, and that would explain a lot of things we’ve seen so far. (And to be clear, this is pure speculation on my part rather than a spoiler.) Only time will tell if that proves to be true.

In all, this episode has a bit of everything which makes this series great.

The Eminence in Shadow episode 26

Rating: B+

The series has been cycling through members of the Seven Shades for feature treatment this season, and this episode is Alpha’s turn. What we learn about her here is quite interesting and, honestly, a little heartbreaking. It’s hard not to sympathize with her given how Cid/Shadow/John Smith handles the situation.

To this point, Alpha has always been portrayed as cool and collected. She is the operational leader of Shadow Garden not just because she is first among Shadow’s followers or the strongest, but also because she takes his BS more to heart than anyone else and has the powerful will to turn that into action. Cid may have come up with the concept, but Shadow Garden is what it is because of Alpha. However, this episode shows that even she has her vulnerable points. She has literally defined her life on Cid’s words and her perception that she is executing Shadow’s will, so she is understandably shaken by learning that Shadow has taken on a different name to execute a scheme which not only has nothing to do with Shadow Garden but, in fact, seems to be at odds with the organization. Her strength comes in part from knowing that she serves a purpose, that she is useful to the young man who saved her and gave her life meaning, so why wouldn’t she become desperate when Cid shows that she’s only in the way this time?

Alpha isn’t the only one being thrown off here, either. Beta is still lapping up Shadow’s theatrics (the note he makes about closing the window next time on a cold day is one of the episode’s funniest moments) as she makes a report earlier, unaware that Shadow’s thoughts are running on a different track. Delta isn’t fooled for long by John Smith because she is keyed in to his scent, but she has to be distracted to keep from interfering, so why not send her to “hunt” Juggernaut? (I’d love to see how that plays out, but sadly, the anime probably won’t show it.) And, of course, Gettan has no clue what’s really going on – or, rather, why it’s going on. He has no idea that this scheme is actually at least partly about his ex-fiancée Yukime (i.e., the nine-tailed fox), whom he tried to kill years earlier, seeking to ruin him. Her mid-episode flashback fills in the gaps from last episode, showing that, yes, Yukime and Gettan were strongly connected and implying that Cid in his masked bandit-hunter identity was, indeed, the one who nearly offed Gettan after Gettan nearly killed Yukime. (This is clearer in the subtitled than dubbed version.)

Although the counterfeiting scheme is being successful at pushing the Merchant Alliance towards ruin (and, ironically, hurting the Cult in the process, even though that was never part of Cid’s intent), Cid’s flights of fancy are starting to conflict with one another. He’s become so enamored with playing out his fantasies that he isn’t bothering to consider how that affects the people around him, and frankly, he’s coming off as a jerk in the process. Granted, he didn’t actually physically hurt any of his subordinates, but he still clearly hurt Alpha on multiple levels, and this time his “you’ll understand when I’m done” stunt may not be enough to smooth things over in the end. I’m actually more interested at this point in seeing how that plays out rather than the grand scheme he’s executing.

Of course, part of the reason that this is playing out the way it is is probably just to give a chance for Shadow (er, John Smith) to have a couple of flashy fights against his most melee-proficient subordinates. Though not as fully-animated as I’d like (and certainly not on the same level as recent fight scenes in Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End), the sequences against both Alpha and Delta still provide some satisfying flash and pop.

The flashback in the middle of the episode bogged down the pacing a bit, but otherwise this is another fine, entertaining episode.

The Eminence in Shadow episode 25

Rating: A-

It’s now official: Gamma is an absolute terror on the battlefield, and not necessarily for any good reason. My sympathies go nearly as much to the two unfortunates escorting/assisting her as to the Clover members trying to infiltrate Mitsuoghi. From the reactions of the former to being assigned as her support, they had to have some idea of what they were getting into.

A confident, powerful character who proves to be spectacularly incompetent in battle is a time-tested and time-worn gag in anime, but this series, naturally, is not content to aim for such a low standard. The result is one of the funniest pairs of sequences yet in this series. Seeing the normally-elegant, composed, and brilliant Gamma acting like a giddy schoolgirl at her first opportunity to fight in (presumably) a long time is fun in itself, but that just sets the stage for her keen perceptiveness and overwhelming magic power being used with absolutely no skill or restraint. And oh yeah, let’s not forget a skull capable of warping a weapon which hit her in the head. But the sharpest jokes actually come before that, in the opening scene where Gamma volunteers to deal with the intruders. I loved how everyone paused, then tried to ignore her as they considered the absurdity of her request. Nu also gets in a couple of good reactions, too, both during this and in response to learning Gamma’s apparent true age, as well as later reaction shots to Gamma’s wanton destruction.

But that’s just the purely fun part first third or so. The rest of the episode deals with furthering the counterfeiting scheme “John Smith” and the nine-tailed fox came up with last episode, how everyone in power is starting to become aware of it, and what could be done about it. That the counterfeits are actually higher-quality than the original is also an amusing twist, but one of the big questions left lingering is whether or not Shadow Garden’s elite will eventually figure out that the counterfeiting mastermind is actually Shadow. Rose, at least, has actually met Shadow in person but did not recognize him in his John Smith disguise, so making that connection may not be so simple, especially since John Smith was far less ruthless than Shadow ever is.

Another interesting aspect of the episode is what’s revealed about Gettan. We still don’t see him fully, but he is clearly a therianthrope with a big, bushy tail suspiciously similar to Delta’s. The nine-tailed fox seems to remember him as the one who slaughtered her village, but Gettan also seems to be remembering Cid in his young bandit-hunting guise at the one who defeated him – and, notably, both flashbacks are to devastated villages in a snow-covered setting. Undoubtedly there’s a connection, but that is ancillary enough to what Cid is scheming that I wouldn’t be surprised if we don’t ever get the full story. This series is one of the biggest deliberate teases ever in anime, after all.

Iris and Alexia also get a brief scene to remind us that they aren’t just casually sitting around, including a nice transition shot between the two, but that’s much more a little tidbit than a focal point. The big overall question is whether or not Cid’s absolute focus on living out his fantasy scenarios is finally going to come crashing headlong into inconvenient reality. My guess is that it will all work out in the end.

The Apothecary Diaries episode 4

Rating: B+

Despite the ominous episode title (“The Threat”), this episode focuses almost entirely on dealing with the consequences of a previous mystery rather than initiating a new one. This provides a welcome rounding-out to a matter which felt like it got dealt with too quickly given that it was literally a life-or-death situation.

This is, of course, referring to the matter of the poisonous face powder in episode 1. Toxic cosmetics are a known problem even to current day – with recent studies showing significant links between certain hair sprays and straighteners and increased risk of breast cancer, for instance – and white lead-based makeup has technically been banned for nearly 400 years in the United Kingdom because of its known harmful side effects. Such substances are known to have existed and been used since antiquity, so a problem like this coming up in a Red Light District or even an Emperor’s harem is quite realistic. That the harem’s doctor didn’t figure it out is also realistic; Maomao only knows about it because she has very unusual experience on this matter. Thus, it also makes sense that she would know how to treat someone who has been poisoned by it, and why wouldn’t the Emperor assign the person who brought the problem to light in the first place the important task of seeing to the recovery of one of his favorites?

Hence, the predicament Maomao finds herself in this time is not a mystery, but rather figuring out how to get past Concubine Lihua’s jealous and overprotective ladies-in-waiting and actually treat the woman. Some might wonder why Maomao didn’t assert herself more from the beginning (being under the Emperor’s direct order would, one would think, give her greater authority than normal), but recall that she’s normally a level-headed girl who prefers not to needlessly rock the boat. However, discovering that thoughtlessness is further endangering her assigned patient is enough to get her ire up, and when she does get angry, she’s magnificent. Credit partly goes to Aoi Yuki for making Maomao’s voice so quickly but naturally become frigid, but even beyond that, Maomao displays a take-charge tenacity which tolerates no fools (while also, amusingly, illustrating to Jinshi exactly the point she was talking about to him earlier about how women can change temperament very abruptly).

This sets ups the strong sequence of events where Maomao is nursing Lihua back to health. Maomao’s bedside manner isn’t the kindest, but it is appreciably pragmatic, and Lihua is not foolish enough to not recognize that. Rather than platitudes, Maomao is giving her the food for thought necessary for her to to accept that she wants to get better. A clearly-beloved infant dying because of ignorance and carelessness is a terrible thing, but a person has to move on from it and learn from those harsh lessons. Of course, this also allows Maomao in the end to engage in one of her other distinguishing habits: throwing in sexual references saucy enough to make even an experienced concubine overheat. (If you’re curious about what she probably described to Lihua, look up the word “paizuri.”) Although she probably wouldn’t admit it, Maomao does seem to revel in tossing in advice she’s picked up from the courtesans of the brothels.

The one concern in this episode – and the reason why I’m not giving it a step higher grade – is that the artistic quality control looks much shakier here than in in previous ones. It’s not a big problem, but how rough some of the scenes in the middle of the episode look is readily-noticeable. Otherwise, this is another fine entry in one of the season’s most likable shows.

The Eminence in Shadow episode 24

Rating: B+

Any time a new business comes powering into – and dynamically changing – a market to the degree that the Gamma-led Mitsugoshi has, a big backlash from established companies can be expected. That’s exactly what the predominant storyline of episode 24 involves: other economic powers resorting to underhanded means to try to clip Mitsugoshi’s influence. Of course, they don’t know that Mitsugoshi is actually the business front funding Shadow Garden, and so it has powerful protectors well-capable of thwarting any violent method, but I appreciate that the storytelling is at least trying fills in a big logical gap in the setting. Nothing happens in a vacuum, after all, as much as Shadow might sometimes wish that to be the case.

Another interesting facet of this is Cid’s discovery that the Numbered have, once again, been getting even more creative with their approach than he ever anticipated. They have also essentially created a bank and are now printing money, which was originally used as “store dollars” but is now starting to expand outside of the store in usage. This is, of course, yet another case of the girls taking random things that Cid once said as gospel. The nine-tailed fox lady also gets involved with this in a discussion about a counterfeiting scheme that could be used to deal with a competitor who’s trying to do the same thing as Mitsugoshi, though Cid is also perfectly fine with destroying everything and rebuilding it from scratch under his new passion: the “secret agent” John Smith. Don’t think that would go over well with his ladies, though his pressing of the nine-tailed fox seems to have left him with an alternate approach. Since the nine-tailed fox interpreted it as her being tested, that’s just business as usual for the franchise.

The other part of the episode is Delta finally getting a turn at the forefront. To this point, this therianthrope she’s always been a bit player in the story: the most potent front-line attacker amongst the Shadow Garden elite (possibly second only to Shadow himself), but also too simple-minded to be relied on for any complex planning or tactical thinking, to the point that the rest of the Numbered didn’t think anything of leaving her behind in the Holy City for much of the second half of the first season. That simple-mindedness (and the propensity to use her for fan service shots) hasn’t changed as she reappears and goes hunting with Cid. That scene offers the first real insight into her background: her original name was Sara, and she was one of the (apparently many) children of a therianthrope chieftain before being hunted down for becoming a Possessed. Not clear how much her callousness over offing her brother is just her vs. standard therianthrope thinking, but it certainly gives us a better idea about where she’s coming from.

Overall, this provides an interesting new angle on the maintenance and expansion of Shadow Garden’s efforts, while also producing a new, grand foe for Shadow (er, John Smith) to face off against. In other words, Cid gets to act out another of his delusions with relish, and as the series has proven so far, that’s rarely a bad thing.

Debut: The Apothecary Diaries episodes 1-3

Streams: Crunchyroll on Saturdays

Rating: A- (overall)

Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End and The Eminence in Shadow looked to be the early front-runners for the season’s best series. With the belated debut of this series (with three episodes, no less!), they have some serious new competition. This was my most-anticipated debut of the season, and I am delighted to say that it doesn’t disappoint.

Though the Chinese Imperial Court-patterned setting and mystery-solving foundation may call up comparisons to last year’s Raven of the Inner Palace, this is an entirely different animal with a significantly different dynamic, as well as being a decidedly more light-hearted story. It tells the story of Maomao, a girl who grew up with an apothecary father who tended to the courtesans of the capital city’s Red Light District; as such, she was around brothels from an early age and came to be treated as a little sister by some of them. One day while picking herbs, she is kidnapped and sold off to the Rear Palace, where the harem of the Emperor lives, as a servant. She initially tries to keep a low profile – including hiding the fact that she’s both an apothecary and literate – but she can’t help but become involved when a mysterious sickness that is killing the Emperor’s children and making his chief concubines ill as well strikes, and she knows the cause because of past experience with the courtesans of the brothels. Despite her attempts at secrecy, Maomao solving the mystery draws the attention of Gyokuyou, the Emperor’s current favorite (and mother of his daughter, whose life Maomao’s secret warning saved), and Jinshi, the gorgeous manager of the Rear Palace. As a result, she gets hired as one of Gyokuyou’s personal attendants and starts reluctantly getting involved in mysteries and schemes that Jinshi brings to her attention while serving as Gyokuyou’s poison-tester.

Though originally a light novel, The Apothecary Diaries also has a successful manga version, which has become a personal favorite. Based on the first three episodes, the anime is pretty closely following the manga version in terms of the way it paces and lays out scenes, even to the point of using the same style of SD characters in its humorous moments. It also beautifully brings to life the charms and idiosyncrasies of its prominent characters. Maomao is a delight as a very smart girl who also tries to be wise but sometimes lets her impulses get the better of her. Her chief foil is Jinshi, who puts on the air of a charming pretty boy who flirts with all of the servants and concubines, but he’s also much sharper than he lets on; even his casual flirting is both a test and a tool for manipulation. The two wonderfully bouncing off each other, with Jinshi taking a perverse delight in Maomao reacting to him with disgust rather than adoration, to the point that his faithful right-hand-man Gaoshun at one point asks Maomao not to react that way towards Jinshi because the latter’s giddiness over it becomes a distraction. Gyokyuyou also shows herself to be very astute and likable as a high-ranking courtesan, and her chief lady-in-waiting has a certain amount of cleverness, too. Maomao may be the smartest person in the series, but she’s hardly surrounded by idiots, and that is something you don’t often see in mystery series.

And the mysteries, though relatively short so far, are one of the three pillars of the series. Unlike Raven, none of the mysteries have any supernatural component to them, but they are all keyed to the realities of life in this setting and are often involve the statement “ignorance is a sin.” They don’t assume that bad things are automatically malicious acts and show how, say, being unaware that the branches used by soldiers to make chopsticks are poisonous can have devastating consequences. More complex mysteries – some of which may not be containable within a single episode – will also come eventually, but these short mysteries are fine while the series is still establishing itself.

Humor is definitely the second pillar of the series. Though I wouldn’t go as far as calling the series a comedy, it certainly has its regular humorous components and can be quite funny. Much of this has to do with either Maomao demonstrating her weird proclivities (she deliberately tests poisons on herself), her and Jinshi reacting to each other, or other people reacting to Maomao. The style of it is very similar to what The Ancient Magus’ Bride does, but it is much less of a distraction here because of the overall lighter tone.

The third pillar is definitely the artistic design. Though some of the courtesan and concubine designs seems to be simplified a little compared to the manga, character designs on the whole are beautifully detailed and the background artistry is exquisite in both design and detail. Couple it with sumptuous use of a vibrant color palette and respectable animation quality and it’s one of the best-looking series of the season, if not the year. Background music which heavily employs traditional Chinese instrumentation is a nice complement, too, and Aoi Yuki is putting on the expected star performance as Maomao. (In general, though, the Japanese voice work is very strong, with each character introduced so far sounding exactly like I imagined.)

On the whole, the first three episodes come together beautifully in one balanced, highly entertaining passage. The two minor quibble I have is that the episodes are a bit on the shorter side (less than 23 full minutes even with OP and ED) and that I question the need to delay two weeks so the first three episodes come out all at once. I’ve seen speculation that it may have been a program scheduling issue, but whatever the reason, this one didn’t need a three-episode debut. Its appeal is quite apparent from the first episode alone.

The Eminence in Shadow episode 23

Rating: B+

The Lawless City arc concludes with this episode, bringing to the table many of the signature elements the series is known for: Shadow engaging in the stylish grand battle sequence he so loves (and wrapping it up with a display of ultimate power), throwing in assorted storytelling quirks, and delivering very chunibyo-like consequences for the whole affair. It also adds in one element that has not been typical for the series to this point: Shadow Garden actually struggling with a situation.

Granted, they don’t exactly have their elite team there. Beta is one of the Numbered, but she’s supported only by three of the newest recruits (including the former Rose, whom the series seems determined to keep involved), and they have their hands full with Elisabeth the Blood Queen even before she’s fully woken up; that one of the episode’s most dramatic lines is “my Queen has always been a slow riser due to low blood pressure!” just seems to fit this series perfectly. We also get a double-dose of Beta woefully misinterpreting Shadow’s actions and a brief flashback showing the situation Beta was in before Cid rescued her from the mana overload resulting from her being Possessed, both of which are standard gimmicks at this point. So are the duos Skel and Po and Goldy and Quinton being in both awkward and later defeated situations.

This episode does spice things up with a couple of new gimmicks, though. Claire getting mortally wounded but saved by Aurora (who seems able to manifest through her?) is an interesting little twist, as is the whole business with Aurora appearing in a dream sequence as a modern day high school nurse, with Claire being a student in PE clothes. Despite the epic Shadow/Blood Queen finale battle, this is actually the most intriguing scene, and definitely the one most open to interpretation. Why is that scene playing out in that setting, when neither character involved is from that background? Is it just the series’ “this is an otaku dream” conceit, or is this meant to suggest something either about Aurora’s background or the setting as a whole? Nobody probably thought much of the Shadow Garden Numbered appearing in a modern-day setting during the first season’s OP, as transplanting a cast into modern day roles is a familiar gimmick for OPs and EDs (Bleach has done it multiple times per instance), but is it possible that wasn’t just a gimmick? I wouldn’t put it past the series to mess with viewers either way.

Of course, Shadow gets his big, flashy battle, but only after initially thinking there wasn’t a battle to be had after he so easily offed the lead vampire. He gets to use his “I am atomic” in a new way, too. . . although the more interesting twist is that Aurora was also trying to use it while manifesting through Claire. In this case, the actual battle is less important than the fallout, including the fox lady showing up back at home at the end of the episode. Claire has now gone full-blown, real-life chunibyo as well with the markings and power in her left hand – and yes, I have to think that styling what she really is going through as a bout of chunibyo is entirely deliberate, since the whole series is essentially a full-blown chunibyo scenario. It’s details like this which keep the series so intriguing.

Even so, I didn’t feel this episode quite came together in peak form. It was a good episode, but not among the series’ best so far.

Review: The Eminence in Shadow, episode 22

The Fall 2023 season’s episode reviews start with me continuing my episode reviews on this title from last time around. I will also be episode reviewing The Apothecary Diaries once it debuts and maybe a third title if I have time, so you will see a lot more content from me this season.

Rating: B

The first episode of The Eminence in Shadow‘s second season (which is reviewed in the seasonal Preview Guide) was arguably the series’ signature episode, as it perfectly embodied the very spirit and essence of the series as well as all of its conceits and gimmicks. Hence, that the second episode would be a bit of a drop-off should be no surprise, though I didn’t expect quite this much of a drop-off.

The difference here is that this episode plays things almost entirely seriously, rather than just straight. The series’ flippant attitude only really shows up in a couple of brief moments, and its best running joke – i.e., that Shadow keeps repeating the very cliche-sounding catch phrases that Cid picked up from Mary last episode – is starting to lose its impact. The action scenes are also decidedly less ambitious here and take far more shortcuts, as if the series needs to dial things back to a normal level after showing off last episode. Since Cid had his dramatic entrance in the conflict between the leaders of the other towers at the end of last episode, his entrances here don’t have quite the same flair. He has to be a little disappointed with himself.

That said, the episode does not entirely lack its flippant attitude, and is far from lacking accomplishments. Shifting from “arriving stylishly late” to “setting the tone by arriving early” is typical Shadow dramatizing, and amusingly, he actually does arrive in time to blast the villain before he finishes setting his dastardly plan in motion. But he’s not the only one in on the action this time around, and doesn’t even have the biggest role. That goes to the Claire/Mary team-up. They prove here that they make quite the efficient fighting team, and they get time to share with each other and bond a little, too – sorta. Mary is, unsurprisingly, a vampire herself, and her history with Blood Queen Elisabeth lies at the foundation of the current circumstances. Claire, meanwhile, still thinks she’s a Possessed, and she at least believes that she’s trying to get Cid set up well before she loses it. (She stated back in episode 2 that she did not believe that Cid had cured her of that, and apparently she’s believed that all along.) Rose needing to suck a little of Claire’s blood to revive herself sets up the series’ first yuri-vibed scene, and it’s not the only fan servicey moment in the episode, either.

The other significant development is both Claire and Mary encountering Shadow Garden for the first time – specifically, Beta. Doubtless this will have some consequences down the road, but the most important aspect of that here is Rose’s debut as Shadow Garden Member 666. While it’s possible that name is just another one of the series’ name jokes – this is the series with a villain named Perv Asshat, after all – Istill have to think that some further meaning is intended for this later on. The notion raised here that the Possessed and vampires have the same origin is also an interesting bit of world-building that hopefully will be expanded upon eventually.

Shadow’s actions at the end of the episode would seem to put a stop to this whole Red Moon affair, so I am curious to see what more will come of this. Somehow, I don’t think resolving the Blood Queen part is going to be quite that simple, though.