Sabikui Bisco Episode 2 - An Epic Journey With Giant Crabs and Mushrooms

On the surface level you might ask if Sabikui Bisco was actually written by just randomly drawing words out of a hat as you progressed the story. Such as there’s a guy who uses a ‘bow’ to shoot ‘mushrooms’ as he crosses the desert riding a giant ‘crab’. Between that, the bunny heads the governor’s personal security force are wearing, the rust that is eating people, and more or less everything else that kind of feels haphazard, you might start to wonder if there’s a method to the madness or if it really is just throwing ideas at the wall and hoping one of them sticks.

And yet so far despite all the weirdness, the actual world seems to be coming together in a way that looks like it will make sense. Okay, they haven’t stopped the action long enough to explain really anything but we already know the problem with the world is the rust and we’re definitely getting a sense that Kurokawa (the governor) is shady and up to no good. Plus, the plot this week clarified a few points from episode 1 and kind of made me feel like we were getting somewhere.

Sabikui Bisco still needs to give us a few explanations.

One of the things that episode 2 of Sabikui Bisco has finally clarified for me is the timeline. Episode 1 left me a little confused about the border crossing and events in the city that we kept cutting between in terms of what came first. While episode 2 continues to cut back and forth between the present conflict in the city and how that border crossing finished, it is now clear how the two events are connected.

Also in this episode we spend a lot more time with Bisco and get a much clearer sense of who he is. We’re also introduced to his mentor and friend, Jabi, who was injured during the border crossing which all explains why he actually sought out the doctor and so everything kind of wraps neatly together. Also, we get a bit of a hint about why Bisco is trying to cross borders in the first place though there’s still a bit of detail missing there.

Except perhaps why Kurokawa’s guards end up shooting at the doctor’s clinic while Milo was still in there because I got the sense last week that Kurokawa had his own goals for Milo that didn’t necessarily involve shooting him.

On that note, I hadn’t noticed last week when watching Sabikui Bisco (probably because I was trying to figure out what was going on) but Kurokawa’s voice was very familiar. This week I immediately connect it with Maou Sama Retry so after the episode I decided to look up the voice actor, Tsuda Kenjirou. Turns out he’s voiced a lot of characters I’m fairly familiar with including Niino from ACCA.

Anyway, this episode of Sabikui Bisco doesn’t actually resolve the current conflict with the doctor having been stashed to work on healing Jabi while Bisco heads out to distract the guards. Also, word has reached Milo’s sister that the clinic has basically turned into a clump of giant mushrooms and so she takes her motorbike and heads straight for Bisco. The episode ends with Bisco and Paw facing off on the roof of a building.

As epic as that showdown might be (and it is weird that we just know Paw is going to be a decent match for him given we haven’t actually seen her in action – she just comes across as incredibly competent), I’m kind of hoping that they don’t end up too much at odds with one another.

Honestly, this episode passes really quickly as the events just keep kind of coming one after the other but it doesn’t feel rushed. Mostly I was left wanting more of Sabikui Bisco. I want to know what happens between Paw and Bisco. I want to know how the doctor ends up working with Bisco as the OP seems to suggest he will. I also want to know what’s with the giant crab (I know, not the most important thing).

Images from: Sabikui Bisco. Dir. A Ikariya. OZ. 2022