Sabikui Bisco Episode 3 – A New Partnership Is Born

When the end credits of episode3 for Sabikui Bisco started I was kind of convinced this story had settled into some more predictable territory. Sure we still had a giant crab that can apparently burrow through sand at extreme speeds and mushrooms sprouting to gigantic proportions on impact but these gimmicks had already been revealed in the previous episodes and so were now just being utilised by the story as needed.

Yet, despite most of episode 3 being more or less what should be expected given the set up, the after credits sequence felt the need to throw in one more moment of bizarre (and how weird is it that explosive mushroom growth has become normal in three episodes) when an entire hillside literally pulls itself up from the sand and starts to walk away. I’m guessing the writers of Sabikui Bisco didn’t want the audience to ever think they’d seen the weirdest thing yet.

Episode 3 of Sabikui Bisco puts us into more familiar territory as the time jumps stop and the narrative plays out in a far more ordinary manner despite the extraordinary setting.

This episode sees the continuation of the fight between Pawoo and Bisco. Pawoo, of course, is convinced that since the doctor’s office has been attacked the Milo has come into harm’s way. A point of view not really helped by Bisco’s ambiguous explanation of how the doctor was helping his friend. As much as Bisco wants to complain that people don’t listen to mushroom keepers, I kind of think there’s a communication issue going on from his end as well.

Then again, maybe he’s just so used to people not listening he gave up trying.

While that fight plays out complete with thrown motorbikes exploding in mid-air and a giant bowling pin (because why not), Sabikui Bisco does show us Milo working on Jabi and getting some much needed exposition. Because if we relied on Bisco to tell us what his goal was I think we’d still be confused. Jabi is far more linear in his explanation of the use of mushrooms to eat the rust which is why mushroom keepers plant them in places where there is rust. That others have the mistaken impression the mushrooms are causing the rust seems like it would be easy to disprove but I guess people believe what they want to believe.

Fortunately the fight between Bisco and Pawoo wraps up with Bisco gaining the upper hand and knocking her out. I suspect that she’s not going to let it go, particularly given Milo decides to go with Bisco, and that she’ll end up pursuing them, but I kind of hope she gets the truth sooner rather than later. As it is Sabikui Bisco leaves her unconscious as Milo departs the city with Bisco.

One thing I am continuing to really enjoy about this series, other than just wondering where some of the ideas came from, is the soundtrack. It kind of reminds me of older adventure anime. Actually, the anime it reminds me most of in terms of the background music is Tsubasa Chronicles. It isn’t quite as dramatic and operatic but there’s definitely some similarities.

I was a little surprised that this episode of Sabikui Bisco did so little with Kurokawa’s character. He did appear very briefly, but despite seemingly being set up as a major player in earlier episodes, his goons barely even entered the scene this week and we gain nothing new about his character or why he was interested in Milo back in episode 1.

I’m actually really excited for the next episode now that this opening sequence has played out. With Milo and Bisco pairing up and leaving the city we’ve got a good chance to expand on the world building and for these characters to really play off one another. Hopefully it ends up being an enjoyable ride.

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

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Karandi James

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