So many anime should watch episode 8 and 9 of Sabikui Bisco to really understand how to capitalise emotionally on a cliff-hanger ending. Seriously, I thought episode 8 left us at a heart-wrenching moment and my greatest fear was that this week we would literally just see the characters walk away from it within the first few minutes of the episode.
Instead, episode 9 begins with shattered characters and words that are clearly foreshadowing disaster and then things escalate and just don’t stop until the dramatic conclusion of the episode (which I am going to try hard not to spoil because that really should be watched). I’m just left wondering what Sabikui Bisco does for the next three episodes and whether it can ever be as emotionally devastating as it was this week.
Although, it probably doesn’t need to be. What it really needs to do is address what all of this actually changes in the world or whether it was all for nothing.
Sabikui Bisco was far more committed to its plot than I gave it credit for earlier in the season.
In order to avoid too many spoilers I am afraid this particular episode review is going to end up being a little bit all over the place as I focus on less prominent details than the conclusion.
For instance, I haven’t really talked about Jabi much in any of my episode reviews of Sabikui Bisco so far. Yet this mentor character from Bisco has played a key role at multiple junctures in the story, despite spending most of the series injured or captured. And you have to admit, this old man has some spunk.
I mean, Jabi is the one who raised Bisco so we had to know this guy was a bit on the reckless side. He also clearly has a big heart. Throughout the course of the series, his own safety has never been his priority concern. Instead, he’s always looked out for the others, whether it be Bisco or even Pawoo when she was captured.
It makes me wonder why Kurokawa ever thought threatening Jabi’s life, or even his fingers, would somehow convince him to surrender. This old man was never going to fold over something like that.
But now I’m wondering how Jabi is going to react next week to the final of episode 9… Okay, not going there.
Honestly, there’s little more you could ask from Sabikui Bisco at this point. It has been a zany adventure and buddy quest with this whole dystopian thing going underneath it and this episode just brought all those elements together so well. It is always nice when you are watching an anime or a story and realise that everything actually does work together and clearly there was a plan from the start when the writer put this story together.
About the only real visual criticism I could make of episode 9 is that it is pretty much the same colour from beginning to end and it is quite a bleak and dull looking episode compared to previous ones. Then again, given events, the colour palette more or less suits the episode perfectly.
Can the next episode be out already?
This is perhaps the biggest problem with seasonal viewing in that there’s so much I want to say but at the same time don’t want to say until people have a chance to watch this episode on their own.
Anyway, Sabikui Bisco has gone from being a curiosity and kind of interesting to being something I am highly emotionally invested in and that is definitely a good thing given how many other anime this season kind of lost me at the mid-way point.
Images from: Sabikui Bisco. Dir. A Ikariya. OZ. 2022
Thank-you for reading 100 Word Anime.
Join the discussion in the comments.
Karandi James
OMG, I was so shocked at the end of the episode! I was like, wait they can’t do that right?! Is this the last episode of the whole series? There’s 3 more episodes?! Well how are the writers going to make that work? I’m emotionally invested in these characters, a plot twist like this can’t just pop up! Where’s the plot armor when you need it?
I liked it. Plot armour might keep characters you like alive and kicking but you definitely lose the sense of weight and consequence within the narrative. While I didn’t expect this anime to go this way, once I got over feeling devastated, I really appreciated it.
True, it does up the quality of the story when actions have consequences, but it makes for very sad episodes. Of course, they’ve found mushrooms that can grow giant, mushrooms that can cure rust, and mushrooms that can control people, I’m still hoping there’s a mushroom out there that can fix this. . . . some how.