So, due to circumstances beyond my control, it’s likely that this whole summer season will be updated in a sporadic manner. Hopefully, this won’t effect regular Monday reviews, but expect the Sparks of Tomorrow entries to come in odd clumps.
Because this is a meatier chunk than normal, I’ll try to do the summary fast to keep this short and sweet. We follow Kihachi Sakamoto. In a world where most of the geniuses who propelled electric technology forward on our timeline died young or didn’t achieve their dreams, he lives in late-state Steampunk Kyoto. Kihachi had a big brother, Seiroku, who shared with him a big dream of bringing forth an age of electricity, and a notebook of Kihachi’s imagination for the same.
But then Seiroku took the book with him as he went off to war and, in an awkward turn of events, never returned. It’s strongly implied he died, but the way they dance around it means I wouldn’t be 100% surprised if they bring him back towards the end for shock factor. Odds are against it, but not zero.
In any case, that means teenage Kihachi is now a washed-up cynical repairman who can’t quite live up to what he once imagined. He has a run in with Inako Momokawa – daughter of a brewery family, klutzy, perhaps a bit dull, extra-gullible and rather cute all things considered. She later has an encounter with Yousuke Mizoe, our antagonist apparent and the heir to a Zaibatsu that runs steam tech. Yousuke aims to marry Inako, using her father’s debt to strongarm the arrangement, but he doesn’t seem to be interested in the girl so much as the fact that someone in her family is holding onto that notebook that Kihachi and Seiroku made. Well, half of it at any rate. I’m sure that’s not setting up for anything.
The actually notebook bearer would be Inako’s recently engaged big sister, who passes it off to Inako to give to Kihachi while Yousuke ransacks the place. She manages to meet up and produce the book, but before much can be done with that, Yousuke arrives to reclaim her and, more importantly, the catalog.
After a bit of comedy of errors, Yousuke and accessories end up chasing the box that’s supposed to have the book down the river while Inako is locked in the storehouse to think about what she’s done. Kihachi pays a visit to learn whatever he can about the book, learning most importantly that she still has it on her person. His departure turns into an impromptu flying escape for the two of them.
They get a chance to bond while on the run, but freedom is short-lived before Yousuke and his goons recapture them. This, at last, gets Yousuke his look at the book and… suffice to say he’s not impressed. In fact, he’s so not impressed that he sort of just lets Kihachi go with it, convinced it’s not the genuine article. He still needs Inako, though, as apparently marrying into a family of some prestige will solidify his position and, ya know, she’s right there even if she’s opposed to the arrangement.
I’m going to take a brief break in the summary here, but it seems that Yousuke and big sister’s fiancee both have some war-time history with Seiroku. In Yousuke’s case, it’s not exactly subtle that he at least had a gay crush on said big brother, and at least positive feelings were mutual, since Seiroku made the same “let’s change the world together” promise with Yousuke he had earlier made with his little brother. Whether Seiroku thought of them as business partners or partners-partners is kind of immaterial so long as he remains deceased. This would kind of explain why Yousuke wants a convenient wife for social status despite caring not at all for the girl herself, but it’s not as though it makes him a better person in any way, shape, or form. I thank my lucky stars that it seems like the work knows that last qualification.
All seems set to go out with a whimper – Inako to a loveless marriage and Kihachi to giving up on the future – but Inako’s school friends convince him to visit Inako and, thanks to her, they discover secret text written in the Catalog by Seiroku, passages attached to the various inventions that Kihachi once dreamed with clues and instructions on how to actually achieve them. Kihachi may not want to believe it, but Inako is too much of an avid puppy dog to ignore, leading to their small group working to produce the “Electric Full Moon” – or, the modern Edison-style light bulb, bright and long-lasting.
When they’re finally ready to demonstrate it, Yousuke is summoned to witness. But, he is disinclined to take any olive branch that might have been intended in revealing that one of the wonders of electricity that Seiroku paved the way for has been achieved, declaring his hatred for Kihachi and presumably through that his continued antagonism.
So, early impressions… The word for this show is loud. This is a show with a lot of yelling, banging, running, and chasing. It’s also a show with a lot of loud style, both comedic (with many over-the-top expressions that would be out of vogue) and artistic (in dream sequences Kihachi has of the wonders of electricity, the inspiration that seems to guide him). The characters are all insane. Right when you think somebody seems normal or respectable, they reveal that they’re just as quirky, hammy, and over-the-top as the rest of this world. Like Yousuke’s first couple scenes suggest he might be your typical urbane rich pretty boy antagonist… but then he’s running, raving, or screaming even more than normal, approaching everything with excessive and manic energy. The big sister’s fiancee seems like a controlled guy? He’s actually a human locomotive capable of simply charging through walls when he thinks Inako is being kidnapped. Those school friends? Total weirdos in their own way.
This is sort of a counterpoint to the fact that, when we get to the “making stuff” montage, it’s actually incredibly down to earth, using realistic techniques and real materials to invent the light bulb and plenty of scenes of scientific labor with no jokes or explosions. Similarly, while there haven’t been many quieter emotional scenes, the few moments that there have been get their time… before immediately diving back into the chaos.
The one thing that I’m willing to praise the series for already is in the visuals. Anything that doesn’t look absolutely gorgeous in its detail is clearly done that way on purpose, not as a matter of cutting corners, and the backgrounds and environment are done in a gorgeous style that indulges both the wonder and grime of a non-fantastical steampunk existence. Sure, there are the expressions and moments stretched for comedic effect, which aren’t plain representational beauty, but there’s good reason there.
We’ll see more the next time I’m able to check in.