The second episode of Fractale introduces Nessa, a young girl who certainly brightens up the pace of the show. I was concerned at the end of the previous episode that she would be annoying, but this proved to be unfounded. She is quite energetic but it serves well to bring more energy to show. In the first episode this already seemed heavily influenced by Ghibli and Miyazaki, and in this episode the similarities were even more pronounced, particularly in the scene where Nessa wreaks havoc in the trailer park. That kind of lighthearted, childish fun doesn’t really seem to make it into too many TV series unfortunately. Team Rocket also didn’t bother me very much in this episode; they were predictable but still amusingly stupid.

This series looks like it will inspire some discussion about the ideas of freedom, family and what a home is. Clain’s discussion with his parents about how living in a house with each other would take away their freedom and show a lack of trust was quite interesting.

My impression from the first episode was that everyone lived by themselves and only communicated with dopples, but it seems like Clain is actually an outlier in his society. I’m guessing that most children live with their parents but in trailers, although this still isn’t entirely clear.