I had low expectations for this series, but it’s starting to get pretty good!
Paper Bags
Maybe it’s just me, but I found the opening segment with the family pretty creepy.
Do those paper bags remind you of anything?
What is it with these head coverings with giant eyes? This isn’t a rhetorical question; I have no idea where it comes from and am quite curious. It does have a great effect though— very disturbing.
A Rebellious Daughter
I’m starting to really like Rie Kaishou, the chairman’s daughter. She’s an interesting character: she clearly used to dote on her father, and I don’t doubt that she still does. But she also hates the way he lies and covers things up, and runs to the Defeated Detective for help in unearthing the truth. She still maintains the same naivety as before, except she believes that her father’s lying is always wrong.
But although she’s naive, she can be quite ingenuous, as demonstrated by her use of the horse. I admit that I’ve pulled that trick before, except with a Segway in “no skateboarding / rollerblading / biking” areas.
An Unexpected Twist
The best thing about UN-GO, though, is that it actually knows how to tell a mystery. Let’s compare with some recent shows of the same ilk. First, Gosick. The mysteries in UN-GO are non-obvious. If this were Gosick, they would have had the father make beeping noises like R2-D2. What a funny human. Ahahaha. The other recent mystery show is Dantalian no Shoka. The biggest differences with UN-GO are that a) Inga is a dog in heat, Dalian is a girl with frilly dresses and a sweet tooth, and b) the detectives in UN-GO actually matter.
That brings up an interesting point, actually: do the detectives in UN-GO matter? The government always hides the truth which the Defeated Detective unearths, so in one sense his sleuthing doesn’t matter. But the Defeated Detective has an opponent who defeats him, so his actions are not pointless, even if they are ineffectual. For Huey and Dalian, no one cares what they do, so they remain undefeated. Their actions aren’t even worth covering up.
I’m quite pleased that the creators are going with a multi-episode arc, as well. A single episode is just too short for most stories. They keep revealing more tantalizing hints about the setting as they go along as well: hopefully this will begin to play a bigger role.
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I thought that mask looked familiar… Thanks for pointing that out!
Looking at the mask design, I feel that it makes a similar statement that a car with tinted windows does; “You can’t see me, but I can see you.” Which is pretty fitting in this episode, come to think about it. There are still a lot of secrets surrounding the heads of the household, that’s for sure.
My confidence in the show is increasing a bit each episode, it certainly has flaws but the stories are pretty interesting and well written. Making this storyline a multi episode one is a good idea, especially since they’ve already used Inga’s voice and will have to get to the bottom of things without it. I like that the show is starting to tweak its formula already, too – instead of a coverup hiding the truth, this time it could put two innocent people in jail. That’s a good way to raise the stakes for the next episode.
Indeed, the father wearing a mask makes perfect sense when you realize he’s a robot. I wonder if there’s some source in Japanese culture for the single eye on the mask though. Also the paper bags. I feel like I’ve seen them in other shows, but I can’t recall where.
My optimism for UN-GO is increasing as well. I wasn’t too impressed with the first episode, but now this is looking to be one of the better shows this season.
Maybe it’s just me, but I found the opening segment with the family pretty creepy.
Ah, it’s not just you. This was an unsettling scene for me. Pretty out there and just– strange.
Rie is definitely growing on me as a character, but I can see how this might prove problems between her and her dad soon.
Un-Go definitely has an unusual formula going on and with everything we’ve seen so far I’m curious how this anime will develop. Can’t wait for next week’s episode.
I’m curious as well on how her dad will deal with this. I’m guessing he’ll just ignore it, and this will be like Dantalian, with a bunch of short arcs and no real changes in the overall plot. Hopefully I’m proven wrong though.
Don’t you find it strange, when the son went out ablaze for a min or two that the family is just standing there admiring him being burned alive. Shouldn’t they be scrambling to douse the flame in an attempt to save his life at least? Even, then they would had realized that he’s just a AI?
That was pretty weird. The “wife” and uncle I can understand not running to help him, but why the others? The most suspicious part, though, is the doctor. Why does a robot need a doctor?
He must be a mechanic or a scientist that maintains the robot.