Why is this boy lifting up the skirt of the girl he just rescued from being buried in a garbage dump, to show his sister her hole?
Because this amnesiac girl is a Player and he’s not looking at what the anime wants you to think he’s looking at. He’s looking at her output jack, something only Players have. It’s what controls the giant mecha they fight the Earless with, the shadow monsters that are slowly destroying the world. Echo Rec, our hero, is a bit of a Players fanboy so he’s …less than tactful when it comes to sharing his enthusiasm. But he knows his place. He’s just a lowly trash collecter in Liverchester, a run down town almost destroyed in battle ten years ago, now only surviving as the garbage dump for the rest of the world. No way somebody like him can have anything to do with Players. Even when they turn up unconscious and amnesiac at his workplace.
Imagine my surprise when by the end of the episode, he was fighting the monsters! Though he spent most of the episode insisting he was happy where he was, at the end he rode into the sunset with the Player girl. Who is now called μ/Mu because she’s a big Love Live fan for the symbol on her neck chain. A bit predictable, but executed well. I like that Echo isn’t the usual hot headed idiot champing at the bit to go on an adventure. His hesitation and attempts of talking himself into in staying put rather than go on adventure when it’s thrown in his lap are relatable. I would like to have a pretty amnesiac girl take me on an adventure, but if push came to shove?
Every other anime reviewer seems to compare this to Eureka Seven, mainly because the main writer for that series also worked on this one. But since I never got further than episode three, what it reminded me off instead was Megalo Box. Same slightly gritty feel, same sort of slum setting. And like that series protagonist, Echo here seems to be a person of colour? Or at least not quite looking like the usual anime protagonist. There’s also an obvious rock undertone to the show: Players plug into amplifiers, the Earless are defeated by bursts of loud noises, a lot of retro tech like vacuum tubes on display. And finally, do we need to mention the obvious sexual imagery of Mu plugging in Echo’s jack?
Not all that original, but if the quality of the series stays this high, I’ll take it.
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