Episode 07 – “‘Sigh of the Mermaid’ and the Three Caballeros”

After the depressing air that was in the last few episodes, it’s nice to have a breath of fresh laughter this week as Gareki and Nai find themselves in their first Circus parade. The fact that Circus can be both an entertainment brigade as well as a secret crime-fighting organization is the most curious thing to me. I know I’ve seen something else along these lines somewhere else (maybe GirlsDeMo from Angel Beats! counts?). Anyway, this whole episode was super funny, like with the runaway rabbit and Gareki suiting up as a shorter Nyanperona. Tsukumo almost drowning wasn’t as comical though.

Tsukumo’s horse outfit was amazing though, as well as Jiki’s soldier uniform (he makes for quite the handsome man, if I do say so myself). Jiki also seems to have a thing for her, but Tsukumo ultimately shuts down any advance he tries. Even the play’s storyline didn’t pan out like it was supposed to!

Kiichi and Yogi also team up to find the rogue rabbit, and they couldn’t be more different people. Kiichi puts a lot of weight on rank and duty as a member of Circus, while Yogi has a more naïve and innocent idea of what it means to help others. On an unrelated note, Yogi, Gareki, and Nai are fantastic improvisational actors.

The main reason Yogi and Tsukumo wanted Gareki and Nai to join the parade was to get Gareki out of his dejected funk. It worked, and thankfully it didn’t end with some cliché monologue from Gareki about he’ll approach life with a new outlook. He just goes back to his old pissed-off self, which is perfectly fine. However, Nai finds himself doing some philosophizing of his own and thinks about what it really means to be family. He concludes that kindness must be the root of family, which means Karoku, Gareki and all of Circus are parts of extended family.

Overall, it was a good episode for some character development and more screen time for the rest of the Circus members, which I’ve been craving. Next week, it looks like we’re visiting the snowy region of Rinoll for more mysteries.

B.W.