I hardly know where to start with that one. I guess “at least it’s not her brother” is as good a place as any. I mean, I didn’t think Ponko would be dating Fuguri but as whack as Apocalypse Hotel has gotten lately, a little part of me wasn’t sure. But that bullet was dodged – turns out it’s another tanuki named Ponstin (played by Hanae Natsuki no less). Ponstin is a doctor taking care of Mujina, whose illness got a passing mention last week. So now we know there are other tanuki survivors out there. As for Fuguri he still looks about six, which I guess means either Ponko’s age-up was a conscious choice, or Tanukians hit a growth spurt very late.
Apart from that, well – woof. It’s all in the eye of the beholder, I suppose. I can honestly say I’m not sure how I would have felt about this week’s developments if the past two episodes hadn’t happened. But they did, and I’m certainly less favorably disposed towards the show than I was before. Starting with the Yachiyo punching gag, which was just unfunny and stupid in a way that built on the disaster of last week. But it was mercifully brief, and then things took a turn for the better. Or so I thought.
The stuff with Mujina (alive) was the best part of the episode, certainly. Her talk with Yachiyo has a nice feel to it, especially when she put it in the context of a refugee situation (which almost made me feel as if the series was back in the mindset of the first six episodes). But it was very obvious why she asked Yachiyo to help her record those messages, so her passing was a given at that stage. As for the wedding itself (oh yeah, Ponko and Ponstin are getting married), that does nothing for me at this point. I find this Ponko pretty insufferable and Ponstin is nobody to me at all.
But the elephant in the room is the wedding. And the funeral. And I suspect this is just one of those things where it’s either going to work for you or it isn’t. I will say I respect Apocalypse Hotel for not pulling punches in the weird department – this is pretty out there. And I feel like I know what they were going for with all this. But no, that did not work for me. I’m almost past the point where anything can offend me in fiction, much less as a function of “taste”. But the idea of getting married with your grandmother’s body on the dais right behind you? No, I’m sorry, that’s just wrong. And it’s not like those are Tanukian customs are anything, as they were just as surprised at Yachiyo’s suggestion as I was.
So no, that was a total miss for me. It grossed me out and I just wanted it to be over. Again, who knows if I would have felt differently if this had been Episode 7, but I honestly think my reaction would have been exactly the same or close. There’s a path they could have taken to make this work, and as incongruous as it sounds for me to suggest it this is one of those situations where I think some restraint would have gone a long way. Just dial it back a little and maybe they would have gotten there. As is, I’m drifting further and further away from buying what this show is selling, and that will never not make me sad.
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