The big news with Gachiakuta this week, of course, is that a second season has been greenlit. That does not come as a surprise. The kaijuu thing aside, this series is certainly a commercial success – and a critical one too. We don’t know the timing yet, but after next week’s finale this season will have used 85 chapters give or take, and the manga is currently sitting at about 160. So there’d be enough material by spring, pretty much, though we can probably assume the production committee will want to give the manga a chance to build up a bigger stockpile of material. Unless that second season is one cour, of course.
I’m heartily glad of it. This adaptation has both served as a refresher of just how good Gachiakuta is and of how good Bones is. They have an opening for a signature battle shounen adaptation last I checked – and while this one surely won’t quite hit the same Himalayan heights, it offers a chance for Bones to really strut their stuff in a franchise perfectly suited to their aesthetic. You could hardly ask for a protagonist more different from Deku than Rudo, but that’s not a bad thing. There are many ways to tell a story in battle shounen, and many kinds of characters to anchor it.
One thing I’ve noticed with Gachiakuta is that Urana Kei tends to adopt a technique Yukinobu Tatsu does with Dandadan. That is, when a big battle (and “Trash Storm” was the biggest to date) ends, she likes to show us the characters unwinding and letting off steam. Often with food. It’s a device I quite like, and it works with both series. Rudo’s first thought on landing, in fact, is that he wants to eat some sweets. But his deeper reflection is that he wants to ponder the newfound safety he’s found in the company of Enjin and the Cleaners. For a kid like Rudo, who only briefly ever felt like he belonged anywhere (and with only one person) that’s a pretty big deal.
Another thing Rudo wants to do is bring flowers to Zanka, who’s recovering from his ass-whupping at the hands (talons) of Zanka. That’s a thing they do in the Sphere – though none of the Cleaners has ever heard of it. Delmon gently (well, for him) explains that flowers are extremely rare and expensive on the Ground – but he does note that he knows of an excellent plastic flower maker, and suggests the pair of them go shopping (Enjin tags along).
Rudo is sensitive to how tough this all is for Zanka – he fared worse than anybody in this affair. As it turns out there was an extenuating circumstance. Remlin – who the mayor of Canvas Town has dragged over to apologize – pulled a fast one on him. As a lark, instead of the standard “damage reduction” spell they drew something different on Zanka – and to say it has no practical merit is no leap. Zanka refuses to blame them – he always defaults to blaming himself, as we’ve learned. But when you think about it that was an incredibly irresponsible thing for Remlin to do. Yeah, they’re a kid and were in the process of grieving their mentor, but even if Zanka isn’t going to be pissed, somebody higher up should be on his behalf.
Rudo cracks a genuine smile, just for a split second – than the usual terrifying rictus replaces it. Enjin and Zanka have some bonding time, and Zanka notes (not realizing that Enjin has fallen asleep) that Rudo is “forgetting something” and it’s his job to teach him. The Raiders are also decompressing after the big events, and Zodyl seems not at all bothered by the seeming setbacks Bundus points out to him. The main thrust of the experiment was achieved – it is apparently possible to cross the Boundary and survive. He also gives Bundus a curio of some sort as reward for making the first string, which the latter seems thrilled to received. And somehow Noerde, or at least her body, seems to have survived – and it’s a familiar face who’s discovered it.
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