I don’t think I’ve ever seen myself in a character as much as I do in Warumono-san. The guy basically reacts to every situation exactly how I would. That’s not to say we’re alike – I mean, aside from being an alien he’s a nicer guy than I am. And I’m somewhat less anti-social than he is (now). But we’re absolutely cut from the same cloth, to the point where it’s frankly an uncomfortable watch sometimes. But more often than anything I find myself wordlessly nodding my head in agreement.
In a way Kyuujitsu no Warumono-san is “what would happen if the softest touch in the universe was sent to wipe out humanity?”. What the General is, more than anything, is sentimental. And nothing gets him going more than kids and animals. And this episode has both. We also know that he has the ability to see faerie creatures – or Shinto deities or youkai, however you want to describe them. The cherry blossom girl has already appeared once (can we assume a year has passed, then?) but she’s back. And she’s got an admirer this time, a boy who looks about her age.
Let’s talk about casting here for a minute, because it’s pretty amazing. Sakamoto Maaya is Cherry Blossom Girl, first of all. As for Evergreen Boy, that’s Fujiwara Natsumi, who’s as good at boy roles as any seiyuu in the business (and there’s another cracker I’ll get to shortly). Evergreen Boy is no more a normal child than the girl is, that soon becomes clear enough. But because the General can’t ignore a child in need – like, ever – he winds up helping him “court” the girl despite the boy calling him “Ossan” and throwing sticks at him.
First it’s delivering the triangular mud balls the kid makes for her, assuming that’s why she likes the General’s onigiri so much. But because he’s who he is – the guy who doesn’t just tell his enemy how to find the station, but walks him there – Warumono-san makes a string-and-cup telephone, and the boy is able to talk to her for the first time. But he makes an ominous comment about “not being around long”, and one day Warumono returns to find the boy’s tree removed to make room for a promenade. Cherry Blossom Girl is so distraught she scatters, but Evergreen Boy eventually returns – now bound to a bench where his tree used to be (made from that tree?). However long it takes for her to bloom again, he says, the boy is willing to wait. If that’s not a mono no aware love story, I’ve never heard one.
Next, another sentimental punch right between the eyes. One rainy evening the General hears meowing in the park, and goes to investigate. He finds a cat – but like Cherry Blossom Girl and Evergreen Boy, this is no ordinary cat, which becomes obvious when it calls him “human”. Recognizing potential complications Warumono-san says to himself “something tells me I shouldn’t get involved” and walks away. But if any line of dialogue ever summed this guy up, that’s it. Of course he’s going to get involved. He can’t not get involved. First it’s leaving an umbrella covering the “cat”. But of course, that’s only the beginning.
The cat, as it turns out, is C-018, and this time it’s Nazuka Kaori joining the cast. C-018 is a robot cat, a product of alien technology abandoned by its makers. But it’s still a cat. And it still responds to Warumono-san in cat fashion (read: tsundere). There’s a reason people like me and the General identify with cats, I’ll just put it that way. The General “feeds” it (with a battery) and gives it pats. Slowly, the resistance is worn down. Unfortunately just at this time Rooney-san tells the General that he suspects a rival alien race may have loosed some of their tech on the Earth, and asks him to report back if he sees anything suspicious.
The thing is the General, the universe’s biggest softie though he is, also has a sense of responsibility. He knows what his job is, and that this robot could be a threat. So he takes C-018 into the office, but feels insanely guilty about it (just as I would, taking a protesting kitty to the vet). I was a bit worried there for a minute or two, but Rooney is pretty much a softie too (albeit a snarky one). As soon as he determines that C-018 isn’t really a threat (more like a “robotic pet”), he cleans his workings and reassembles him. C-108 reacts to this just as you’d expect a cat to, and it’s clear how this is going to end.
All this is really wonderful on so many levels, one of the best episodes of what’s turned out to be a terrific series. For all my assumptions about its relative lack of popularity the series is getting a stage at Anime Japan this weekend, so maybe it has more of a following here than I realized. It will still likely share the fate of almost all the shows in this niche, one cour and done – there’s not much more source material remaining to be adapted in any event, though the manga is ongoing. I’m really going to miss it, just like all the others that came before it. But these sorts of shows stick with me for a long time, because their appeal comes from their ability to connect emotionally. And that’s something Kyuujitsu no Warumono-san is very good at indeed.
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