The mystery this episode is unfortunately a great example of the writing problem I've been noticing throughout this whole season, where characters will kind of just do whatever the plot needs them to do. Anna and Mikuru have been detectives for several months now, but they completely forget to ask basic questions about the case so that Kurea can have a chance to do it instead. I understand some contrivance is always going to be necessary to get a plot moving, but this is such a clumsy way to do it. There were other options! Kurea was giving a bit of a Columbo vibe this episode with her questions about the window, maybe highlight that as her unique way of approaching the mystery, or have her notice "John" is acting strange, or anything else to make this feel more natural. This kind of writing has been a problem all season: Anna and Mikuru (and now Kurea) don't really have differing personalities or skillsets, so they kind of just take turns standing around while one of them solves the mystery.
I also kind of already hate Decchi I'm sorry lol. I'll admit to being biased since he's a character type I really don't care for, but I don't really see the point of introducing another villain when the main cast is already so underdeveloped. I was expecting some kind of shift to the status quo on the villain side to raise the stakes/lay the groundwork for Luluka switching sides, but I was kind of expecting it to come from one of the villains we already knew. Any of the already-established Phantom Thieves could've been revealed to be hiding something, or gotten a powerup, or anything that could've helped develop the existing cast more instead of throwing in a new guy. In fairness, Decchi is here for an important reason - to set up some plot surrounding the London office - but in unfairness he sucks and I'm not looking forward to having some smug prettyboy third-wheeling all the Arcana Shadow drama.
Anyway onto the positives/miscellaneous things I noticed:
- We finally got to see a bit of the fallout from Luluka's betrayal on the Phantom Thieves side - namely, Goemon is still happy to have her there, while Nijee and Ageseine are not. I'm curious if we're going to get any drama from this or if it's just the writers hand-waving that whole situation away. Also Goemon kinda just vanished from this episode did anyone else notice that
- We got more setup for the "Miraculous Duo" mystery with Anna and Mikuru, when Decchi remarks that he's surprised there are two jewel cure watches. Here's hoping that mystery comes with some much-needed character work for both of them.
- Next week's episode looks pretty cool. I've been hoping for some backstory stuff as a way to characterize the cast all season now, so let's hope it's good.
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