GLASSLIP

Episode 9

I've given up on finding a simple way to describe the web of relationships in GLASSLIP. “Love triangle” is a wonderful term, but it's woefully inadequate in this scenario. Touko loves Kakeru, Kakeru loves Touko, Yukinari loves Touko, Yanagi loves Yukinari, Hiro loves Sachi, and by the end of this episode there's one more to add to the list. It's revealed in the show's typical hyper-stylized and hollowly dramatic fashion, with dozens upon dozens of words where five would suffice.

Before arriving at that reveal, viewers must traverse a twenty-minute minefield of uneventfulness and attractive scenery. Plot advancements in this episode are sparse even by GLASSLIP standards—Kakeru complains about his inability to hear fragments of the future, and Yanagi and Yukinari aim to patch things up. The same awkward relationships are presented through the same awkward interactions. They weren't interesting before and they aren't interesting now. Other than that, there simply isn't much happening. The tantalizing hints at darker things to come for Touko fall into the background. Hina wears Yanagi's clothes. Gulls fly over a bridge. Time disappears into a hole. Visually, this is as lovely an episode as any, but the content is still stumbling.

In short, everything that I've come to expect from GLASSLIP is here: glacial pacing, long conversations with little significance, and beautiful art. It's still a trainwreck, but the reveal at the end is enough of a “what the hell is going on” factor to elicit either or a groan or befuddled amusement. Call it something in a sea of nothing.

Rating: D+

GLASSLIP is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.