Nanbaka

Episode 22

There is a lot about Nanbaka that feels like a flashback to the mid-2000s. Everything from the aesthetic to the slapstick is reminiscent of last decade's zany fujoshi comedies, but one thing I didn't expect to see is some of the 2000s' less savory comedy. Still, there it is, right in the middle of the episode: a long scene of characters repeatedly teasing a villain for being a "queer." The very first line is "We come all the way here and find a queer? Have mercy!"

That was always a strange aspect of earlier fujoshi-pandering. Those shows could be gay, but not too gay. The characters were as campy and effeminate as all get-out, but they made sure we knew they weren't gay, no way, no sir, they liked girls. It felt a little like having its cake and eating it too, or maybe it was training wheels for actual yaoi. Either way, it leaves an uncomfortable feeling for actual LGBTQ viewers. Plenty of us have real-life experiences where people think they're okay with LGBTQ people, but balk when they actually have to work or live with us. The halfway acceptance in these shows is all too similar.

What's particularly strange about this scene is the characters called "queer" aren't even indicated to be gay. They're just too girly in a cast full of girly boys, wearing heavy drag makeup and flamboyant feathers. Up to this point, I appreciated that the other characters had been so okay with Mitsuba and Ruka's preening. They were over-the-top to us, but in the world of the show, it was just like having another quirk. So even aside from being uncomfortable, it feels like a weird betrayal of these characters. The inmates never batted an eye over Mitsuba's preening before—so why is it suddenly an issue with another inmate, then retroactively applied to Mitsuba too?

Of course, Ruka reacts in the predictable way, by frantically insisting that he's not "queer." The overall effect is that it's a shameful thing to be, reinforced on all sides. Unfortunately, later narrative developments continue to reinforce this. Ruka meets back up with Mitsuba at his cell shortly after this scene. Mitsuba recognizes a kindred spirit, so he promises Ruka all kinds of make-up and skin care products to woo him away from Enki. Ruka is seriously tempted to betray his leader and cause for SPF 60 sunscreen. Nanbaka suggests "queers" are every bit as vain and superficial as the stereotype suggests. They'll betray their life's work for smooth skin!

I harp on this just because it feels really disappointing to still see this in anime in 2017. It feels like we've come a long way, not only having less gay panic humor in mainstream shows, but more actual LGBTQ representation in big hits like Yuri!!! on Ice. So it just makes it all the more galling when this kind of outdated nonsense creeps back up, demonstrating again how much Nanbaka feels stuck in the past, in ways that go beyond the aesthetic.

As for the rest of the episode, it's mostly transitional. It shifts to Uno and the Building 3 guys, making their way through the dungeon to rescue Mitsuba. They also discover eerie info about the talisman robots; they're made out of human flesh and blood! So they're more like homunculi than robots: not machines, but artificially created humanoids. Alongside this is Upa's discovery that Enki probably didn't put the talismans on the humans. This walks us back to Rock and Yamato and the mystery of how they came under talisman control. The overall reveal is there's more to all this than just Enki and his plot. Perhaps everyone is caught up in a larger scheme.

My prediction is that this will come back to the storyline with Jyuugo, Musashi, and Elf. That's Nanbaka's biggest mystery, its best-written subplot, and the one that tied everything together in the first cour. For Nanbaka to just drop it at this point would be very strange. The series has dropped hints about this plot throughout this season, as though it's planning for it to come back in some big way.

Unfortunately, I could still see Nanbaka dropping its most compelling story. For starters, it's based on an ongoing manga, and it's not uncommon for adaptations these days to just trail off, like the extremely plot-driven Yona of the Dawn that still opted to leave viewers hanging completely. Aside from that, it's already made lots of puzzling writing decisions, like the stretched-out New Year's tournament plot. This episode sunk to a new low with its humor, and I wouldn't be surprised to see the drama follow suit.

Rating: C-

Nanbaka is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Rose is a music Ph.D. student who loves overanalyzing anime soundtracks. Follow her on her media blog Rose's Turn, and on Twitter.