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Punch Line
Episode 3

by Theron Martin,

Punch Line will never be as weird as last year's World Conquest Zvezda Plot, but it certainly isn't for lack of effort. Episode 3 reaffirms that by throwing out some big, bizarre twists.

The landlady Meika not at all being what she appears to be hardly counts as a twist, as no one in this story so far can be taken at face value. What makes her revelation a bizarre twist is how she is different. In the wake of a fight with a masked figure who tries to abscond with Ito's bear cub, she reveals that she is, in fact, actually an android, and that the “grandfather” who invented her 20 years ago owned and worked out of Korai House, which he left to her when he died – which is, of course, both the reason why she is now the landlady and the explanation behind the special tunnel and some of the gadgetry in her room. This still isn't too big of a twist until she reveals that she was made specifically to raise and assist a girl she would encounter in the future who would become a member of the crucial super-hero group Justice Punch. That group doesn't exist yet at this point in the storyline, but the person her grandfather was alluding to is clearly Strange Juice (aka Mikatan), who will apparently eventually found that group. This, of course, begs the question about whether the grandfather was precognitive or (more likely for this series' logic) a time traveler.

While that may be the juiciest tidbit, that is far from all that goes on. Ito's bear cub is apparently a special bear cub, as it proves able to quickly heal a dire wound and is specifically targeted by the aforementioned masked perpetrator for as-yet-unknown reasons. A masked boy who calls himself Kenji also shows up to duel the perpetrator when Strange Juice gets caught off guard and overwhelmed, but he has to go in Korai House first to power up before fighting the villain. (This, of course, beg the question about “why.”) A terrorist organization called Qmay Group, which advocates conspiracy theories, is also introduced, and the perpetrator seems to be one of them. Their claim about an asteroid collision with Earth being imminent, and the governments covering up about it, is suspiciously coincidental given other allusions in the series so far to apocalyptic asteroid strikes. Yuta learning about the Harakiri List with Ito's name on it also sets up for future plot developments, too. And then there's the business about the perpetrator being revived from being knocked out by being bitten in the crotch by a turtle, and why was Meika in Yuta's room at one point in skimpy clothing?

The humor in the episode is much more hit-or-miss. One protracted sequence where Mikatan tries to convince Ito that she and Strange Juice are actually two different people barely elicits a chuckle, but an elaborate set-up allowing for an eavesdropping Rubaru to mistake Meika's words as a claim of pregnancy is a little funnier (if also tired). The divisions between what is funny, absurd, or serious in this series are quite fluid, though (a trait it also shares with World Conquest), so there are elements of humor in just about everything that goes on. Also continue to watch for odd background details, like a dynamite-shaped bomb on a shelf in Mikatan's sleeping quarters.

While it is tempting to characterize Punch Line as just a random bit of messy fun at this point, it continues to convey the impression that all of its seemingly-random elements are going to eventually coalesce into an overall picture. This is one of the trickiest storytelling formats to do well, as getting too obtuse or failing to bring everything adequately together is so painfully easy to do. For now, though, a guiding hand behind all of the craziness is still evident.

Rating: B-

Punch Line is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.


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