Taboo Tattoo

Episode 11

Let's take a moment to address how lacking Arya is as a villain.

The princess of Selistan is not only frustratingly obtuse and poorly characterized, but she simply fails to register as a functioning cog in the machine of the plot. Up until this week's entry, we've only ever gotten vague details of her motivations, the barest hint of some appreciable set of goals. This week, Seigi was offered some insight by none other than Cal herself, but even after several minutes of their pseudo-philosophical back and forth, I feel like I know less about Arya than when the episode started. Apparently, she wants to use the ruins to merge several dozen copies of her body and soul together into one super-being that transcends humanity itself, and Seigi (combined with BB's soul or memories) will act as the catalyst for this transformation? It's unclear what the princess actually has to gain from this, as is whether or not this will result in mankind's destruction, enslavement, or whatever else.

Typing it all out, I realize this sounds an awful lot like the endgame scenario of Neon Genesis Evangelion, but I honestly don't know if Taboo Tattoo actually makes enough sense at this point to warrant the comparison. For all of the criticisms you can level at Evangelion, I still think it was possible to follow its plot when push came to shove. However, Taboo Tattoo has devolved into what I can only describe as utter nonsense, and it isn't the kind of madcap, over-the-top nonsense that might make the show worth watching ironically; it's just confusing, boring, and frustrating, all in one go.

Arya is a big part of the problem, at least this week. The whole premise of the show has been predicated on this growing conflict between the US and the fictional Selistinian nation that Arya leads, but the series has barely bothered to give Arya even the slightest shred of character beyond her off-putting (and offensive) tendencies to sexually molest Iltutmish. Being predatory toward young girls definitely makes for a skeevy character, but hardly one befitting the narrative burden of antagonism in a story like this. Without a clearly defined or compelling source of conflict, Taboo Tattoo's plot has felt aimless, moving from one random battle to the next without a sense of purpose or momentum.

All of this is to say that we're apparently one episode away from the grand finale, and this last series of fights has managed to stir up absolutely zero interest in me. The plot is too convoluted to invest in, and almost all of the characters we're dealing with have only been introduced in the past couple episodes. Heck, a couple of Izzy's friends are literally introduced and killed off within the span of five minutes. I don't know anymore if the show is actually trying to take its constant death parade of redshirts seriously, but if it isn't, it's not bothering to make them memorable demises either. The show seems to be operating under the assumption that throwing in random pop culture references and nonsensical English profanities will equate to being entertaining and engaging. Unfortunately, the reality is very much the opposite.

So with the story and characters essentially being abandoned to the din of apathy, all we have left are the fight scenes. Are they any good? Yeah, kind of, I guess. They're animated well enough to be visually engaging, and the animation is fairly pretty to look at. The action sequences of this episode are honestly the only saving grace I can give this episode.

Everything else is a hot mess though. We're getting very near to the end now, and I don't think it's possible at this point for the narrative to wrap itself up with any kind of grace or closure. This show started off with some promise, but whatever potential it had dried up about three or four episodes ago. I think the best we can hope for right now is that the end be as quick and painless as possible.

Rating: D

Taboo Tattoo is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

James is an English teacher who has loved anime his entire life, and he spends way too much time on Twitter and his blog.