Trickster

Episode 7

What kind of person am I?

Trickster has never been a subtle show. This week, I marveled and scratched my head at what happened when every last bit of restraint got thrown out the writers' room window. The result is interesting, and while episode 7 doesn't achieve everything it sets out to accomplish as beautifully as it could, it can't be called a failure either. Things don't fall into place, they get nudged and jogged, sometimes more forcefully than necessary, but they do end up where they're supposed to go. A show that's trying too hard is more rewarding to review than one that doesn't try at all.

After last week's breather episode, I expected Hanasaki to be next on the list for how-did-he-become-who-he-is-today exploration. But the thrill-seeking, Stepford-smiling teen takes a backseat to his equally fakeness-inclined mentor.

Trickster has tried its hand at non-chronological flashback storytelling before. In Inoue's first episode, this worked really well, as the back and forth was guided by an emotional link and a focused narrative, drawing on Inoue's emotional stress to justify flashing back to pivotal moments in his life, cleverly contrasting the humiliating difference between then and now. Match cuts were used sparsely and to full effect. Everything served to reinforce the character's state of mind. When it's time for Akechi to go down the flashback hole, the journey is far less organic. The content is what keeps this uninhibited almost-mess from falling apart, while the execution indulges in this episode's broken flowerpot equivalents.

I'm a big fan of contrapuntal music in film, so editing a montage of war imagery to a jazz ballad isn't lost on me. However, when the same ballad later serves as the background to a young and so-pretty-it-hurts Twenty Faces' twisted declaration of love, the effect of the ballad's shock value collapses like Inoue's self-confidence. It's too intrusive and too in-your-face to work the magic Trickster's staff was very obviously aiming for. Equally too loud and frequent are the various backslaps, pokes, and beverages hitting tables to bring Akechi back from his trips down memory lane, which he just happens to wander along because the script dictated that it was time for his backstory.

This backstory reveals not one, but two tragic daddy memories, which surprisingly turn out not to be dramatic overkill, but actually important for shaping Akechi's character into who he is – or tries to be – today. Scared of becoming the abusive and violent father he hated, he adopts the name and (sort of) profession of the father who saved him, abiding by the vow to save someone for every time his biological dad hurt him. Curiously enough, his path to saving people first leads to what looks like a mercenary stint. Just like Hanasaki, Akechi is chasing thrills to escape from the unpleasantness of his emotions. He's wearing his version of the original Akechi as a permanent mask, which makes Twenty Faces (whose name feels more and more ironic every week) the only one who ever got a glimpse of the real Akechi/Sousuke.

When Twenty Faces vows to become Akechi's "thrill", the scene's framing leaves little room for interpretation. Walking under the shooting stars amongst falling sunflower petals, Twenty Faces seizes responsibility for Akechi's future happiness – or at least what he perceives it to be. It's beautiful, twisted, and grotesque, but it's not truly malicious until he starts exploiting Akechi's suppressed guilt and fear, stylizing him as an evil counterpart that can only be kept in check by Twenty Faces' own devotion. We know he's wrong, but it seems Akechi himself is not so sure. He has always been the only foil for Twenty Faces, and when Akechi runs off and starts building his own little family of fellow fakers to finally make peace with his darker self, Twenty Faces (whose real name will be withheld for dramatic reasons) has to step up his game. It's not simple jealously. I'm sure that somewhere in his warped version of reality, Twenty Faces truly feels he is doing Akechi a favor.

At times, Trickster is too much in love with itself to reflect upon its clumsier side, but I cannot help but be impressed by the show's devotion to its core ideas, which are particularly pronounced this week. When even Akechi's TV soap is used to reflect upon his past (with lines like "If only time would stop right now" after Twenty Faces' vow turns into an equally cheesy condemnation of evil), I don't find it in me to be disappointed. Trickster stumbles, but it still succeeds at what it wants to achieve.

I would be truly surprised if Hanasaki's story got postponed any further, now that his adoptive brother has been introduced and will hopefully get a decent agenda, which I'm sure won't have anything whatsoever to do with Twenty Faces. At least we know now why Hanasaki can afford to live the high life and wear a tracksuit for rebellion. With Shō Hayami as his stepdad, money, class, and nobility are a given, along with potential unscrupulousness.

Rating: B (A- for ambition, C+ for execution)

Trickster is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.