Active Raid

Episode 4

Active Raid had another episodic case this week, as Mythos and another of his associates, “Bird,” hid a bomb on a plane in order to divine more government secrets. Over on Unit 8's end, the focus was still on the contentious relationship between Sena and Kuroki, as the two's very different procedural styles and backgrounds sparked some friction throughout their defusal operation. Heroes got closer, villains steepled their fingers, and the day was eventually, unsurprisingly saved. This was another slow role-player episode, doing slight work to push all the characters forward, but mostly just existing to tell its own little story.

The actual conflict this time was largely window dressing, intended to reflect some of the government's secrets and tensions and not much else. Mythos apparently planted this bomb to make the government reveal more information about where they're hiding some secret data matrix - and given the government was willing to accept a potential crash landing mid-city over revealing that information, it's clear they have secrets the public might want to know about. Additionally, Sena's interactions with Miho Ooshikoushi, an officer within the Japanese military, did some work in demonstrating the uneasy relationship between the military and police force. Miho consistently mocks Sena for his move to the police, and her interest in Unit 8's operations made it clear that the two branches each horde their own information. That, plus a diet member's last-minute declaration that he “had no intention of letting the police have them” (referring to Wilwears), seemed to imply that while the police force can act somewhat independently, the military is a direct subordinate to the whims of the central government.

Sena and Kuroki's relationship ended up being the primary focus of this episode, as the two bickered over bomb defusal and accused each other of bringing Unit 8 down. Their rivalry is frankly not that compelling; not only do each of them still conform wholly to police unit stereotypes (Sena's the stuffy one who's just trying to do his job, Kuroki's the hothead who actually takes some pride in their department), but their arguments often come across as unbelievable in the context of something like a bomb defusal, and dampen any potential tension in a show that already has serious trouble making its episodic conflicts feel at all impactful. I actually liked it when the two stopped beating around the bush and outright declared their reasons for disliking each other (Kuroki sees Sena as a “government flunky,” Sena thinks Kuroki's behavior is bringing the department down), but the road there was not particularly exciting.

Outside of the larger plot machinations and the squabbling between the two leads, the main notable things about this episode were the ways it continued to lean into Active Raid's very strange sense of humor. Active Raid seems to want to simultaneously embrace a more grounded, slice-of-life style of procedural than most police shows while also engaging in regularly absurd, self-aware gags. Mythos normally feels too ridiculous compared to the rest of the show, but when one scene actually had him eating popcorn while muttering about what the government will do, it felt like the show must surely be aware of and having fun with how ridiculous he is. And little beats like Sena receiving a call from headquarters and immediately giving a status report on picking up a sandwich and souffle felt more funny for how unexpected they were. Active Raid's sense of humor sometimes feels like it works against everything else the show is doing, but it's also funny, so I can't really complain.

Overall, this episode wasn't some huge step down for Active Raid, but it also felt pretty slow and superfluous. Sena and Kuroki's conflict is already well-established, and the actual episodic conflict here wasn't particularly exciting, so there just wasn't too much to hold onto. Hopefully the show will either improve its episodic adventures or steer into its larger plot sometime soon.

Overall: B-

Active Raid is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Nick writes about anime, storytelling, and the meaning of life at Wrong Every Time.