Apocalypse Hotel

Episode 10

After a couple of weeks wringing sentimentality out of its cast, Apocalypse Hotel returns to its roots: screwball comedy. Speaking seriously, I still think one of this anime's essential components is its freedom of tone, which belies the craftsmanship needed to prevent these zany excursions from spiraling totally out of control. You need strong, creative arms to lasso this much chaos. However, a straightforward farce like this one is another demonstration of skill. The pacing, comedic timing, choice of words, performances, and visual gags all need to be on point, and it's no surprise that Apocalypse Hotel continues to deliver on those fronts.

First and foremost, I'm glad this show isn't afraid of letting its heroes be terrible people. As long as the results are funny enough, I am totally on board with Yachiyo and Ponko teaming up for some light felonies. Their motivations are laughably selfish and misguided as well. The grizzled alien detective (voiced by none other than the grizzled detective go-to guy, Kenjirō Tsuda) would have been stoked to learn that his quarry had been killed. I doubt he would have made a fuss about it either. Nevertheless, Yachiyo commits to covering it all up because she believes any news about it will hurt the hotel's reputation, and in doing so, she makes everything a hundred times worse. You would barely have to rewrite this script to turn it into an It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia episode titled “The Gang Hides a Body.”

These hijinks feel like a return to form for Yachiyo and Ponko after their more dramatic interactions in episodes eight and nine. Let's not forget how they originally bonded as teammates over wrangling a giant sandworm together. Mayhem is their bread and butter. The narrative plays the hits when Ponko earns another powerful tanuki-obliterating blow from Yachiyo's fists of justice. Then, in the wake of that violence, it almost feels like a parody of their recent heart-to-hearts when Yachiyo firmly tells her friend, “Don't run away from running away.” However, Apocalypse Hotel isn't walking back its sincerity; it is instead confirming the commitment to its multitudes.

Towards that end, Tamako is a great addition to the cast. As much as I appreciate Apocalypse Hotel's unpredictability, I must admit I've been missing Ponko's past gremlin antics. Thankfully, Tamako is an obnoxious and hilarious little stinker who exacerbates every facet of this farce into a full-blown fracas. The apple doesn't fall far. She's a product of Ponstin, too, given how quickly he descends into a jilted and murderous frenzy at the thought of the “candy man” cucking him. Rational responses are not that family's forte. I also like the implication that Tamako may have inadvertently killed both aliens, because she hugged them before they each died from anaphylactic shock. In her defense, though, the aliens could have reacted to some other allergen or pathogen native to planet Earth, a la The War of the Worlds.

On the subject of allusions, this is probably the most reference-heavy episode of Apocalypse Hotel to date. Both new aliens are dead ringers for Greedo of “Han Shot First” fame. There are visual parallels to canonical horror films like Psycho and The Shining. Mood-wise, this episode reminds me of the genre-defying genre films of Takashi Miike, and I'm not just saying that because the man made a movie called Yakuza Apocalypse. I merely picked up on the Miike vibes from the macabre slapstick of the hotel staff's paltry attempts at corpse subterfuge. The movie screening in the middle of the operation also feels vaguely Miike-ish in its black comedy, although I could not say whether it's referencing a specific work of his or something else.

Lest we forget the other tanuki sibling, Fuguri has grown up into a perfectionist ceramist. However, I genuinely don't know how his scenes fit into the rest of the episode. They seem narratively and thematically divorced from the main plot, and I'd honestly find it very funny if he's there solely as a red herring. That's something Apocalypse Hotel would do. Alternatively, maybe his pottery contains toxins that killed both aliens, or perhaps his obsession with making a bowl for his grandma mirrors the detective's obsession with catching his quarry. Ponko and Yachiyo's warped intentions could have also warped his creations. Both the aliens and Mujina share the same grave plot in the end, anyway, and their spirits appear to be fine with that, so I'd call that a happy ending.

It's a chaotic episode, so I'll wrap up with a list of other weird odds and ends I enjoyed this week. Ponko puts a shampoo hat on a corpse, yet again proving its utility. Saho Shirasu does an impressive and gut-busting job rolling her R's to mirror Kenjirō Tsuda's timbre on “serial bomber psycho terrorist bastard.” Ponstin calls himself a cucked husband. Yachiyo has a tiny white flag that pops out of her head when she verifies the staff's alibis. Apocalypse Hotel's charm stems from the aggregation of all these little goofs and gags. I'm going to miss the hell out of the Gingarou when it's gone.

Rating:

Apocalypse Hotel is currently streaming on Crunchyroll on Tuesdays.

Steve is on Bluesky for all of your posting needs. Apparently, he is ANN's subject matter expert when it comes to anime about hotels and/or girls in the post-apocalypse. You can also catch him chatting about trash and treasure alike on This Week in Anime.