Caligula

Episode 5

It's never a good sign when I spend the majority of an episode's runtime scratching my head in confusion. The problem isn't that I couldn't follow the plot itself, because that's where Caligula's fifth episode is the most coherent; Ritsu, Marie, Aria, and Kotaro are all out enjoying the grand opening of a water park called Sea Paraiso, where they inadvertently discover the Musicians' scheme to use VR headsets to brainwash Mobius citizens who are getting too close to the truth. One of the brainwashers is a vain and bitter girl named Kotono, but after besting the Musician called Mirei in an impromptu beauty contest, she realizes the truth of Mobius and comes to our heroes' aid.

Outside of one incredibly minor B-plot, that's all there is to this week's story, and while it isn't necessarily impossible to follow, it sure is a mess of tonal inconsistencies and absurd leaps in logic. For one thing, having the gang suddenly hang out at a theme park feels incredibly strange after the past couple of weeks have been setting up the threat of the Musicians and the need to escape from Mobius. The script didn't even bother to hand-wave the trip as an excuse to investigate the Musicians' dark dealings; the only reason the group even discovers what's going on with the brainwashed men is because Kotaro and Marie inexplicably decide to go snooping around the park while Ritsu is off trying to recruit Kotono. The show's OP makes a big deal of showing all the kids geared up with their Catharsis Effects and doing battle with Digiheads, but it's been four whole weeks and we've seen absolutely none of that. I don't need action series to be nothing but action, but there needs to be some manner of excitement to break up the doldrums.

The lack of action wouldn't even be a problem if the central story was at all interesting, but this is where episode 5 comes up short yet again. I can't help but be distracted by the bizarre need for VR-headset-induced brainwashing schemes to be used on a population that is already trapped in a virtual world. Can't the musicians just hack into whatever programs they already use to manipulate the Mobius residents? And of all things, why on Earth does this episode conclude with a beauty contest between Mirei and Kotono? Yes, the characters all lampshade how stupid it is, but simply referencing a narrative boondoggle doesn't make it any less awkward. The whole conceit of Mirei needing the validation of being loved by all the men at the park is even thrown out the window when Ritsu is suddenly kidnapped to make the deciding vote of the contest, for seemingly no reason once again. It's a dumb conclusion to an already silly plot, and it seriously hampered my opinion of the episode overall.

The animation and directorial quality also drop off significantly this week. The animation ranges from passable to incredibly janky, and when the show isn't abusing Dutch angles, it's framing the action in the most static and uninteresting manner possible. Characters are consistently off-model to the point where it becomes distracting, causing the episode to feel cheap and disposable. For a show being marketed as a stylish, action-packed Persona imitator, Caligula suffers from a dearth of both action and style, which is a bad sign of things to come if this continues to be the low standard Caligula aims for every week.

There is a B-plot that the episode cuts away to a handful of times, which has Mifue seeking out her mother with the help of Naruko, but it hardly amounts to anything. The only takeaway I got from it was being confused as to whether or not Mifue was apologizing to an analogue for her real-life mother or just a digital simulacrum. For all of the time Caligula has spent on world-building and exposition, it's remarkably inconsistent in tackling its characters personal lives, and how much of those histories have been carried over into Mobius. Will Caligula answer this or any other questions in upcoming episodes? It's hard to say, but whatever path the show goes down this season, I sure hope this episode remains its lowest point.

Rating: D

Caligula 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.