Mitsuboshi Colors

Episode 4

By this point in the series, the main trio in Mitsuboshi Colors is established well enough that we already enjoy spending time with them. That's important in a low-key series like this, even moreso in an episode that's easygoing even by the show's lax standards. Compared to the spirited adventures in previous episodes, this outing is decidedly more relaxed for our team of self-styled superheroes.

The biggest bout of excitement we get comes in the first segment, as Yui's practice for her school festival's Sansa dance is interrupted by the girls being alerted to ‘a case’ by their high school friend Nonoka. Their prompt response does drive home how endearingly serious they get about their superhero work, and this whole segment is packed with solid jokes that take advantage of all the elements this show has going for it. There's great physical comedy in the altercation with the automatic door, and we get a return to Sat-Chan's bizarre poop fixation which should have gotten old by now, but works because it really comes across like the bizarre ramblings a kid might indulge. Mostly, this part shines because of how it uses the girls's chemistry with older characters.

One element that lends Mitsuboshi Colors its small-town charm is the way that different grown-ups humor the girls in their antics without ever talking down to them. Their talents are actually respected, as seen in the banana-selling subplot last episode, and here as Nonoka hopes to get their opinions on how she's running the bread shop. It's this sense of an established rapport between the citizens despite their disparate ages that lets the show glean humor from these simple conversations. There aren't a lot of physical antics as the girls, Nonoka, and her older sister simply stand in the bakery and talk, but there's some good gags and funny dialogue that arise from from the girls' strange point-of-view rubbing up against real-life situations. The perfectly childish explanation of the multi-tiered case levels and coining bizarre terms like ‘Dollar Daddy’ are all funny in a way that makes the jokes look easy.

Unfortunately, the show's strength in its first third simply highlights how little there is going on for the rest of the episode, which consists of Yui's parade and the other girls attending the festival. At least the tone is good, focusing on how supportive the girls are of each other as friends. Yui's easily-distressed nature has generally been handled sympathetically rather than playing her off as annoying, and the show uses that to highlight how the other girls help boost her confidence. It's a simple kind of heartwarming that the show's childlike viewpoint wears well.

However, that likable sincerity only breaks through at the end, while the rest of the episode is spent simply sliding through festival activities with little impact. ‘Sliding’ is definitely the operative word, since rather than animating the parade or any of the festivities, a slide-show-esque collection of stills communicates most of the story. It makes what could be an atmospheric spectacle into something more dry and uneventful. There is a little more atmosphere in the actual festival stuff rather than the parade part, but it still leaves the episode running out of gas well before the end.

The characters' sincerity and friendship carries the weaker execution well enough that it remains difficult to dislike Mitsuboshi Colors, even when it's just coasting like this. It feels like the show might be aware that it can afford to take a little break like this, since it can't all be wacky adventures for four episodes straight in this low-key slice-of-life comedy. But I do hope this isn't a sign of the series resting on its laurels too much, since I'm still much more interested in seeing these lovable characters do stuff moving forward.

Rating: B-

Mitsuboshi Colors is currently streaming on HIDIVE.