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Nanbaka
Episode 16

by Rose Bridges,

How would you rate episode 16 of
Nanbaka ?
Community score: 4.2

I'll admit when I saw that Nanbaka would focus on Building 5, I was apprehensive. Nanbaka has generally been at its weakest when it shifts outside of the primary cast. While none of the characters—save Jyugo and Musashi—are all that complex, the other inmates and guards are the least so. At least we've spent enough time with Hajime, Rock, Uno and Nico to learn some of their quirks. We have a bond with them. I don't feel that way toward most of the other characters in Nanba Prison. Luckily, this week finally changes that. Nanbaka shifts to Building 5 with an episode all about its supervisor, Samon Gokuu. It's almost all character development for him, exploring his backstory and vulnerabilities, and it works well in a way that I didn't think this show could pull off.

The episode starts with a fight between Samon and Rock. Rock wants to prove himself against Samon, but the supervisor wins the fight using only his index finger. He insists that Rock only uses brute force and needs more mental discipline. This sets up the central conflict, between Samon and his mysterious brother, Enki. Enki was the previous supervisor of Building 5, then known as "The Disciplined Building 5" rather than "The Traitorous." Everyone admired Enki for his strict discipline and moral code—until he killed an inmate. This was sudden and completely unlike him, forcing Nanba to fire Enki and promote Samon to building supervisor.

Samon is even more sore over Enki than he is over Hajime. (Hajime beat him in a fight once, and Samon has never recovered from it. The dude holds some serious grudges.) It's clear that he admired his brother, so it broke his heart when Enki turned on his principles, committing an unforgivable act. In spite of that, Samon knows he's still seen in his brother's shadow. Neko, the deputy supervisor of another building, cruelly reminds him of this during a meeting before getting a well-deserved beating from Giji (the colorful "pheasant" supervisor). I found that extremely satisfying to watch; Nanbaka sets you up immediately to despite Neko, but a later conversation between the supervisors shows that he isn't entirely wrong. While they don't agree that Samon is doomed to follow in his brother's footsteps, they do have trouble viewing him as anything other than a slighter shade of his superstar brother.

Despite this resentment, it's clear that Samon still harbors some brotherly love during a later scene when family friend Noriko visits the prison. (Samon calls her "older sister" at first, but she's not literally his sister. She references the new hire, Houzuki, being her younger brother, and not Samon's. Plus, Samon had never met Houzuki before this episode.) Noriko asks after Enki, not having been told of his disgrace. Samon can't bring himself to inform her, so he pretends that Enki is at a meeting and has been resuming his duties. It's clear that the conversation pains him, but Samon can't shame his brother in front of their friend.

The entire installment adds a lot of depth to a previous one-note character. All we'd known about Samon before is that he was the "monkey" of the animal trio, a strong fighter with a quick temper. Now he feels like a fully realized character, someone with dimensions and motivations. That poses the question of what Nanbaka plans to do with this new information. The show has such a gigantic cast that it won't take time out to develop someone for no reason. We certainly won't get episodes like this for every one of the guards and inmates. So why Samon, and why now? Where is the show going with this?

The end of the episode gives us a clue. Inmates and guards have been returning from Building 5 acting strangely. Rock beats up Jyugo out of nowhere, leaving his cellmate puzzled. Perhaps Samon is connected to this in some way? Maybe this explains what happened to Enki before? Is there some strange mind control that holds Building 5 in its thrall?

Nanbaka takes time to reference the larger plot too. Warden Momoko gets summoned to a meeting with the police about Jyugo and Musashi, related to their mysterious powers and history, as busybody Neko reminds us. (We also get the best visual gag yet about her crush on Hajime. Momoko has a plushie of him that she brings on the plane.) It's clever that Nanbaka found time for this during a story that zoomed away from Jyugo's central struggle. "The Traitorous Building 5" is a well-constructed episode all around. If only Nanbaka could deliver more of these, it could be a stronger show.

Rating: A-

Nanbaka is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Rose is a music Ph.D. student who loves overanalyzing anime soundtracks. Follow her on her media blog Rose's Turn, and on Twitter.


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