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Nanbaka
Episode 9

by Rose Bridges,

How would you rate episode 9 of
Nanbaka ?
Community score: 4.1

Nanbaka just doesn't know how to sit still. It continues yo-yoing between weak, messy episodes and solid, powerful ones. Episode 9, "You're Empty!" is the latter, featuring Jyugo and Number 634's origin stories.

The episode spends most of its time in Jyugo and Number 634's respective prison cells. Number 634 tells the story of how he got his powers—or rather, how the same person who gave Jyugo his shackles amplified them. 634 was born with his fire, but it was random and unpredictable, exposing him to be shunned. All he wanted was to have these powers gone. The prison scientist promised to "release him from his suffering," claiming he just needed to run tests for his own purposes. Instead, he made the flames more powerful. This also gave 634 real control over them, but his whole body became consumed by flame in turn. He felt like he had gone from a just a "freak" to a "real monster," and the worst thing was, the scientist seemed to revel in this.

Both Jyugo and 634's powers turn their bodies into out-of-control monsters—especially Jyugo, since 634 doesn't lose his wits when he uses his. With Jyugo, this seems to have had a more dramatic effect. He doesn't want to fight back or enact revenge on the scientist like 634 does. Jyugo just wants to give up and wait until it's all over.

These scenes are successful thanks to the episode's aesthetics. Nanbaka has never been a pretty anime, and that still hasn't changed. It trades in neon colors, bold lines, and (deliberately) limited animation for comedy purposes. Still, episode 9 proves that when it wants to turn up the drama, Nanbaka's art will fit the bill. Nanbaka mutes its garish colors for black and white scenes in Jyugo's cell—contrasted with the more colorful world outside. This serves to keep the focus on Jyugo's emotional reactions. 634 and Jyugo's flashbacks also appear with faded colors. That's nothing new in anime, but it is a dramatic difference from Nanbaka's typical aesthetic. It adds to the unusual and unsettling feeling of this episode.

The music is also much more understated this week. As with the visuals, Nanbaka's music is kitschy and cheesy on purpose. It can grate, like the saxophone theme that accompanies the warden's fantasies about Hajime, but you understand it instantly. That music fits the series' zany comedy, but episode 9 proves it can change up the palette when things get dramatic. Jyugo and 634's scenes feature quiet piano music, adding just enough tension to keep viewers on edge.

Nanbaka once again succeeds in bouncing between different tones. After 634's message ends, Hajime responds to Jyugo's frustration by berating him for having no purpose or motivation. He laments this as Jyugo's lack of "greed," that he doesn't seem to want anything. This results in Jyugo realizing what he does enjoy and would miss in life—being with the other inmates of Cell 13. They remind him of life's joys with their dreams for their future outside the prison. This shows how Jyugo growing up in prisons has shaped him so differently from everyone else. Still, there's hope for him yet. When Jyugo decides to use his tournament win request to ask to stay in the prison, Hajime grins, happy that Jyugo found "his greed."

Episode 9 proves that Nanbaka knows how to crank out a strong episode from time to time. It especially excels when it focuses on backstories or balancing comedy and drama. It also doesn't hurt that episode 9 leaves out the series' most obnoxious one-joke characters, like the warden. Nanbaka would be a much stronger show if it could keep this level of quality consistent. It will never be a great show, but this week proved that it can be more than funny or annoying. It has some more dramatic strength hiding under the surface.

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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