Princess Connect! Re:Dive

Episode 4

In which our heroes try to move a table through a doorway.

Episode 4 follows our now four-man team as they move into their free guild house. Of course, it being “free” doesn't mean that it's in pristine condition—quite the opposite actually. So while Yuuki and Karyl clean (and Precorine makes a dinner table from scratch), it's up to Kokkoro to go shopping for all the things they'll need to make the house livable. ...And that's pretty much all there is to it.

This episode puts both Karyl and Pecorine's stories on the back burner—reducing both to nothing but harmless comic relief. Ostensibly, this is to give Kokkoro a chance to shine after being vastly overshadowed by the other two female leads for the past few episodes. However, she sadly gets little in the way of development—simply restating what we already know: that she's more book smart than street smart and that she wants to better support Yuuki.

Instead, the focus on Kokkoro is actually just an excuse to introduce us to some new characters (which I can only assume are other recruitable characters in the game the anime is based on). The problem is, none of these characters are particularly interesting or developed beyond a few sentences of back story. There's the former knight hero, Saren, who has retired to run an orphanage. Then there's her klutzy maid Suzume—who Kokkoro identifies with as they are both servants.

Lastly, there is RIMA, the talking llama that Kokkoro and Suzume encounter when lost in the woods. Nothing about her is explained—though she claims to be neither donkey nor monster—and when she eats a metamorapple she gains a human appearance.

Frankly, the big problem is that not much happens in this episode. The overall story doesn't progress. The characters don't develop in new or interesting ways. Even the comedy is rather weak with only the llama bit being particularly humorous. It feels like this episode is made for players of the game who know the new characters and are excited to see them on the screen. But for the rest of us, it's basically devolved into the classic anime fallback of “cute girls doing cute things”—and that's not enough to support the show.

Rating:

Random Thoughts

• I freaked out when the llama girl took her literal head off like a mask when transforming into a human. That's some body horror stuff right there.

• “I could tell you what's going on but I won't because I don't think it will change anything” easily ranks among the worst reasons to keep the protagonist (and the audience) in the dark that I've ever heard.

• I'm still irrationally annoyed at the fact they couldn't get the table through that doorway. I guess they've never moved a table before.

• “How crazy is that” count for the week: 2

Princess Connect! Re:Dive is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Richard is an anime and video game journalist with over a decade of experience living and working in Japan. For more of his writings, check out his Twitter and blog.