English Dub Review: Akiba’s Trip “The Midsummer Festival Begins!”

Two more to go after this one…

Spoilers Below

As a major call-back to “episode 3“, Mayonaka, Arisa and Nikawa are singing for a major event under their idol moniker “Manias” with Tomatsu as their producer/roadie with Chibusa Benikage as the Manager.

Tomatsu takes a break with Kage and says the event he’s part of is government-backed in the hope that Japan improves it’s image and elevate tourism. Tomatsu is excited and proud. But what he doesn’t know is the glowy-haired masked lady who was briefly shown last episode is watching him like a hawk.

A good chunk of this episode is spent on a montage that shows the townspeople facing a random series of cruel vandalistic acts that begin to negatively affect businesses with the only clue being an “Electric Mayonaise” business card left behind at each crime scene. Consequently, Tomatsu and his team get arrested and face trial at “Vigilante court” but the trial itself was nonsensical, to say the least, even Tomatsu got pissed at how backward it was but promised the court that they’ll find the real culprits and clear their names.

They managed to confront the imposters who consist of the masked girl accompanied by two obese thugs who resemble Tomatsu & Arisa but are quickly defeated yet the masked girl escapes using a ninja-smoke bomb with only her mask left behind.

With Raitu’s help, they’ve managed to clear their names thanks to a night vision camera but from a distance, the pink-haired lady’s face revealed to be pretty damn identical to Mayonaka. (Twins maybe?)

As the festival begins, it suddenly comes to an abrupt hault when a fake news broadcast by the sleazy journalist from episode 2 who sends a message that Japan’s minister is enforcing a law to Eradicate Otaku Culture calling it the “Akiba Ban”.

As the event comes to a bleak close, Tomatsu gets a phone call from Mayonaka that she’s under attack by her Imposter and to rendevous at “Manseibashi”. As he goes to save her, he’s suddenly grabbed and forcibly kissed with his glowing hair disappearing in the process but when Mayonaka finds him unconscious, he falls into the river and the episode ends with Mayonaka unable to save him.

Our take

Despite my intense hatred & previous grievances towards this series, we finally get to see more of the girl who resembles Mayonaka foreshadowed in the opening sequence along with the black-cloaked woman I presume at this point is “Metrotica”. But how are they related? Also ,this episode was a satirical jab at Japan’s hypocritical legal system due to a bill that passed in 2010 that banned Anime & Manga from being  sold in in Tokyo yet Tokyo recently announced that they’re having mainstream anime mascots at the 2020 Olympics as promotional material? Stay classy.

How will Tomatsu get out of this one now that he’s powerless and what will the rest of the team do now?

SCORE
5/10