Tokyo Ravens Episode 9
What They Say:
Harutora runs to join Natsume and Kogure in their fight against the nue as the other exorcists fight the other spirit disaster.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
With some good information on Touji in the previous episode, we finally got some time with one of the characters that’s been here from the start but has been relegated to a supporting position at best. Which is not good considering he’s Harutora’s best friend and has come to Tokyo with him to provide him with some much needed support. His past as a half-ogre gives him a little bit more to chew on here and we’ve seen the way that he’s struggling with that inner demon to be sure. It’s a classic piece and one that does admittedly work, if done right, and what we’ve gotten of Touji and his situation so far has painted it well, giving him a bit more depth and something to struggle with that his friends will do their best to help him with. Which is what we do want to see from the group.
The first half of the episode here focuses on that to some degree since Touji’s dealing with his problem, but we’ve also got what’s going on at the end of the previous episode that has the Onmyo kids helping out with the Twelve Generals that have arrived that are dealing with a larger problem. Visually, it’s a lot of fun since we get Kogure and Natsume together for awhile and she even gets to ride a motorcycle on her own to absolutely hilarious results. This provides the comedy for the episode to be sure, especially when Harutora latches onto her by accident, and a good contrast to the more serious bits as we see Kogure going up against his opponent in a rather straightforward way. There’s just a lot going on in the first half overall as the smaller threads all come together.
The action component of it is quite good, reminding us of that opening arc in a lot of ways, because it does go big with the motions and the characters with what they do. Though Natsume falls prey to comedy in the first half, here we truly see the power she wields and it’s impressive for anyone watching it as she engages in the enemy creature. It is a little anti-climactic as it plays out afterwards though, coming in the middle of the episode more so than the end, but the display of power is engaging and fun to watch. The follow-up material is another area altogether as we see some of what’s going on with the adults in the show as there’s jockeying for power and position through dialogue. This area of the show has not been well fleshed out so far and it’s hard to really feel connected to what’s going on here, making it more superficial than it should be since it’ll have more importance as time goes on.
In Summary:
Tokyo Ravens continues to move forward and weave a few storylines throughout it and it’s starting to get to that point where they need to cement more of it to make it work. When it comes to the core characters, it’s working well because we’re getting to know them and enjoying the interactions, even with the six-month bump we got in this particular arc. But the addition of the adults and other organizations that are around the edges and creeping in is largely ill-formed at this point and simply not compelling, which is unfortunate since it could really drive the series forward in a good way. It’s still early in the larger view of the property of course, but it’s helping me to keep my expectations low. Tokyo Ravens has some great moments, and this episode is no exception, but it’s starting to plateau I think.
Grade: B
Streamed By: FUNimation
Review Equipment:
Sony KDL70R550A 70″ LED 1080P HDTV, Apple TV via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.