REVIEW: ‘Shine On! Bakumatsu Bad Boys,’ Episode 6 – “Raid! The Crooked Shirakawaya”

Shine On! Bakumatsu Bad Boys is produced by Geno Studio. Having learned that their enemy is operating out of the Shirakawaya compound, the Shinsengumi prepare to raid it. But before they head out, Ichibanboshi is forbidden from participating due to his conflicted feelings where his brother is concerned. Will the Shinsengumi succeed without their captain in Shine On Bakumatsu Bad Boys Episode 6?

The focal point of this week’s episode is intended to deliver tension and suspense as the Shinsengumi raid goes wrong for the group. While the peril of the situation is undoubtedly delivered well, a key component to why the group is in such peril is where Shine On Bakumatsu Bad Boys Episode 6 goes entirely wrong for me. The component is Ichibanboshi himself.

Without wading into spoiler territory too much, at the story’s critical moment, Ichibanboshi is faced with a choice that can save the rest of his teammates but requires him to do something he is morally opposed to. While his initial struggle is understandable, the episode quickly extends his conflict to an absurd point. Wanting to be a just or moral person is all well and good, but this story takes Ichibanboshi’s indecisiveness to the extreme. If doing what he is ultimately challenged with presents that much of a moral conundrum for him, I can’t imagine how he could ever carry a sword into battle.

This overwrought emotional conflict saps the life out of what is otherwise a solid story in Shine On Bakumatsu Bad Boys Episode 6. Several other Shinsengumi members are given good moments, and even Ichibanboshi himself has a strong opening scene before he is left to drown in his moral quagmire. But while the episode delivers a strong performance overall, its one low point is just too low for the rest of the tale to make up for.

The biggest thing to come out of this fumbled story is where it leaves the narrative going forward. Despite my reservations about some of the particulars of how this episode gets to its ending, the final resolution does leave me wondering where the series will go from here. If the follow-up stories can make good on this episode’s setup, at least my frustrations with its narrative struggles will not have been endured in vain.

While the story struggles a bit for me, Shine On Bakumatsu Bad Boys Episode 6‘s visuals managed to deliver on the threats, dangers, and personalities that fill the episode. There is a real feeling of claustrophobia within the episode as the Shinsengumi struggle to escape from the trap set for them, thanks to the strong visual design.

When all is said and done, Shine On Bakumatsu Bad Boys Episode 6 mostly delivers a strong narrative with big plot implications. However, due to the overpowering failure of the episode’s key moment, everything else that the show does so well is overshadowed by its low point.

Shine On Bakumatsu Bad Boys Episode 6 is streaming now on Crunchyroll.