REVIEW: ‘Synduality Noir’ Episode 4 — “Wild Daisy”

With the successful defense of Desire Nest behind him, Kanata (Takeo Otsuka) focuses on honing his skills as a drifter. To stand on his own feet, he decides he can’t keep leaning on Tokio (Yûsuke Kobayashi) and Noir (Aoi Koga) to save him. When a training mission sees the drifters encounter a new face with a job offer, Kanata and company soon find themselves in another showdown with the Enders in Synduality Noir Episode 4, “Wild Daisy.”

Having achieved his lifelong dream of becoming a drifter, Kanata’s focus now shifts to improving his skills in his new trade. But while he has found early success in his first couple of battles, that has been largely thanks to Noir’s support in the cockpit. Not willing to lean on others, Kanata has decided that he needs to be able to handle himself with as little help as possible. So when he gets a job to clear out a patch of Enders, he resolves to handle it on his own.

Synduality Noir Episode 4 hones its plot on Kanata and his growth as a drifter. With Tokio tagging along in the carrier largely for moral support, or his version of it anyways, Kanata takes his first struggling steps towards competency in his new trade. I always appreciate it when a show takes the time to showcase the need to learn new skills, rather than simply being able to do a thing to keep the story moving. By showing the struggle to master new talents and skills, the eventual success that the viewer expects to see comes with a greater sense of value, as well as reminding us that no new skill is ever easily mastered.

While much of Synduality Noir Episode 4‘s story looks at Kanata’s growth as a pilot, it also gives the young man the opportunity to learn about dealing with other drifters. These lessons come courtesy of Claudia (Ryôka Yuzuki) and Flamme (Marika Kôno), a drifter and her magus who show up to help Kanata out of a sticky situation. Once the moment settles down, they extend a job offer to him. In exchange for his help recovering a precious ore deposit they have found, they’ll split the money they get from selling the ore with him. Eager to push himself in his training, Kanata accepts the offer.

Synduality Noir Episode 4 sees the various characters interacting in ways that deliver genuine charm, as well as build out the cast’s personalities. The childlike magus Flamme takes Noir out into the field to play among the flowers and weaves her a crown of daisies. These moments are sweet, even as Noir clearly struggles with understanding the purpose and significance of the activities.

Meanwhile, Claudia and Kanata bond a bit while Kanata does some quick maintenance on Claudi’s coffin. I enjoyed Claudia’s playful charm when dealing with Kanata. While she has a bit of fun at his expense, it always feels like it is meant solely in good humor. My favorite part of this sequence is Claudia’s astonishment at Kanata’s skills as a mechanic. Stating that someone who can do what he does is “worth their weight in gold” elevates him in a way that hasn’t been seen much in the show. People always love to focus on flashy jobs, while undervaluing the technical skills that keep everything running smoothly. The acknowledgment that Kanata is a skilled individual, however, his career as a drifter turns out is nice to see.

Once the sun finally sets, Synduality Noir Episode 4 sees the guns come out as the Enders make their expected appearance. While Kanata’s practice earlier in the episode yields some improvements here, he still has a ways to go. His ongoing struggles cause the action in this episode to be a bit less exciting than previous entries have delivered, but as it helps to reinforce the narrative, I won’t complain.

As the last of the Enders are defeated, Kanata learns his final lesson about being a drifter. While it is an unpleasant one, it’s good to get it out of the way. And despite things not turning out quite how he envisioned them when he took the job, there is still much gained for him and Noir by the time the credits roll.

While Synduality Noir Episode 4 feels a bit more subdued than previous episodes, it nonetheless feels like an important step in Kanata’s journey. It brings more to light about the show’s core characters, as it nudges the story forward just a bit.

Synduality Noir Episode 4 is streaming now on Hulu.