Tougen Anki Episode 12, “Day of the Storm,” sees Mudano (Hiroshi Kamiya, Heaven Official’s Blessing) herd his charges into the gym for the night as an evacuation drill. All alone, the group is expected to behave and bond as they pass a stormy night together. But, as one may expect, things don’t go according to plan with all these misfits trapped in one place.
This week’s episode opens with the students enjoying the baths as they recuperate from another grueling day of training. This introductory scene sets the tone effectively, as the group instantly begins to clash with each other.
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Whether it’s annoyance at Shiki’s (Kazuki Ura, Zenshu) griping ruining their leisure time, or Rokuro’s (Kaito Miura) persistent dread at the omnipresence of Sazanami (Aimi Terakawa, Suzume) in his life, the characters instantly begin to rehash their most obnoxious, and sometimes only, traits. This will persist throughout the episode.
The characters are shallow and superficial in Tougen Anki Episode 12.
It is clear from the onset that the purpose of Tougen Anki Episode 12 is to help the cast gel with both each other and the audience. A night together in the gym could reveal new elements and foster budding interactions between characters that haven’t been seen before. This could lay the ground for new and intriguing interpersonal interactions for the back half of the season.
While we do learn some new things about the characters once they settle into the gym for the night, these elements are all shallow and superficial. Little quirks like people’s favorite foods or the fact that Shiki is troubled by ghost stories come to light.
These would be great details if the characters were already deep and engaging, but they are not. The weak, often two-dimensional personalities fall short in prior entries, and sadly, this one does little to deepen them, despite spending the entire episode with them.
The episode pauses every time a student speaks up.
Instead of meaningful discoveries or new dynamics, Tougen Anki Episode 12 just leans on its already very tired jokes. Yusurube (Natsukie Hanae, NieR Automata ver 1.1a) plays the perv, Byobugaura (Manaka Iwami, Oshi No Ko) apologizes for everything, and Sazanami drives Rokuro mad with her suffocating attention. It’s all been done before, and it’s not getting any better with time.
The only thing that makes the decision to spend the episode rehashing all these old interactions even more bizarre is the choice to reintroduce the cast as well. As each student speaks up for the first time, the episode is paused, and they are given a brief introduction. Their name, age, likes, and dislikes are briefly on display for the viewer to take in.
If the cast were bigger, or if some characters had spent a large stretch of time outside of the plot, a midseason reintroduction could be a worthwhile thing. However, given the amount of time each student gets in most episodes, it feels like nothing but dead weight.
The one good moment comes from a prank by the school’s principal.
The only genuinely enjoyable moment comes at the end, when the school’s principal appears to play a little joke on the students. While it goes predictably awry, the results manage to elicit genuine enjoyment. Whether it’s because the joke is actually funny, or what precedes it sets expectations so low, it’s hard to tell, but at least I managed to walk away from the story with a smile. Take the victories where you can sometimes.
Tougen Anki Episode 12 feels like a total waste of time. With predictably obnoxious character interactions taking center stage, only the slightest glimmer of good can be found in this otherwise humorless example of a filler episode. Hopefully, this is the worst the show can bring.
Tougen Anki Episode 12 is streaming now on Netflix.
