First Impressions: Concrete Revolutio: Choujin Gensou – The Last Song

Concrete Revolutio - 14 -1 Concrete Revolutio - 14 -22 Concrete Revolutio - 14 -33

Concrete Revolutio - 14 -2Now this is a case where my time constraints this weekend cut close to the bone.  Concrete Revolutio (I’ll decide on the naming convention later – this is technically a split cour, but with a new title)  is a series that basically demands to be written about at length – one of the easiest shows to blog in ages.  It’s incredibly intellectually dense, full of bright and difficult ideas, with its tendrils in politics and philosophy and every subset of speculative fiction under the sun.  It wasn’t love at first sight with me, but the relationship definitely became fully committed.

Concrete Revolutio - 14 -3Since I can’t do this superb season premiere episode justice in my current circumstances, I think it’s best not to really try.  Suffice to say it was the usual kitchen-sink approach Aikawa Shou and Mizushima Seiji have taken with Concrete Revolutio – they’ve now added several alien elements to the mix, including an android cop with a cowboy aesthetic played by the incomparable Yamadera Kouichi.  We’ve also got the S-Planetarian – who may or may not have re-animated Gross Augen – and a full-on description of the Fumers as the most dangerous aliens in the universe.

Concrete Revolutio - 14 -4Perhaps the most interesting question for me is whether Concrete Revolutio will follow the pattern I speculated it might – expansion for a cour, loaded with time-skips.  That would be followed by contraction – all of the disparate elements coming together in a much more linear narrative.  So far the returns aren’t looking good – the season does start near the end of the established timeline (March of the 47th year of the Shinka Era) but almost immediately jumps back to October of the 46th.  The main thrust of this episode is the genesis of the partnership between Jiro and Shiba, and it’s set in a time where we see the police and military working more closely than ever to combat the “threat” from superhumans, and in the process taking them further and further from Jiro’s ideals.

Concrete Revolutio - 14 -5It should be fascinating indeed to see how Aikawa and the team of elite writers he’s put together to contribute to this series tie it all together and bring the story to a conclusion.  I will definitely make a full effort to give it it’s literary due in the coming weeks.

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmail

2 comments

  1. Noooooooo!

    Enzo!

    I know it might be incredibly difficult, but … oh man … this is without a doubt one of the best series of the season! (Err … for me at least. *cough cough* )

    Well … if you can’t you can’t. I know the spirit is willing and all, but …

    That being said I was thrilled, absolutely thrilled to have the series return. Unsurprisingly this was one of the series I was anticipating the most this season, and it delivered. I thought the OP and ED were quite good, once again.

    But you are correct, I think – this really does deserve an in depth treatment. It really is incredibly … well … dense prose, presented in a brilliant and quirky manner.

  2. Seems like not much has changed since the climax of last season. I’m guessing that the motivations of each member of Jiro’s team(shown in the ending) will be fleshed out first before the story goes ahead with the main conflict.

Leave a Comment