This OVA has been out there for a while (it debuted for a brief run in theatres on Valentine’s Day, before dystopia broke out), but I finally had a couple of hours to sit down with it tonight.  It’s fair to say I wasn’t totally certain of what to expect, since this is original material.  But it’s penned by the excellent Suzuki Tomohiro, who also handled series composition for the ACCA TV series, and the biggest compliment I can pay “Regards” is that it feels totally consistent with the series as a whole.  If you’d told me Ono Natsume wrote it, I’d have no reason to disbelieve you.

When I say “Regards” feels consistent with ACCA, that’s a bit of a nebulous concept.  This series is, without exaggeration, pretty much unique in anime.  “Idiosyncratic” doesn’t begin to cover it – if you took away all the quirks and foibles I don’t think there’d be much of anything left.  I think it’s worth pointing out that Natsume Shingo was a perfect choice to direct ACCA for exactly the same reason as Boogiepop wa Warawanai – he’s smart enough not to try to tone down the quirkiness and make a more “normal” narrative out of it.  If you did that with either one of those series, you’d ruin them – and thank goodness Natsume (and Suzuki) understood that.

There is a plot of sorts with “Regards”.  As the capital prepares for ACCA’s one-year anniversary festival, Lotta is seemingly unsettled about her future, and her homeroom teacher comes to Jean to see if he knows what’s up.  That gets Jean thinking about his own adolescence with Niino.  Meanwhile the inspection department’s newbie, Parrot (Kobayashi Chiaki) – he’s not a fan of the Whizzo Quality Assortment – is convinced that the five chiefs gathering in Badon are plotting some sort of revolt.  And Jean?  He’s still running around non-stop all over the country, smoking like a chimney and gazing wistfully into the distance.

I don’t single out the character designs for series too often, but ACCA’s really are some of the most striking and unforgettable in anime.  As much as I’d love to credit Madhouse for that I think it mostly comes down to Ono’s genius as an artist, but the anime certainly does those characters justice.  I could stare at these faces all day – they’re the most expressive in anime, I think, especially Jean of course.  And then there’s the food – and booze, of which there’s a lot of in this OVA.  ACCA definitely has the ability to make the everyday seem extraordinary.

The fact that the storyline this entire episode seems to be building towards turns out to be a complete nothingburger should be irritating, but that’s just ACCA.  If I could sum this series up in one idiom it would be that it’s about the journey, not the destination.  Traditional plot isn’t the point here – it’s the smokes, and the rye bread, and the coffee, and the photos.  Lotta is fine, there’s no coup, Jean keeps working too hard.  Life goes on, and that’s the point, if there is one.  It’s not going to satisfy everyone’s taste, but that’s ACCA, and if it wasn’t true to itself it would cease to have any reason to exist.