Forget the kitchen sink, Undead Girl Murder Farce opts for the bathtub approach here. Hell, the whole bathroom suite in fact. It’s kind of a perfect storm of frenetic entertainment. Take arguably the most stylish director in TV anime, add a laundry list of pretty much every legendary fictional character and infamous historical figure of the Victorian era, and add a source material whose author clearly loves to go over the top before breakfast. What you get is this show, and it’s one hell of a ride.
There are so many character attributions with this series I think it’s easier to just list them.
- The Royce pairing are Reinhold Stinghart (Kamio Shin’ichirou) and (ROFL) Fatima Doubledarts (Matsumoto Sara).
- The “magician” turns out to be Aleister Crowley (Sugita Tomokazu, much better suited here than in Rurouni Kenshin), the legendary Satanist.
- The redhead in Team Moriarty is Jack the Ripper (Saitou Souma), who sort of blurs the line between legendary fictional character and infamous historical figure.
- The femme fatale in the M Team is none other than Carmilla (Kondo Reina), largely forgotten now but in fact one of the earliest figures in vampire fiction, Irish author Sheridan Le Fanu having introduced her in 1872 – a full 25 years before Bram Stoker’s Dracula (and only a year before his own death).
As marvelously fun as all this is, it’s sort of an odd series to write about because what happens in an episode like this is so vibrant that it defies ex post facto embellishment. Among other things, I was glad to see Sherlock mostly redeem himself here, as having him taken down a notch to make Aya look better would not have been a good look. He sussed out about half or more of Lupin’s deception, I would say – knew he was being manipulated, and took steps to safeguard the diamond. He also spotted who Lupin was disguised as – Ganimard – though in the end, Lupin did manage to take advantage of Holmes commitment to playing by the rules.
To a certain extent this becomes a free for all once the shit hits the fan. The Phantom takes advantage of the chaos to abandon ship, the Royce agents dispense with any pretense and go after the diamond (and the monsters) openly. The Cage team is the first wild card played, with Aya having hidden herself in the safe (“stuck my neck out”, LOL) – thus the Ishikawa Goemon reference. She ends up hitching a ride with Holmes and Watson while Tsugaru takes on Lupin – who he allowed to beat him the first time as part of the plan – and Stinghart too. And Shizuku is dispatched to go after The Phantom.
The second wild card, the arrival of Moriarty’s party, scrambles the deck even more. Unlike Lupin he has no qualms about killing anybody, and with the likes of saucy Jack, Crowley, and Carmilla in his retinue you’d expect nothing else. Leaving the bridge destroyed and a trail of bodies in their wake the group splits up and searches for the diamond, with Carmilla eventually facing off with Shizuku (after she saves Jigen Lestrade from her), and Crowley with Holmes and Watson (and Aya, who has no idea who he is).
At least in terms of the series mythology, the main event would seem to be Moriarty coming face to face with Aya and Tsugaru, who’ve essentially come all this way to try and undo the wrongs he did to them, and that remains in the future. But there really is no undercard here – this are all heavyweight championship bouts, and it’s fitting that Undead Girl Murder Farce should embrace them with the unbridled glee it does. Anything less would be totally incongruous.
animealex
August 18, 2023 at 12:04 amSome of my thoughts after the episode:
1.) Reinhold is just as much as an adrenaline junkie / fool as Tsurugu and Lupin. That little smile when Lupin outsmarted him and nobody could see him made him much more appealing as a character. (Now I hope he survives the night) Even Aya picked up on it, when she told Sherlock something like: “The boys are playing outside.”
2.) Didn’t see Eric jumping ship so fast. I wonder why.
3.) I liked the depiction of Moriarty as a no-nonsense Big Bad who somehow holds sway over some very, very dangerous and unhinged individuals. If possible, I’d like to know why they all obey him. Sidenote: Why did they make Aleister Crowley so hot? Or is that just me? I mean Jack the Ripper is also not hard on the eyes and going by the comments on other sites, the Lesbian Vampire is an instant hit, thanks to her large tracts of land (both in the front and in the back), so it was to be expected, but still. Also, the introduction of the League of Extraordinary Villains on the scene was quite literally to die for.
4.) This spectacular clash between so many different interest groups reminded me of the train-arc in Baccano. At this point I’m half expecting the reporter girl and the two redheaded small-time criminals to join in, just to complete the chaos.
Guardian Enzo
August 18, 2023 at 7:58 amWell, Crowley would have been like 22 when this was going down if you go by the numbers. But hey, it’s anime – make everybody hot and that’s a commercial feather in your cap.
Chaitan
August 18, 2023 at 12:41 amI was able to guess, based on small hints, that Ganimard is Lupin, Tsugaru has lost on purpose, Lupin may have mistaken the reporter girl for Aya, and Aya was not with Tsugaru by the end of the last episode.
But I wasn’t able to predict the flooding or Aya in the box.
In the next episode we can expect a hot sex between Camilla and Shizuku, and Shizuku turned against Aya.
Nicc
August 18, 2023 at 7:15 amHow does this series keep getting away with making 5 minute episodes? “Free For All” was indeed the appropriate title for this episode. It was so packed that it is difficult to know where to start writing.
It turns out it won’t be a watery grave for Fogg and the others as Holmes knows that Lupin is not the type to actually want to kill anybody. Still, they have to find a way out of this mess while still securing the safe. One of the Royce agents steps in (One is Stinghart and the other is Doubledarts? They sound like names from James Bond characters) and breaks the safe, allowing the water to escape and along with the trapped individuals.
Right, there’s the reveal at the fireplace and it is Holmes playing by the rules of gentlemen that gets the diamond stolen. He makes his escape and meets up with the Phantom, who has the safe. Inside the strangely heavy safe is Aya. Then, I remembered that we never actually saw Tsugaru talk to anybody while at the tower. I didn’t notice it until now, but Tsugaru has been doing a rakugo act since France. Tsugaru makes a splashy entrance and Shizuku enters as well. The Phantom bugs out for reasons unknown, but Shizuku is in pursuit.
Then, here comes Stinghart and things just got a little more complicated for Lupin. Then, things get very complicated when Moriarty’s group comes crashing in. They’re playing for keeps and they make it very clear by killing anybody who’s in their way. We get a proper introduction to that group this time, the most interesting being Jack the Ripper. Surely it’s no coincidence that he’s got lines over his body like Tsugaru does.
Lupin, Stinghart and Tsugaru get caught up in a three-way (Not that kind) for the diamond. There’s almost certainly going to be a fourth and I’m putting my money on Jack. Shizuku was supposed to be pursuing the Phantom, but instead he’s caught by Doubledarts. Shizuku runs into Camilla (The animators had fun with her character) and Inspector Not-Jigen. Unless he’s got something else up his sleeve like holy water or silver bullets, it would be for the best to get out of the way. Then, Holmes and Watson (With Aya) runs into Crowley. I’m expecting to see some baritsu, but I also wonder what role Aya can play here. Whew, that was a busy episode and I want to see what Moriarty is going to be up to as he’s not getting caught up in a fight, at least so far.
Phil
August 19, 2023 at 3:50 amTsugaru’s been reciting rakugo lines since Episode 1 (during both of his post-fight walks from the arena to his room), made me instantly love his character.
This was a wildly fun episode, up there with the chaos that Baccano/Durarara delivers, and I’m eager for more.
Raikou
August 20, 2023 at 8:49 pmNo wonder his name is ‘Shinuchi’ Tsugaru.
Guardian Enzo
August 20, 2023 at 9:44 pmGood point.
Raikou
August 18, 2023 at 12:23 pmThe episode is so chaotic I love it.
Sugita as Crowley was pretty enjoyable. Man the casting in this anime is incredible.
Thanks for the Carmilla info Enzo. I was wondering about her since she’s the only one that I’m not familiar with.
Antony Shepherd
August 18, 2023 at 9:36 pmFatima Doubledarts sounds like the Bond Girl who got left on the cutting room floor because her name wasn’t a good enough double entendre.