After two episodes, I’m still not really sure what I’m dealing with in Apocalypse Hotel. But I do know that if it continues as it started, it’s going to be very hard to ignore. There’s a ton of interesting stuff going on with this show on multiple levels. Art director Honda Kouhei is the obvious standout so far. But director Shundo Kana is making a big impression too. She was part of a group of female Gainax animators-turned doujin circle called “Chuo Line Anime Sisters”, and this is her first shot at the helm of a series. I’m also impressed with Fujisawa Yoshiaki’s soundtrack (he’s also doing the music for Zatsu Tabi, and did great work on Uchouten Kazoku). The OP premiered this week, and that was great too.

So, in sum, a ton of interesting stuff. But it’s what’s going on “between the lines” that matters, and Apocalypse Hotel is delivering there too. Our first guest does seem to be an alien after all (we later find out he arrived on a ship). Yachiyo goes through her language database but has no matches, which makes communicating a challenge. About the only thing it seems to understand is her “OK” gesture – though it does require some tweaking on his part. Understand or no, the job at hand is to give the guest a great Ginzarou Hotel experience – that, and update the prime directive to reflect that extra-terrestrials are to be treated as guests (who may not even need a shampoo hat) and not pets.

There’s another important new player here, an “environment checker” robot. He’s part of a group left behind to monitor surface conditions and report them to the humans on their arks in space. It seems as if this is the last one, and he monitored the alien ship’s arrival and came to investigate. Environment Checker-san is a font of information – and the nugget than he hasn’t gotten a response from humanity in decades is enough to send Yachiyo into a deep funk. But he’s also fantastically entertaining, kind of a groovy dude. And getting Miki Shinichirou to play him is the key to that – Miki is always great, but in this sort of role he’s absolutely peerless. A great addition to the cast.

All the stuff with the plant alien is very weird and trippy, and it gives the episode an unmistakable Yuasa Masaaki vibe for me. ECR wants to blast it to smithereens; Yachiyo refuses because it’s a Ginzarou guest and that’s sacrosanct. I’m not at all convinced the ECR is wrong about this thing being a threat to the Earth or some sort of colonization scout, and the end of the episode hints that may be the case. But Yachiyo has her job to do and she’s gonna do it, and woe be it for anyone who tries to stop her.

Yachiyo, as it happens, had a memorable tea ceremony with Owner-san a century earlier, during which he told her to always focus on possibility, not probability. After an unscheduled dip in the hotel pool she has one for the guest, and it almost seems as if they reach an understanding but that proves fleeting (yeah, matcha is incredibly bitter if you’re not used to it). There’s one final misunderstanding, over the bill. Plant Alien offers a gift, but he certainly has no Earth currency. Fortunately there are huge piles  of it just lying around, which allows Yachiyo to arrange payment. And ECR doesn’t even vaporize the alien after it checks out.

All this is undeniably very weird, but absolutely in a good way. Apocalypse Hotel is in no way generic or predictable – it has elements of familiar anime premises, no question, but so far is spinning them in a very distinct way. There are reports that production on the entire 12-episode run is finished, which if true is an extremely good sign about the show’s prospects. There’s a lot to feel positive about here, though with original series anything can happen and usually does.