The Cart Driver

To call Sekai Seifuku strange would be an understatement, considering its smoker’s pogrom, the giant udo in need of constant appeasement, and betentacled beasts conjured from the ether on a near-regular basis. Up to this point, it’s managed to surprise and delight, while still retaining a semblance of connectivity. I knew what to make of Natasha’s abandonment, and Roboko and Kate transferring to Asuta’s class without raising any suspicions. But all my years as an aniblogger have unfortunately left me unprepared for Kate’s transformation into a gargantuan abomination hell-bent on achieving domination, without quite moving past the nebulous “stomp around and scream about domination until it happens” stage.

I think it’s safe to say that the chances of progression in any form are slim to nil; even the revelation that Asuta’s father is governor of Tokyo doesn’t add complexity. But rather than this being a detriment, it works heavily in Sekai Seifuku’s favor by letting the perfect absurdity of its world shine through. Its off-kilter, solidly absurdist style is aided greatly by a colorful setting, and background characters who accept rampaging tentacled oddities and robotic transfer students with all the suspicion that they’d afford a summer rainstorm.  All of this has been evident and played off of before, but it really shines here with probably the most bizarre series of developments yet that don’t feel the least bit out of place. I can’t really divine any sort of overt purpose, but it’s not like the show’s needed it up until this point.

Kate suddenly having an influx of non-stuffed rabbit power also emphasizes her childish mindset in probably the series’ closest association with profundity. Here’s somebody with the power to bring the world to its knees, just with her size alone, and all she can do is scream at Asuta about domination while doing nothing to achieve those ends. In no capacity is she ready for the arduous task of winning over the hearts and minds of the world when she’s so single-minded. To her credit though, she still makes some really fucking great faces, and sometimes that’s all that’s needed.

This is arguably the turning point, where Kate’s potential for destruction and her desire for constant domination of those around her coalesce into what may be the driving point of the remainder of the show—or it could just be another bizarre, inexplicable tangent that it executes with consistent grace, before reverting to normalcy an episode later. Neither one would surprise me at this point. Either way,  shame on my co-writers for not watching.