Seasonal First Impressions is a column where I detail my thoughts, however brief or long, about a currently-airing anime’s first episode or so.
A majority of this year’s real marquee anime have been pretty serious affairs. Analyses of the human psyche, explorations of shared generational trauma, things of that nature. Even the great final conclusion of the Neon Genesis Evangelion saga, Thrice Upon A Time, among the medium’s defining achievements this year, fits in here. And that’s all well and good! There is an important, well-earned place for that sort of thing in popular art. But if you’ve felt like something was missing–something simpler, something closer to the root of why people tend to like cartoons in the first place–Rumble Garanndoll may just be what you’re looking for.
This one fits in a curious tradition of self-aware otaku escapism shows. The first episode points toward commonalities with series such as Anime Gataris and the Akiba’s Trip anime or even The Rolling Girls. (Hell, Kill la Kill arguably fits in here.) Effectively, anime that serve as defenses of themselves and by extension the entire medium. You need to be careful with this kind of thing, because it’s easy for it to drift off into self-absorption. No one truly thinks that anime is the most important thing in the world, but the magic of good anime is that it can make us feel like it is, if only for half an hour or so at a time. This monumental task; essentially to both be entertaining and justify its own existence at the same time, is what stands before Rumble Garanndoll. Lesser anime have crumbled in the face of this challenge. But Rumble Garanndoll is willing to try anyway, as evidenced by the existence of its frankly hilarious “OTAKU ISN’T DEAD” tagline.
It’s too early to say definitively if Rumble Garanndoll pulls the whole thing off, but we’re off to a good start. Our lead is Hosomichi Kudo, ex-otaku and–this isn’t a joke–employee of a host bar. He takes his glasses off in order to avoid having to look his clients in the eye while he talks to them and has the opening theme of an in-universe anime (the fictional Sea Emperor Zaburn) as his ringtone. While he is clearly meant to be, to some point, You, Dear Otaku, he has more personality than the blander end of the Protagonist-kun spectrum. There’s a big gulf between that and being an actually great main character, but it’s progress. He may get there.
Chug!
As for our setting? Just the usual. A Japan that’s been divided in two by a fascist, art-hating oppressive state lead by a guy who can’t be older than 20 or so. He inherited the position, and the state is called the “True Country”. Just so you don’t have any illusions about who the bad guys are here.
Sure you are, bud.
The other half of that “two” is the Fantasy Country, which, although it’s not explicitly spelled out here, seems like a dystopic extension of modern Akihabara. (We do learn that specifically one thing is from Akiba, which we’ll get to.) The first episode opens with the True Country invading the Fantasy Country, via squat, diminutive mecha that might remind viewers of 2019’s similarly-titled Granbelm.
A lot happens during the invasion, but the main thing is that a lone rogue mecha dares to stand up to the invaders. Its name is Shark One. It’s a blue, adorable thing, and it’s kept active by an AI-droid-thing-it’s-not-totally-clear yet called a Battery Girl. The one who controls Shark One is named Rin, and she is just great, an instantly-likable little firecracker of a character who spends much of the episode as a moeblob and is willing to open up to Hosomichi because they both like Zaburn. (Being voiced by Ai Farouz helps a lot to sell the whole thing.)
Hosomichi, of course, soon finds himself in Shark One’s cockpit. There’s a lot of great back and forth here between him, Rin, and his former manager, who is tagging along for the ride. Occasionally punctuated via phone call or megaphone by the hilariously-named Commander Balzac, who seems to serve as the leader of the resistence that Rin and Shark One represent. That he kinda looks like an aging Kamina is probably not a coincidence.
This entire sequence, frankly, is charming as all hell. It also, impressively, manages to stay on the right side of self-aware, with Hosomichi and Rin’s mild embarrassment at having to scream “SHARK CAVALIER!” at the top of their lungs being the only real example. (Even that is more charming than anything.)
Crucially, it’s cut with this little bit of dialogue. The message is clear, and twofold. There is firstly the text itself, and then the subtler implication that Rumble Garandoll is not content with gesturing toward great anime. It wants to be a great anime. You don’t plant a thematic flag front and center in your first episode unless you’re very self-confident.
The aftermath of all this, of course, sees Hosomichi recruited into this (as of now, still nameless to us) resistance. The journey has just begun, for him and for us alike. We also meet Rin in her non-chibi physical form for the first time, rocking a Mega Man-inspired blue suit. She and Hosomichi have a brief squabble. Is a first episode ending on that note cliché or timeless? That, really is the question.
Art, at its absolute best, can inspire and connect us. Most anime don’t commit, full-tilt, to that aspiration. And most anime that do commit don’t succeed. (Pour one out for 2018 boondoggle Darling in the FranXX.) Will Rumble Garandoll get there? It’s really quite hard to say. But it’s possible, and for some, possibility alone will be enough. Certainly it is for me.
Grade: A-
The Takeaway: For a certain kind of person–and you know who you are–this is a must-see. Most others should at least give the first episode a watch unless this kind of thing just strongly isn’t your cup of tea.
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