With episode seven of Sparks of Tomorrow, the thematic potency that endeared me so much to the prior episode falls away and is replaced with character actions, motivations, and scenarios that feel nearly nonsensical to me. While the previous episode helped me accept that this show is dealing more in vibes than the structure of storytelling as a craft, and the lavishly animated chase sequence at least makes this episode entertaining, I need something more to grab onto than what Sparks of Tomorrow is giving me. While this episode’s cliffhanger finale promises to finally reveal the relationship and motivations of nearly half of this ensemble cast, these characters have been too undefined in the story so far for me to really care about them.

This episode begins with a looming engagement ceremony between the foppish Yosuke Mizoe and the fifteen-year-old Inako (ew). A background anxiety for much of the main cast throughout the show so far, this episode largely follows Sasaki and Inako’s escape from Inako’s father and Yosuke to a neighboring community so they can meet with Kate’s father who supposedly has the other half of the electrical catalogue. However, this escape sequence broke my, fairly generous, suspension of disbelief and made me feel more frustrated than excited for these characters.

This plan starts with Inako’s sister subbing in for her sister at this betrothal ceremony and, even if she was doubled-over for the majority of the proceeding, I don’t believe for a second that this ruse would by the main characters any amount of time considering Inako’s sister is a foot and a half taller than her. Joining Yosuke in his pursuit of Sasaki and Inako is the physically capable soft-boi Kengo Kuga who nearly apprehends the youths when he manages to get onto their riverboat…but then he decides to support them instead when Sasaki reminds him (for like the fifth time now) of Sasaki’s brother and Kengo’s war buddy Seiroku.

I understand characters having a change of heart and their allegiances shifting as a result is an established narrative beat in fiction and a part of the human condition, but change of heart for Kengo fails to work as the emotional crux of this episode for a couple of reasons. The first is that this character is pretty poorly defined outside of his affection and allegiance to Inako’s sister and his commitment to doing whatever he can to support her family. In a better written show, Kengo being a hyper effective tool that’s utilized by shifting factions until he decides to start acting in accordance with his own beliefs and values would be inspirational, but in Sparks of Tomorrow it instead feels more like Kengo is just now starting to become a real character in the series.

This is due to the second problem with this narrative progression, this character development comes way too late and feels less than motivated. Kengo has been inspired by Sasaki previously in the show to an even greater degree, and it doesn’t feel at all like the character reaches a tipping point and decides to ally himself with Sasaki in this episode. Instead, it just feels like the main tension in this episode had to resolve itself because the characters were written into a corner with no other means of progression.

Even if Sparks of Tomorrow can, on occasion, present its themes in an impactful way, it’s clear after this episode that it cannot make me care about its characters and their underexplored and less-than-enhanced struggles.

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Lucas DeRuyter finds sparks of inspiration in all parts of his life, which would explain why his portfolio features such a broad array of interests and writing formats! To read what he’s ruminating on more regularly, you can keep up with his regular contributions to ANN’s This Week in Anime column.

Sparks of Tomorrow is currently streaming on
Netflix.

On it’s most basic level, this episode is about how our sibling heroes think. Despite their lives of being lied to, hunted, and coveted by those who want to use them for selfish ends, the pair still retain a strict moral compass.

Last episode, when we left Yuru, he was stuck facing a dilemma. While he had originally walked willingly into the trap to save both Fake Asa and the village girl, that was only his immediate goal. His overall goal is—and long has been—finding his parents. By teasing that he knew what happened to them, Ivan forced Yuru to make a choice: Does he save the hostages (and whoever sent the smoke signal) or chase after his own selfish desires?

With this episode we see that, despite being a hardened killer towards anyone who threatens his life, Yuru will put his life on the line for friends, family, and the innocent—even if he may not particularly like any of them at any given moment. Danji and Fake Asa may have lied to him for years—kept him ignorant about both the outside world and the fate of his family—but it’s clear that part of him knows that there was something real beneath the lies. And it’s something he can’t simply abandon.

On the flip side of the story, we see that Asa, despite having a far worse life than Yuru, still shares the same philosophy. She may have come to rescue her brother, but upon encountering the hostages, she immediately whisks them to safety and checks to make sure she hasn’t missed saving anyone else—even though one of them is near the top of the list for people she hates most in this world.

Of course, let’s not pretend that Asa is being truly altruistic with her actions. Her only real life goal is to revitalize her relationship with her brother—the only true family she has left. Helping him by removing the enemy’s leverage against him isn’t exactly an action that requires deep thought. And while Asa would almost certainly save any innocent given the chance, saving Fake Asa is a far more calculated move.

Asa understands what her brother is going through more than anyone. She knows about the isolation, the fear, and, especially, the lies. The deceptions of first the villagers, and later those who thought to exploit her powers, hurt her—led to her death, even. Because of this, she knows just how important the 100% unfiltered truth is to Yuru. In a world without repercussions, I have no doubt Asa would have killed Fake Asa on the spot. However, what’s more important to her than vengeance is having her brother learn everything first hand about what was done to him and why.

In a world where they can trust no one, Asa wants to prove that she can be trusted—to the point that she’ll put her own desires aside for her brother. And that’s why it’s so heartwarming that Yuru responds so positively towards her—agreeing to meet her after this crisis is all over. Her innocent, earnest feelings are getting through to him because she backs them up with action. And hopefully, when the immediate issue has passed, she’ll get a good taste of the familial love she’s longed for all these years.

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Daemons of the Shadow Realm is currently streaming on
Crunchyroll.

All 3 companies are content providers specializing in webtoons, web novels

Kakao Entertainment announced on August 14 that it will merge three of its story content subsidiaries — Samyang C&C, Intime, and Pilyeon Management — as part of efforts to strengthen its intellectual property business.

The three companies, all wholly owned by Kakao Entertainment, approved the merger at board meetings on August 12 and plan to complete the process by the end of the year. The merged company will retain the Samyang C&C name CEO Sung-taek Cha will lead the company.

All three companies are content providers specializing in webtoons and web novels, with expertise spanning genres including romance fantasy and martial arts. Their businesses cover content development and production, discovering new creators, publishing, merchandise, and adaptations into live-action works and animation.

Kakao Entertainment said the merger will combine the companies’ production capabilities and strengthen their expertise in adapting web novels into webtoons. The company also plans to develop and discover IP across multiple genres with the goal of building new major franchises and strengthening its global IP pipeline.

Sources: Kakao Entertainment‘s press release