Under The Influence – ‘Seven Senses of the Re’Union’ Episode 9 Review

What’s the show? Seven Senses of the Re’Union, Episode 9.

So what happens in this episode? See, this is why I don’t like romance anime!

Sorry, what? I mean when I started watching this show I didn’t even realise it was one, let alone how big a factor it would play in the overall narrative—I might not have even watched it had I knew!

I take it something has happened that you don’t agree with? I may or may not have mentioned that I generally don’t watch romance anime because I don’t find the genre as interesting as others—a more accurate reason is that if there’s a male protagonist and if there’s multiple girls vying for his heart, he’ll always pick the wrong one! (In my opinion, of course.)

And what do you mean by “the wrong one”? Well the one who isn’t my best girl of course! Duh!

Right and so how and why does this transpire in this show and in this episode? Well, it’s a sort of in-between the action type episode and there’s a dance going to be held in the video game ‘Re’Union’ and apparently this is the moment where romances are solidified or nullified, this is the time for confessions to be made and feelings to be bared. And of course best girl Satsuki gets up the bravery to confess her long-held feelings for Haruto only for him to chose Asahi instead and it’s like Re:Zero all over again! Why are the protagonists in these shows always going for the boring blonde haired girls over the much more interesting other girls! I blame Hollywood’s influence over the anime industry!

dl4uc0jw4aifp56 — I think you’ve had too much to drink if you’re that committed to the beer, oh you mean the *girl* named Asahi…

Of course you do. Now, are you actually made about this or is it just like your Re:Zero review and you’re intentionally blowing it out of the water for comedic effect? Shhh. But yes, while I would have liked for Satsuki to be happy I don’t really care enough to be invested in any of the relationships in this show. It’s not that the show is bad at writing characters for me to be invested in, it’s that the show doesn’t pace itself well enough for me to form a connection with anything other than the superficial—and when it does delve deeper it’s often too late. Also we’re introduced to a “new” character.

dl5yigaw4aagcar — Anyone else getting an Emma Watson vibe from Satsuki? Maybe *that*‘s why i like her so much…

Sprung that on me late, who are they? It’s Nozomi, the sixth member of Subaru and she’s super cute! Though personally I preferred her look back in the day what with the glasses and shy personality and all! Funnily enough I feel like the show is doing a better job at establishing the one-sided romantic connection between Nozomi and Takanori than it did any of the others respective romantic connections. The little flashback to their elementary school days spoke volumes in such a short span of time. But alas, things aren’t that simple…

dl3ymaiu0aalsyl — Nozomi is pretty cute!

What happens? Well Nozomi, after much convincing and reminiscing finally logs back into Re’Union—only to arrive at the dance to see Takanori dancing with Satsuki (they’re at the dance as friends, nursing each other’s broken hearts) but of course she misconstrues this and storms out of the dance only to be kidnapped by a busty woman and a creepy clown. Or rather more accurately, Gnosis—the evil guild who wants Asahi’s prophet art power for themselves!

I see… Hey, at least the plot is going again and we can hopefully forget about the whole ‘romance’ subplots for a little bit!

So, a final opinion on this episode? It’s well made as all the episodes have been but I don’t know, I just didn’t care about a lot what happened in this episode. Worst of all Takanori who’s been pining over Asahi and likewise Satsuki who has been likewise for Haruto both have their hearts broken by their respective interests and yet kinda just shrug it off? While it certainly helps to move the story forward I don’t think it rings true—rather it seemed like an opportunity to get two spurned lovers “together” to hasten the Nozomi subplot which will undoubtedly drive the rest of the season. And expediting the plot is fine and all but if it’s at the expense of believable character reactions then I wonder why so much was crammed into so little when previous episodes could have accommodated a better paced ‘grieving period’ for each respective lost relationship. Ah well, whatever, it’s still a decent show—just lacking the sheen it once had…