[DreamSword]

Episode #10: Approach

The struggle with Skrugg might be over, but the aftereffects are very much felt.

This episode is all about how everyone tries to regain some sense of normalcy after all the craziness that the Skrugg brought with them.

And some characters certainly fair better than others. Joey decides to utilize Heroman to aid in rebuilding Center City, Will has exiled himself from human society, and Lina tries to use her love of Joey in order to help heal her pain.

What results is definitely a much more slice-of-life style affair than what we've seen in awhile, and I rather dug it. While in a more realistic setting Lina's' behavior might be some cause for concern, in terms of standard romcom style storytelling, it was nice to see the girl trying to snag the guy for once.

There's also now the plot hook of the government trying to look into Heroman, because as it turns out, routinely doing charity work in the middle of the night is bound to grab the attention of someone out there; And that's not even getting into the Skrugg just suddenly blowing up from the perspective of anyone who wasn't there to witness what actually happened.

We also get introduced to a new player in all of this: Special Agent Hughes, who is going to go on to be a major character in the story from here on out, and the episode is not at all shy about letting you know it. But even with that, this episode is very much about setting up and easing the audience into the next section of Heroman's' story, just as the very first episode of the anime was for both the first arc and the show as a whole, and just like before, I really appreciate how it's done.

When I read a title like "Painful" I usually don't immediately think of a more laid back and somewhat humorous tune, but that's what this is. It's one of the more laid back themes that tends to play when the characters are doing their more day-to-day, silly interactions, which this episode was certainly full of. After all the intense drama of the Skrugg, having a more comedic bit of time with Lina was certainly an appreciated break.