Caught up on the block.
Wasn't a fan of this Samurai Champloo episode. The campfire scene at the beginning where Fuu told the others to say what had changed about them felt blunt and obvious, like the show hadn't done enough with the characters up to that point and was hastily making up for it. Sure, it seems like something Fuu would do, but to me it just put a spotlight on how I don't actually feel like I know these characters very well. And I think as a result, it made the plot developments feel equally as hasty; the reveal of who Fuu's father is and why she's after him and how this was all being watched by the government is a slapdash way to start wrapping things up. Placing their journey in a larger context also abandons a lot of the simplicity that I appreciated about their little quest; I liked that they weren't trying to save the world, and that they weren't being relentlessly pursued.
I'm also iffy on how Iron-Blooded Orphans handled the scene where our main characters shoot unarmed prisoners. While they're doing what's necessary in the moment, I don't think that's where these events should philosophically conclude; there's plenty to say about what's necessary, and I'd argue those things SHOULD be said because just leaving it as "we did what we had to do" can be reductive in the wrong context. And since the episode made a joke right after those shootings and then cut to a scene where Orga is just such a swell guy because he gives people their severance pay, I don't know if I trust the show to go where I think it needs to go; it feels like it's shoving these rather troubling things off to the side so we can get giant robots blowing shit up.
