Active Raid

Episode 9

Active Raid pulled off another strong episode this week, and did it even while moving Logos' very silly organization to the forefront. The show is steering towards its endgame now, and though there have been some missteps and dull episodes along the way, it still possesses strong ideas and a sharp understanding of dramatic structure. The stage is finally being set for a simultaneously scifi-silly and politically ruthless finale.

This episode focused on Dog, one of the lesser Logos members, who'd been responsible for several of the organization's early strikes. In contrast to the even-tempered Mythos and Bird, Dog was clearly the loose cannon of the group, and when he lost interest in Logos' long-term mission, he quickly turned to robbing banks and jewelry stores for his own amusement. This episode's early scenes established his unique Willwear, an altered fishing-type craft codenamed “Fisherman,” which fought with harpoons and holographic mirages of undersea life. But Dog's companions soon tired of his acting out, and so sent a mafia squad to kill off their former ally.

Dog survived this encounter by using one of his three stolen deep-freeze grenades, and that's where the episode's politics got sticky. Swearing revenge on his former companions, he ran to the city's governor, who he knew was secretly in contact with Logos. The governor agreed to give up information on Logos, but under one condition - Dog had to retrieve a disc holding evidence of the governor's corruption from the hands of Inagi, Rin's old friend in the government.

The rest of this episode played out as a satisfying series of collisions, with all the various parties involved grappling for control of the Willwears, the evidence, and the future government. Inagi planned to use the evidence he'd received to bolster his own future gubernatorial campaign, and Rin was ready to support this plan, but for the moment neither of them could overtly go against the governor's directives. Meanwhile, Dog continued to act out as a childish wildcard, rushing from stealing the evidence to picking up a new girlfriend and ultimately hiding out in the sunken quicksand district. The ways the various organizations here all expressed their power within their means was very compelling; in the context of Dog's tantrums, crime felt almost like an elemental force, whereas the government's movement to hide its own corruption was the true antagonist. While Unit 8 had to stretch all their available powers to get approval for pursuing the enemy, the actual tip-off to his location came when his new gal pal turned her phone on. “Is it an SOS?” Rin wondered, before quickly acknowledging “or… she might just be stupid.”

The episode's final battle was also very satisfying, as Rin finally got to take the stage in her own Willwear. Her robot's powers were far more distinctive than most of the team - her quick dashes of speed and light defensive capabilities seemed like a perfect fit for the most quick-witted member of the team, and the way she interrogated Dog as she tried to overwhelm him with speed was a legitimately thrilling moment. There was a well-earned combat victory and a narrow escape, and in the end things resolved about as well as they can when you're a lowly government official - no big victories, but at least the status quo doesn't get any worse.

When Active Raid is totally on, it can be a very compelling show. The themes may be a little pat and the aesthetics mostly just functional, but it certainly knows how to construct a satisfying and smartly composed adventure. And the fact that the first episode of what will clearly be the final arc was so solid is a very good sign; if the show can keep this up through the end, it'll end up being a fine procedural drama.

Overall: A-

Active Raid is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Nick writes about anime, storytelling, and the meaning of life at Wrong Every Time.