Random Til The Very End -18if Season Finale Review

The randomness of this damn show seems to be just as strong as episode 1 and been damn consistent in that alone. The quality, tone, style, and plot (or lack thereof) have been as variable and different as one could imagine. The second half of the season had a few random kick ups and the last three episodes actually had a somewhat cohesive plot that sort of kinda explained who and what this show was supposed to be about.

The seventh episode kicked in with a very interesting CG style art direction with the plot following Pol and Pot, and their adventures through life. We find our Haruto and Professor Dio K as a Scarecrow and Lion respectively, with Pol being a lovely rendition of the Tin Man in his older form re-living these memories of Pol’s childhood with Pot, his best friend/man servant and Nene, an interesting girl. We later find out that Pol was some sort of murderous nutter and dictator, killing Pot and later coming to terms with it in a pseudo-nuclear explosion. My whole reaction on this was that I was far too sober for the episode. I did feel it was a different touch as Haruto didn’t seduce the Witch. This time. How much of this is real and how much is drawn from the French Revolution and the Khmer Rouge I have no clue, however I found a new level of detail in this show that demonstrates that when they want to, animation can be well done.

 

Episode 8 was exceptionally confusing and all I got out of this was that we had Dio playing guitar and that deaf people can be super damn impressive. Episode 9 goes pretty crazy because it starts with some censoring and a very brutal sounding shanking of an idol before the OP even rolls. And so we are back to the world of insane witches, perpetrating the joke about “First Rate Idols Don’t Go To The Bathroom.” We have our witch (the apparent shanking victim) as a Drill Instructor-esque Idol Trainer. There are not one, not three, but two burning crotch scenes and vomiting of rainbows with is always funny. We find out that Haruto this time got turned into a chick and when discovered to be a man, counter-seduced his favorite idol. My personal highlight of this was Haruto unleashing his “Stand” in the form of a dick-genie.

 

And we’re surreal af again for this episode 10 dream, with some Trigger level art randomness. Additionally a dancing montage with Lily, Haruto, Kanzaki, and the witch, who ends up being a famous artist known as Hana (Jane Doe in the translation) which explains the rather beautiful art choices. Once again however, we are left with more questions than answers for the show. The show however hints at the fact that Haruto has been asleep longer than most would remember.

With episodes 11-13 we’ve got a fun bit of random that leaves us with some direction of the show and where it’s going. We are introduced to the Thorn Cross Association, led by a fun dude who looks like a Gundam villain (and dies comically like one) and the concept of the goddess Eve. Eve, as in the biblical Eve of Adam and Eve. After fighting the second to last boss in the form of Yurina (Kanzaki’s sister and idol extraordinaire) we find our protagonists ready to face off with Eve, Lily’s alternate self post-apple in the Garden of Eden. Yup, turns out Lily is actually the pure form of Eve, before becoming tricked. Eve, intent on destroying the world looks like she’ll be in for a tough fight however absolutely unlike any Shonen, we have the witches show up and TALK to her. Not only is talking/peaceful discourse the first plan, its SUCCESSFUL. Through a combination of logic and variations of pet names, she decides to peacefully merge with Lily and take Haruto off to another plane of existence, causing Haruto to die IRL. When looked for further, Kanzaki couldn’t locate him and the other witches had a working theory that he was/is now Adam. Make sense to you? Me neither.

This is where the show leaves off. I had about 5 questions when I went into this show like “What is it about?” and “Why is Dio a cat?” and “What the hell is 18if supposed to mean?” Not only did I not get answers to this question, I instead got another 5-10 questions per episode that didn’t get answered. The show can be summed up as “plot holes” or “loose ends” and I just can’t find anything else that really hits home to describe it. The animation was good at times but a vast majority of it was either too surreal or awful for me to enjoy it. The OD and ED for all the episodes however were very good with about half of them being on my Spotify playlists now. Did you guy’s follow this drug trip? Did you enjoy or understand the madness? Let me know in a comment or leave a like unless you want to be thrown to your death from a 50ft lily stem!