Chapter 12 – Sabikui Bisco

After last week’s surprise, there aren’t many surprises left in Sabikui BiscoIt’s a bag of tricks, but you don’t need them to achieve a highly fungal, satisfying finish. In fact, it’s a credit to the construction of the story that this all feels as natural as it is. It’s an over-the-top highlight in a drawn-out, action-packed kaiju assault, yet it hits the right character beats and ties a neat bow on this season’s biggest threads. And at this point, all Sabikui Bisco what he really needed to do was not trip over himself to wrap up a solid adaptation, so that it could be considered as stable as bedrock.

To my chagrin, Bisco’s messianic return does get an explanation, but at least it fits in with the rest of the scenario. If I’ve already accepted that spore-coated arrows can spontaneously generate shell casings the size of skyscrapers, then it only takes a little mental effort to accept that pipe snake venom can turn you into an immortal mushroom man. The most important thing is that he is very gross. Bisco comments that he has to cleanse Rust Eater growths of himself regularly, and is in a hurry to find a cure for this unwanted boon of immortality, which is very personal to him. I had been wondering where the story could go now that one of his heroes is apparently unkillable, and this makes a lot of sense.

However, even with Bisco’s miraculous mycelium, it still takes all hands to defeat Kurokawa’s disgusting rust-spewing colossus. Personally, I wouldn’t have dragged out this confrontation for more than three weeks, and I think the pacing of the story would have been better served by fast-forwarding at least one more episodic travelogue to better acquaint us with our heroes and the oddities of this world. However, this conclusion has a collection of small and big moments that I really like. Tirol frantically flipping through Tetsujin’s user manual is a fitting joke for his mental acumen and total lack of combat prowess. Milo and Bisco naturally take the final blow with their brother and arrow combo, joining their bodies to send a final Rust Eater payload through Kurokawa’s skull.

However, Pawo definitely steals the show. I still find it amusing that the narrative seems so adamant about putting her, not her brother, with Bisco; I couldn’t tell if this is due to prejudice, cowardice, or some other factor. But if she’s going to do it, she’s at least doing it with a lot of poise. Never mind that she gets the best action scenario in this episode, launching herself up close and personal into Tetsujin’s huge cup and using her much-vaunted bar to snap her mask in two. Ella Frenches Bisco and then nonchalantly brags about having tasted the tongue of a walking deity. That’s pure action hero rude behavior. At the end of the day, I’m still Milo’s team, but Pawo is too good of a character to be mad at.

And Milo and Bisco bless us with the cutest moment at the end after winning the battle. Yes, Pawoo may have played tonsil hockey with him, but it’s Milo who snuggles up against Bisco’s chiseled chest to listen to the steady beat of his hyphal-enhanced heart. At no point in the episode is there any question that they’ll do everything together, from kicking Kurokawa’s big rusty butt to searching for a cure for immortality and spreading the good news about fungi (and spores) to the other prefectures of Japan. Despite all the cliffhanger of the second half of the season, they’re back to bickering like an old couple before long. It is nice! And that could honestly be the best word for Sabikui Bisco. It might make a lot of waves with its weird ideas and outrageous presentation, but overall it’s just a very nice and crowd-pleasing watch that works well with its source material.

As my last word on Sabikui Bisco as an adaptation and anime i really want to note how impressive and consistent it was on the production level. I think I may have voiced my objections too much in these reviews, but that’s only because the show was operating at a level where I could rate the animation and feel good about it. Because, as a whole, the show looks great! He emphasized character-rich character art and backgrounds throughout his run, and was able to inject kinetic energy where it counted. This ending, for example, has some really nice cuts. Consider the fallen Tetsujin shedding his rusty body from him, or Pawo slamming his sword against the giant mask. It’s even more impressive considering that this is OZ Studio‘s first main credit, though director Atsushi Ikariya is not a neophyte, and the team seems closely intertwined with the older and similarly named Studio AFFECTATION. This count of animators and animation directors it suggests a highly focused core staff, and the results speak for themselves.

The season ends with the outpost, which serves as a nice way to send off those characters and serves as a narrative scoring piece that hints at future adventures to come. While Imihama is settled now that he has Rust Eater galore and a governor who isn’t a total psychopath, the rest of Japan isn’t as thrilled about Milo and Bisco’s fungal proselytizing. The social rot that allowed Kurokawa to flourish is still out there, and they need to cure it with her own brand of good natural rot. I will surely be willing to pop more mushrooms if we are ever blessed with more Biscuitbut with its creative vision and focus on one-volume adaptation, this season does an admirable job on its own as one of the funniest action anime of the winter.

Classification:

Sabikui Bisco It is currently streaming on Crunchyroll and Funimation.

Steve can be found at Twitter if you want to read his Harem of the end of the world live tweet. Otherwise, catch him talking trash and treasure alike on This Week in Anime.