I think this episode of Pretty Boy Detective Club may be the one I found the most visually interesting. And if you have been following my posts you know that means a lot. The casino setting allowed to add a lot of lavish details. And of course, it also used the usual little visual oddities the series has been using so far. You know what, I also really liked the plot this week. I mean I kind of always like the plot of Pretty Boy Detective Club because it’s pure concentrated nonsense but I was in fact a little annoyed when the episode ended. I wanted to see the rest!
As you may have guessed from my first paragraph, there are going to be way too many screencaps in this post. Don’t worry, they are great!
So I’m not sure if J.J. Abrams was guest directing or what but man, Pretty Boy Detective Club certainly embraced the lens flares this week. I mean lense flares have been used in previous episodes as well which is always fun because animating lens flares is very different from creating them in live-action. And Pretty Boy Detective Club also uses recurring images of the light at the end of the tunnel, i.e. blinding white light framed by darkness like in that huh? image. But this week, they also added about 4 or 5 different degrees of lens flares throughout the episode. My favourite example was those super discreet hazy beams around the light bulbs in the Othello room. Light can be both illuminating or blinding! I just love how cheesy this show is!
And if you want to have a drinking game for Pretty Boy Detective Club, you can take a shot every time something or someone sparkles!
One last bit about the visuals. I’m both baffled and intrigued by the CG in this show. More specifically by what isolated moments the director is choosing to use CG for. We had some of the Othello moves in full and obvious 3d but not all of them. And the blend between the two seemed to be purposefully obvious. I find the effect is actually pretty great and I hope future shows use it more. However, so far I’m not quite getting the significance f these choices. Something about illusion and reality maybe Or maybe someone just thought it looked cool!
The very first thing I thought of when the episode started was: never trust an anime character with pink hair. They might not all be evil but one way or another, they’ll all get you in trouble! And I was right. I mean think. I guess we’ll see next week!
The first novel of Pretty Boy Detective Club which I have, only covers what we saw in the three first episode. It’s not a small book by any means but I have a very strong feeling something got seriously lost in translation. It’s not bad and there are a number of brilliant lines but they seem a bit dull. Whatever was lost, I have a feeling the anime is bringing back with the cinematic language and precise acting. Those exact same lines shine in the anime. I considered buying further volumes but now I would much rather see them animated.
As such, I’m super excited about the next episode. It was a strong and very playful start to the arc. This said, one of the few things I thought has been lacking so far is development for the boys. Now I know this isn’t that type of story. Classic character development is not a priority here. But I just like these weirdoes and want to get to know them better. Particularly Yubiwa. My current feeling is that the present arc is going to devolve in ridiculous bliss and we will not get a chance to do that at all. I hope future episodes will change that.
Heh, wearing glasses because her vision’s too good and she’d wear out her eyes otherwise… That’s definitely not something I could have ever expected to see in anime. The show’s just a lot of fun.
Agreed!