Akiba'S Trip The Animation

Episode 6

Tamotsu has never been one to follow mainstream tastes, and his need to be different even applies to getting a new computer. Sure, a new store in town is selling high-end models for cheap, but why wait in line when you can build your own PC from the ground up? As a finishing touch to his custom machine, Tamotsu installs an experimental operating system with its own artificial intelligence. It doesn't take long for him to give it a name and fall in love, much to Mayo's annoyance. Of course, when evil computers merge into a giant robot and start terrorizing the city, an upgraded version of Tamotsu's beloved “Pyuko” may be the team's only hope.

If you've ever watched an anime character fall in love with an android or an AI, then the pattern of this story should seem pretty familiar. Boy meets computer, boy falls in love with computer, computer sacrifices itself to protect boy. The standalone episodic format doesn't leave much room for Akiba's Trip to deviate from the basic formula, so it's a little too easy to guess how the story will play out. That being said, it's still kind of a cute little plot arc, and the Professor's comments about preserving memories seem appropriate at the end. We even get the classic sad glance over Tamotsu's shoulder at the place where Pyuko used to be.

That nugget of sentimentality at the end is helped along by some charming humor earlier in the episode. I love the way that every part of Pyuko's design is a little clunky. Her on-screen avatar is as cheap and simple as can be, and her robot body looks like a really wide refrigerator with legs. It's a much more fun choice than giving her a full-on anime face or a shapely android body, and it plays into the homemade appeal of the custom PC. Since we only get the basic outline of the “build your own computer” process, the aesthetic tie-in is a welcome one. Instead of a sleek product from a big company, Pyuko actually looks like what you'd get from a handful of nerds tinkering with computer parts.

While the tale of Tamotsu and Pyuko is entertaining in its own simple way, I can't help but notice that it doesn't do much to advance the overall plot. We don't even get a brief appearance by the show's mysterious antagonist this time around, and the conflict with the Bugged Ones is starting to fade away into the background. It's the same situation on the character development front, with precious little new information about the protagonists to be found. The result is an episode that feels too much like a mid-season filler piece, the kind of thing a series might toss into the mix to stretch its story out to the required number of episodes. It's far from the worst thing in the world, but I do worry that we're starting to lose the plot here.

Disposable or not, this episode does at least represent a modest improvement over last week. Akiba's Trip is getting back into slightly more obscure hobbies, and it's even managed to deliver some decent comedy without leaning on the “strip your enemies” premise. With the otaku content back on track, it feels like there's a reason to watch the show again. So now the big question is where the series will go from here. Tamotsu can only dabble in so many pastimes before the audience starts feeling the need for tangible narrative content.

Rating: B-

Akiba'S Trip The Animation is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.