Black Torch Ep.02 - Partnership built, now the real story. Low angles!

Episode 2 of Black Torch picks up with Jirou being quite literally carried by Ichika to the hospital for recovery and for his inevitable recruitment into the government's special anti-mononoke forces. Of course, Jirou doesn't want to leave before talking with his grandfather, so he sneaks out of the hospital and...

...gets thrashed by his grandfather, Azuma Toshimasa, who was actually a member of this Bureau of Espionage and fought for most of his life against humans and mononoke alike. He doesn't want to see his grandson controlled by a mononoke and decides it's better to kill him there.

Ichika doesn't ask, just takes home the things she likes. Here seen doing the same with Jirou. Nothing to see here!

Now guys, first episode we could say it was a coincidence, but this episode has lots of these shots too. Ichika, I love you!

Of course, things mellow out after a few beats and the grandfather accepts Jirou's "partnership" with Ragou and entrusts him to the Bureau. The leader of the Bureau, Shiba Ryousuke, seemed to actually appreciate the fact that he sneaked out and went home because he needs people with that attitude in his group.

There is nothing revolutionary in the developments here, and I'm sure it won't be a "memorable" anime, but the way the show delivers each beat reminds me again of old-school action anime series like Busou Renkin from 2006, and I like it. You know how simple is good sometimes.

We didn't get to see much of Ichika's personality in this episode aside from a few bits at the beginning, but what we did get was a lot of low-angle shots, just like the first episode. I'm guessing we need to get used to them; I actually like it, but sometimes it feels a bit too obviously placed. Like, you know, she's sitting down and the camera is straight to the ground looking up from behind...

Next episode will show the first integration of Jirou within the organization, and we'll probably get to know Ichika better. She's likely going to be his "trainer," considering she's experienced in the position. I expect some harsh regimen to start with, but I'm curious to see if they introduce some of the other main characters too.

So she stayed with him for a day and half straight? That's impressive in a way. What did she doing during this time?

My reaction was sort of like Ragou to be honest, poor cat getting recruited without approval. Also that headbutt was...

The final shot of the ED animation shows a total of five people: three males (including Jirou) and two females (including Ichika). Of course, that doesn't mean it's the full group, but they are definitely going to be the main characters of the story. The new girl seems to be less of an "action" type though—maybe support from the backlines with information?