© Konami Digital Entertainment / Suikoden : The Anime Project
Episode 6 of Suikoden: The Anime takes its time with a simple premise, yet its delivery is more than the sum of its parts.
This week’s activities are a mosaic of minor character moments. The heroes set out to enlist the help of Shu, a master strategist who is reluctant to join in their battle against the Highland army. By the end they have managed to bring him on board through sheer conviction and a bit of help from the quietly supportive Richmond. By the end they’re planning the defense of the castle against the army and that’s about all there is to say.
But I think the totality of the effect is quite strong. The task Shu gives is quite the interesting one, finding the silver coin in the river. It’s an impossible test under almost any circumstance, and yet the heroes succeed because they have impressed upon Richmond that there is more to their story. You could read this as them cheating to succeed or an illegitimate win but I think that’s not the correct read. Shu has this impossible task as a barrier to the requests of average John and Jane Does, but Riliu and company are more than that. We know it’s because they are the main characters in the series of course – in-text though it is because their drive to succeed impresses upon Richmond that there is something special about them.
More importantly, it is clear that their inability to find the coin is not for lack of effort. Shu’s task is so obviously ridiculous that only the foolhardy would even try. So of course our heroes try anyway, staying late into the night, digging through the muddy river waters until they can only see by torchlight. That is the special factor that leads Richmond and others to lend them a little aid. It is instructive because the banding together of disparate peoples to lend their unique talents to fight off overwhelming force is exactly what the City-States need to do to face off against the Highland army.
Whether the plan will work out next week or not remains to be seen. For all his pre-amble I’m not entirely convinced by Shu’s plan. “Go start a rumor real quick that will lead an entire section of the army to defect at the exact moment we need them too,” is… a little flimsy as far as defensive plans go. Not to mention it is unclear how the diversionary attack force led by Riliu is even meant to get out and behind the opposing army? This all feels a little too convenient for my liking.
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