I actually can’t find official confirmation that Island is one cour but with the Summer midseason fast approaching, this seems like a good spot to reevaluate my time with Island. Right now, I don’t feel like dropping the show so I may end up finishing it. But as far as coverage from me goes, this Episode Review will most likely be it for me. Pacing doesn’t really have anything to do with that decision. I mean, the last two episodes were rushed but in comparison, Episode 6 is smooth sailing. Rather, this song and dance about the show’s lore is getting old for me.
At six episodes, Island doesn’t seem willing to commit to some level of surrealism. Sometimes, it reveals stuff isn’t real. Other times, it’s like “Well maybe, there’s time travel. You just need to keep watching to find out…”. Being a mystery is fine and all but the problem is that there just isn’t enough concrete hints provided and some new information you do get just confounds things more. For example, you find out that in this episode that Rinne isn’t a time traveler. In reality, she believed this to repress a traumatic memory where she failed to save the original Setsuna from drowning. That’s fine except you still have to wonder what current Setsuna’s deal is. Is he simply suffering from a similar case of memory suppression? That would be the most straightforward answer but then what about those visions he’s getting? And for that matter, what about the island’s legend? Everyone insists it’s relevant to what’s going on but Island still presents a rather grounded world. Who knows if that’ll amount to anything.
At this point, I don’t trust anyone to make any sense of what’s going on. Rinne’s whole Setsuna fantasy just feels like that, a fantasy. Karen is just there for the ride. I thought Sara was maybe onto something and was being of great help to Setsuna but with these past two episodes, I’m convinced she is just making stuff up. Between her rambling about being her own mother and daughter and describing the fate of the universe as “Future Spaceship Earth”, it’s more likely that this girl has a case of chuunibyou than an actual understanding of theoretical science. For crying out loud, I think the cop guy gave us the most reliable information so far and that was the most random bit of worldbuilding I’ve seen in a while.
I’ll say this about Island, it does have its moments. Very surface-level, innocuous moments but still moments. Unsurprisingly, Rinne and Setsuna are hooking up but to be fair, they do look cute together. The bowling alley scene was pleasant and I was laughing out loud when they appeared with matching sunglasses. How everyone reacts to this development is pretty good too. I’m not sure why Kuon was mad for a bit (and I don’t really care) but when she asked Setsuna in writing if he and her daughter was having sex, I lost it. When it comes to pure slice of life, Island is pretty good. It is, however not strong enough to carry this show and for me to look past its increasingly tiresome tease towards science fiction. I don’t hate the anime enough to drop it entirely but right now, I don’t feel like dissecting it either.
Thanks for reading!
Island is officially available on Crunchyroll.
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