Rumble Garanndoll ep 2: Burn up my passion!
After a strong opening, Rumble Garanndoll take it slow with plenty of character development in the 2nd one for both our main characters – Hosomichi the Host and Rin – our resident genki denchi shoujo.
We are introduced to the headquarters of the “Resistance” aka Arahabaki- so you should be able to guess where there headquarter is. That’s right! The holy land of otakus – Akihabara District, but now reduced to rubble due to the war by the Shinkoku Japan regime. We are also introduced to…uh…”extra” personnel in the resistance, who for some reason all wearing a daikon? facemask. Well, it’s clear that they are literally mobs to be comic relief and henchmen. Kinda feel bad for them though. From the way they welcome Rin and Yamada, Rin must be the local idol girl, since she’s a Denchi shoujo as well as a literal bubbling genki girl.
Hosomichi – after that hot-blooded battle – became complete flatten. He doesn’t wanna fight and just want to hightail it outta there asap. However, his debt collector won’t let him go that easily, and basically sold him off as a pilot for the Arahabaki Resistance in exchange for money. Although he is reluctant, he has to do it. While it’s unclear the reason why he fears Munakata so much, the dude must really have it out for him. And here comes the good part
There are three major exchanges between Rin and Hosomichi this episode. The first one, Rin tried to convince Hosomichi to fight alongside her, because only a person that know of Emperor Zaburn – an old tokusatsu show – can resonate with Rin’s passion (since noone else seems to know about it). Hosomichi was the person that Rin didn’t expect to find and she’s beyond excited to find another of her kin. However, Hosomichi coldly turn her down. And she was left dejected.
Then the 2nd time, after being pressured by Munakata, Hosomichi had no choice but to tell Rin he’s gonna fight. But this time, he does it in his “Host” mode. He took off his glasses and switch on his “smooth talk” mode, treating Rin just like his female customers. And of course, when he “switches on”, his words are just empty flatters and no heart. Even then, he made a major mistake and Rin definitely notices it. But even so, she wanted to believe…
Then the 2nd time, after being pressured by Munakata, Hosomichi had no choice but to tell Rin he’s gonna fight. But this time, he does it in his “Host” mode. He took off his glasses and switch on his “smooth talk” mode, treating Rin just like his female customers. And of course, when he “switches on”, his words are just empty flatters and no heart. Even then, he made a major mistake and Rin definitely notices it. But even so, she wanted to believe…
But then the cat’s out of the bag. There are no true “passion” in Hosomichi’s fighting spirit. He’s shut out his heart and treat this as a business deal. Which is why Shark-1 wasn’t able to activate and Arahabaki almost lost to the Shinkoku Army if it wasn’t for Commander Tanaka (who is cosplaying a mascot character for some reason). And Hosomichi is left wondering why Rin act that way. And we, as the viewers, was told the answer: The emblem that Rin drew wasn’t Zaburn, but Hosomichi. The fact that he blurted out that sentence has sowed the seeds of doubt inside her heart. Can Hosomichi recover from this?
Great episode for world-building and character development. We get a brief intro about the Arahabaki force and Rin’s background and motivation as well. Rin’s passion is very relatable to all of us, especially young teens and adults that did or is currently feel that way about “Otaku Culture”, about simple dreams when we were young. Hosomichi is a reflection of the current real life working class, putting on pretense just to pass the day. Looking forward to how these two personalities support each other!
