Outbreak Company - 02

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In this episode of Outbreak Company, Shinichi learns more about the Holy Eldant Empire and continues to teach Miusel to read and write.  Meanwhile, Petrarca expresses her interest in learning about otaku culture.

I’m really impressed with how business-oriented Shinichi is.  Thinking about “valuable research data” he might gain from having Bluk and Miusel play his favorite games and read the manga he’s chosen is very business-focused.  That’s something I wouldn’t necessarily give a NEET credit for thinking of, but here this kid is doing just that.

This episode deals with a lot of culture shock.  What Shinichi may have found perfectly acceptable in a manga—a ruler treating a servant as someone of lower status and intelligence simply by dint of their station—he clearly cannot handle in reality, especially when the one being ridiculed and degraded is someone he’s learned to call a friend (and may even be developing feelings for).  He’s also quite surprised that very few of the citizens of the Holy Eldant Empire can’t read or write—and a bit disheartened by that fact, since it will make spreading otaku culture more difficult.  I’m really looking forward to seeing how he overcomes that hurdle.

What is this culture shock going to mean for the plot, though?  Will Shinichi begin changing things in the Holy Eldant Empire (whether intentionally or unintentionally)?  We’ve already seen that his brazen attitude and his desire to speak his mind about injustices he perceives in their culture entertains Petrarca more than anything else.  But will that amusement turn into action?  Will Shinichi’s views on social order trickle into the other realm’s society?

I’d, finally, like to mention the little one-eyed lizard that has appeared in both episodes of Outbreak Company so far (screencapped above).  When it appeared in the first episode, I remember thinking it was more than just a lizard, perhaps a robot or spy of some kind.  Now that it’s appeared again, and so prominently, I think one of these assumptions has to be true.  The lizard appearing in various places, coupled with Shinichi’s last line in this episode, “But unbeknownst to us, something vile was stirring,” leads me to believe that some real conflict is going to begin soon.

Outbreak Company Episode 3 Preview

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