Ilycied's Anime Blog: Outbreak Company 08

Everybody has a story

A fantastic Petrarca-centric episode with character backstory, drama, and humor in true Outbreak fashion.
I have to admit that before this episode, I wasn't exactly a fan of Petrarca. Sometimes it's easy to forget that everybody has a story of their own, especially when there's been little focus on Petrarca up until now. But with the knowledge of her past, it's a lot easier to forgive her immature actions and lack of empathy.

In this episode we have Petrarca skipping work, locking herself in her room and becoming a hikikomori. Galious reveals the bloody fraticidal carnage that his parents caused in a play for power. You can tell how bitter, resentful, and traumatized he is, after all, he's also pretty young - not as young as Petrarca perhaps, but far too young to be doing what he is doing. In the end, Petrarca is just a young child forced into adult responsibilities.

Shinichi's solution to Petrarca's stress is simple yet brilliant - letting someone find out things own their own and make their own choices, as opposed to being told what to do, is the best way to teach them, after all. There's that saying about teaching a man to fish...

Ironically, although this was Petrarca's episode, the best moment of this episode was Shinichi's reflection on his experiences and hikikomori past. It was crushingly realistic and a dark reminder of how easily people can slip through the gaps the gaps of society. It doesn't take mental disorders or tragic accidents to destroy someone's life ... something as simple and trivial as teen drama or peer pressure can be enough to trigger the slide into despair. And as Shinichi says, sometimes the door gets to heavy to open by yourself.

Of course, Outbreak Company sticks to its roots and doesn't forget to throw in a few gags - the main gag of this episode was Myuseru's mind collapsing at the thought of Shinichi staying at Petrarca's, and the rest of the cast starving as a result. This is why learning to cook is important! The horror stories of college students starving on cup noodles are actually true, after all. Then again, if I had Myuseru cooking for me I probably wouldn't cook either...