Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok Episode 2 Commentary
The Allies of Justice are Totally Broke?!
He can be a mythical detective all he wants, but I’m calling Loki a mahou shounen, a magical boy, now.
Loki’s position is as banished god is starting to be revealed, which means there should be a plot, something that’s been lacking in a few series I’ve watched (and haven’t written about) lately. The godly revelations in this episode of course bring questions, beyond Loki’s wondering why Odin wants him killed.
First, Loki says Yamino should know Narugami. Just how does Yamino know Loki? Was he Loki’s helper in the god world? If so, was he exiled with Loki? Or did he end up being sent to the human world when Loki was banished there? Or did he willfully enter the human world to join and assist his master? If the latter, then what does he know, if anything, about returning to the god world?
As for Narugami, he’s Thor and he can’t get home. He wasn’t made into a child as Loki was, so he probably wasn’t banished, himself. Does this mean he went to the human world by choice? What reason did he got to the human world? If Narugami and Yamino both went to the human world of their own decision, then it would be understandable for Yamino to not know the way back if Narugami doesn’t.
The character of Narugami has a chance to be a rival for both Loki and Yamino, but I’m not sure yet if Yamino isn’t too laid back of a person to find himself in a rivalry, and I don’t know if Narugami would bother competing as a cook. When with comes to Loki’s staff and Narugami’s wooden sword, and combating evil, on the other hand… Otherwise, Narugami’s entrance portrayed him as a rather cool character, and I hope he’s able to keep that up. It’d be nice for me to have two favorite characters in a story.
Naturally, being a child limits Loki’s strength. He actually has to snap his fingers to put Mayura to sleep, and the whole process probably takes a good whole second longer than if his magic wasn’t stinted. I don’t know anything about Norse mythology, so I don’t know if the mythical Loki had any powers. What kind of powers did the magical boy Loki have back before he was demoted? I also wonder if Narugami will be magical boy himself, with Thor mythically being the thunder god.
Overall, this episode felt more “common” and less “distinct” than the first episode did, and I’m hoping for some episodes with more use of camera movements and palette seen in the first episode. I’m also hoping for more “investigate something and find the evil there” and less “let’s trot around the high school”. I also hope episodes won’t devolve into, 1) a strange mystery is discovered by Mayura, 2) Loki unwillingly investigates, 3) Loki finds evil (most likely out to kill Loki), 4) Loki uses his powers to control Mayura in some way, 5) Loki defeats the evil, 6) repeat for next episode. Thankfully, this episode didn’t have a deus ex machina character.
I can’t let another episode go by without asking: What’s with the hair colors? Loki’s hair looks fine. Narugami’s hair looks fine. There are no issues here. But Yamino has green hair. Maybe that relates to him potentially being from the god world, okay. Or maybe it’s a shade of black, as random students have black, dark gray, brown, light brown, greenish-blue, purple, and burgundy hair colors. Mayura’s hair? Pink.
Speaking of Mayura, she sported swirly-eyes glasses while in the school at night. Setting aside how the group entered what should probably be a locked indoor school (perhaps some shounen mahou by Loki unlocked door?), what purpose does wearing the glasses hold? Does Mayura have slightly bad vision, making it harder to see at night, or were the glasses only used in the one scene as a gag, to show her geeky enthusiasm for strange mysteries?
This episode gave Mayura a good number of “anime faces”, with different styles. It fit well into the episode, but also contributes to the overall “normal” feel of the episode.
The opening theme has me curious about Loki. He’s seen emerging from the water with glowing red eyes, and an almost sadistic smile. The glow fades, and his mouth turns to an uninterested frown, his face becoming lackluster, and the boat carrying someone floats by. Who is this? That can’t be Mayura, can it? Mayura’s always so lively and cheerful.
The person on the boat looks uninterested, uninspired, perhaps lonely. She looks at a feather, shown later in the opening theme to be from one of Loki’s wings. And who is the cute-looking girl with the short, brown hair?
I’m put to wonder, will Loki reveal his true self to her? Or will he keep is a secret, as there’s no reason for her to know it? And what if her involvement with the Enjaku Detective Agency puts her life at too much risk?
If Narugami is an ally of justice, why might he be after Loki?
