Anime Pilgrimage RTT

Angel Heart – episode 11

March 23, 2006 on 9:22 pm | In Angel Heart | Comments Off on Angel Heart – episode 11

“Family Time”

Despite its wildly off model animation, this episode of Angel Heart does a good job of healing some relationships. It bows to several instances of bizarre comedy, and there are some hurdles I can’t quite overcome, but I would place this episode on the side of good.

Umibozu finds Xin Hong vacuuming Cat’s Eye very early in the morning and essentially tells him that he’s a live in staff member. Shan In despairs in her bed because she doesn’t have a name, but when Xin Hong accidentally lets it slip all manner of carnage ensues.
Both Ryo and Xin Hong seem reluctant to tell Shan In that Master Li is her father, but Ryo sets them up on a day out in the city without telling Shan In who Li is.

The absolute first thing that must be noted is that Umibozu has to be blind as he’s wearing cat pyjamas. Everyone who knows anything about Umibozu knows that he’s deathly afraid of felines. The other thing is that Umibozu sleeps in his sunglasses. He’s just that hardcore, I suppose.

The core of the episode, beyond the sweet “you are my child” scene (and again, I feel that the father daughter relationship that Ryo and Shan In forge eliminates any possible creepiness between them), is the trip of Master Li and Shan In.
I’ve always found Master Li very hard to sympathise with because, while he is Shan In’s father, he was one of the pioneers of the “turn children into ruthless killers” scheme. It’s difficult to relate to him on anything approaching a human level because his actions as leader of a crime syndicate have been anything but humane.
So, on one level I can register some happiness at his deep thanks for Ryo. On another, he’s just a crime lord and Shan In will be better off without him. Saeba Ryo has always been about helping out people in an illegal fashion, but at least their illegalities have erred on the side of righteousness.

On other positive sides, Xin Hong looks to get along well with Saeba, even if the hospital scene was pure strangeness. Shan In is very quickly learning to enjoy herself, and that is clearly because of all of the good people that she has met in Kabuki-cho.

At the moment, even when Angel Heart is bad, it’s good. I really can’t fault that.