©若木民喜/みつみ美里・甘露樹(アクアプラス)/16bitセンセーションAL PROJECT
After last week’s unexpected jump, Mamoru finds himself preoccupied with the year 1985. While one might reasonably expect his quickness to operate similarly on the passage of time in Konoha , referring to historically important bishoujo titles, that eventually ceased to be an important factor. It was foreshadowed in the way that this side story began in the previous episode, Tenshi-tachi no Gogo received a series-filed-off version of itself presented in place of the historical artifact. This exact match is less important than the ideas Mamoru is arguing for. The bishoujo game was just getting started in the mid-80s and it was the creative fire that was being prepared all over Akihabara that this episode was going to be about, just waiting for the spark to fly.
Even by Another Layer’s extremely wacky standards, this is a strange episode. In a good way. Almost the entire cast, including Konoha, was eliminated, leaving nothing but Mamoru and two extras, along with a dog, all named “Echo”. The rules seem familiar at first, Mamoru is encouraged to join game development at the so-called “Echosoft”, much like Konoha at Alcohol Soft, after the completion of which promises a return trip to his homeland . But from the beginning, Mamoru handled things very differently from Konoha.
Not only is Mamoru less of an outright disaster than Konoha, but he’s simply not interested in communicating and interacting with others the way she is. He comfortably buried himself in his newfound role as programmer at Echosoft, reducing his contact with Echoes to worker-like communication or prefabricated reactions of raw numbers. It’s easy to imagine a jerk like Konoha enjoying the Echo Two’s adorable cosplay antics, but it’s rare to ask Mamoru to hold up signs indicating his level of approval. He was less interested in other games released in 1985, not just because there were fewer choices in this era, but because he was simply less interested in the commercial components of the genre. bishoujo art is evolving compared to the raw computing techniques that bring them to life..
That approach allows 16bit Sensation to strongly promote its trademark edutainment elements. Like so many others who were taking advantage of technology at the time, Echo One was not the type to let the simplicity of 80s PC programming slow him down. Witness the magic of “wrap scanning” that allows crude hand-drawn work to be transferred to pixels on the screen. Watch him compose music for the game entirely using the Music Macro Language input. This is the old game developer, the kind of no-shortcuts approach made possible only by actual programmers whose purity Mamoru espoused in this show’s third episode. He handles things quite well, but he still has that innate human curiosity that makes both him and the audience wonder “What’s really going on here?”
This is the storytelling pinnacle that 16bit Sensation seeks to overcome in this episode: Realizing that all the technical know-how and programming wizardry is needed to create works of art as smoothly as bishoujo games and novels intuitive, but that alone cannot guarantee an impactful story. It becomes clear that Echoes are some kind of aliens seeking to understand human fantasy through the immortal cultural underpinnings of erotic gaming. The final part of this episode thus becomes a meditation on the nature of imagination and its place in the broader human condition. The episode doesn’t become too existential by other standards, but makes smart use of Mamoru’s more muted, measured responses to probe these questions in a way that Konoha’s boasting might. may not be suitable.
It also has a good effect. of Mamoru, as his more consistently technical approach raises the question of whether he has any more imaginative power than his alien hosts. The answer is “of course” with confidence. The desire to tell stories, to create something that doesn’t quite exist so you can share that experience with others, is an innate part of any human experience. It explodes in earnest recognition of how Akihabara can be hailed as a landmark—not simply a mecca for otaku franchises, but the embodiment of the sheer joy of creativity. Creation allows anything to be possible. Arguably that’s what allows Mamoru to make his time travel back. It’s not about completing a game but simply completing any kind of story, spanning across the ages.
It’s beautifully presented in a way that’s as understated as Mamoru’s character, but no less accomplished. This episode was written and directed by Keiichi Sasajima, who brings to the piece a confident simplicity that matches its minimalist cast and material. To me, the use of still frames and easy cuts immediately recalls Akiyuki Simbo’s work at SHAFT, but Sasajima’s implementation feels less showy. It’s a presentation that lends itself to the kind of straightforward philosophical musings that would be right at home in an experimental small-group visual novel. The strangely introspective aliens (who will likely be integral to the story of Another Layer in the future) are an integral part of it. It’s a somewhat unexpected sidebar, adding another layer to this increasingly piling up story.
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The alien Echo has been lurking around the entire Other Class plot for a while of course. They get their first glimpse of Konoha returning to its own time. Echo Two was seen in the background a few times. And the dog Echo has directly interfered with Konoha multiple times, including taking away her Kizuato clone in the third episode, leading to her second time travel. Speaking of Echoes, their time-shifted status is hinted at by things like Echo Two’s cosplay choices. Her outfit is reminiscent of Big One from JAKQ Dengekitai (1977 Super Sentai series) and Card Captor Sakura (manga series started in 1996 and adapted into anime in 1998). These designs are as generic as the replica of the “Gogo no Tenshi-tachi” they summoned Mamoru with, but they are still recognizable enough to suggest that the group may have jumped back in time a bit before when it landed in 1985. Too bad Mamoru wasn’t as much of an anime fan as Konoha, as the show picked up in the summer of 1985 was absolutely iconic. Hokuto no Ken, Urusei Yatsura, Captain Tsubasa, Zeta GTA and Dr. Slump will both be on the air along with several others. For my money, the biggest deal was that July 1985 would bring the premiere of one of my favorite animated movies ever: The TV series The Dirty Pair.
16bit Sensation: Another Layer is now streaming on Crunchyroll.
Chris mostly knows many of the characters in this VN game from the fighting games they appear in. You can find him musing about any number of gaming, anime and manga topics on the blog, as well as posting way too many screenshots of them for as long as it takes. Twitter allow.