Episode 21 – Undead Unluck

Oh, the irony. The first episode of Undead Unluck in forever to not be riddled with pace-murdering flashbacks to previous episodes is the one that is, technically speaking, nothing but flashback. Or, maybe it’s more like time travel? Or, like, a shared dream hallucination? Either way, the point still stands.

The point, by the way, is that Undead Unluck is a wonderful anime that gets the chance to shine when Studio David’s baffling production choices aren’t cutting it short. “Memento Mori” is proof enough of that. After a brief prologue that has Anno explaining to Fuko that she is going to get her soul extracted from her body to dive into the absurdly giant book of Andy’s “biography” to learn more about his past — you know, another day at the office for a Union member — the entirety of this episode is focused on just that one story. Hundreds of years ago, Andy (who didn’t even go by “Andy”, then) ran with a gang of vigilantes across the United States as they tried to clean up the chaos left behind in the wake of the Civil War. That is where Fuko finds her long-lost partner and convinces him to let her into his life.

The only stick that this episode put into my craw was the ambiguity over what exactly Fuko was experiencing. The general setup made it seem like she was simply going to observe or experience his memories, but she ended up as an active participant in them. She’s not playing a minor or easily excusable role in history, either! Fuko joins up with Andy and helps run his crew for months, if not longer. The fact that she is influencing Andy’s life and personality in these “memories” makes them not function as a proper chronicle of what Andy’s life was like. Still, I’m also pretty sure that Fuko didn’t travel back in time in a literal sense. This is hardly a deal-breaker for me, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the show addressed my questions directly before too long, but my inability to properly contextualize the ramifications for Fuko and Andy’s Excellent Adventure was a teensy bit distracting, all the same.

Then again, I hardly have any right to complain because everything else about this episode was just so damned good. It might be one of my top three favorite episodes of the series, so far. Fuko and “Andy” have such wonderful chemistry in this story, and I was all about the moody Western atmosphere that Undead Unluck played with. The storytelling is just as sharp as ever; the moment where bandits burst in and suddenly gun down Andy’s entire crew is legitimately shocking, so much so that I yelped out loud when it happened! And that nighttime chat that Fuko and Andy share before the show implies that Andy might somehow be involved with the assassination of Abraham Lincoln (???) is sweet.

I’ve complained a lot about the show’s pacing issues recently, but don’t let that fool you into thinking that I’m not still head over heels for Undead Unluck. The moment where Fuko (maybe? possibly!?) creates a time paradox of undying love by telling Andy where and how to find her in the future is a scene that would earn my unquestioning loyalty under almost any circumstances. It’ll take a lot more than some wonky editing and a few too many recaps to keep me from spreading the Gospel of Undead Andy.

Rating:

James is a writer with many thoughts and feelings about anime and other pop culture, which can also be found on Twitter, his blog, and his podcast.

Undead Unluck is currently streaming on
Hulu.