Psyren ‒ Episode 4
You can't have a battle shonen from the 00's without a training arc, and that's more or less the name of the game this week as Ageha learns all about PSI. Such arcs are obviously a necessary evil when it comes to setting up the ground rules of future fights, but it doesn't really help with making them any less slow. With this show also being part mystery, it can't really afford the loss in momentum a lengthy training arc would provide, so thankfully the anime staff seem to have understood this. Even with the heavy focus on training, the show still mostly keeps the new mysteries coming, and that makes all the exposition a lot easier to sift through.
The most immediate of those mysteries is Nemesis Q's desire to keep any details about Psyren secret from those not participating in its game. We see what happens to those who don't, as one of the other players who escaped with Ageha gets killed when he attempts to leak those secrets to an elderly billionaire named Elmore Tenjuin. He's also not the only player to end up in Nemesis Q's crosshairs as these attempts to expose Psyren to the public introduces us to our newest member of the main cast, a popular celebrity named Oboro. Unlike the others we've met so far who are mostly interested in solving the mystery of Psyren to cash in on Elmore's reward, Oboro seems to be a bit of a manchild and sees this mystery as a way to alleviate his boredom. When he decides to talk about Psyren on a live show, the only thing that saves him from being killed is the intervention of Elmore herself, who not only seems to know a bit about Nemesis Q, but also how to use PSI. At the moment it's hard to know how direct her connection to Psyren is, but the reward she's offering for information would suggest that at the very least, she doesn't know everything. If that's the case, though, it also means the use of PSI isn't limited to the participants of the game, which further adds to the question of who's responsible for Psyren's creation.
All that brings us back around to learning more about PSI itself, which is where most of the episode slows down. The whole division of psychic powers between telekinesis, psychokinesis and physical abilities is all pretty solid for the purposes of a battle shonen power system, but it is one that has quite a bit of overlap with how Ninjutsu works in Naruto, so it doesn't stand out much on its own. That lack of distinction isn't really helped by the training arc itself being pretty formulaic, as Ageha predictably spends most of it failing to grasp the fundamentals until the show implies he's carrying some dangerous power that hasn't fully awakened yet.
There's nothing wrong with sticking to formula, and this is neither the first or the last battle shonen series to borrow from its contemporaries, but until we get some actual fights, it'll need to do more to distinguish itself.
There is one positive to all this training, though, which is getting a few more casual interactions between Ageha, Sakurako and Hiryu. Since Sakurako didn't really get to do much in the first couple of episodes beyond hinting at some trauma, it is at least fun to see that underneath the mask of ice she wears in front of her classmates, she can also be a bit of a goofball. Watching her try to teach the boys with puppets was especially charming, and it's nice to see a different side of her character. We also discover that on top of her experiences in Psyren, she hasn't exactly had the best home life either. She's been left to live by herself while her parents are both off having their own individual affairs, and learning how little either cared about her has only added to how emotionally distant she's become compared to when Ageha and Hiryu knew her as kids. It's good characterization, but that also makes me a little disappointed that the anime opted to cut a bit of internal narration from Ageha where he processes how Sakurako has been affected by her parents' apathy. Since this adaptation is a bit pressed for time, and Ageha's facial expressions work as a decent enough reaction, I can see why it probably wasn't deemed necessary to keep. Still, it did add a little more to both characters, and since the series is otherwise pretty light on characterization overall, I do wish it had stayed.
What's getting increasingly harder to reconcile with, though, is the production, which is really starting to suck the joy out of the rest of the show. It was a little easier to handwave in the first couple of episodes were there were at least a couple of passable action scenes, but when even an exposition heavy episode like this one has some jank, it's harder to be forgiving. It's especially bad during the scene where Nemesis Q attempts to silence Oboro. Rather than getting a detailed shot of him collapsing from a heart attack, the camera just awkwardly shakes a couple of times and it's so bizarre that it bordered on unintentional comedy. Since there were a couple of solid action cuts in the trailers, I really wanted to believe the animation would improve. However it's getting increasingly harder not to notice that a couple of those shots were also featured in the OP. All that's making me suspect that might have been an attempt to mask how troubled the production really is and while I hope I'm wrong, the fact we're getting a recap next week bodes ill for what's to come. My inner teenager is glad to see this show animated in however limited a capacity, but I'm getting increasingly terrified the production is going to test the limits of my nostalgia.
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Psyren is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.
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