Draw This, Then Die! ‒ Episode 11
Draw This, Then Die! is revving up for its finale, and there are certainly a lot of seeds planted for what I hope will be an emotionally enriching climax. The problem is that this episode doesn't really have a lot to say on its own. Even when moments feel like they're supposed to sink into my heart, I don't feel it as much because I'm sometimes confused about what's supposed to grip me. Granted, some of that is because I'm supposed to wait until next week for the payoff. Meanwhile, other scenes feel awkward in a way the show hasn't really been before.
The first sign of strangeness comes in the first third of the episode, with Yasumi and Fujimori. This episode feels like it wanted to be an emotional resolution between the two, realizing that they work better as a duo than solo. Fujimori is the talented artist who is usually more methodical, working backward, while Yasumi is more spontaneous and passionate. Allowing them to write a manga separately was good, but I wish the show gave that idea its own episode. Truncating that down to ten minutes doesn't give me the chance to appreciate what the two are truly like on their own. There have been instances where Yasumi has written their own manga by themselves, but I would've loved to have seen a manga from Fujimori completely on her own. The show has done such a good job of letting the manga these girls write speak for itself, so this episode sidelining that feels like a missed opportunity.
Fujimori and Yasumi have been working together throughout this entire show, so the resolution being that they make up for the other's weakness doesn't feel like a surprise. This is the first time it almost felt like content was cut or like the show was skipping something to move the plot along, which isn't great, especially since the rest of the episode doesn't have any emotionally hard-hitting scenes. Watching the girls walk around the city is cute, and I'm happy they could sell all their manga thanks to Hikaru giving them free promotion. However, that also feels like a missed opportunity: why build all this up toward Fujimori and Yasumi making a new manga, only for the show to create a situation where I am not allowed to see Yasumi meet the people buying her manga? That's such a weird creative choice because it feels like Yasumi really needed to see people enjoy her series or even meet the fans that she made on social media. What was the point of omitting that?
The only thing I can think of is that this episode is trying to establish that Yasumi doesn't need her little mascot character Pokota anymore because she is slowly coming into her own as a person and a creator. Ever since the first episode, Yasumi has manifested Pokota to follow her around as a stand-in for friendship because she was always alone. But now that she has real friends, a creative backdrop, and a solid sense of self, she no longer needs a substitute for human interaction. That scene at the shrine where Pokota sees them off was nice, but then it gets undercut when he shows up at the end of the episode. Why would the show frame it like he's dramatically leaving only for him to still be around? I know Yasumi isn't really listening to him anymore. Yasumi repeating his line, “What would a manga protagonist do in this situation?” feels so messy and disjointed.
Finally, let's talk about the obligatory Teshima flashback, which was very understandable since the characters literally visited the publishing company that produced her first manga. I like Teshima visiting the New Year's party with the other creators, and how meeting everyone helped reignite some of the burnout from being pushed to finish those first two chapters under a hectic deadline. The flashback gave me some teasers about the eventual burnout hitting her really hard around the time that her first volume gets published. It's implied that her series wasn't in circulation long, since copies are hard to come by, and even when they were found, they were wildly upcharged. If I had to guess, Teshima literally couldn't handle the pressure of maintaining that series, but I hope the show is a little more nuanced than that. This is hands-down my favorite show of the season, but this episode feels a little disappointing. A lot of the good parts feel awkward, and anything else I want to read into feels like it has to wait until next week for the final payoff. Let's hope this is just an awkward bump in the road and not a sign of poor things to come.
Rating:
Bolts also streams regularly on Twitch as the indie VtuberBolts The Mechanic where they talk about and play retro media!Draw This, Then Die! is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.
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