Rika talks with Policewoman Mask. Kuon and Mayuko help Sniper Mask as his mask malfunctions further.
Episode 10 – “Our Enemy is One Who Desires Chaos”
Hmm.
Rika continues to impress me as a lead character in High Rise Invasion. Policewoman Mask, Yayoi Kusakabe, thought she was interrogating Rika, but he made sure to get valuable information from her too. I’m not happy with how we know her full name now because it means that High Rise Invasion cut corners in showing us how Rika learned of her given name. Aikawa, the dim bulb God-Candidate of Chaos, had been calling Policewoman Mask by her surname since we met him, but we didn’t hear anyone call her “Yayoi” until Rika did. That’s not good storytelling.
Another thing that stood out to me was how Yuri didn’t recognize Sniper Mask when she saw his face. Yes, yes, he’s extremely good looking and she reacted to that, but if she were so close to her older brother, and he was such good friends with Sniper Mask as a child, how does Rika’s younger sister not know his best friend? We need to remember that those God-Candidate masks repress memories, so Yuri might not remember Sniper Mask because of that. There’s another possibility that she never met him, which could point to a home life situation that High Rise Invasion doesn’t explain in the anime adaptation, but the bigger question is whether it matters.
Does Yuri need to have known Sniper Mask in the past too? For sure, it matters that Rika knew who Sniper Mask was because it affected many of his decisions moving forward. It’s been an entertaining side joke for how much Yuri still feels skittish around Sniper Mask. We need to keep remembering how compressed time feels during High Rise Invasion. We’re only getting to the second night since Yuri arrived, so her aversion to one of the first Masks who tried to kill her is understandable.
But is it still important that Yuri feels uncomfortable around him at this stage of the story? If she recognized him as Rika’s friend, would that defuse tension that’s necessary for a key dramatic moment? It was an odd development to show Yuri not recognizing someone we would expect her to know, so I hope High Rise Invasion has a good narrative purpose for that.
Heh.
The High Rise Invasion Netflix splash screen show green tea served in a tea ceremony. Will there be some big fight on top of tatami mats? Policewoman Mask starts her interrogation of Rika, whom she calls “Mr. Hostage.” Oh? Policewoman Mask has a lie detector ability. Rika speculates that Masks can sense brain activity. Rika aims to beat the lie detector machine to make sure Aikawa doesn’t discover Yuri as another God-Candidate. Har. Rika thinks Policewoman Mask talks like an old lady on the phone. Huh? When did Policewoman Mask tell Rika she was only eighteen years old? High Rise Invasion missed some scenes. Oops. Rika made too much of a reaction about Sniper Mask. Policewoman Mask can tell he’s telling the truth but hiding some of what he knows about Sniper Mask.
Ooh. Rika found out that Policewoman Mask made his friend into Sniper Mask. Who’s interrogating whom here? Rika won’t give up any more brain activity to Policewoman Mask, no matter how much of a good look up her skirt she gives him. Rika learned strong Angels come from strong people. Now he gets to brag about Sniper Mask and scare Policewoman Mask. Rika achieved his objective of shifting Aikawa’s attention away from Rikuya and Yuri. Huh? Rika called Policewoman Mask “Yayoi.” When did she introduce herself as “Yayoi Kusakabe” to Rika? Did High Rise Invasion cut that part out of the interrogation scene too?
Uh oh! Sniper Mask’s mask starts to activate its countermeasures. It took long enough for his damaged mask to follow its programming. Kuon feels fired up to act when the time comes to help her Prince Charming. Yuri wants to ally with Doctor God-Candidate, but his circle of acquaintances doesn’t impress her much. This kid Uzuki compares Yuri to his mom. Every little scene has importance towards the end of High Rise Invasion’s anime season, so I’ll remember that boy.
Ah. Kuon and Yuri heard from Kuon about Sniper Mask about to enter Hibernation. Yuri can’t help her trauma from Sniper Mask’s previous attempted violence against her. Mayuko loves seeing her shy like that and loves it even more when she tries to put on a brave face. Tatami mats on the ground. The Netflix splash screen happens here, but will there be violence? Haha! Yuri says Sniper Mask reminds her too much of her brother. Yuri wants to do the tea ceremony.
Boo! High Rise Invasion keeps hiding Sniper Mask’s face. Oh, yes! Finally. Yuri looks at Sniper Mask’s to see if she recognizes him. What a tease! Still hiding his face from the audience. Hahaha! Yuri squeals in delight at how good-looking he is! Aw. She doesn’t remember meeting him. She thinks she would have remembered that old scar by his left eye. Still teasing the audience. Sniper Mask gave us the full Goblin Slayer treatment. Aw, poor girl. She wanted to keep looking at Sniper Mask’s face. Yuri recognized the hat, though. Rika used to wear a similar one. Those two used to be trilby bros! Ah. Sniper Mask enters Hibernation mode. Will it still take two hours for him to die?
Investigator Student Mask is here for all your suspicious camera angles. Meanwhile, Kuon and Mayuko enter Sniper Mask’s mind. Who’s getting naked this time? Mayuko, you’re up! Huh. This is different than when Kuon entered Mayuko’s mind during Hibernation. Welp, we’ll just go with whatever High Rise Invasion shows us now. Mayuko’s Mask Program is here to help. Where is the Sniper Mask Program? Har. Young Sniper Mask hides his face too. Kuon’s reaction! Hiding from an adorable boy. She won’t let herself see his face until the end of High Rise Hell. There’s little Rika! He calls little Sniper Mask “Yu.” Ooh. Little “Yu” remembered his surname is Makoto. Enough games. Time for Kuon to flex her God-Candidate powers.
Har. Uzuki brags about playing Girls’ Frontline. Uh oh. Is Yuri heading for a trap? That spying photographer appears ready for her. Oho! We haven’t seen ultraviolence in High Rise Invasion for a long time. These Masks don’t look strong, but they might have good teamwork. Yuri goes into Matrix Mode. The boy band gang has a ballistic shield! Yuri gets to work. Investigator Student Mask found a new enemy for Aikawa.
The complete first season of High Rise Invasion streams on Netflix.
