SPOILERS AHEAD FOR EPISODE FOUR OF THE GOD OF HIGH SCHOOL
So far The God of High School has been a ton of action sequences with bits of character and plot details dispersed in the cracks between them. And there's nothing wrong with that kind of storytelling. Violence and combat can be just as valid when conveying a narrative as dialogue or quieter, gentler moments of emotion. However, it can be a pretty risky method.
For example, think of a really bad Steven Seagal movie. He will spend what feels like an hour just breaking dudes' wrists in a convenience store or throwing people through every mirror and window in the bar, all under a title like "Steven Seagal is ... DEATH TO KILL" or whatever. But then the soft rock will come on and his character will go home and you'll meet his wife and his dog and his partner that is a day away from retirement and it all feels ... hollow, like the script itself is uncomfortable with the fact that Seagal isn't currently aikido flipping bro's through easily shatter-able tables. And by the end of it, what do you remember? Definitely not the family bits or the emotional stakes. Instead, all you really recall is the time Steven Seagal sent roughly four dozen people to the emergency room.
So, for The God of High School to suddenly focus less on the tournament and more on the choices and attitudes of the lead characters in a non-ring setting is a gamble. Because we definitely like them when they're in the arena, spin-kicking dudes and proceeding through the ranks, but when Mira is getting married and when Han is finding himself increasingly stressed by the medical condition of his friend, are we gonna give them half a thought? Or are we gonna wish that they'd wrap up all the crying stuff and get back to turning other fighters' faces into raw hamburger?
Luckily, as I discussed in the second recap, one of The God of High School's strengths is displaying the details of a life devoted to excelling at a martial arts — the calluses and worn hands, the time spent training, the single-minded lifestyle. So we don't need episode after episode of Mira thinking and agonizing over her decision to potentially get married to the wealthy (and unscrupulous) Seongjin. We know, from the way she fights and those aforementioned details that this decision can't come without a decent amount of troubled feelings on her part. She has spent her whole life training to preserve the Moon Light Sword Style. Is having a rich dude throw money at the cause really the way she wants to go about this?
Similarly, we see the health problems of Han's friend and the weight that Han carries in his attempts to both raise money for the treatment and be an emotional support. The "I have a sick friend and I want to fight to ensure that they get better" isn't exactly a new subplot in anime, but to watch the stern, assured Han come so close to wavering and then, eventually, lose control after things turn tragic is heartbreaking. Again, not because we've lived with these characters for a particularly long time but because we've seen Han's prior, silent resolve.
So, these pieces of melodrama don't feel like a last-ditch effort by the writer to make you care about these people outside of their punching projects, but rather a chance to explore what the characters want and how they react when their goals are threatened. They feel like more of an extension. They're not abrupt "Make The Viewer Sad Now" DLC. When Han and Mori break up the wedding and go all "The Boys Are Back In Town" on us ...
... the thrill feels earned. And when we see Mira take a selfie of the trio after the ED and the credits, a depressing coda to Han's bursts of rage ...
... it's poignant rather than desperate. It shows us that yes, The God of High School is full of kicks and punches and apparently people using Stands to fight, but it's not a shallow tale.
How did you react at the end of Episode 4? Let me know in the comments!
Daniel Dockery is a Senior Staff Writer for Crunchyroll. Follow him on Twitter!
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