After a two-week break paying tribute to the Kyoto Animation arson incident, the latest episode of BEM is finally back! But I have to say the show is becoming more and more disappointing, and I am getting confused about what the anime is trying to convey to its audience.
This episode started with a series of grotesque murder case, where victims were electrocuted cruelly. The murderer only targeted young woman and a blood red message were always left on every murder scene.
The opening starts just fine and the mysterious vibe successful intrigue me to the story. The message appeared to direct to the existence of BEM and his monster counterparts, which forced BEM to investigate the murder.
But something goes wrong when the focus is shifted to the villain of this episode, the Lightning man, who could unleash electricity after being reformed by Doctor Recycle. It seems that he has a weird interest in electrocuted the woman that he falls for.
I have no problem stepping into the shoes of villains and I guess the writer is trying to tell the story in a different angle. But the portrayal of this villain is just too shallow. I don’t even know why he committed all those murder or why he only targeted woman apart from the fact that he was a real pervert…
The original anime of Humanoid Monster Bem put lots of focus discussing humanity, but I just can’t see that in BEM. There are no background story of its villain, making all his sayings and doings falls flat.
The portrayal of villain is extremely important as he should be able to bring out the goodness of the protagonist. We would have learnt BEM better if the villain have interacted with him more. It is the fourth episode, but we only recognize BEM as a humanoid monster that wants to be a human.
The character portrayal of BELLA and BELO is better. At least we know that they have friends or is good at playing games. When it comes to BEM, we know nothing about him! A scene depicting his past would definitely help, so that we would know why he wants to be a human and what BEM is actually thinking beneath his poker face.
The appearance of another villain, Powder man, doesn’t really make things better. He is poorly designed and really go against the dark serious tone of the show. The last fight becomes a mess when the two villains contend to be the rival of BEM. It doesn’t have a highlight except for the fact that BELLA indeeds has the ability to freeze people on the ground.
Fortunately, this episode finally brings Doctor Recycle to the surface, who is responsible for the monster-like human. He remodels people as they wish and gives them a demonic power. Applause is given to voice actor Junichi Suwabe (諏訪部 順一), who gives the character a sick madly voice. It kind of reminds me of Undertaker from Black Butler. Anyway, I hope this character can help push the story to the climax as I don’t want to see another poorly-designed monster.
On the other hand, the mysterious lady is planning to capture BEM, BELLA and BELO. Daryl is also looking a way to obtain power in order to seek revenge on BELO. I sincerely hope this little guy won’t fall to the dark side. The threat is coming and let’s hope that everything goes to the right track in the next episode.
