Kamisama no Inai Nichiyoubi! Episode 3! [Review]

Quite an unexpected ending!

Things started out with Ai and Hampnie proceeding their journey. Ai dreamt about her mother.  While walking across a rope bridge spanning a waterfall  which is undoubtedly one of the most loveliest composition scenes in this anime season. Hampnie and Ai see a firework explode overhead.  Hampnie suddenly kicks Ai off the bridge and the things were never the same again.

The main problems I've had with this episode itself (apart from Hampnie's death) were mostly the pacing. Hampnie's wish alone would have made a good intra-episode, but on top of that, they had to reveal that he was Ai's father, the events with the group kidnapping him, they reveal about Ai's village, Hampnie's real name and the ending itself. There was really no explanation, they more or less dropped out of the sky to make the plot happen. I think all this would have worked better both with more buildup to the events, and more time spent on the events themselves.

I won't deny that the moment when Ai, Yuri and Scar busted into the cabin to rescue Hampnie was artfully staged. It had a rare combination of beauty that this anime has proved itself deft at creating, and the slow-motion was used to great effect.  

Apparently Hampnie was granted his wish - to die a "normal" death, where has leaves behind loved ones and carries a few regrets with him.  It's only when he realized that he had a reason to live that he was granted his wish to die - only the power of regret liberated him.  It's a very interesting and poetical turn of events. After Hampnie awoke undead, he apparently went against his own ways in order to spend a little time with his daughter before he was given his proper burial.  For me, I would have liked to have seen some of that time, and not just in a 30-second flashback.  Hampnie deserved better, and so did the series. There was real emotional power here but not as much as there should have been.

The question is whether Kizuna/Hampnie is really dead. Hampnie was sullen, mysterious, a classic dark hero - and far more interesting than Ai or anyone else we've met so far.  Fortunately the premise itself is an interesting one, and in terms of world-building Kaminai has already proved to be well above the average - so there is considerable hope for the show, even if Hampnie is really gone.  But great characters make great anime, and I hate to see them go under any circumstances this early in a series' run - it remains to be seen whether there's anyone else in the cast who can pick up Hampnie's mantle.