Undead Unluck

Episode 5

“United We Negate” has a whole lot of exposition to dump on us viewers after last week's excellent conclusion to Fuko and Andy's battle against Gena, and while I would normally be wary of an anime's attempt to cram so many new characters and world details into a single episode, Undead Unluck has proven that it can inject even the most boilerplate of setups with just enough charm, gratuitous violence, and stupid humor to keep things entertaining. Besides, with Fuko and Andy officially joining the mysterious cabal of Negators known as Union this week, it makes sense that there'd be a bunch of table settings to deal with. In a lot of ways, it feels like this is the true beginning of Undead Unluck's saga.

To that end, let's recap the new faces and details of Union's mission. Not only will it be necessary context going forward, but I will be relying on this list to remember everyone's damned name. Including Fuko and Andy in their new spots as Union Negators IX and X, respectively, then the rest of the organization includes:

I: Juiz (She's got a Char-from-Gundam thing going on)

II: Shen (who we've met, already)

III: Billy (he's a sharpshooter with cool shades)

IV: Phil (he's literally a tiny child)

V: Tatiana (she's, like, stuck in a giant eyeball-shaped robot, or something)

VI: Isshin (he's a big ol' samurai-looking dude)

VII: Top (heheheh…his name is Top)

VIII: Nico (favorite cosplay pick of every Hot Topic veteran circa 2006)

There's Mui, Shen's adorable normie protégé that makes fast friends with Fuko. We also meet Apocalypse, the magical talking demon-book who channels the will of God by assigning Union different missions that involve hunting down UMAs and accomplishing other assignments to reap rewards that range from obtaining valuable new intel to changing the fabric of reality itself. We get to follow Fuko and Andy on their first UMA hunt, which involves a sentient blob of transforming goop called “Clothes” that takes over people's bodies by becoming their…well, their clothes.

A lot is going on this week, and it's to Undead Unluck's credit that the show manages to balance all of this exposition with its mandate to be entertaining television. The new Union characters are fun and well-designed, and I'm especially interested in all of the neat world-building that we get. Apocalypse's threat to reward Union's failure with the addition of “UMA 'Galaxy'” is intriguing indeed, especially considering the questions that have already been raised by the characters' lack of knowledge about things like stars. I'm also curious to know how and why Apocalypse would have one of the prizes for victory being the elimination of language differences…

Most importantly, “United We Negate” is simply a good time, through and through. The direction is kinetic and lively, which keeps all of the exposition moving; Andy gets to show off some cool moves, like his finger bullets; and the fight against Clothes is appropriately goofy (plus, Andy earns a sweet new fit out of the whole ordeal). Once again, Undead Unluck has turned in a fine half-hour of action-adventure television, and with these most recent developments, the show's story seems set to expand into some wild new directions.

Rating:

Undead Unluck is currently streaming on Hulu.