Chocolate Underground - Episode 6

I've been pretty harsh on Chocolate Underground so far, and I'd like to think rightly so as it hasn't really offered us much, but thankfully the sixth instalment of this series of short episodes at least seems to get the right idea.

I've waxed lyrical from the very start about how this series, beyond its talk of chocolate, is actually arguably an important reworking of the kind of ideas previously expressed in the likes of George Orwell's 1984, warning against the various issues that come from government intervention in every-day life. With that in mind, this particular episode is perhaps the best example of that thus far, with Dave (a cringe-worthy name for a martyr against totalitarianism, I know) being arrested for his part in the underground chocolate scene, and censorship of the Internet preventing Huntly and Smudger from finding out what they want to know about the creation of chocolate.


All of this is played in a way that doesn't pander to in-your-face preaching about how we should be wary of government control in our lives, yet it still manages to outline it in a way that is clearly obvious to all and sundry. Will a simple anime series help stop the erosion of civil liberties by myriad governments around the world? Will it even encourage people to stand up to those infringements? Probably not sadly, but at least provoking thoughts along those lines is a start, and for that if nothing else I have to show Chocolate Underground, and specifically this episode, some respect.