Real Drive - Episode 21

It may have taken around twenty episodes, but Real Drive is finally getting to the crux of the matter, and handling what should have been the main focus of the series from the very start anyway.

This particular episode really seems to work hard at trying to tie the various major elements of the story together, from the incident that saw Haru spend half a century in a coma through to the weather nanomachines that were under investigation over the past couple of instalments. Haru and Kushima clearly believe that the two are linked and are working towards that end, but they find themselves encountering more than some slight political resistance, leading us to a big old cliffhanger at the end of this particular episode.


Away from all that, we finally get some movement in the realm of Sota's feelings towards Holon, which have been hinted at like nobody's business almost from the very start of the series. Indeed, you can say that we've witnessed more than just mere movement, with Sota actually outright choosing Holon over (ironically) the woman upon she was modelled in the first place. As Real Drive loves to do, this does pop up a big philosophical question in amongst the other items that the show deals with, namely - Is it okay to fall in love with an android? Indeed, beyond that, the more pressing question is perhaps at what point does an android become something (or someone) you could actually truly fall in love with. There's a suggestion within Real Drive that the way Holon has been treated has somehow made her "more human" than had she been seen as a mere robot by her colleagues - Another point of discussion there.

This sudden burst of activity from the series towards its ending makes me think that this is another one of those series that should have been given just thirteen episodes or so to strut its stuff, as judging by the amount of filler its provided twenty-six episodes was a bridge too far for it. Still, now the real meat of the story is hotting up, we could be looking at an interesting close to the series, which actually leaves me looking forward to these last five episodes rather than coming close to vaguely dreading them and the mediocrity they might otherwise have offered.

Oh, and Minamo's "Infini Tea" line was a classic this episode, so bonus marks go to it for that.