A Certain Dark Item

Episode 3

The first two missions we saw ITEM take on were relatively straightforward. One was an assassination and the other was a purge of sensitive information. The targets were easy enough to find—seemingly provided by the broker—and the only real preparation was figuring out how to keep the collateral damage low enough that the more heroic elements of Academy City wouldn't come rushing in unexpectedly.

However, with this episode, we have a job that clearly has more going on than the information that's been provided—i.e., that ITEM has been hired to take out an underground death match arena by a life insurance company that's losing money by having to pay out so often. In fact, it's because there is more that's going on that Mugino takes the job. The actual reward from the insurance company is chump change—she doesn't even care if they get paid. The underground fighting ring, on the other hand, is rolling in cash. And if our anti-villain crew happens to steal all that money while carrying out a job? What are the fight organizers going to do about it? Complain to the cops?

Moreover, it's likely that there are two sets of clients: the insurance company and the people using the insurance company behind the scenes to bust up the fighting ring for their own reasons. That latter group is the one ITEM has to be careful of pissing off—not the former. So because ITEM is clearly lacking vital information for this operation, they decide to kidnap the life insurance company CEO they're working for—assuming he knows more.

This leads to an unexpected fight with the CEO's bodyguard, who can control the properties of a liquid metal—not only making it solid but also gas so that it can later rain down on the unsuspecting members of ITEM. Such a powerful Esper (I'm assuming a level 4), working for a relatively poor company, just adds to the mystery—as does her stated goal of getting into the “windowless building” where those who run the city are located.

But even as ITEM deals with being uninformed pawns, they are contending with another issue: Choubi. Choubi is the second new member of ITEM. However, the purpose she serves in the story is different from Saiai's. Saiai really isn't bothered by her new life. She's got food, a place to live, and money. (Well, she will have money once the whole bank freeze issue gets sorted out.)

Choubi, on the other hand, is far more normal. She's constantly cowering in fear or pointing out the dangerous and immoral actions that ITEM is planning. However, it's important to note that she is not as normal as she appears—as we see in the episode's opening scene. She lacks a large measure of common sense when it comes to her own actions. She is told not to be late to a meeting, so she tricks a hand print scanner and eye scanner on the fly in order to be on time—and doesn't seem to realize that she's doing anything questionable.

All in all, this is an interesting start to our first larger arc in the story. It's got much more intrigue, higher stakes, a credible threat to the girls of ITEM, and a new, distinct personality for the rest of the cast of characters to bounce off in Choubi. It's nothing thematically deep or challenging, but I'll be damned if it isn't entertaining.

Rating:

A Certain Dark Item is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

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Disclosure: Kadokawa World Entertainment (KWE), a wholly owned subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, is the majority owner of Anime News Network, LLC. One or more of the companies mentioned in this article are part of the Kadokawa Group of Companies.