You’ve got to figure that, in some circumstances, it actually takes more skill and effort to actively irritate your audience - - at least to consciously irritate them. Making a villain your viewers love to hate seems easier than making one who makes their skin crawl; one they want to see pushed off the screen immediately. Shit, to use another pro wrestling analogy, heels always pride themselves on how many boos and garbage they can get thrown at them by the crowd. And, c'mon, you know they're on to something.
I’m thinking the same logic applies to annoying sidekicks. We’re encountering this Akos guy through Casshern’s perspective, right? After those horrible circumstances last episode, our hero really isn’t in the mood to be jawing with some random schlub who wants to goof around in the ruins. Thus, if the crew tried to make this human dude charming, it’d kill the whole effect, wouldn't it? So you kind of have to step back, remove yourself from the experience and realize that a lot of the guy's earlier cracks fall flat because they're intended to fall flat.
Maybe I’m getting a little abstract in the analysis here (who? Me?!), but I think this actually makes their situation and Akos’ ultimate fate more moving. Like, it says a lot about how desperate both of these guys are for any sort of companionship in this wasteland.
There’s maybe even an extra layer of poignancy here since - - aside from the burying of the hatchet with Friender, perhaps - - this brief chapter isn’t like to have much significance to the rest of Casshern’s quest. If he is ever going to learn to forgive himself, it’s more likely going to be due to some bigger event in the future that this will be attached to by asterisk.
Watch this episode, "To the Ends of Agony” below and decide for yourself, then read my comments on the previous episode here.
Tom Pinchuk’s a writer and personality with a large number of comics, videos and features like this to his credit. Visit his website - - tompinchuk.com - - and follow his Twitter: @tompinchuk
It one of those build up episodes that does add to our leading character development, whether how big or small the event was.
Out of all the minor characters I seen so far, I like Akos a lot. He made the series feel cheery with his banter and outlook on life until he d__d.