A rare two header episode where Ataru and Mendou get themselves locked in a vault together.
Having invited Ataru to his estate to prove once and for all they aren’t similar, Mendou takes Ataru into his special ultra secure vault to show off all the things he has that Ataru will never get.
Naturally Ataru gets the pair locked in. Hungry, Mendou tries to get Ataru to give him some of the takoyaki he brought with him. Ataru instead makes Mendou gamble for it, and in successive games wins a huge stack of gold bars from him. Out of gold, Mendou pulls out a tank and Ataru suggests they try using it to blow the doors off, but it fails. They then try to find a weak spot in the walls, but only end up setting off traps.
These eventually fill the vault with water, leading the pair to have to weigh up their survival and hanging onto the gold. Once they decide to put breathing over gold, they attempt to drown one another to survive that little bit longer. Before they can do so though, the water drains out, taking them with it. Seeing the light at the end of a tunnel they think they are saved…
But the tunnel is protected by a super strong metal net that leaves them still trapped together.
A good idea that benefits from a dual screenwriting/storyboarding role from Takashi Anno. Strong animation in parts (particularly action and poses) it’s let down a little on individual facial expressions for the characters when the story moves to the conversational parts. Great performances from the two leads though make it a decent 100th episode (not counting the special!).
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Screenplay: Takashi Anno
Storyboard: Takashi Anno
Director: Osamu Uemura
Animation Director: Noboru Furuse
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Oh totally forgot that it contains Ataru and Mendou having the following two dreams respectively…
