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<\/a>After two episodes, I\u2019m still not really sure what I\u2019m dealing with in Apocalypse Hotel<\/em>. But I do know that if it continues as it started, it\u2019s going to be very hard to ignore. There\u2019s a ton of interesting stuff going on with this show on multiple levels. Art director Honda Kouhei is the obvious standout so far. But director Shundo Kana is making a big impression too. She was part of a group of female Gainax animators-turned doujin circle called \u201cChuo Line Anime Sisters\u201d, and this is her first shot at the helm of a series. I\u2019m also impressed with Fujisawa Yoshiaki\u2019s soundtrack (he\u2019s also doing the music for Zatsu Tabi<\/em>, and did great work on Uchouten Kazoku<\/em>). The OP premiered this week, and that was great too.<\/p>\n<\/a>So, in sum, a ton of interesting stuff. But it\u2019s what\u2019s going on \u201cbetween the lines\u201d that matters, and Apocalypse Hotel<\/em> is delivering there too. Our first guest does seem to be an alien after all (we later find out he arrived on a ship). Yachiyo goes through her language database but has no matches, which makes communicating a challenge. About the only thing it seems to understand is her \u201cOK\u201d gesture<\/a> \u2013 though it does require some tweaking on his part. Understand or no, the job at hand is to give the guest a great Ginzarou Hotel experience \u2013 that, and update the prime directive to reflect that extra-terrestrials are to be treated as guests (who may not even need a shampoo ha<\/a>t) and not pets.<\/p>\n<\/a>There\u2019s another important new player here, an \u201cenvironment checker\u201d robot<\/a>. He\u2019s part of a group left behind to monitor surface conditions and report them to the humans on their arks in space. It seems as if this is the last one, and he monitored the alien ship\u2019s arrival<\/a> and came to investigate. Environment Checker-san is a font of information \u2013 and the nugget than he hasn\u2019t gotten a response from humanity in decades is enough to send Yachiyo into a deep funk. But he\u2019s also fantastically entertaining, kind of a groovy dude. And getting Miki Shinichirou to play him is the key to that \u2013 Miki is always great, but in this sort of role he\u2019s absolutely peerless. A great addition to the cast.<\/p>\n<\/a>All the stuff with the plant alien is very weird and trippy, and it gives the episode an unmistakable Yuasa Masaaki vibe for me. ECR wants to blast it to smithereens; Yachiyo refuses because it\u2019s a Ginzarou guest and that\u2019s sacrosanct. I\u2019m not at all convinced the ECR is wrong about this thing being a threat to the Earth or some sort of colonization scout, and the end of the episode hints that may be the case. But Yachiyo has her job to do and she\u2019s gonna do it, and woe be it for anyone who tries to stop her.<\/p>\n<\/a>Yachiyo, as it happens, had a memorable tea ceremony with Owner-san<\/a> a century earlier, during which he told her to always focus on possibility, not probability. After an unscheduled dip in the hotel pool she has one for the guest, and it almost seems as if they reach an understanding<\/a> but that proves fleeting (yeah, matcha is incredibly bitter if you\u2019re not used to it). There\u2019s one final misunderstanding, over the bill. Plant Alien offers a gift<\/a>, but he certainly has no Earth currency. Fortunately there are huge piles\u00a0 of it just lying around<\/a>, which allows Yachiyo to arrange payment. And ECR doesn\u2019t even vaporize the alien after it checks out.<\/p>\n