Entertainment headlines have a new entry this week, and Sparks of Tomorrow ‒ Episode 8 is generating real conversation. Here is everything you need to know about the story that everyone is talking about.

The Story So Far

Opening by establishing Kate's scholarly father as the means through which Seiroku first began studying electricity, Kengo recounts his relationship with Seiroku to his fiancée Noriko and other main characters after Kate's father showcases that the elector protecting the other half of the electric catalogue is broken.

While deployed together, Seiroku explained Kengo about his study of electricity, his romantic relationship, and his work on the electrical catalogue, but then died in a bayonet charge. Kengo blames himself for Seiroku's death because the half of the electrical catalogue that he had in his breast pocket (somehow) stopped a bullet that should have killed him, and could have potentially saved Seiroku's life as he died of a similar wound.

Credit where it's due: Jonathon Ha gives an absolutely haunting scream in the English dub and phenomenally delivers the agony, remorse, and guilt Kengo experiences in this installment. However, the fact that this reveal confirms what was already implied about Kengo's relationship with Seiroku rather than explore their relationship in depth or make Kengo more directly responsible for Seiroku's death is very disappointing.

I also find it strange that this installment would once again imply that Seiroku had a relationship with Inako's major sister and Kengo's fiancée Noriko, but if Sparks of Tomorrow can barely manage to define its main cast, I shouldn't expect it to dig into the interesting parts of its supporting cast and their web of relationships.

I will say it was very fun and cute to watch Kihachi and Inako figure out how to restore power and functionality to the electric door guarding the rest of the electric catalogue, but this storyline stumbled at the finish line. It's distracting and annoying to watch Kihachi and Inako engage with technology that was actually being developed at the turn of the 20th century in water wheel electric generators, only for the show to shoehorn in a functional palm scanner which was not invented until the 1970s.

I understand that this liberal approach to available technology is a staple of the steampunk genre that Sparks of Tomorrow inhabits, but to me it just feels like there are no rules and characters can magically invent whatever technology they need for the narrative to progress. This installment has once again reminded me of the incongruity that defines Sparks of Tomorrow, and its amateurish part and narrative writing.

This anime attempts to capture the magic of innovation and how technology is supposed to inspire, but it fails when its characters fit completely into thoroughly explored archetypes. While the production values are once again too good to keep my score for this installment from falling too low, I wish they were used to express a better screenplay.

Sparks of Tomorrow is currently streaming on Netflix. <prevEpisodes 1-3Episode 4Episode 5Episode 6Episode 7Episode 8 back to Sparks of Tomorrow installment Review homepage / archives

What happens next is anyone's guess, but one thing is certain: this development has added a fresh chapter to an already fascinating entertainment saga. Stay tuned to TeraMovies for all the latest updates from the world of cinema.