Kowloon Generic Romance

Episode 4

As a manga reader, let me confirm we've reached the point where Kowloon Generic Romance starts to get brain-melty. With the anime maintaining its brisk, efficient rate of adaptation of almost one entire manga volume per episode, we've got a lot to discuss. Before I deep-dive into the more existential implications of episode four's revelations, let me gush once more about how well the show succeeds in of atmospherics.

Kowloon Walled City is so intricately captured in all its cramped, lived-in glory that you can almost smell the street food stands and the throngs of overheated, sweaty people. Everyone lives in such tiny apartments, ageways are grimy and narrow, and the only open space to be found is on ramshackle rooftops with perpetual views of dilapidated urban sprawl, all with the gleamingly unnatural, metallic shine of Generic Terra floating in the skies above. With a pitch-perfect, melancholy acoustic soundtrack matching the ebbs and flows of our heroes' moods, an already intoxicating story finds its potency enhanced by a masterful mix of on-point direction, artful framing, skilful scene transitions, and evocative imagery. Other than the sad, but understandable, excision of much of the manga's less plot-relevant, funny slice-of-life shenanigans, I couldn't be happier with how Arvo Animation has handled the transition from page to screen so far.

So, on to the major plot developments – first of which is the confirmation that Kujirai A's Kowloon is not the original Kowloon, demolished in 1994. It's a “second Kowloon,” built illegally over the demolition site at some point later, which explains the seemingly incongruous smartphones and flat-screen computer monitors we see people use. Yet is it really that simple? Miyuki Hebinuma and Gwen's investigation of the city throws up even more doubts. This version of Gwen isn't the “fake Gwen” we met back in episode one, working at the goldfish bar, but it's clear that at one point, he did work at that very establishment. He visited it and couldn't find the kitten shelter he'd built in the alleyway behind. So either someone moved it, or this Kowloon is a third version.

We know that Generic Terra's purpose is to somehow replicate Earth, and it can digitize human consciousness. Is the current Kowloon a digital replication, along with the people inside it? I can't imagine it's that simple. Hebinuma's interest in Kujirai is piqued by the fact that she has the same mole as her earlier incarnation, which isn't something that would happen with clones. The fact that Hebinuma had even entertained the possibility of cloning surely confirms this Kowloon has a tangible physicality, so I think we can rule out a computer simulation. His creepy experiment with poor Mr. Chan adds yet more existential unease. Hebinuma's associates locate a Mr. Chan living in nearby Hong Kong, previously a second Kowloon resident. When they bring him within the city boundaries, his “fake” version disappears before Hebinuma's eyes, much to his surprise. It seems Hebinuma is almost as much in the dark about Kowloon and Kujirai's true natures as the viewer.

Meanwhile, Kujirai A is trying desperately not to spiral into a full-blown existential crisis. Even when Kudo offers to tell her everything about “his” Kujirai B, a little voice in her head desperately tells her not to ask. Perhaps she's scared that if she learns the truth about Kujirai B's fate, it might make her disappear too? While this may be frustrating to the viewer, it's completely understandable from Kujirai A's point of view. She has only recently discovered that she may not be a “complete” person, with an absent past, perhaps only a replacement for a woman who at some point probably died. Her discussion with her new friend Yaomay crystallizes one of the story's central themes: Kujirai's desire to become her “Absolute Self,” a person who belongs only to herself, not a mere version of the Kujirai that came before, a person she can be proud of, with decisions she can justify. Yaomay approves because she unshackled herself from her past by undergoing extensive plastic surgery, essentially reinventing her life and person.

We have to wonder who in this Kowloon is an original human, and who is a copy. It seems Generic Terra is implicated in a human duplication process that isn't quite cloning – it produces “Zirconians,” named after cubic zirconia, a cheaper alternative to diamond. In the end, does it matter if a person is Zirconian or not, if they are loved and cherished by others, like Yaomay and her cubic zirconia ring? Kudo has almost certainly come from outside Kowloon, hence Hebinuma's investigation of his employer's Japanese branch. Hebinuma and Gwen both also come from outside. What links them all is their memories of a different Kujirai. It remains to be seen what their plans for the current Kujirai are, especially considering Kudo's rather dark ission at episode's end. Like its manga, Kowloon Generic Romance is great at providing painful cliffhangers.

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Kowloon Generic Romance is currently streaming on Crunchyroll on Saturdays.