This recap contains spoilers for the Deca-Dence episode “Turbine.”

Increasingly, Deca-Dence is a story about the practical side of fighting a revolution. “Turbine,” its eighth episode, is basically a short heist film. The difference? The thing being stolen is Kaburagi’s old body. Jill, one of the cyborgs in Donatello’s group, points out a flaw in Kaburagi’s plan to infiltrate the Gadoll factory.

Jill, in her Gear form in Deca-Dence, season 1 episode 8

Jill, in her Gear form.

It’s surrounded by a forcefield that zaps the chips that keep both Gear avatars and Tankers alive. Kaburagi’s body, having already had its chip removed, would be immune to this. This would be impossible, if not for the fact that Kaburagi’s old acquaintance Minato has a hobby of keeping discarded Gear bodies in cold storage.

“Turbine,” then, is several things. It’s a character turn for several folks; Minato, Donatello, Sarkozy, Turkey and Jill herself. (Jill, incidentally, is voiced by Michiyo Murase doing that growly over-it girl voice she’s best known for.) It’s also perhaps the most sharply political episode of a series that has not exactly been shy about its leanings. 

Cold Storage

The first half of “Turbine,” which portrays the heist, is set in Storage. That is to say, a labyrinth of moving boxes. This looks pretty darn cool, and things get all the more hectic when Hugin (one of the purple administrators) escorts Minato down to Storage to look into the possibility that he’s been storing “deprecated avatars” illegally. (He is, as mentioned, but he doesn’t get caught.) Meanwhile Donatello and Kaburagi search for the latter’s old body as Turkey and Sarkozy try desperately not to be discovered by Hugin. 

the Storage area (Deca-Dence, season 1 episode 8)

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This part of the episode, cool but arguably a bit inconsequential, ends with our heroes successfully retrieving Kaburagi’s old body. Now, Kaburagi still can’t exactly infiltrate the Gadoll factory by himself, which leads us to the second half of “Turbine.”

Chips

Astute viewers have probably already guessed that there is one person who can accompany Kaburagi. Deca-Dence is nothing if not rewarding to the attentive. And indeed, that person is Natsume, our other protagonist. She, if you’ll think back to several weeks ago, lost her tracking chip in the same Gadoll accident that took her arm as a child. Natsume doesn’t show up for much of “Turbine,” but her reunion with Kaburagi is nice. I do wish she got to do a bit more here, but I suspect her real moment to shine will be the fast-approaching finale.

She does get some great expressions though!

Back at the underground prison, Jill makes a stirring speech to convince the rest of the inmates to support Kaburagi’s rebellion. We, and the inmates, also learn that oxyone is made from refined Gadoll dung (ew). They’re understandably not happy, and this is enough to turn almost everyone over to Kaburagi’s (and Donatello’s) plan to fight against The System. Kaburagi even has a brief conversation with Minato, trying to get his old friend to join his cause, but the commander of the Deca-Dence isn’t swayed. He responds that all he wanted was to fight alongside Kaburagi again. One does suspect that this might ultimately be what flips him over to our heroes’ cause later on. As of “Turbine,” though, it’s hard to say.

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Mug

There is one other hitch in Kaburagi’s plan. That hitch is Turkey, the angular, shifty cyborg who’s been a background fixture for several episodes. In the concluding minutes of “Turbine,” he convinces Sarkozy that Kaburagi’s plan is doomed to fail. The smart thing to do, Turkey says, is to just hand Kaburagi and Donatello over. To cut a deal, essentially. Since Sarkozy controls the valued liquor in the prison, he has some pull. Sarkozy, being neither the brightest nor the most courageous, is convinced by Turkey’s arguments. What Turkey’s plan actually is– or if he even has one, beyond saving himself– isn’t clear. What is clear, though, is that this could be the pull that topples the house of cards. 

It’s a fraught time to be Kaburagi, that’s for certain.

Until next time, Deca-Dence fans.

Catch up on our Deca-Dence recaps here!

 

 

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