Quick recap of ‘Sparks of Tomorrow’ Episode 11: Inako’s father finally allows her to follow in her mother’s footsteps and become a master brewer, giving her a chance to save their family business. Kihachi, on the other hand, cracks the coded papers that belonged to his older brother Seiroku and starts working on an “electrical brain” capable of surpassing humans. This leads him to a mine in search of materials, where he unfortunately gets trapped after an accident. Luckily, Yosuke comes to Kihachi’s rescue and congratulates him on solving the mystery of the electric catalog.
Titled Electric Brain, Episode 12 of ‘Sparks of Tomorrow’ follows Kihachi and Yosuke as they team up and work obsessively to realize Seiroku’s dream of building a machine capable of outperforming humans and ushering in a new age of technology. But the two have very different ideas about what that future should look like. While Kihachi wants this game-changing invention to help humans, Yosuke hopes it will eventually replace them, an idea Kihachi vocally protests against.
Simultaneously, the chapter also follows Inako as she works with her mother’s Electric Nishiki notes for brewing sake and enthusiastically leads a team of dedicated workers to realize her own dreams. So, of course, the biggest focus of this episode is on both Inako and Kihachi working day and night to achieve their goals.
Kihachi and Yosuke may finally be working towards the same goal, with Yosuke happily bankrolling everything the young inventor needs for his “electric brain,” but that doesn’t mean they agree on what they’re trying to create. Their ideological clashes lead to plenty of entertaining bickering, while Yosuke’s increasingly obvious “evil mad scientist” streak is hilariously reflected in the animation, which exaggerates his features whenever his darker side takes over. Both men are so consumed by their work that sleep becomes an afterthought, leaving Inako increasingly worried about Kihachi. And as a last-minute twist reveals, she has every reason to be.
Overall, ‘Sparks of Tomorrow’ Episode 12 finally brings both of its leads tantalizingly close to achieving the dreams they’ve spent so long chasing. Inako is on the verge of creating her sake, while Kihachi is getting closer to realizing Seiroku’s impossible invention. Success suddenly feels within reach, but whether either of them will actually be happier once they get there is another question.
Watch ‘Sparks of Tomorrow’ on Netflix.
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