High Card “One Shot” Review
High Card “One Shot” is the first episode of the anime original series of the same name. A girl named Iris infiltrates a castle, steals a suitcase from the vault, and escapes with a magic power that allows her to summon several explosives. However, an unseen woman summons a gust of wind that breaks open the case and scatters its contents, a special deck of playing cards, far and wide. One month later, a pickpocket named Finn steals items from multiple people. After overhearing that the landlord is planning to wipe out the Sun Fields Orphanage where he grew up to build luxury apartments, Finn tries to raise funds quickly, only to find that the pawn shop owner won’t fence his stolen goods, except for a special 2 of Spades card that Finn refuses to part with. So Finn hitches a ride to Bell End and hits a casino, winning at the poker table, until a card sharp named Lucky Lunchman cleans him out of his winnings. A casino pit boss takes both Finn and Lucky into a dark room, suspecting them of cheating. Suddenly, one of the guards unveils a 3 of Diamonds and transforms it into a pair of gloves that turn anything he grabs into marbles. The man threatens to kill Lucky’s family until he releases his own card, the 10 of Diamonds. However, a car salesman with the 5 of Hearts appears and begins fighting with the fake guard. Finn steals the 10 of Diamonds and escapes in the confusion by stealing a car, only to find both men chasing after him. All three men manage to survive the fiery crash, but the marble man takes out the car salesman and demands Finn give him his card. Finn decides to test out his 2 of Spades, and summons a loaded revolver that pierces both the marble and the attacker’s arm. However, the car salesman appears alive, as both he and Finn point their guns at each other.
Review
What a great starting episode! I was a little worried when the story of the orphanage and Finn needing the money to save them come up because I wrongly assumed it’d just follow tired trope after tired trope from then on but it didn’t. The episode ended on an amazing note and I can’t wait to see what becomes of Finn and the car salesman.
