Secret Level – Episode 2 “Sifu” Recap & Review

Sifu

Episode 2 of Secret Level takes us over to the neon-washed city of Tokyo, right in the heart of Sifu. Our protagonist heads to The Club, intent on gaining revenge on the men who killed his father. He makes short work of the trio, leaving them a bloody mess.

As the punters scarper and hurry out the club, our character is unfortunately overwhelmed and killed. However, one of his coins cracks, serving as a UI for the number of lives he has. It’s a neat way of showing videogame stats in animation, and it works surprisingly well here.

Anyway, our character makes his way to the main boss, having aged considerably now, and they begin to fight. In the aftermath, this old man heads back to see the market lady. The same one who originally served him dumplings at the start of the chapter. She serves him again and he asks her “was it worth it?”

Noticing the way he plays with his chopsticks, she rests her hands on his and asks the same thing.

The Episode Review

Violence begets more violence; it’s a simple enough message and this episode really exemplifies that in a really beautiful way. It’s clear that the main character has been plagued by violence his entire life, desperate to gain revenge and doing so by working his way through endless goons from start to finish. In the end, it would appear he’s successful in vanquishing the worst foes but he definitely looks the worst for wear. Was it all worth it?

This simple question is enough to stir up questions surrounding this, and the animation throughout is gorgeously rendered. The neat little addition of showing our main character “revived” and “losing a life” is a smart inclusion and really leans into the idea of this being videogame centric.

Despite its short length, this is a solid episode and a really enjoyable watch.