Spy Kyoushitsu

Remember the last time we had a strange alien trying to teach a classroom filled with failures and turn them into top notch assassins? Yeah. Now we have the country if not the world’s top best spy trying to teach a group of washed out girls to become the country’s best assassins. You read that right. Spy Kyoushitsu is another one of those spy themed series where wars are fought not only using weapons of mass destruction in the front but in the shadows as well using information and intelligence. And just like in a certain assassination classroom whereby in order for the students to become the best assassins, their ultimate goal is to kill their very own teacher (which they often fail), now it is the same for a certain spy classroom whereby in order for the students to become the best spies, their ultimate goal is to best their very own teacher. Do I sound like a tape recorder repeating things twice?

Episode 1
As narrated, the world is ravaged by a great war. But the face of war is also changing. It is now not being fought openly with guns or weapons. But rather, discreetly by using spies and info. Lily (codenamed Flower Garden) has been given a provisional graduation and as of today she will be under the service of the Cabinet Office. As she makes her way to the HQ, she meets other spies there. It seems to their dismay, they realize that she too is the same. You see, all of them are washouts from their spy academy. Klaus soon addresses them. Everyone here will be under his spy team known as Lamplight. They will be doing impossible missions (Mission Impossible?). Their real mission begins in a month’s time so for now, get to know each other. The girls think this is a way of the academy to get rid of them. We are introduced to the rest that includes Sibylla (Pandemonium), Grete (Daughter Dearest), Annette (Forgetter), Sara (Meadow), Monika (Glint) and Thea (Dream Speaker). On their first lesson, Klaus has them open the locks. They can’t. He shows it how it’s done. Wow. So fast. Care to explain? Just use the correct tools. Uhm, what again? He tries to explain but sucks. Then he realizes he sucks at teaching and has them do study themselves! Oh wow! WTF?! Then as the girls contemplates about this, Sara thinks Klaus has no intention to have all of them live because this is a suicide mission! Lily can’t accept this so she goes to see Klaus in his room that night. Uhm, why is he painting? Trying to find a way how to teach? Obviously not getting any inspiration. For a change of pace, she invites him out to town tomorrow. There, Klaus manages to snatch the stolen purse from a thief without even being seen. So how does he do it? Well, he just does it. Uhm, what? He asks Lily how she dresses up. Can you explain it in detail? No? Because she just knows, right? Yup. That’s how it is.

Then they go on a boat ride. Nice view. He tells her to cherish it because previously a terrorist planted a bomb in this town to assassinate a politician. Only thanks to the work of spies, the assassination was thwarted. While Lily agrees with this, she cannot accept this suicide mission since the only that got her through those tough years was those harsh times at the academy. She then emits a paralyzing but non-lethal toxin. Lily is not effected since she is immune to it. Her town that got bombed by poison during the war, she was the only sole survivor. A spy saved her and it became her motivation to be one just to make the world a better place. Her specialty is poison. She claims she has set all this up and wants him to disband Lamplight. However Klaus has the last laugh since suddenly she is shackled and the boat is slowly sinking. Because she omitted this place from her sightseeing list, he found it suspicious. Hence he set it all up last night. Lily must give him the antidote before they drown. Oops, she forgot to bring them. Then better paddle as hard as you can! Yeah, amazing will to survive so she manages to get to paddle to the bank. Klaus further reveals he purposely got hit by her just to test her skills. After she admits defeat, he assures he has now found a way to teach Lamplight. He also appoints her as the leader of Lamplight. Next day, he gathers everyone and apologizes for his poor explanation. No one is going to be sacrificial pawns and everyone is going to survive. He guarantees that by training under him. He is after all the world’s greatest spy. The method he has figured out for them to improve is simple: Defeat him.

Episode 2
All the girls need to do is get him to admit defeat, right? Not as easy as it sounds. First attempt, they get heavily owned. Better start using your brains. After so many attempts, they continue to fail miserably. Well, keep trying. Klaus talks to his superior, C who is the intel officer for Cabinet Office. He reminds Klaus to alleviate the girls’ fears since his stubbornness will cause problems for everyone around. After all, he used to count on his team but now he can’t. When Klaus returns, he tells Lamplight about another team attempting this mission a year ago. Heard of Inferno? Yes, the country’s greatest spy team. Too bad it doesn’t exist now as all its members are dead. Except the one before them. Back then, Klaus was known via his codename, Bonfire. He was given a different solo mission while the rest of his team undertook this impossible mission. The rest is history. Because Inferno was like family to him, this mission is somewhat personally. He doesn’t want to girls to lose their lives for nothing so if they want to leave, feel free. However all of them decide to go through this. They have investigated this place and asked around. They figured there are important people to Klaus that lived here. He must’ve hit rock bottom when he lost those people. As similar rock bottom people, they won’t abandon each other.

Soon, the mission to infiltrate Galgad Empire and steal a sample from their Endy Laboratory. They split into several teams as they snoop around for info. As the mission drags on, Klaus and Grete meet and share the immense info that they have obtained. However Grete tells him that as per requested by Lily, she wants to throw a party the night before the big mission. As this is their first time, many are already exhausted from this. It may be dangerous and all but that is why they can feel safe as long as he is around. So they have their party as Klaus arrives late and is appalled to see them all in an unguarded state. As Sibylla puts it, all of them are actually anxious and worried ever since they started this mission. But with Klaus around, it’s a reason why they can relax with ease. This has Klaus remember his colleague about the privilege of watching others sleep. It means they trust you. Seeing Lamplight reminds him so much of Inferno but this also makes his resolve firmer. He soon leaves a letter for them. Some change in plans as well as expressing his gratitude. So, does that count as his defeat? Klaus remembers C telling him that an international treaty was signed banning the use of biological weapons. However it said nothing about developing them. Ah yes, that loophole that militaries will use to interpret. A spy of theirs stole a research sample and from their side, it is estimated it will take a year to analyse. However another recent report showed that the research is picking up speed. This means innocent civilians will be caught up in assassinations that the empire has no qualms getting involved in. Hence the mission for Lamplight to retrieve that killer virus-cum-bioweapon named Abyss Doll.

Episode 3
The mission begins but it seems the girls stumble into Guido, Klaus’ master. Wasn’t he supposed to be dead in Inferno’s last mission? Ah yes, the traitor who faked his death and now he has sold out his own country to work for the enemy. He slowly takes the girls out one by one. After all, who taught them all those skills? Where did they originate from? Besides, Guido knows everything in their plan because he wiretap the entire mansion. Lily realizes this whole mission was a trap to lure out Klaus. Guido reveals he wanted Klaus to die in that suicide mission too but can’t make it too obvious and that’s why sent Klaus on a different mission that was equally as suicidal. He didn’t think he could actually pulled it off. Meanwhile Klaus gets cornered by the enemy who knows of his plan. All the information fed to them were fake. However Klaus doesn’t panic as he sets off a trap and even kills the enemy commander. Now he wants answers. Guido just defeated Lily but I guess she feels it’s time to give up this gig. Because a call from Klaus saying he has secured Abyss Doll. Flashback reveals Klaus briefing his girls to expect the enemy to anticipate them. Hence their biggest mission is to be a diversion. Klaus also reveals he found all the wiretaps in the mansion. You see, one of the written rules he had for the girls when he had them live in the mansion was to never use their special skills inside it. Hence all of them are hiding a very deadly and unique skill. For Lily, she now engulfs Guido in her deadly poison bubbles. However Guido is still able to counterattack and fight back.

Just when he thought he had won, a girl stabs him from the back! Who is she?! Hiding in the backpack all the time, she is Erna (Fool) and her specialty is bringing misfortune to others? She is the eighth member that they kept secret to deceive the wiretap (since she arrived a day later at the mansion so it makes her the perfect trap for this). Klaus might have been weakened but still not considerably enough as he can still fight the girls. Cue for Klaus to pop up. He gives them the Abyss Doll and tells them to leave while he fights his former master. Obviously Klaus has surpassed him so much so he can’t even consider him his enemy now. A week later, as the mission is completed, Lamplight is disbanded and Klaus sends them back to their respective academy. He then reports to C about it and as for Guido, unfortunately he didn’t make it. After his defeat, Klaus wanted him to come back and start all over again since he is his only family. Guido wasn’t impressed with this softie but then a sniper shot took him out. Guido’s last words was for Klaus to make sure her protect his girls this time. As Klaus wonders who the sniper is, suddenly he gets captured and cornered by his girls. Looks like they all pretended to be disbanded because they want to continue lessons under him. Remember, still have to make him surrender. After all, they’d rather be together than go back to their own academy filled with strangers. Since they aren’t qualified to be his enemies yet, class is back in session.

Episode 4
Klaus pays his respects to his dead Inferno comrades’ grave. He makes a vow to continue where Inferno left off with Lamplight. As the girls continue to bond with their friendship, it seems Erna is not willing to join in and remains distant. In town, she gets cornered by thugs who want to kidnap her for ransom but thanks to her bad luck, all the bricks fall and crush them. We hear her narrate how she has this misfortune ability and everyone who died is written off as an accident. This makes her the perfect spy-cum-assassin but also sad that she is a horrible person. On another day in town, she meets Klaus as he helps her to shop for things. As we can see, she is going to use her bad luck to kill him but not only Klaus dodges them all but even saves the day! WTF is he Sakamoto-san Desu Ga?! Of course he already knows all this as part of her plan since he was already briefed about her condition. However he claims her unlucky part is never getting the respect for the talents she deserved. Ironically, she is the luckiest girl because all of today’s accidents, she has helped saved people. While this makes her tear up, she has also made her resolve. Then as they walk along, more thugs surround them to come with them. They have to since they have a hostage. It is obvious that thug from earlier on is still alive but it seems he has some wrong info about them and could have mistaken them for somebody else. This is when Klaus has an idea whom he got his misinformation from. Describing some of the Lamplight girls who passed the info and even playing hostage, damn right this is all part of their bigger ploy to trap him. Because these thugs genuinely believe it, this is why Klaus didn’t suspect it at first. So when the gig is out, Lamplight barges in and take down those thugs who are also hoarding loads of drugs. So you think Lamplight has finally got the better of their sensei? Think again. Because he brakes free from this thick chain. They’re still not his enemy. Back home, they wonder how he could do all that. Erna reveals earlier when he was chained, he bribed one of the thugs to weaken his chain. Then he provoked the boss in shooting him but he missed and the bullets hit the chains, weakening it. But how can he still break out of it? Erna’s finally revelation that he paid one of them to tell the combination lock code in advance. So one of them is the traitor? Everyone suspects Lily. She sounds she has her reasons but they don’t look convinced. They have an idea as they send Lily to betray Klaus but of course thanks to Erna’s misfortune, she gets her ass handed to her. Bad luck it is. Everyone else praises Erna for her awesomeness. Erna is glad she can finally have real friends.

Episode 5
This happens before the impossible mission and while Lamplight continues to make Klaus surrender. As we all know, they continue to fail although he praises them for improving. Yeah well, there’s going to be a hell lot of room for improvement. Thea then calls Lily to her room. It seems she wants to teach her how to seduce Klaus since she is the one closest to him. Although Lily doesn’t agree, the pressure of her pals praising her to make Klaus surrender has her give in. And so Lily dresses up as a maid and with this silly pretext that she was once his sister and now a maid who loves to give him a massage, I’m sure anyone can see where this is going. He thinks she has some sort of trouble and will lend an ear but poor Lily, this is already embarrassing enough and this shatters her pride. Turns out this was all a ploy by Thea to get some info and now we know Klaus isn’t into women. Then we also see other Lamplight like Erna getting tired of falling into traps made by Annette. Yeah, her misfortune working overtime. One night, Grete tries to serve dinner to Klaus in his room but he appreciates the thought and won’t let her do it. Grete actually had no intention of making him surrender and genuinely wanted to just serve him. This has Lily realizing Klaus has never eaten with them as a group. Hence Lamplight device their next plan as they tail Klaus in town to find out his food weakness. So when they think they’ve got all the details right, they start cooking for him. So as they serve him dinner, he enjoys it and finishes them. Yeah, they soon realize Klaus knew about it and led them on from start to finish. Lily worries she is a failure but the rest assure her that she is still worth as their leader as they plot more plans to take down their sensei. We hear Klaus note that the bonds of Lamplight will be closer when they eat together. For him, because Inferno is gone, he no longer has any reason to share a table with others.

Episode 6
Looks like Lily got ‘sacrificed’. The rest used her as a bait to bomb Klaus. Of course he saw it all coming and came out unscathed. And don’t worry, it’s just a chili bomb. With yet another failed attempt, the rest try to come up with more plans. How come all of them has Lily as the sacrifice? Later, Lily learns from Sibylla that she has siblings. From the orphanage, she made a promise to them she’ll become rich and they’ll live happily together. So for now they only know her as some detective working in some remote area. Lamplight soon learn Klaus will be picking up a secret document in town and their plan will be to steal it and make him surrender. Sibylla wants to tail him solo to avoid any traitorous attempts the last time. In town as she spies on him, she notices a young girl, Fine coming up to Klaus to offer some juice. She accidentally spills it and as she is about to clean it up, she seemingly tries to steal his bag. Sibylla is fast enough to stop her. Although this makes her scared and start crying. Fine claims she was just trying to see his painting. Klaus sews a cat on her apron. Fine offers her juice to Sibylla as apology. Then as the walk her home, Sibylla starts to feel her stomach in pain. This is when Fine steals her bag and runs off. Obviously Klaus knows the drink was poisoned and has planted a tracker on Fine. His job is to sniff out a scumbag who has been using orphans to steal.

They follow the tracker to this hideout as they see Fine about to be beaten up (in the name of love) by the ringleader who thinks her steal wasn’t enough. Of course baddie thinks he is doing the orphans a favour by looking after them and teaching them how to survive. This doesn’t sit well with Sibylla as she has heard this BS before. She fights the ringleader and overwhelms him. But he is not scared since he has friends in the police who will get him out. That is when Klaus exposes his friends have been captured on charges of espionage. He also knows about him as an ex-officer who was dismissed for some disciplinary sanction. Hence he turned into a life of crime by using this thieving ring of orphans. So that’s what those secret documents are for? With him arrested, the orphans will be put into better institution. Later Sibylla talks to Klaus that she too once came from the slum. Her guardian used to beat her up a lot so she thought she had to become stronger. The reason she became a spy was to change this sh*tty world. Klaus says spies need to be strong but what makes them is a strong heart and she’s already got it. Sibylla thinks he will be a fine teacher. She wants to share her lunch but I guess she failed to see the trap too late as she got bombed by this chili bomb! Back home, she is trying to get Lily who used this same trick of hers on her.

Episode 7
Flashback shows Sara joining a spy academy because her family’s restaurant got destroyed. However she slacks in many areas and she never thought of herself as being a good spy. Lamplight has plans to just bomb the hell out of Klaus’ room! Yeah, might as well. Even if they know it won’t kill him, perhaps they’ll get some info. However this soon has some of them arguing about this as the many failed attempts have caused damage to the mansion’s integrity. Monika is vocal about not caring to repair a damn thing since they’re going on a dangerous mission anywhere and besides, the mansion always gets repaired by itself somehow and she thinks Klaus has some secret contractors. Well, Erna thinks they’re ghosts because she has never seen those contractors! I bet it’s Klaus. Well actually, the real person fixing them is Sara when they’re all asleep. Klaus knows about this and praises her for her altruism. He thinks they should repair it as a group but Sara claims she is the weakest among the girls and the best she could do is give her comrades a good night sleep as she understands her place well. Klaus is not amused the kind of education she has received. Say no more because he has a plan up his sleeve. Next morning, Klaus cooks the girls a magnificent breakfast. Everybody enjoys it and thought this tenderloin steak Klaus will serve them. However he notes it is for himself and this makes them rebel. We want the steak! Klaus then challenges them to clean or repair the mansion. Whoever finishes their task first wins and if Lamplight can beat him once, the steak is theirs. Easier said than done because Klaus owns them all. Yeah, even Lily playing traitor to switch sides didn’t work. The final task is to clean windows. Klaus is already ahead despite the girls have the numbers. This is when Sara comes up with a brilliant strategy to use her animals to transport water to them. Although Klaus still wins, he still cooks the steak for them. Too bad it had to be divided into smaller parts for them to share. Hey, could’ve been worse. Getting something better than nothing. Sara also takes this chance to suggest they take turns repairing. While Monika is still against it, the rest agree. So as not to be seen as a baddie, she reluctantly agrees. Later Sara goes to thank Klaus so he tells her not to worry her evaluation at the academy since they only see a single side of hers. There will be plenty of chances for her to shine so there is no need for her to recognize her place. Now we go back to after the completion of impossible mission. C tells Klaus he has found details on the sniper who shot Guido: Serpent, the empire’s top spy team.

Episode 8
Are we done with flashback training episodes? Good. Because now we see a crazy guy killing spies and leaving their bodies all over the place. Klaus comes back from vacation but he already expects Lamplight to attack him and in flash, once more he turns the tables on them. Despite he tells them Lamplight has been officially promoted to do missions, however he has completed 3 missions by himself! So that was a working vacation, huh? We see C talking to Klaus and isn’t impressed he left Lamplight out of missions and doing it all on his own. He claims they are not ready yet and he only used them the last time was to fool Guido. Grete continues to serve Klaus with no ill intentions. This confuses him a bit because he thought she was practising her seduction. Especially that one time he walked into the bathroom and saw her totally naked. Sorry, it wasn’t that. Despite exhausted, Klaus still needs to protect his girls. Remembering this next impossible mission C gave him, there is an assassin codenamed Corpse who has been killing their spies and making them look like they’ve committed suicide. Hence Klaus contemplates on using Lamplight for this because at their current state, they’ll get killed.

One day, Klaus takes Lily out to town just to ask her opinion if Lamplight wants to do missions. Of course. In town, Klaus heard a gunshot but turns out to be a car’s tyre burst. Sensing something amiss, he runs back to the alley to see Lily wounded. She points out where the perpetrator went. He goes to look for him but knows something is not right. Returning to Lily and claiming he got away, soon Lily stabs him. Confused, Lily mentions that was what he told her to do. It is then Klaus realizes the injured Lily is another person. True enough, this is all part of Lamplight’s elaborate plan and the Lily impersonator is no other than Grete. Grete mentions that Klaus is tired and she truly needs him to rest. He should be relying on them. Otherwise he could’ve picked up this trick a long time ago. Apparently only Lily is left out in the dark of this mission so Klaus couldn’t detect her ill intentions. You think Lamplight won this time but Klaus once more has been fooling them as he overpowers Grete. He explains how he already knew all this was a trap and therefore was placed on very high alert from the start. Hence he mentions about an earlier mission in which some spy was sloppy. Had he delegated that mission to them, they would’ve died. Therefore he cannot rely on them yet. Back home, Klaus falls asleep from exhaustion. He wakes up to see Grete making him herbal tea. He asks her straight if she loves him, causing her to fluster. He wants to give his answer to settle it but she doesn’t as her heat isn’t ready yet. Then she hands in her report and all her observations of today’s mission. Because of her extreme observation talents, he wants to know how fast she put in all her plans. 2 seconds. That by her standards is already slow because normally she would’ve done so in hundreds and thousands of a second. Klaus then reveals his next mission is an assassin hunt. He wants Grete to help (sorry, it’s not a proposal) and needs to select 4 strongest Lamplight members for this mission.

Episode 9
Olivia the head maid welcomes Lily, Sibylla and Grete as the new maids (YEAH!!!) who will work under Uwe Appel, the vice minister of health and welfare. Flashback shows Klaus telling Lamplight about their next mission to hunt down Corpse but he can only pick 4 of them. We see Lily and Sibylla having this idea to cook for Klaus so good that he will let his guard down before poisoning him with tea. You know how this will turn out, right? And so he finds the cooking good and then makes some adjustments for them to try. So delicious they almost choke on it. He gives them tea to wash it down. Guess who got sick? Along with Sara, they get trio got chosen for this mission to protect Uwe from Corpse. Uwe is not impressed with the new maids and thinks they are killers. Luckily bringing out his gun is just a test to see how they would react. No rash actions needed. He makes Sibylla cook for him but he finds her cooking she is proud of to be horrible. Grete tells us Uwe lives in this huge mansion and there are only 5 people living here. A person who doesn’t waste, he keeps this place as barren as it is. One night, Sibylla sneaks into the office to find some info. She finds a few familiar photos before Uwe catches her red handed. He lets her go as Sibylla remembers Grete telling her that Uwe is a true politician who advocates for the poor. Uwe seems to find Sibylla familiar because of her white hair as he remembers bringing in a few siblings into an orphanage from their abused guardian before the elder one fled. She should be her age. Anyway, he fires all the new maids. Sibylla tells her past to the other girls as she needs their help to keep Uwe safe. After yet another horrible cooking as Uwe comments, Sibylla then reveals of the medical test he took in which he has vitamin deficiency. Meaning, he is losing his sense of taste. Because he has been going around to give supplies to the poor, he has been neglecting his own health. Sibylla vows to give him the nutrients he needs but he is still not impressed and fires her. Though, through compromise he will keep the other maids. The reason Uwe is being frugal is that it would be hypocritical of him to go round helping the poor but he himself has got new maids. As Sibylla explains to Klaus, he also points out he has another problem: Night vision. Yes, due to vitamin deficiency too. And with that, Sibylla is somewhat hired as his driver. Grumpy old man still complains about her bad driving. Suddenly a sniper shot almost hits Uwe. Sibylla and Lily go after the perpetrator but get snared in his trap. If not for Klaus, they could’ve been hanging there all night. He tells them to protect Uwe while he goes after the culprit.

Episode 10
Previously, Klaus was stumped why the academy didn’t think highly of Grete’s skills. She told the truth that she has fear of men. Isn’t Klaus a man? He’s an exception. Ah. How convenient. Grete could tell Klaus is tired and wants him to rest. He just knocked out like that? Wow. This should be Grete’s chance to get him but I guess she’s more concerned thinking about if he would able to return her affections even if it’s just 1%. We see the girls planning on how to tackle this dinner party Uwe is hosting to sniff out suspicious people. The party goes well and none were close to being a suspect. But soon Olivia calls Grete to speak to her about confining herself to the kitchen instead of mingling around with the crowd. Grete can’t tell about her androphobia so she lies about being in love with someone else and wanted to stay pure to that love. This has Olivia think it is Klaus but since Grete denies, Olivia wants to seduce Klaus for herself. This makes Grete feel a bit frustrated but Olivia backs off saying this was just a joke. Later Lily tries to massage a very tired Grete who tells about her feeling issues with Klaus. Lily gives her some motivation that she has her own charms (despite having a less feminine body). Grete still reels from the nightmare about her father calling her creepy and can’t smile like a normal person. Klaus reads the file on Grete and realizes that her father forced her to enrol in this academy which is a subtle way of abandoning her.

Klaus then tells Sara about the info he got on all the politicians Corpse has killed. They were good politicians (OMFG, really?) trying to make the country a better place. But of course you know some people don’t want that to happen and had them killed. That night, the assassin tries to attack as Uwe tries to snipe the perpetrator but was held back by Sibylla so as not to give away his position. Seems Uwe saw the perpetrator’s birth mark and will get him the next time. That is when Olivia seemingly tries to seduce Uwe into doing more stringent background checks on the maids because they were calm during such attacks. She only backs off when Grete notes about her bleeding hand after picking up a broken glass. When Grete retires to her room, the other girls ‘attack’ her. Is this part of the plan to massage and make her confess? Lily knows the assassin was her in disguise so as to see the reactions of the other inhabitants of this place. So far none it seems have special training. The rest want to share her burden but before Grete could reveal Corpse’s real target, eavesdropping Olivia drops her goody two shoes act and drops them a bomb! I can’t believe the bed mattress protected them as they got blast out through the window. Olivia drops another bomb but Sara’s eagle sacrificed itself by taking it away. As they wonder where Klaus is, Grete says he isn’t here now and have to win this themselves.

Episode 11
Sibylla quickly understood what Grete means. The Klaus that they have seen and talked to was Grete in perfect disguise. Not to say Klaus didn’t rely on them again, but he picked those other 4 to go along with him to get Corpse. Hence they are here to get his associate, Olivia. We see Olivia’s flashback. Destined to live her life as a prostitute, one night she saw Roland (Corpse) killing a politician and many other random people so it would look like some tragedy instead of an assassination. He wanted her to kill herself to make it look like she went mad after this massacre but instead she wanted him to take her away from this life. And so he did as he made her his apprentice and went on many killing sprees. Before this mission, Corpse warned her about Klaus. He is a dangerous man and the sole survivor of Inferno. If she runs into him, contact him immediately. Olivia now fights Sibylla and Lily but the duo become bungling and poison each other? Olivia finishes them off but makes the same mistake of not checking them dead. Because the poisoning was intentional to trick her. All that is left for Grete to finish the job should Olivia return to the mansion. Previously, Grete asked Klaus a request to hold her tightly once this mission is over.

Olivia returns to fight Grete on the rooftop and easily defeats her. After revealing her goal to steal some documents for Uwe, she then wants her to jump off the building or she’ll shoot. Why not just f*cking shoot her?! Then Olivia tries to make Grete mad by claiming Corpse was a better teacher and lover than hers. Though, Grete believes her love will never be returned, not even in death. Before Grete jumps, Olivia gets shot in the shoulder. She is in shock that she couldn’t detect any animosity. Grete points out the shot was aimed at her by Uwe who thinks she is the culprit. Grete reveals her true face with half of it that hideous birthmark. Olivia still believes she has the upper hand. She has contacted Corpse to her rescue and even if she kills her, Corpse will go on a rampage and kill everybody. Sorry to disappoint you but here comes the real Klaus now. First he corrects Olivia about the beauty of Grete’s face and how much she has honed herself to be loved. As for Corpse, he is in this suitcase! Olivia is in shock and disbelief. But it’s true, Corpse pleading for help. Klaus says he was weak and a pushover. No challenge. They capture Olivia in another suitcase to end the mission. In the aftermath, Klaus realizes Lily has tricked him for requesting them to return home with a car ride. Because it’s just to set him up with Grete to drive alone while the rest take a train home. Klaus now has answers to Grete’s question: He cannot be her lover and will not return her love. However he doesn’t harbour any romantic attraction to anyone and it is not romantic love he is looking for but familial love. He will not stop Grete if she falls for another man but if she wishes to stay, he will love her as family. Grete shows her real face again and wants him to say what he thinks. Beautiful as always. She breaks down in his arms. There’s the long hug she’s been waiting for ;p.

Episode 12
When Klaus and Grete return home, they decide to stop at a bakery that makes the world’s famous meat pies as souvenir. However to their dismay it looks closed for good. Flashback after the first impossible mission and after Klaus left for his ‘vacation’, Lamplight celebrates that they too think they can take a much needed break. To celebrate this, they all went out to go buy meat pies but found the old store owner has decided to close down. It all began when David Mannheim, the president of a local food company came in person to buy his meat pie recipe. However he was offered pittance and thus rejected the offer. No prizes to guess the harassment started. Since our baker is old and has no heir to take over, he is thinking of closing up. Of course Lamplight won’t let this go and so they decided to get to the bottom of this. After gathering info their usual way, now they have an idea what this gangster company is as Grete forms her plan. Yes, everyone unanimously voted Lily as the most gullible to play the baker’s granddaughter. Hence Mannheim meets her on pretence to buy the recipe. This has the world’s famous chef, Sean Dumont and his assistant pop up. Of course this is Grete and Thea in disguise respectively. They are willing to offer way more than Mannheim and if the bugger chooses to oppose, one word from the famous chef that his food sucks, he is finished. And so the deal is made. End of phase one. As they wait for Mannheim to make contact with Lily again, Grete reminisces how Klaus told her about this bakery and has memories here especially with Inferno. He tried to recreate the meat pies but couldn’t. Generations of love, huh?

Mannheim makes contact and is willing to pay even more than his initial offering. The plan will conclude by selling him a fake recipe. However he has a condition: He wants the meat pie made in front of him to ensure his authentication. This puts the girls in a bind because they don’t know how to make it. Even if Grete called Klaus on the recipe, he gave long ass and ambiguous instructions! WTF this sounds more complicated than spy missions! But you know Grete’s ability, right? Yeah, she’s going to try to recreate it. So on that day itself, they successfully create something close and Mannheim is convinced this is the real deal. So after he gives Lily his suitcase load of cash, he plays dirty and is going to shoot her to take back his cash. Of course they saw this coming as Lily knocked him out with her poison. In the aftermath, they donated his cash anonymously. Seriously, that is the last we heard of him? Yeah, maybe don’t want such embarrassing failure to get known. And now, Grete and Klaus are surprised as they see the old baker opening up. Well, he has decided to take on a young apprentice to pass on his techniques so he promises he’ll open back up once more. He gives them a sample meat pie as thanks. When they reach home, Lily and the rest are panicking because Thea’s side still has not come home and they cannot be contacted. Wow. Even Klaus is shocked to hear this? He did not expect this? Because now we see Monika holding Thea at gunpoint. She wants to know if she is going to betray Lamplight and will need to dispose of her body.

Spies Girls x Spy Family
Magnificent. But how much longer to I have to pretend that this series isn’t nearly as good as I think it is! Oh sh*t! That’s right. Here I thought it would be the next Princess Principal or at least something close to that but I guess it’s not. Hence I have to rate this as just average unless somebody tries to threaten me and change my mind… Heh. But seriously, I really had high hopes for this series at first (okay, maybe those cute faces on the promotional poster duped me into making such false hopes) but that soon started to tank very early on in the season. The downhill ride came faster than I anticipated. Yes, this anime isn’t qualified to be a contender for one of the best animes of the year!

There seems to be this strange pacing of the story that left many confused. Sure, they might not want to follow a linear and boring line but when viewers watched the first 3 episodes which itself is already a mini arc, first episode is about introducing and gathering of the outcasts, second episode is a training episode and finally the third episode is the actual mission and climax. You mean like the season finale? Oh wow. It’s over already? Then in the middle of the season we have flashbacks of pre-mission episodes and it made us think that the rest of the series will be relying on such flashbacks. After all, the basic premise of the series is to see how these spy girls learn and improve, to become better in overcoming their teacher. Slowly but surely. Make that 1000 years slow. Heh. And of course the final stretch is another big mission and that’s that. Thankfully it isn’t another one of those pre-mission flashbacks. So yeah. As such this kind of story might swing both ways, good and bad. Because as said, you got to remember that this series is about focusing on the girls in becoming better spies. What’s the name of this anime again? Of course, sometimes classrooms have practical and fieldwork AKA real (not) impossible missions.

And as you would have noticed too, each episode is tailored after one of the Lamplight girls. Giving them each their deserved screen time. But as you would also have noticed that a couple of ‘important’ Lamplight members got more than a single episode. And with only a dozen of episodes to boot as well there was an episode that doesn’t focus on any particular girl, you be there are some that will be left out after doing the maths. And since Thea, Monika and Annette didn’t get their own episodes, are they saying that these are lesser spies among the group itself? Hey, even supposedly the weakest one who is Sara seemed to get her own. Are these girls going to have their own extra episodes in the future? Or… Another sequel?! Yeah, isn’t that why Thea decided to betray the group since she didn’t get her own screen time and thus felt jealous and left out???!!! HAHAHA! Oops. So sorry if you are fans of these babes because they aren’t going to get their undue screen time. Blame it on Lily and especially Grete who got the bulk of it all as they occupy more than half of the episode. Heck, Grete got the largest chunk and occupied the final stretch for this season. I suppose they need to justify why Lily is made the leader of Lamplight as well as Grete and her insecurities.

Thus the characters here are a mixed baggage. Because of the limited number of episodes and what we were shown, there is not much to say about them. Yeah, we lack the info to say more about them but what the heck, I’m just going to analyse them with my limited info and biasness. Starting off with Lily, she’s like the comic relief of the group. In fact, the biggest joker-cum-clown. You may think it’s positivism or liveliness or whatever but the way she acts as well as bearing the brunt of her stupidity, oops I mean backfired plans, it actually makes her look more like a clown than a serious spy who dabbles in poison. Unless it’s all just an act to let our guard down into thinking her so. If that’s the case, then she succeeded. Because I still think she’s an idiot. Heh. Many of the funny moments are from her due to her tendency to backstab or just plain fail. Is this supposed to be funny? Or is it because we forgive her because she has great boobs! But I figure that Lily is made so only because she is a puppet leader and the real leader who is doing all the work in the background is Grete. In the series’ final stretch, we see her strut her stuffs and unleash her potential that is probably unrivalled by the other Lamplight girls. Therefore I believe disguise master Grete could be the true leader and if I should say, the brains of the group because of her extraordinary split second decision making abilities. All she wanted was a place to call her own and someone to accept her for who she is. Aren’t the rest the same?

The rest of the Lamplight members, well, not sure what I can make out from them since they are not as fleshed out as Lily and Grete. Hence we all will be stuck with this image that Erna is the bad luck girl, Thea the seducer and Sara who is good with animals. Sibylla also had a past to flesh out but that felt more like a plot device than anything else. Therefore in summary, it makes me wonder that if these girls are actually dropouts from their class. From what I can see, those schools who dropped them have a bad eye for people. These girls like anybody else when nurtured properly and given the right opportunity, will definitely shine through. Hence they need the right people to help them do that and thankfully it was Klaus. So call it a blessing that these girls were considered dropouts in their former schools but now get to hone and perfect their skills with the best sky in the kingdom. Yeah, I know who will be laughing last and cursing their hasty decision to do away with them. Unless… These schools knew their hidden potential and thus sent them to Klaus for finer polishing. Wow. I’m going crazy thinking about this sort of conspiracy theory.

Deception. That’s right. That is how the series mainly plays out. You think you might have thought that it would turn out so but surprise! It is not. Many would term this as plot twist but this kind of flow has been going on and permeating throughout the series that it makes us all feel confused and lost if you’re not paying attention to the script. They show it to you to make you think in a certain way and then in the end, the plot twist AKA deception that it is not. Gotcha. It’s like everybody already had a script in hand and knew the outcome. Because everything played into perfection and dancing right into their lap. Only we viewers are in the dark and taken for a ride till the moment of truth reveals itself (you mean like in Scooby Doo?). One greatest example, Grete impersonating as Klaus. Well, did you see that one coming? At least not for me. So much so I thought that they would pull another such bluff that Klaus was Grete all along! Hah! Double twin deception for you!

Of course, the man behind it all: Klaus. This guy is God. Uh huh. Just to showcase he is top of his game and why nobody is close enough to be his rival, hence all his actions look almost impossible. Like as though he has the ultimate cheat code and script in his hands. Better yet, he has mind reading and can see the future! Yeah, others may call it as thinking 100 steps ahead of everybody. But when he always, and I mean ALWAYS comes out tops and even freaking flawless, sometimes it makes me wonder if he is even human to begin with. Obviously within the span of this season we cannot see Lamplight besting Klaus because that would be too easy and he would lose his title as the greatest spy. Hence we have to see them flop and fail so many times first. Because you know, only through failures we learn from our mistakes and improve. But yeah, so magnificent that I have to ask, how long should I keep pretending that Klaus is an overpowered character?! It’s just unbelievable. I want to believe he is the greatest spy. But to see him so flawless in his execution, it’s like an insult to human beings. Oh sure, what’s this about his past and trauma of losing Inferno? His needs of wanting to be family? What’s this about being exhausted after so many single missions entrusted to him? All that is just miniscule when you compare it to his God-like actions and thinking. I mean, this guy never slips up ONCE! Even if you think he did, it was all within his consideration. All according to plan…

The clincher is how this dude easily captured Corpse without any effort! Sure, we don’t see his side but that only tells us either how worthless Corpse is (only bragging and all) or Klaus is way too overpowered and hence doesn’t even think of him as even a threat. It was the moment when I actually gave up and 100% in surrendering that there will never be anyone better than him. He is just too freaking good and it’s not point thinking otherwise. Yeah, this guy better live like forever because at this rate, the government will just need to send this one man army into battle and he’ll come out tops. Guaranteed. Hence Lamplight is not created or formed to be his successor, but to fulfil his need for a family! OMFG! WHAT IF THIS IS ACTUALLY THE CASE!!!!!!!!! Still makes me wonder if Klaus is so efficient, why world peace isn’t achieved yet! Just send in this dude to solve the problem! He’ll get it done somehow! Sometimes you don’t need an army. Just the right person…

But the most ironic part is as seen in the final episode, the inability to recreate the exact and perfect meat pie! OMG! WTF?! These spies who are so freaking close to perfection and even God master Klaus himself couldn’t recreate such simple dish? WTF they’re trying to tell us it needs some motherly love or something?! Yeah, I suppose so. But what I’m trying to say is that the way we see Klaus and Lamplight flawlessly get info and stay ahead of their opponents, they can’t even mimic even a recipe? You know what this means? This means if you want to thwart our spy heroines, all you have to do is just hide it in the form of a food recipe! OMFG!!! Such genius! I don’t know if this is supposed to show that they are not that all perfect but hell, the inability to recreate something so simple is just mind boggling. Yeah, maybe something enough to fool simpletons or the normal people. Otherwise, the formula for KFC, Coca-Cola and heck, Krabby Patty are safe from their deciphering! Oh yeah!

I can understand why Klaus is gloomy and sounding so monotonous because a spy like himself must not stand out. It also makes it harder to tell what he is thinking as long as he puts up that poker face 24/7. Funnily, each time I see Lamplight fail to take out Klaus in their futile attempts, it somewhat reminds me of Tom and Jerry, Road Runner as well as other such cartoons where the aggressor fails hard. Oh sh*t! Do you not feel that it is something like that?! Funny. Oh well, if it’s the only way for them to become better. And also this weird drama playing out between Klaus and Grete especially the latter who harbours feelings for him. With all the deception, I keep wondering if it is all part of the ruse to let his guard down. Klaus is a man after all. Oh I forgot. I already gave up on that. Klaus is God. So no puny mortal gonna have her love returned. So it’s clear that Klaus won’t be becoming a real lover or father. Just preferring to play the role of a father, that’s all. Hence it would be a great tragedy if his overpowered skills which I believe is mostly inherent, will die down with him and not passed down to a natural heir. Sure, the girls get better. But only enough to win over petty criminals and succeed missions. Good enough for the government. But not good enough to best Klaus still. Will this guy be a stumbling block to their development eventually?!

Art and animation are pretty standard. Sometimes I have to wonder if Lamplight’s uniform, which is dark and drab, are they dressing for a funeral? Oh right, spies can’t dress too colourful and flashy and that’s why the boring monotonous colour. Thank goodness the girls have different hair colour and hairstyles to differentiate them! I find the sceneries and backgrounds to be quite good. This country in which this anime is set in feels like a western countryside so it’s nice to see structures and buildings from the Victorian era and the likes. This anime is done by Feel who did Yahari Ore No Seishun Love Comedy Wa Machigatteiru, Papa No Iukoto Wa Kikinasai, Outbreak Company and Bokutachi No Remake.

For the voice acting, it seems I have a ‘problem’ with Sora Amamiya as Lily. My beef with this issue is that I believe she is trying to play her character as a joker. However because of that, Lily sounds so girly like as though she is faking it to play this role. Sometimes I could feel like as though she is putting in a lot of effort and struggling just to voice this girly Lily. Very weird if you ask me. Then there is Nao Touyama as Sibylla because I didn’t think it was her. I was shocked to know it was her because no matter how many times I go back and hear her lines, this isn’t the Nao Touyama I am familiar with. Could my ears be deceiving me? Well, I certainly could identify Aoi Yuuki as Monika and Ayane Sakura as Sara as both are very subdued in their characters. Even Nobuhiko Okamoto too as Corpse (this guy got sore throat or something?). Don’t even mention Yuichirou Umehara as Klaus because this guy has been pigeonholed to voice such low voiced monotonous characters from the days of the titular Goblin Slayer to that Demon Lord in Akuyaku Reijou Nanode Last Boss Wo Kattemimashite to that hunk in Romantic Killer, this guy’s character role stays largely the same! And don’t forget Youko Hikasa as Olivia, Shinichiro Miki as Guido and Houchu Ohtsuka as Uwe. A field day for me to gleefully identify this much seiyuus until how the f*ck is this Nao Touyama as Sibylla? Ruined day…

Then the rest of the other casts are Miku Itou as Grete (Miku in Go-toubun No Hanayome), Sumire Uesaka as Thea (Sanae in Chuunibyou Demo Koi Ga Shitai), Tomori Kusunoki as Annette (Futaba in Senpai Ga Uzai Kouhai No Hanashi), Inori Minase as Erna (Hestia in DanMachi) and Mitsuru Ogata as C (Clarence in Miami Guns). Personally, the opening theme, Touka by Nonoc feels weak. It tries to sound edgy and dramatic but didn’t really sound all that good in my books. The main ending theme, Secret Code by Konomi Suzuki has a bit of hip in it but not really to my liking either. Oddly, there a special ending themes for the featured Lamplight girls. Like the moderate and sultry Fool On The Secret by Erna, the fast and funky Don’t by Sibylla, the lively and sparkling anime pop of Sparklescape by Sara and finally the slow lovely ballad of Itsuwarinai Koufuku Wo by Grete. All sound okay and I suppose it is to reflect their character. Too bad Lily as the only featured Lamplight didn’t get her own…

Overall, this anime falls short of (my) expectations and in the end, comes out as one of those cute girls doing cute things, spy version. Yeah. That’s probably it. But what do we know? We’ve all been deceived by these cuties that we don’t see beyond that. So yeah, it was in a sense a fun-cum-entertaining as well as a pretty average ride to see the impossible being made possible because why not. Cute. They make it look like this spy job and missions are so easy and glamorous as long as you stay ahead of your opponent. I’m sure it’s funny and all to see people get owned by the impeccable master until you’re the one at the receiving end of it. LOL. Oh well, you girls made me laugh and smile at least. Magnificent. But I have to ask how long must I keep pretending that this anime is still a huge disappointment!

Ningen Fushin No Boukensha-tachi Ga Sekai Wo Sukuu You Desu

The title couldn’t be a bit more misleading. Here I was thinking Ningen Fushin No Boukensha-tachi Ga Sekai Wo Sukuu You Desu would be about a group of disbelievers banding together to save the world as in what the title says. Like, you mean a group of people who hates humanity are the ones who are going to save humanity from world destruction or the Demon Lord or something? I thought people like that would rather see the world burn and become the bad guys? Or they would just not give a f*ck about all that. Yeah. Such a big irony that I’m still trying to wrap my head around the meaning of that title. WTF. Oh why do I even bother? This isn’t exactly Suicide Squad material or anywhere close to it either. Well, good for me that I still want to believe in something like all that and that’s why I’m watching it to find out. How generous of me.

Episode 1
Nick gets kicked out from his party and this hurts a lot seeing it came from his master whom he looked up as a father figure. Then he got dumped by his girlfriend. Can things get any worse? Yeah. He soon becomes an otaku idol fan! While he was depressed, idol girl, Agate came to give him tickets to her show. At first he was distrustful but hey, what has he got to lose? Before you know it, he is hooked! In order to finance this new habit, he needs money. He tries to return to being an adventurer but no such luck. As he drinks at the bar, weirdoes come to sit with him also drowning their sorrows. There’s this rich magician girl (Tiana), a drunk playboy cleric (Zem) and a wounded dragon girl (Curran). Suddenly in sync, they say aloud they can’t trust humans anymore. We start off with Tiana’s history. Basically a prodigy of the magic academy. However when she went to see her fiancé, she is being told off how her advancement made him useless. Worse, he accused her of bribing the teachers and also bullying this new girlfriend of his. Hence he calls off their engagement. Tiana left school and tried to live by herself. Job are hard to come by especially for a noble like her. Then she ended up gambling and lost it all. How will she pay this month’s rent? Next is Zem. A priest in his hometown, he collected medicinal herbs with the help of an underage girl, Miril. However Miril wanted to take their relationship to the next step. Zem turned her down since he is a man of God. Miril didn’t like this so she framed him for raping her and even paying her for it (the money was for help in gathering the herbs). He is thrown into prison and then booted out of town. With everyone hating him, Zem went from town to town carousing with women. As for Curran, nothing much is sad except that something precious was stolen from her. Everybody wakes up next morning in Tiana’s room. They part ways thinking they would never see each other again. But then an idea hits Nick. If they have it tough surviving on their own, why not form a party together and do jobs since they don’t trust others.

Episode 2
The quartet register as a party. The receptionist notice Curran as a sole survivor from a tough labyrinth. Nick decides to call this party Survivors as this is what they’re going to do. He then lays down a few rules especially about the money and trust. As they fight slimes through a tower, Tiana accidentally fires at Curran. Although she manages to block it, this makes Curran mad since she wanted to trust her. Now that both don’t trust each other, the party is getting a bit awkward. Then there is a big slime in which Tiana wants to redeem herself but she rushes in and causes it to explode. Don’t worry, everybody just got slimed. As they clean themselves up, Nick thinks it is a good idea to show his comrades all the weapons and items he has as well as the things he is good at. The rest wonder if this means telling their weaknesses. Nick doesn’t want to force them to tell and only do so when they feel like it. But it is no secret that all of them were deceived by people so it makes them reluctant to tell their true skills. Tiana starts by apologizing to Curran while telling the magic skills she is good at and while the trust is not fully back yet, at least they’re making an effort to build that trust back. Survivors then start hunting ogres for bigger money. However they soon realize they will have to face larger packs and they suck at cooperating for now. Fleeing is not an option as if they let the pack be, they’ll start attacking other people nearby. They head in straight for the attack and thankfully everything ends well. As they are collecting their horns, Nick accidentally bumps into Curran. Looks like her prized pendant is cracked.

Episode 3
Flashback time. Curran saw this pendant a merchant was selling. Because it was expensive, she didn’t buy it. However the merchant accused her of scratching it and will not report her if she bought it at half price. That was when her comrade, Calios bought it and then told her to scratch it. This revealed the merchant’s bluff because Curran’s scratch is huge and crude unlike this fine tiny mark. Noting he swapped the real one with this scratched one, will he give this real pendant or would he like to be reported? Curran continued to follow Calios on various adventures. But in one adventure where she had to risk her life, she almost died and in that paralyzed state, learnt Curran used and betrayed her just to get whatever prized pickups. Curran survived and limped her way back to the inn. To her dismay, she learnt Calios told everyone she died and then sent her belongings back home. This included the important Dragon King’s Jewel she was given to protect by her clan. She tried to look for Calios but to no avail. Then she stumbled into this solo adventurer, Fifs. She got amused by the things he ate so she copied and ordered the same food as he did. Of course he knew what was going on and played along. So for Curran to continue enjoying such foods, she needed money. And hence her adventuring with our nonbelievers. Thus Curran doesn’t actually care about the pendant. No need to feel bad about it, Nick. As long as she can have good food and have a nice time with her friends, that’s all that matters. Soon the quartet get a request to find a sacred sword inside the Labyrinth of Bonds.

Episode 4
While exploring the labyrinth, Nick comes across a strange room. Yup, no doubt that the sacred sword is here. But wait, it might not be the said sword because everyone else thinks it is broken. The sword then speaks to them and trying to convince them he is not! Survivors cast their doubt and worse, they are not going to equip him but rather sell him! The sword is devastated because he too tells his story how his comrades abandoned him here. They left him behind assuring they would find a suitable wielder for him but they never came back. I’m sure it hits home to them but money is more important so they’re still going to sell him. Yeah, they don’t care about unparalleled power of whatever. Just in for the money! Suddenly the security system activates and a golem materializes. The only way out alive is to defeat it. No matter how much they fight it, it regenerates. Curran then takes a deep blow (but not fatal) so Nick is forced to become the decoy while the rest escapes. No choice, he equips the sword and is told to do some stuffs in order to activate his full power. Nothing happens! Was he deceived? The golem smacks him and he gets buried under the rubble. Curran goes to rescue him while the rest try to hold it back. Nick is alive but still feels guilty for breaking Curran’s pendant. Cue for Curran to assure him that while she cannot forgive Calios, it is more important for her to make new memories with them. Otherwise it’ll be like running away. With whatever criteria fulfilled, the sword starts to activated. A fused Nick and Curran easily destroy the golem and its core. Survivors hand in the sword and get their due reward. However that is a clone and the guild doesn’t even realize it. Because the real sword now takes a form as a human kid. Named Kizuna, huh? Apt or irony? He joins Survivors and learns their rules especially not questioning or interfering in their hobbies that they so rightful love to spend their hard earned money on.

Episode 5
Tiana remembers how she took away the strongest title from her teacher and somewhat ended his career. He interacted like as if it was nothing, though. On second thought, maybe his passive aggressive jokes mean something. Like how humans felt the need to be wanted despite wanting freedom and hence humans should be destroyed. And that if they can still laugh like this, perhaps the worst is to come. Yeah, not sure if he is joking under that smiling face. On a quest to make money, Kizuna rushes in to fight some orc and easily defeats it. Not sweat since he borrows their magic and stamina to pull off those awesome moves. Just don’t make them too tired, okay? As Nick and Curran eat at a diner, Nick spots somebody familiar a few tables away. Why, it’s his ex-girlfriend, Claudine! She’s trying to scam a young boy to give her more money with her lies! Nick steps in to stop Claudine before things get ugly. But that’s not the end of it. Later she comes back with Leon from Iron Tigers to get even with Nick. Nick is quick to reveal Claudine’s ulterior motive to sell some necklace to get money to escape the gang. Of course she claims it is all lies. Leon tells him to step outside to settle this. Nick prepares to fight but wait! Leon apologizes and thanks him! He knows Claudine is a cheating liar b*tch and has conned a lot of people, making lots of enemies. He is glad he stopped her BS. However, Leon thinks Nick is trying to con his new party and this has Nick punch him. Now they’re really going to fight. Too bad for Leon, Nick is way superior. This farce is put to a stop when the rest come by. However as long as they follow the rules, they can continue what they’re doing. What rules? Oh. You mean they have to settle this via mathematics bare knuckle?! WTF is that?! A battle of mind crunching numbers amidst the punching flurry, IS IT???!!!

Episode 6
This is how it works. One pair will be fighting and the other doing the maths. The point is to teach adventurers some arithmetic. So unless one finishes all the questions, the fight can go on forever. Curran is drawn to be the maths player against Claudine. Oh dear. Can dragon girl count? So while Curran does her practice, Zem does his womanizing to find some info and learns something about a strange man around town. The game begins as Nick brawls with Leon while the ladies start cracking their heads. Curran finishes first but ends up doing mistakes. Because Claudine has the higher score, Leon is allowed to give one penalty punch to Nick. The same thing happens the next round and this zaps Curran’s morale. However Nick tells her that she isn’t a useless person and that she could only get better. This motivates Curran and worries Claudine. Flashback shows Claudine was a happy girl until her family embezzled money and got caught. They tried to sell her but she ran away. Needing to survive, she resorted to tricking others. That is until she met Nick. So looks like her idea of the more she steals, the happier she is isn’t happening. The reason Claudine and Leon are calm is because they have a plan. It is all to buy time as the questions get harder, it will soon be out of Curran’s league. Then they’ll go in for the kill. Tiana is trying to scan for this magic trick but couldn’t find any. But soon she does. Claudine is using some telepathic gemstone connected to Beg as he is telling her answers to her questions. Of course Beg is soon caught and their little cheating is over. Leon and Claudine are arrested as Claudine refuses to accept all this. She claims she isn’t a bad person from the start. Yeah, everybody too. And so today’s lesson is that everybody makes mistakes and if you realize it, you can correct them. However it is limited to your own mistakes.

Episode 7
Leon once had an older brother. He was a genius as an adventurer. Thanks to him, they got some wealth and all but one small mishap, he died a pathetic death. Leon is now interrogated by the guards for some treasure. Speaking which, he calls forth his sword of evolution to free him and bust him out of prison. Tiana is at the casino and the dealer and other players hint to her to team up and make this gambler broke. Tiana just goes ahead and play along until he gives up. His companion is grateful to her somewhat as she thinks her actions was to stop him from further gambling. Soon the place is under attack. Who this big tiger monster? Oh, it’s Leon evolved. He is going to find and kill Nick but stumbles into Tiana. He thinks of using her as hostage to lure Nick but Tiana laughs at it. She corrects his mistake of thinking they are comrades. They may look like it but they’re not. They don’t even trust each other. Leon is confused because he doesn’t smell any lies in those words. Like as though she has resigned to that fate. He is going to kill her but here comes Nick to the rescue. Don’t take this the wrong way. He needs her alive for his benefit. Leon’s sword senses Kizuna (in sword form) and looks like he has some sort of grudge. Kizuna realizes this sword has taken over Leon’s mind and at this rate it will be at a point of no return. Hence Nick and Tiana fuse together via Kizuna to attack. Leon realizes he is starting to lose himself. His body is causing all this destruction that he doesn’t want. However his sword is trying to convince him this is what he wants. Leon remembers he too was betrayed by comrades and lost faith in humanity. Hence he went into this swindling business to feel good about himself. Because the one who get tricked is also their fault, right? However Leon can’t stand it no more but is powerless to break free. Somebody please save him. Nick-Tiana to the rescue. In the end they manage to break Leon free of the sword. Leon sits in prison as he recalls his ironic life cycle. Nick visits him to tell him despite the damage, there were no casualties and most importantly, that cursed sword is sealed.

Episode 8
Nick and Agate talk. It seems Agate has been in a dilemma since giving him tickets to her concert. She always wondered if she had ruined his life. Nick doesn’t fault her. Even though without her he could have found interest in something else or become a criminal, he is glad being her idol fan put him back on the right path. Now we see Agate’s flashback. Her real name is Bell Haggins and she sings at Donny, her boyfriend’s pub. However the pub is often empty and she’s singing to an empty crowd. One day, a producer named Joseph Coleman scouts her to be an idol. He invites her to go watch an idol concert and safe to say, she became enthralled to this world. She believed greed led her to take this path since she wanted people to accept her and hear her singing. Hence she became an idol and under the stage name of Agate. As she began to rise, obviously Donny started to fall. He borrowed money from her to feed his gambling habit. Since she had the means, she always relent but can’t help wonder if this was what he wanted. Last episode at the casino, so that dude is Donny and Agate his companion. Agate narrates she met a goddess (Tiana) and believed those eyes wanted to destroy her instead of Donny. Then she saw how cool she was when Leon attacked. She became her hero. Her paladin. Soon, Joseph makes a deal with Donny to absolve all his debts with the condition he cannot see Agate anymore. Even if they meet on the street, they will be strangers. It’s a sad thing as Agate gives her opinion on this. She was actually willing to quite being an idol for him but he has started to look at the money instead of her. Hence having her around him will make his life worse. And just like that they part ways. Now Agate continues to perform before her fans and even wrote a new song dedicated to her paladin. She wants to become one of those people who inspires others. Later Agate and Nick talk again. Agate sounds tired that as humans, once you solve a problem, more arises. But as Nick puts it, it is proof that you can take a step forward and that’s just what they have to do. Move forward.

Episode 9
Kizuna is excited about this Stepping Man legend who kidnaps kids at night. This attracts the attention of Olivia Taylor who is a publisher of a well-known magazine. She is interested in weird things happening and please do tell if they find any. Soon, Nick and Kizuna save Zem from an invisible dude whom they think it is Stepping Man. Zem has been protecting this young girl, Reina further from being kidnapped. Reina soon reveals her mom has been going out every night to catch this Stepping Man but ended up in hospital. She tried to warn others about the kidnapping but nobody believes her. You bet Survivors will help her and Reina wants to be Zem’s disciple! Good thing the ex-priest learns from his lesson and will not take on any who are underage. They head to the local guild to find out more but since they are nobodies, they must prove themselves by accomplishing this task of bringing in this hoodlum, Hale Hardy. Some adventurers bet that they can’t do it so Tiana eagerly wages right now they can. Survivors head to the slums (where everybody is just dying of some disease) and ask about until they manage to nab Hale. Easy. On the way out, they meet this ex-priest, Nalgava who seems to be a fair person to let Hale be taken away and judged if he has commit some evil. He doesn’t know about Stepping Man but Hale laughs it off because everyone here has a kidnapping potential. Though, he notes a weird reporter going around giving candies to kids to talk to them. With Survivors winning the bet, you losers better pay up because Tiana uses that winnings to buy everyone here drinks. Survivors then get access to reports and other related documents on Stepping Man. Then they soon realize that Olivia fits the description because right now she is seen talking to Reina after giving her a candy. Nick has everyone else block the exits as he talks to her. Olivia playing dumb like an innocent fool. But since Nick isn’t buying any of it, she makes a quick escape. A hole right through the roof!

Episode 10
Zem still having nightmares of his imprisonment. Reina’s mom, Ada comes to talk to Survivors. Nick knows her since she was a very well-known adventurer. Ada wants Reina to stop going after Stepping Man since it is too dangerous. As for being Zem’s student, Zem is quick to explain about his tragic past and until today he still suffers from trauma when he sees a young girl. He only saved her because it was the natural thing to do. Though, it gave him hope that he might overcome this one day. However Reina clears the air that Zem is only her teacher. If she wanted a boyfriend, she would make better choices! Oh damn, did Zem just got rejected? As for the Stepping Man case, Ada is too old to go after this herself and she thinks Survivors aren’t strong enough to face him. Since Nick pleads to get stronger, it’s time for Ada to train him. The key is agility so Nick trains on how to be light footed on the ropes. One night, Survivors manage to save another girl from Stepping Man’s kidnap. Nick calls out to Olivia to stop it but Stepping Man doesn’t respond and escapes. Because Kizuna also sensed some sort of illusion magic, Nick goes to ask Leon if there is an item which can do such. Apparently there is. Illusion King’s Jewel. But breaking its spell is easy as you need to call out the person’s name with conviction. Nick wonders if Stepping Man isn’t Olivia since that had no response. On one foggy day, Survivors are attacked by Stepping Man who turns out to be Olivia. But Olivia thinks Nick is Stepping Man from his agile moves. Huh? More confusion because Olivia also admits she is known as Stepping Man. WTF is going on?! Oh, you see, the Stepping Man nickname she is known is for being jumping around city’s roofs at night. Not the kidnapping one! Now she cooperates to help them find that kidnapper. She takes them to a morgue. A dead girl. Care to describe her face? They can’t. Then they find an Illusion King’s Jewel that is interfering with their recognition ability. Breaking its spell, now they can see her features clearly. Further investigation reveals Martha Canning died of yellow fever and was the daughter of a guy who runs an armour shop. From all the info, it seems Zem has figured out who Stepping Man is.

Episode 11
Nick fights Stepping Man and after a few talk, he deduces his identity as Nalgava. It seems he is trying to find a cure for the yellow fever and kidnapping kids as samples. This is one reason why the infection didn’t spread rapidly from the slums to the urban areas. However because of that, he is also spreading the disease. His reason for doing it is because his daughter had it and died from it. Basically that diseases is STD and his daughter died trying to help one infected. Worse, they never believed her and laughed after she died. That’s when Nalgava got disillusioned about God taking away his daughter. Survivors understand but that doesn’t make what he did was right. When Nalgava adds that both truth and fake are real and that he chose not to run away from responsibilities, Zem continues to condemn his actions. Remember Martha? When her identity was revealed, many especially her parents cried. She may not be anybody to him but she is to others. The same can be said about his daughter. Nalgava believes he is not like Zem because he had an ulterior motive to become a priest and had used shady matters to rise up through the ranks. He thought some deaths were necessary so others could live. Zem isn’t sure about that because it’s not for them to decide. And that’s what makes life interesting. Suddenly a knight with white mask zaps Nalgava. Zem tries to heal him but is told is futile because he is going to die anyway. White Mask continues to attack Survivors and since Zem continues to heal Nalgava, he is told his actions will lead to their deaths. Zem is in a dilemma but luckily Olivia is here to keep White Mask busy while Zem fuses with Nick via Kizuna. With them outnumbering White Mask, he decides to retreat. As Nalgava is trapped beneath the rubble, he is going to die and this place is going to collapse soon. Zem puts him at ease before Survivors escape as the building caves in. Zem continues to be sad he couldn’t save others but the rest believed he saved him in his final moments. When are people’s sins forgiven and by whom? This gives Zem the much needed strength to carry on saving others. But now their attention turn to Olivia. They want to know her true identity since she could fight on par with White Mask and has some dangerous weapons herself. She reveals she is the Sword of War.

Episode 12
Since the Stepping Man’s incident, Survivors have grown a bit gloomy and distant. We know that won’t last for long, right? Flashback shows Nick’s family just arrived at the city but bandits ambushed and killed them. Nick survived only because his uncle came and saved the day. Nick lived under his wing and joined his guild. Then, he became an adventurer as a way to earn a living. He wondered if he answered differently, would his uncle still keep him in his guild? Zem takes over Nalgava’s role as he tends to the sick residents of the slums. Once in a while, womanizing isn’t a bad thing too. Tiana continues to indulge in her racing bets. She wins some, she loses some. Not enough to hit it big, though. Curran still can’t get over Calios’ betrayal. Déjà vu and history repeating itself as now it is Curran’s turn to save a young greenhorn girl from being swindled but that very same conniving merchant. So this little tiger girl going to follow her every step now? Curran keeps her positivism that as part of the dragon clan, she will continue to play her role and destiny to save the world. Olivia comes to Survivors with big news. Some legendary Demon Lord is on the verge of reviving and White Mask might be behind it. Just rumours. Yeah, did she make all that up?! Anyway, in Survivors’ typical fashion, they will take on whatever job and come back alive. They’ll catch one bad guy at a time and this chain might lead them to the real mastermind behind it. Right now, enjoy the nice fireworks. We get a glimpse of everyone else living their ordinary lives. But oh sh*t, Claudine trying to tunnel her way out of prison with a spoon?! Yeah the guard found out… Later Kizuna talks to Olivia because as artefacts, they will outlive many humans. As for Olivia’s opinion on training Survivors to eventually face the Demon Lord, she thinks they’re not ready yet but scepticism is a good trait of theirs. Yeah, why the hurry? Take their time. If they can’t save the world right now, someday they will. Make that a long, long time in the future!

Keep The Faith
Well, can you believe it? By the time Survivors are ready, we’ll all be grandpas and grandmas already! I don’t know, will some legendary sword artefact reverse their age, make them youthful and go save the world then?! I don’t know. So people, so sorry our distrusting adventures are not quite prepared to save the world yet. When you have the final episode titled as so, feels a bit deceiving that they may not be the ones to helm that role. What if some other capable groups along the way show up to fill in that shoe? Not that Survivors would mind anyway as long as they get to enjoy their hobbies. You bet they’re always ready and up for it any time.

Honestly, I don’t find the story of this series to be interesting. At least for what I have seen. We just see a group of disillusioned people banding together and doing quests together. That is all. Feels pretty generic to me. If you’re saying that such quests would help them in seeing stuffs they would not see before and in the meantime help improve themselves, then yes, perhaps this is what this season is supposedly be. After all, with only a dozen episodes, there is only so much you can flesh out and it won’t be wise to rush out the whole thing because it will just make it so unbelievable. I mean, they want us to believe and root for these group of disillusioned people, right? But I have to admit that the only interesting moments were when they have their past revealed. It tells how they got into such predicament. But that is so much about it as the rest of the season sees them taking on random quests to pay for their hobbies and whatever that takes money to feed on.

Now, it might seem laughable at first because despite the tragedy of Survivors getting betrayed by the ones they trusted the most, it makes it look like as though these people are having some sort of first world problems. It’s like they got jilted once and hence just trying to sulk by forming a group to proof they could do better. But it won’t be a laughing matter if you put yourself in their shoes. Because nobody likes to get betrayed. First time itself is already enough to zap all your morale and erode all trust. Therefore it’s no joke nor is it some convenience (although to a certain degree it is) that these people are grouping together to prove something. Even so, it shows that they intend to move on rather than be useless bums and rot alone till kingdom come. Thus forming Survivors could have been a blessing in disguise for these deserted people because we see how they slowly open back up and hopefully earn back the trust they lost. Though, it is sometimes unbelievable that after a major incident with trust issues, Survivors were able to get over it so fast. I mean, like immediately.

And also looking from this perspective, the good things they have done by helping others, it could be that these little deeds would eventually pile up and that is how they will save the world! Yeah, took me this long to figure perhaps this is how the world will be saved. Not by taking down the Demon Lord (have all the fantasy anime settings to blame for this train thought) but rather small bits and pieces of doing good every day. It might be a long shot and from a sceptical point of view impossible (because there’ll always be bad people in the world who want to take advantage of you, no?) but Rome wasn’t built in a day. Hence with Survivors sowing and planting the seeds of their goodwill at this early stage, it might take some time before their reputation grows. Hopefully it will change the mind set of many because when people start to think to do good, half the battle to save the world is done. There. Wow. Didn’t think Survivors would have this kind of impact.

Character wise, I think they are pretty okay. Nothing special for me to note. Like I’ve said, their past were pretty interesting to see how they ended up in their current predicament. But that’s about it. We see them trying to improve themselves and in doing so they also help others. Nick is like the leader of the group since he suggested forming this band. Not sure if Curran is the comic relief of the group and while I don’t think so, compared to the rest she is more of a simpleton and eating the tastiest food is only on her mind. Zem as a washed out priest (even though not of his fault) trying to find his footing and eventually hope in helping others. That leaves Tiana whom I believe could be the least trusted one because she has this suspicious looks on her face although it is wrong to judge a book by its cover. Among Survivors, I feel that she is the most reserved one and in some ways still keeps her distance. After all, it was her who still believes and said that even among them, they still do not completely trust each other. Or is just that her opinion?

Completing the group is Kizuna who Is there to bring some liveliness to the pack because well, everybody still fresh from the distrusting issue so he’s there to liven things up as the new member. And also for this plot to fuse Nick and some other Survivor member to do a more powerful move that to me seems forgettable. Yeah, they only do this fusion once and every Survivor member had their turn with Nick. Sorry if it sounds sexily ambiguous but hell yeah, that what it is. Because I suppose normal conventional methods and by themselves they can’t best the stronger and faster opponents and hence having Kizuna is sure convenient as this transformation allows them to be more powerful than their original self and also look cool with a new fused character design. Heh.

Obviously Survivors aren’t the only people in town or the world who have their own problems to deal with. Other characters too have their fair share of their own issues and ghosts to confront and thankfully that too was interesting enough to watch. For instance, Agate herself didn’t start out as the famous idol we all know her today. She went through some problems herself too but found the strength to take control of her own destiny. I want to say the same for Claudine too but unfortunately her past was only briefly shown. We too want to believe that she wasn’t born a cheating and swindling vixen and like everybody else, did not born or start off as a bad person. Like in many cases, many like them (including Survivors) were given a chance to change or do something. But in Claudine’s case, she probably didn’t make the correct one and ended up with a bad end. Pitiful for her but that’s life. Same case for Nalgava. He had his reasons too. Had his past. He made his choice and decision. Be prepared to face the consequences. That is all. That is life for you.

Thus if there is one thing about this anime, it made me think a lot about the choices and decisions one can make in life. Yes, I have to admit that in this context, I find it very relatable. Because life itself isn’t a bed of roses. Circumstances had you made decisions there and then. And some mistakes were made earlier on in life that were irreversible and came back haunting. I know. From my own personal experience that was too close to home. Sorry to bore you with such personal details unrelated to this anime but I could tell you that it is one reason I ended up being an otaku!

Art and animation are pretty standard. Character designs look like your standard conventional anime characters. Handsome guys and pretty girls all abound. Yeah, Nick looks like your generic bland main character. Though, my only ‘first world complaint’ is how Tiana’s hat is too big for her. Must mages wear oversized hats? This anime is done by Geek Toys who did Date A Live IV, Plunderer and Kawaikereba Hentai Demo Suki Ni Natte Kuremasu Ka.

Voice acting is also normal. Nothing special and I just barely recognized Mikako Komatsu as Kizuna. But not for Yuko Kaida with her cameo as Ada and Sho Hayami as Leon’s sword. The rest are Yuusuke Kobayashi as Nick (Subaru in Re: Zero Kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu), Sayumi Watabe as Tiana (Marimo in Muv-Luv Alternative), Shunichi Toki as Zem (Fukuma in Kyuuketsuki Sugu Shinu), Sayaka Kikuchi as Curran (Snow in Sentouin Hakenshimasu), Kaori Ishihara as Agate (Aladdin in Magi), Minami Takahashi as Olivia (Megumi in Shokugeki No Souma), Haruka Shiraishi as Claudine (Asirpa in Golden Kamuy), Akio Ootsuka as Nalgava (titular character in Black Jack) and Junichi Yanagita as Leon (Kurobe in Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken). The opening theme is Glorious World by Shunichi Toki. A pretty generic (and hence bland) rock music. Never Dear by Mao Abe as the ending theme is a lively pop piece with some funky and jazzy beat to it. Has a calm vibe to it too so I guess it’s okay to listen.

Overall, I just find this anime average and nothing extraordinary that would want me to hope for another season but at the same time, it is not bad or disappointing enough for me to wish there won’t be. Yeah, got to always have that I-believe-it in it. After all, watching so many animes throughout the years, I would’ve been spammed and brainwashed with the power of trust and believe themes in all those series. Heh. I want to believe this series had potential to be better but sorry, after being disillusioned and betrayed by so many disappointing animes that do not live up to at least the threshold of decency, I’m still having my doubts and reservation. Despite all that deception and disillusioned built up over the years, I still continue to believe there is hope for the anime industry to come out with better quality anime titles. It is evident because I’m still sticking around, right?! Or I could just stop watching sh*tty animes altogether to solve the problem! Nah. I’ll take all the good, bad and ugly that come with it. Sorry folks, not here to save the world. Just wanna watch some animes in peace. You’re not going to judge me on my favourite hobby, RIGHT?!

Kyuuketsuki Sugu Shinu S2

Nu! Oh wow. So this vampire can’t really stay dead, huh? Yeah. That’s right. I didn’t expect this to have another season. At least not this soon. But I guess with a certain vampire resurrected from the ashes of the dead, it is so that only because we can have more dumb laughs in Kyuuketsuki Sugu Shinu S2. As we all already know from the first season, a vampire so weak that he dies and turns into sand the slightest. But he keeps conveniently resurrecting and that’s why we have a sequel to see more shenanigans and antics that would continue to kill him (but not outright) and in the process make us laugh. Heh. Oh well, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, right? Okay, at least not in Draluc’s case. Does anybody keep a scorecard of how many times this weakling died already?

Episode 1A
Because Ronaldo unplugs the power to his video game, Draluc becomes upset and leaves. Ronaldo is happy if he never comes back but damn, you’re making John sad! Don’t worry, he’ll come back as always. True enough, he later comes back. However the welcome sign outside the door has fallen off. Because vampires cannot enter that is not of their home, he thinks Ronaldo is trying to throw him out. If that’s the case, he’ll run away. He tries to ask the guild members for a place to stay but apparently if he wants to die faster, be my guest. Especially Senya. Don’t trade your pride just to live with this gay BDSM dude! Ronaldo is in a pinch when Kameya and Rokuon are here to interview Draluc. Ronaldo has no choice but to have John dress up like the vampire. Draluc thought Handa’s place would be good to stay for a while. Until he sees all the hate merchandises of Ronaldo! Better get out! The only way left is to go back to the office. One of those vegetable monsters is still around so he gets chased about. Draluc thinks of transforming into a bat to fly into the office to signal for John’s help. Too bad WTF he transformed into?! Because of that, pigeons start chasing him. Then chickens. Then ostriches. WTF?! Eventually he comes back running to office with all the birds as Ronaldo kills him off. That should do it. With the sign back up, Draluc returns home. Ronaldo still blames him, though.

Episode 1B
Ronaldo gets tricked by Kameya to go drinking. Instead they’ll be investigating this private hospital said to have a ghost causing nuisance to the public. And what’s Handa doing here? Oh, to tease Ronaldo. As they investigate, the real culprit is actually a vampire who has a transparent lower half, making him look like a ghost. He wants to play pranks on them. However the jokes are on him as he gets assaulted by Handa’s clione. Then he tries to scare them to run in separate directions. After a few cheap scares, he thought Ronaldo has taken the bait. Turns out everyone knew it all along and was just playing to catch him. However as he confesses, it seems the hand blood prints on the window wasn’t his doing. Who is it? Oh sh*t! THIS REAL GHOST! THIS REAL SCARY MOTHER! RUN!!! In the aftermath, Kameya wrote an article so good about it, now it has become a public attraction. Step right this way! Oh, the ghost is called Acchan now?

Episode 1C
Ronaldo is in sh*t. Deadline for his manuscript is today. Better get cracking. If only Draluc isn’t being a dick by distracting him playing his drums! Killing him off once didn’t do the trick as Draluc returns with more crazy WTF distractions. Ronaldo believes this is all to distract him. He’ll lose if he reacts so he stays strong in focusing on his work. Too bad the silliness is too strong. From samba dances to Ronaldo impressions to guess-what-picture-this-is, you bet Ronaldo is turned into some rebuking pro. In the end, Draluc has this large contraption but messes up. A pissed Ronaldo goes to tell him how it is done when suddenly Fukuma is here. Ronaldo looks like he is fooling around, right? And so, he requests to sing a song before the inevitable. So, this rock piece is his dirge-cum-eulogy?

Episode 2A
Mikazuki Kagomehara as a vampire hunter from Tokyo. He arrives at Shin Yokohama’s guild and everyone is happy to welcome him. However Mikazuki isn’t here to make friends. He is here to exterminate vampires because all of them are slacking. Well, everyone is impressed at how passionate this guy is! As they carry out their missions, Mikazuki fails to unleash his special skill because of dumb interruptions. He also learns how weird everybody is. Yeah, they’re friendly and give him some encouragement even when he fails. Not to mention there are some ‘friendly’ vampires they can’t kill. Just beat them up a little. Finally Mikazuki gets his modesty violated by the bikini vampire. He thought he has lost it but his guild pals give him the strength to carry on. Maybe this isn’t so bad. Until he gets aped by that kissy vampire. Instantly he returns to Tokyo. Not coming back!

Episode 2B
Hinaichi narrates her job to observe Draluc. Yeah, she’s making herself at home at Ronaldo’s office and ignoring him. So we see her observe the funny ways of this world’s weakest vampire and how he adapts quickly to modern conveniences. Because of that, she notes he is more human than a vampire. An insult that results in instant death! Then he tries to show off some of the vampire characteristics as per survey over the internet. Not really impressive… Finally the blood sucking trait… Just pop this wine from dad! So weak he can’t even open the cork and Hinaichi has to help. Ronaldo just finishes separating some vampire bugs as per requested by the kids. This freaks out Hinaichi. The bottle kills Draluc, the bugs start sucking all over him. It eventually turns into some bug monster but nothing that Hinaichi and Ronaldo could quickly smash and get over it. To make up for this mess, Draluc bakes cookies. Hinaichi would love to have some and this is thing that occupies her entire report to Hiyoshi. Care to have a bug vampire too?

Episode 2C
Ronaldo is out so Draluc thought he could have the entire office to himself. Only, Fukuma is here! Actually he wants Draluc to review a game: Quest of Soul Gate. From Draluc’s reaction, you bet it is a sh*tty game. Playing it for 5 minutes will melt your brains! Draluc thinks he has no choice but to accept and will hand in his review once he is done. However Fukuma will stay with him to finish the game and review! Oh sh*t. This is going to be a long night. As the game starts, hope you are patient enough for this long ass loading screen. As everything in the game sucks and Draluc letting out his frustrations, he soon has to turn that excuse into some good review. Yeah, even Fukuma suspects it is a boring game so Draluc has to pretend he lacks focus or something. After all the bugs and annoyance, the game itself isn’t complete. Not sure what Draluc is talking about the incompleteness of life. Ronaldo returns and learns what is happening. Apparently Fukuma’s boss is asking him to review sh*tty games. Ah yes. Sh*tty games… So while Draluc’s review is not bad, looks like Fukuma is now hounding him for the next sh*tty game review. And the deadline is…

Episode 3A
Is there some sort of tournament where Autumn Books’ editors fight each other? Yeah well, looks like Fukuma defeats Sanzu and retains his right to be Ronaldo’s editor. Apparently Sanzu is a big fan of Ronaldo, the reason why she joined this editor. If only Fukuma didn’t get in her way. Since she can’t beat him with his monstrous strength, she’ll go directly to Ronaldo and have him request to change editor. Of course as a big fan, she fawns all over him and can’t think straight. Even if she tries to speak, she makes it sound so ambiguous like selling her body just for him. Luckily Ronaldo is dumb and also gets the wrong idea. Draluc hears about this and offers to help. He gives Sanzu an earpiece and she’ll do as she is told. Of course she flops. She tries to compliment him but it sounds like rubbing salt into his wounds. She too gets her fair share of hurt when he compliments her for working as Fukuma’s support. When all doesn’t work, it’s time to get up close and personal with him. Only, she does a wrestling suplex on him! Is this some reference for an action scene? Eventually when Sanzu is about to tell him the real truth, Fukuma thanks her for being his support. Now Ronaldo has ideas on what to write next. Yeah, Draluc is also on this take.

Episode 3B
Remember Sagyo? Oh, who cares? As Handa’s junior, looks like he gets roped into one of Handa’s dumb experiments to get Ronaldo. That is, to plant this celery fondue in Ronaldo’s desk to freak him out. They do so and as Ronaldo is heard coming back, Handa escapes leaving Sagyo in a lurch. He is forced to hide in the cabinet as Ronaldo discovers the celery and freaks out. This must be Handa’s doing! Being suspicious that Handa is hiding behind the closet, Sagyo is forced to be like Handa and play dirty, becoming the very thing he swore not to become. This means scaring Ronaldo off with a celery to make him think a celery ghost is haunting the place. Hinaichi is here and opens the closet. WTF Sagyo? His reputation is as good as dead when Handa returns and praises him for the things he has done. Since it is all his fault, Sagyo throws him out of the window! Don’t worry, he’ll pay for it.

Episode 3C
Tsujigiri laments his name strikes no fear in people now. Until Kei Kantaro from the vampire control division asks him if he has seen this Tsujigiri guy. Apparently Kantaro was one of his victims but had gotten away. Kantaro describes how ferocious Tsujigiri is. Oh, you’re praising him, aren’t you? Tsujigiri is about to kill him when Kantaro takes out this freaking big injection! Oh yeah. That guy is dead meat! Tsujigiri tries to slash him from the back but his thick vest means he is unharmed. Kantaro thinks the real deal slashed him and ran away. He forces Tsujigiri to come with him to look for the wanted vampire. Not sure how he thinks he’ll be in this izakaya but heck, Mimimi (Maremi’s younger sister) wants to hit on Tsujigiri and worse, Senya joining in! Tsujigiri tries to throw Kantaro off but apparently this leads them to the amusement pool where they play hard so as to camouflage their investigation. Then they end up at a disco and party all night. Wow, I think Tsujigiri would have an easier time turning himself in. Now he’s so exhausted. Need all the sleep he can get. Hiyoshi can’t understand Kantaro’s report. Is he actually doing his work or having fun?

Episode 4A
With Gosetsu out, Koyuki is left to man the guild by herself. Thus the yakyuken vampire thinks she is easy meat. Before he can start playing his stripping game with her, she does a few wrestling moves on him. Don’t judge a book by its cover. She’s equally tough. And suspicious. Hence he decides to pretend to be a vampire hunter until she gets her guard down to start that stripping game. However he is made to eat all of her yucky food. Yes, she sucks in cooking! Even when kissy vampire comes in to hunt for her next prey, she gets cooked instead! We’re not eating that! He then goes to help her cook and really finds her incompetent. He lectures her and this makes her sad. Could be the opening he needs but then she accidentally cuts her finger and a cricket vampire leaps out to get her. This is when he starts playing strip rock-scissors-paper with it and wins. Too bad this reveals his identity. But with Koyuki grateful for saving her, this is the opening he needs as he starts his stripping game. Too bad she is good at it and he loses all his clothes in the end.

Episode 4B
Draluc realizes he has turned into a child and think this is a game grandpa is playing. But with Ronaldo not realizing this, Draluc thinks of fooling him as his little brother by 200 years! He tries to get Ronaldo to say good things about Draluc but looks like he doesn’t have anything good. Not even Hinaichi’s praises that he is good at cooking. Is that all? So he sheds some crocodile tears and demands a few stuffs to be pacified. He thought this is easy but then WTF he is made to wear some cute kiddie clothes? Then he sneezes and reverts back to normal. Oh dear. You bet Ronaldo is going to kill him. Suddenly his mom, Mira comes in and reverts him back into a kid before kidnapping him away. Worse, it seems Draluc has also lost his memories of them.

Episode 4C
Draus arrives too late as he explains Mira’s power to intervene with another vampire’s ability. He laments his lack of communication with his wife has led to this since Mira has always been busy with work and rarely spends time at home. We all know what to do. Bring him back. Meanwhile Mira is having a picnic with Draluc at the sunflower field outside his ruined castle. She regrets not having spending much time with him due to her job as negotiating between humans and vampires. She notices him taking pictures and uploading them. To who? Well, Draluc isn’t sure either. Perhaps his friends. Great timing as Ronaldo and Hinaichi find them thanks to those uploaded pics. John must be so great since Draluc regains his memories. He is surprised to see mom, though. She continues her lament that her work made them grew further apart so this was just her selfish part to spend time with him. Of course Draluc didn’t waste time in scolding her for doing this. However he also notes and accepted the kind of work she is doing. She is after all his mother. With Draus here, it’s time to let the adults have their own private time as Draluc returns home with the rest. So, Draluc prefers to die by Ronaldo’s hands many times than to be with mom?

Episode 5A
Bosatsu thinks of escaping while Fukuma has gone to work. However his plan to hide in his bag and escape didn’t work. So he witnesses the few strange things at Autumn Books like Fukuma easily despatching a rival publisher with some WTF move, new employees are raised in a liquid chamber and the boss feeding him some strange monster meat. When Fukuma goes downtown, Bosatsu makes a dash for it. Only, he stumbles into Ronaldo. Yeah, panicky guy is trying to have this cat save him to his magical cat kingdom because he hasn’t wrote anything for the deadline. Damn, this guy even hides inside the Iron Maiden! Surprisingly, Fukuma gives some words of encouragement and this regains Ronaldo’s confidence. When Bosatsu tries to make a break for it, he suddenly changes his mind. So he feels the Iron Maiden is comfortable? Well, Fukuma has bought a cat version just for him! Regret not running away now?

Episode 5B
Some of the vampire hunters who haven’t got their vaccine yet, see Yomotsuzaka to get their shot. Obviously Ronaldo isn’t going to get jabbed by this funny liquid. A small struggle and the jab accidentally ends up in Satetsu. Now he turns into some failed vampire who wants blood! Yomotsuzaka hopes the rest can pin him down to find an opening to inject this cure. When they do so, Yomotsuzaka wants to inject other experimental drugs. Satetsu escapes. He is about to attack kids but since he doesn’t want to, attacks Ronaldo instead in hopes he will stop him. Just when Satetsu can’t hold back and seemingly attacks the kids, he destroys a vampire mosquito. This opening is enough for Ronaldo to inject the cure. Back at the lab, Satetsu’s kind nature has him forgive Yomotsuzaka. Too bad those kids uploaded his rampage on the internet for all to see.

Episode 5C
Ronaldo and his friends take the train home. Because he dozes off, he didn’t pick up a call from Fukuma. They alight at their station and soon realize something is off. This isn’t Shin Yokohama but Ura Shin Yokohama. They are trapped in this bizarre dimension of a train station. We learn that a vampire is making this barrier in hopes they will fall into despair and he will soon suck their life. But guess what? Our guys are having so much fun! They’re doing things they’ve always wanted to do as they have the place all to themselves! Yeah, that crazy dimension thingy has them even looking back at their own ass!!! Eventually the vampire can’t stand this and tries to shake things up. So what’s our guys’ solution? Just punch everything! Eventually the vampire tells them to get on the next train which will bring them back to their real world. However… They still want to have fun and don’t want to leave! Gotta have fun in their very own kingdom! Yahoo! Freedom! But that is soon short lived as Fukuma breaks through the barrier and drags them back. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted. The real nightmare begins…

Episode 6A
Draluc finds some old photos of Ronaldo in the closet. Wow. Aide Ronaldo being an idiot, didn’t know he had a younger sister and older brother. Care to share the story. Well, the big reveal is that Hiyoshi is Ronaldo’s big brother! I guess that fake moustache concealed his identity, huh? He was a vampire hunter but quit and joined the vampire control division. Ronaldo continues to praise him as an outstanding and famous vampire hunter and all. Wow. He really shoot beams out of his eyes too?! He was his inspiration to become a vampire hunter. But one day, Ronaldo saw a vampire attacking a couple. No choice, he attacked and thought he had killed it. Letting his guard down, the vampire revived but Hiyoshi was there to save him but got bitten. Soon, Hiyoshi decided to quit and Ronaldo felt guilty and his fault that he reached that decision despite Hiyoshi claiming otherwise. To atone, Ronaldo became one to replace his brother and even though is glad he is okay, can’t help feel guilty he imposed his ideals onto him. Ronaldo has this idea to write about Hiyoshi in his next volume. Uhm, going to sound like a brother fanatic? Suddenly Hiyoshi drops in!

Episode 6B
Since Sagyo felt guilty for throwing Handa out of the window, Hiyoshi thought it would be a good time to pay his brother a visit and apologize on his behalf. Outside his office, he heard Ronaldo starting to talk about him and hesitated to go in. Of course now we hear the truth from his side. All of Ronaldo’s praising, well, Hiyoshi became a vampire hunter only to get chicks! The real reason he quit was he was flirting around with a vampire chick and got bitten! Then Ronaldo decided to write his next story on him, Hiyoshi unconsciously barged in. But he smoothed it out and because Ronaldo still felt guilty for causing him to quit, he shows the injury on his arm instead of the shoulder. Since he cannot tell the real reason (Draluc hinting a vampire chick got him!), he piles on the lies that he fought an evil god and sealed it in his arm! Ronaldo so motivated to write his next chapter on him! Please don’t! Because if he does, some bad vampires may target him and release the seal! After all, his chronicles should be about himself. He wants to read more about him. Hiyoshi leaves after thinking he has solved this issue. But back at his office, his men are talking about rumours of Ronaldo’s brother. Shooting beams and having an evil god sealed in his arm!

Episode 6C
Ronaldo is almost finishing his next volume but just can’t find the right conclusion. With the deadline coming up, Fukuma thinks a retreat should help. Sorry, but it’s not the luxury hotel getaway. Down in the basement of Autumn Books, he is strapped to a conveyor belt and has 5 hours to get it down or he will slowly be seasoned and become fried Ronaldo for this bear to eat! Ronaldo thinks he has enough time but I guess Draluc messing around the machine to stop this madness, oh my, he accelerated things and now he has 5 minutes! Sanzu thought this is her chance to save Ronaldo. Too bad she got stuck in a pipe and whatever attempts failed. Draluc even tries to kill himself by jumping into the conveyor belt to jam it? Didn’t work. But it was fun! As Ronaldo inches closer, he sees his life flashing before his eyes. Then he realizes all that is what he needs for as the conclusion. Just 1 second on the clock left, he finishes! But can he escape it all?! Well, the bear catches and congratulates him. He has his respect for finishing his work. In the aftermath, Ronaldo’s next book sells like hot cakes. How many copies did Handa buy?!

Episode 7A
Be warned, there is a vampire hunter who exterminates vampires indiscriminately. Draluc becomes the first victim… By getting his sock stolen?! Well you see, Tabiko is a hunter who loves to collect socks and defeat vampires! WTF?! Isn’t she just a pervert?! Apparently vampires have attachment to their old property. So when they get stolen, they die from the worry of it. HUH?! We see her causing a lot of commotion as she steals socks from other vampires. Yeah, she’s more of a nuisance than threatening. She reveals long ago, she fought a legendary vampire. Cornered, she stole his sock and he weakened! Since they can’t let this pervert run loose, Draluc has an idea. Using Aud as a bait, Tabiko steals his sock but only to find Draluc hiding in it. Yeah. He got his sock back. Now what? Tabiko praises Draluc for his strength and so she’ll let him keep it for now. Ronaldo won’t allow it and punches her!

Episode 7B
Since Hinaichi has been cursed by the lewd vampire and now her sentences has dick in it, she seeks Ronaldo for help. Draluc thinks Draus can do the job. Yes, Draus is very proud he is unrivalled in solving this. However as he tries several hypnotism methods, the curse remains. Oh my, Draus is getting disheartened from his failure? What fragile pride. He also tries other methods like substituting a similar sounding word but that also backfired since that substituted word now becomes the dick word. Even blurting out the erotic fetish method didn’t work and it made things worse. Hence, Draus’ suggestion is to make the entire world say the dick word! Normalize the word! Yeah, now everyone has dick in their sentences! Word of the year! What a dick. Uh huh. How hard is that going to be?!

Episode 7C
Oh my. Did John put on weight?! Since when an armadillo is concerned about his weight?! Well, instead of cutting down on snacks or exercising, John goes to see Yomotsuzaka to make him a drink that will slim him down! No such thing! But here’s a drink that will reduce his calories. John drinks it and Yomotsuzaka notes he has been tricked. Now hypnotized, he will experiment on John. Because John was watching some doggie video, he now acts like one. Yomotsuzaka can’t experiment on John as he reminds him of his dead pet. Hence he goes to seek other vampires in detention to solve this. Too bad he only wasted his time. As Yomotsuzaka ponders if John will become his dog if he doesn’t revert, Draluc is seen running into the facility looking for John. He gets caught by an octopus guard. John sees this and reverts to himself to go save him. Well, he gets captured too. Yomotsuzaka frees them. As he has lost interest in experimenting on John, he lets him return. After all, it is a master’s responsibility to look after its pet. Yomotsuzaka notes the time he has wasted as the only dog for him is Koro, now ashes in this tube. But soon Draluc comes back complaining since John is starting to act after those vampires. JohNudenium… Yikes!

Episode 8A
WTF this giant ass baby Nudenium walking around town?! The hunters try to take it down but every hit only makes it grow bigger. Worse, it is shooting out seeds from its ass! Don’t get hit or it’ll suck your blood. Worse than that, Ronaldo using Draluc as a shield! Nudenium has some pill that will stop that blood sucking thingy but it’ll make you naked like him. Nudenium explains Yomotsuzaka was doing some sort of experiment and of course the supplement the baby drank turned it big. Yeah, it’s that mad professor’s fault again. He has a drug to neutralize it but somebody needs to get close and stick it in. Ronaldo will be the hero. If he can avoid those seeds, why the f*ck does he need to be naked?! Eventually he injects the drug as the giant ass starts to petrify. Then it crumbles and reverts back to its original baby self. Now everyone gets their revenge on Yomotsuzaka.

Episode 8B
Akemi is into knitting. Handa doesn’t mind until he learns she is meeting with a friend who will teach her more. Thinking this man might be a scumbag, he accompanies her and learns this Yuzawa guy is that lewd talk vampire! How will Handa tell his innocent mom to stay away from this pervert? Because every normal conversation, paranoid Handa thinks it’s some sexual innuendo. With Sagyo passing guy, Handa forces him to separate them. Too bad he fell into the lewd talk spell and so he is useless. Yeah, older wives with big boobs now chasing him? When Yuzawa is getting real close to Akemi, Handa forces himself between them. Too bad he falls under his spell as Yuzawa tries to make him talk dirty. But that is when Akemi puts her foot down and tells him not to bully her son. Yuzawa admits defeat and leaves. Sagyo’s distraction causes Handa to blurt out how he wants to bury his face in his mom’s boobs. An embarrassed Handa uses Sagyo as a bat to beat up Yuzawa. Mommy’s boy…

Episode 8C
After reading Ronaldo’s chronicles, Mikazuki is so impressed that he wants to become Ronaldo’s disciple! Ronaldo is deliberating on this and of course Draluc feels threatened as he claims all his successes are thanks to him. That didn’t impress Ronaldo as he kicks out the vampire and takes in Mikazuki. Draluc then calls his vampire buddies to sabotage this partnership. We all know how it’ll turn out, right? Like kissy vampire trying to flirt with handsome Mikazuki but he dresses up so lamely. Didn’t work so he sprays chili onto her eyes. Then there’s Nudenium sending his babies all over him but they get swatted as Nudenium rats out Draluc. Finally it’s the bikini vampire. Mikazuki has already come prepared as he is already wearing a lamer bikini underneath! Bikini vampire admits defeat and as he praises him, Mikazuki does a dirty move to knock him out! Ronaldo then commends Mikazuki’s growth and warns him about all the strange vampires in Shin Yokohama. Because it’s not all like that cool stuffs he read in the book. If he still desires to be that, he’ll teach him everything he can. Too bad Mikazuki instantly leaves for home. Yeah, maybe he’s only here for the revenge… And that’s how Ronaldo lost his disciple in a single night.

Episode 9A
Vamima’s manager barges in for help. His son has been unconscious and there’s this parasitic leech on him. Draluc can tell it is a lesser vampire that sucks on your blood while making you dream. Since you can’t rip it out as it will damage the mind, the only way is to wake him up from inside the dream. And so Ronaldo and Draluc dive into his mind. Yeah, see how sketchy his world is. Everything so sketchy except women who are also in detail and busty. Everybody is praising Bubuo the mighty. The duo find him and want to wake him up but obviously this guy wants to stay here forever. Because this is his dream, he stays undefeated as he can conjure up anything he wants. Then as he is about to create a hot sexy babe to finish them, Draluc plays a trick and now all hot women’s face are being replaced by his dad’s. Nightmare! This forces Bubuo to wake up and the first thing he does is to punch his dad!

Episode 9B
Gosetsu catches yakyuken vampire in his mischief. He calls Yomotsuzaka to pick him but that bugger is busy. This means this vampire has got to stick with this guild master for an hour and he risks being found out he played that game with Koyuki. Yeah, Gosetsu will kill him! Even more so Koyuki is on her way to meet him now. He tries to give excuses and eventually tricks the guy and escapes. Then they stumble into Koyuki being harassed by stripped mahjong vampires who are trying to force her to play their game. Father and yakyuken cooperate to take those annoying guys down. Yeah, can’t have overlapping characters, no? Those vampires repent and it’s time for Yomotsuzaka to pick up yakyuken. Koyuki almost recognized him but he manages to distract and brush it off. Until bikini vampire passes by and thinks he is going to pull off the same stunt with Koyuki again. Now that Gosetsu knows, yakyuken is going to play the game but gets owned in an instant.

Episode 9C
Ronaldo gets a distressing warning call from Draluc not to say he is free. Why? Because grandpa is here! You better not say you have free time or you’re dead! Ronaldo tries his best to give excuses why he isn’t free. While this works, now he is going to find someone who is free. Hence the gang have to follow him to prevent casualties. Grandpa drops by the guild and tries to see who is free. Lots of weird moment of trying to give excuses. Like Handa forming an air band with Ronaldo? Grandpa then target a young kid. Could’ve been a goner had not that lewd vampire showed up. Since he is going to do his usual mischief, Draluc tricks him to say he is free and just like that, grandpa takes him away to play. Good riddance. With this nightmare passed, Draus thinks that since grandpa was targeting humans, it could be he remembered a human friend who has died.

Episode 10A
What’s this? Ronaldo turned into a kid?! You bet Draluc is surprised. Not only him but Hinaichi too? Draluc takes them to the guild for help. Turns out all the hunters have been turned into kids. The only adults are Gosetsu, Senya, Hiyoshi and Vamone. Though, they are still younger adult versions of themselves. Yeah, it’s going to be hard controlling these brats. Yomotsuzaka reveals a vampire controlling this fog is behind this. Because he is more interested to conduct experiments on everyone, the adults dump the kids on him to take care as they go find the source. Along the way, meeting younger annoying vampires. Then it’s like a Pied Piper moment as all the kids in a trance vanish into the fog of the perpetrator.

Episode 10B
So, this anti-aging vampire has summoned the kids and will feast on their blood. Draluc tries to avoid being spotted because he is weak ass against him but too bad he just did. Then it becomes a competition to see who can attract the kids’ attention. Damn, not even John’s charms can retain those kids’ attention! Anti-aging vampire has experienced and knows how to get the kids to his side. Luckily the adults come in to save the day before the vampire eats them. They planted a tracker on one of the kids. The vampire then unleashes more fog and turns the adults into kids. WTF the boys trying to compare their dicks?! In the end, because the vampire exalted too much power, he ages considerably. Enough to be defeated. But that is when Yomotsuzaka decides to take advantage of this situation and experiment on everyone. Too bad the effects wear out as everyone returns to being adults. They don’t have memories as being kids so you bet some wonder why they have their dicks out!

Episode 10C
Tsujigiri’s bad luck once again as he bumps into Kantaro. Yeah, this guy is showing off his unescapable cuffs that only this key can unlock. Yup, feel that bad feeling? It’s coming. Because a vampire bug rolls over them and now they’re cuffed together with the key missing. Tsujigiri will not go to the authorities for help since that will expose his identity. Thus they have to track down that bug to get back the key. Along the way, Tsujigiri has near misses of his identity being exposed because other vampire control division members are in the vicinity. Yeah, had to put this clione on his head and claim it is his fetish just to hide his face. Finally they track the bug but looks like it has turned into a moth. Now it attacks. Tsujigiri could have easily dealt with it but is not willing to expose his identity. Hence the duo make a run for it until they are cornered. Why didn’t Kantaro just use his weapon to blow it away and waited for the last minute?! Tsujigiri thinks Kantaro is now vulnerable without his weapon and will kill him. Too bad his colleagues come by. Dump the clione back on his head…

Episode 11A
Ronaldo, Hiyoshi and Mikazuki are fighting a snowman vampire who is making this blizzard. However he couldn’t control it so they end up holing in a hut. For some reason, bikini vampire and Nudenium are stuck here too. With no heater or anything, I guess there’s only one way to get warm, right? OH DAMN! YOU MEAN THIS IS GONNA BE A GAY FEST???!!! Yes, body warming is what everyone has on their minds but their pride won’t allow them to say it as they try to make the other do the suggestion. Hence after all those shenanigans, Ronaldo soon decides everybody should dance to keep warm. The dance is so great that the hut starts to slide down the hill. Meanwhile other characters are looking for them and they stumble upon this hut. When they open the door, GAY FEST IN SESSION! Because everybody started hugging each other after realizing this is the only way to keep warm. We’ll leave you guys alone now…

Episode 11B
Ronaldo is once again behind schedule. But he can take relief because Fukuma is away so Sanzu will be here to collect the manuscript. Maybe he can ask for some extension. But the moment she arrives, his instincts has him hide in the closet. Then Handa is also here. To play a prank! Sanzu won’t allow it and hence it now becomes a battle. Ronalduel between Ronaldists?! WTF IS THAT?! Basically, throwing all your Ronaldo’s merchs and see who has better knowledge of Ronaldo. Yeah, no wonder that guy wants to die because all the embarrassing things the duo are spilling out. Some he doesn’t even know! So when it looks like Handa has more knowledge on Ronaldo (can tease someone if you don’t know him well, no?), Sanzu pulls off a blurry picture of Ronaldo. It’s a time when she first met Ronaldo when he saved her from a vampire attack. It was then she became a fan of his and took this photo. With the winner hard to determine, Handa decides to ask the man himself. Ronaldo is not happy and throws him out of the window. Sanzu herself jumps out since she is embarrassed. Ronaldo may follow suit too because Fukuma is here to collect his manuscript!

Episode 11C
Hinaichi reports to Ronaldo of numerous reports that females in surrounding towns are giving their blood willingly to a vampire. When she describes the icy smile, this puts Draluc on high alert. Don’t look now because Northdin is here. He is Draluc’s former mentor and the one responsible for shaping Draluc to who he is. Safe to say, Draluc doesn’t like him a bit. Northdin notes he is being provided for by a human so Draluc claims this is his town and it is under his control. Northdin would love to test him then. He goes to seduce and hypnotize all the women under his control. Yeah, using his weird charm, this smooth talker easily gets all the woman to fall for him even those who put up some resistance. Ronaldo and Draluc try to stop him but looks like he has a few women protecting him. Northdin then turns the guild into his base.

Episode 12A
Northdin challenges Draluc to take back his town. All the guys team up to get their women back. They manage to get into the base with this loophole. That is, cross-dressing as a woman! However Northdin’s charms can also work on a man so they still can’t touch him. However they already take that into consideration so they’re under the hypnotism of bikini vampire so his charm cannot override it. With this same logic, this means the ladies cannot be overridden by other spells. Draluc pulls out all the dumb stops to win and eventually when he gets naked and Hinaichi sees his dick, this breaks her free from the spell as she gives Northdin a swift punch. All other women are also freed. The guys try to apprehend him but Northdin escapes. He notes to Draluc that he has gotten stronger and be sure to get along well with everyone in this town. A victory but at what cost? Yeah, everybody’s modesty!

Episode 12B
Somehow everybody wins a trip to the hotspring inn. This is a nefarious plan by the hotspring vampire to gather them and then turn them into mineral deposits in his bid to rule Shin Yokohama. Only problem? He didn’t expect everyone to turn up at the same time! So you bet it’s a crowded field from the hunters to the vampire control division and even those perverted vampire kin are here! Don’t even mention Autumn Books’ staff! Yeah, hotspring vampire is going to have a hard time handling them all. Especially telling these bozos not to break the rules of the inn. Tiring. When the ladies are in, he tries to start with them. However they think they spot a pervert so he has to flee. Now that the ladies alert the guys, it’s a hunt for the pervert. Don’t mind those vampire perverts. Hotspring vampire decides to use his final tactic of gathering everyone in the hall and flush them all. When that happens, nothing happens. He goes to check the problem. Looks like the hotspring water is being controlled by Fukuma! So how this awkwardness? Oh well, time for a group photo instead.

Episode 12C
Don’t really understand this part because it is confusing and random. Like Ronaldo and Draluc naming crappy movies while John gives them points, eating some sushi roll in a certain direction, playing some rich girl act, making John say certain words, doing a short burst of dance and it all ends with Ronaldo killing Draluc with his fart. WTF?!

The Vampire Die-ries!
Well, that’s about it. More like the same from last season and to think there would be some final episode drama or plot but that would be just me overthinking and hoping for the impossible. Heh. So with Northdin just playing the villain to test Draluc and that really odd and bizarre talking skit between Ronaldo and Draluc like as though it is a cooling down segment after all the crazy and nonsensical things we have seen this season. Yeah. It’s been a blast. And Draluc has been blasted away into sand. Sorry for bad pun.

This season follows the exact same formula as the last. After all, if it is not broken, don’t fix it. But because of that, some may find this season to be nothing really new despite adding a handful of new characters. It’s just the same shenanigans and antics of our dumb lovable characters in Shin Yokohama, that’s all. I’m not saying that this season is boring as it is still enjoyable. But if you are hoping for something that would shake up the entire series, say, an actual storyline and plot to follow (Ronaldo, Draluc, humans and vampires must all work together to stop a megalomaniac from taking over the world! Yeah. That kind of plot) instead of random episodic episodes, then you would be sorely disappointed. It would have been an entirely different series altogether. Right now, we are here for the laughs.

As we all know, the series itself has a multitude of characters. This season introduces more of them and so the roster continues to bloat. Well, it is both good and bad. With new characters taking up a bit of the limited screen time, this means old ones are relegated to having lesser appearances. Some are forgettable and I don’t remember even popping up at all. Like I was certain they forgot about Maremi but they trolled me as she made her final episode cameo just to give me a slap in my face. Sheesh. However, because of how the series works and flows, you won’t be left wondering about their fate or anything since many of the skits in the episode are random. So it’s like they can just randomly decide to pick which character and then insert them into this particular act. You won’t lose much. Though, new characters themselves also don’t actually bring much to the table. You’ll just fawn over them in their debut because, well, new character. Then they will be relegated to just another side or supporting character.

Even the series’ main duo, Ronaldo and Draluc too almost fell into this sort of pitfall trap. Because there are some skits in which either one do not even appear and heck, some that both don’t even appear at all! But at least they appear once each episode. Not just every skit. After all like I have said, the amount of characters has bloated so everybody is fighting for some screen time. Got to make some old ones still feel relevant while at the same time juggling to give new ones a chance to shine. That is, doing dumb stuffs to let us be more acquainted with this new characters’ personality. For instance, Sanzu the big Ronaldo fan and Mikazuki the rookie vampire hunter who is, uhm, I don’t know, can anybody tell me more about this new character? And there I was thinking that some characters would be the season’s ‘final boss’ like Tsujigiri but looks like he is now doomed to be paired with Kantaro for some dumb antics. The duo can be a manzai comedy combo. Yeah, so much about that serial killer getting his fearsome reputation back. I also thought the same for Yomotsuzaka but he’s just a mad scientist who just wants to experiment, experiment and more experiment! I have got to realize that no matter how dangerous or threatening some characters may sound and look, they’re all just another bunch of dumbass idiots! Looking at you too, Tabiko!

Everything else feels much like home as well know such as Ronaldo’s fear of Fukuma for his repeated failure to stick to the deadline, Draluc still easily dies and turns to sand (is it me or does it feel that this season Draluc has less deaths this season?), Handa’s penchant to prank Ronaldo, Hinaichi continues to love sweets and the local vampires still doing their usual stuffs like Nudenium walking around nude, bikini vampire still putting on bikini on others, yakyuken guy still loving to play strip rock-scissors-paper and lewd talk vampire still making others talk dirty.

If there is one thing that I would feel slightly disappointed is that the best character of the series somewhat feels negligible. We all know John is the best character, RIGHT?! Very unfortunately in this sequel, he too fails to escape from overcrowded field and does not stand out as much as before. I think there is only 1 skit that John is put in focus and that’s about it. Often at other times, I would hardly feel this armadillo’s presence. After all, whatever past about John and his relationship with the sand vampire (Draluc but of course) was already shown in last season. Sad that there aren’t any skits that would remind us and make John feel like the most important character of the series! Nu! More like NOOOOOOO!!!

Other interesting insights to note is Draluc’s mom, Mira. It sheds some light on her whereabouts and probably why it took her this long to show her face but I guess personally that skit that she only appears in is the most heart-warming one. Hence perhaps the only character of the series in this context not to fall into that dumb character shenanigans because we don’t see her getting such idiotic treatment. Then the other one is Hiyoshi being revealed as Ronaldo’s older brother. I would not have guessed but alas at least this season he has more screen time than the last. Now we all know why he wears a fake moustache, eh?

On a trivial note, just like in last season, the next episode preview continues to be a dramatic piece of trolling material. Basically they show dramatic clips from next episode into trolling you to think that something major or shocking would happen. But when you watch the next episode, there is none of that threatening tension or hostility that was previewed to us. The usual dumb tomfooleries that is oh so the trademark of this show. Yeah, nice try but I am still not fooled by it.

With last season’s seiyuus retained, more characters joining this season to further add to the expanding casts include Ayumu Murase as Mikazuki (Menel in Saihate No Paladin), Mariya Ise as Sanzu (Levi in Fairy Tail), Seiichirou Yamashita as Kantaro (Kosame in Appare-Ranman), Atsuko Tanaka as Mira (Motoko in Ghost In The Shell series), Yuko Kaida as Tabiko (Sylvia in Spy x Family), Rina Hidaka as Mimimi (Last Order in To Aru Majutsu No Index) and Kenyuu Horiuchi as Northdin (Kinemon in One Piece). Sad to say that this season, the opening theme is not amusing and personally I feel it is close to being cringe. Last season we had Ronaldo and Draluc dancing to a disco beat which was awesome in its own right. This season’s New Drama Paradise by Jun Fukuyama (voice of Draluc) starts off with this weird group circling dance. Then it proceeds with some other hand rolling movements. I’m not expecting anything like Gangnam Style but watching this I just can’t help feel the cringe. Furthermore, the song itself sounds so gay. Ugh. As for the ending theme, TRD sings Cozy Crazy Party and although it sounds generic, although it is not as cringe as the opener.

Overall, while this sequel is still highly enjoyable with all its trademark nonsensical slapstick comedy, it doesn’t break any new grounds. I have to admit that the second season does not surpass the first but I can’t complain since there were many other sh*tty and disappointing anime series in the same season. Because of that, this series comes out standing higher in this context. Considering the format of this series, it is quite possible that this might get a third season. Yeah. Maybe third time is the charm. We all don’t mind seeing Draluc dying over and over again. Still better than seeing Peter Parker’s Uncle Ben keep on dying every time the Spiderman franchise gets rebooted or remade! Yeah, the nu-ance of death is nu-ts! Nu!

Tsundere Akuyaku Reijou Lieselotte To Jikkyou No Endou-kun To Kaisetsu No Kobayashi-san

Oh. My. God. Are you serious?! This is the third time we have a villainess as a main character trying to avoid her doom in an otome game!!! Seriously! After Bakarina and Aho-leen, who would’ve thought there would be another so soon. Okay, okay. But the difference that Tsundere Akuyaku Reijou Lieselotte To Jikkyou No Endou-kun To Kaisetsu No Kobayashi-san (Tsunlise if that name is too long for your puny brain to remember and delicate tongue to pronounce) than those aforementioned villainess is that the main character didn’t die and get reincarnated into a villainess inside the game. Instead, we have normal high school kids who are playing the game who serve as commentators on this otome game. Hence the villainess herself in the game is more like an NPC. Still, it doesn’t refute the fact that they want to save her and create a happy ending for her and everyone else in this game. Is that possible? Did the programmers create any such sort of route? Be sure to comment, like and subscribe! Oops, wrong channel.

Episode 1
Crown prince Siegwald Fitzenhagen is helping Fiene in her studies when his fiancée, Lieselotte Riefenstahl approaches them. B*tch mode activated as she is not impressed a commoner is hanging out with her fiancé. As Siegwald tries to calm her down, suddenly he hears divine voices speaking to him. Turns out that those voices are actually commentaries by high schoolers, Aoto Endou and Shihono Kobayashi! WTF?! It seems Kobayashi is a big fan of this otome game, Magikoi and especially enthralled by the beautiful villainess, Lieselotte. She pesters him to play and I guess he has to since she won’t stop. After all, what is else there to do in this broadcasting club? Also, Endou wants to improve his diction and thus Kobayashi suggests he do the commentary while she analyses. As they start the game, we are introduced to Fiene as the main character as well as the other possible love interests in the game. Other than Siegwald, there is Baldur Riefenstahl who is Lieselotte’s cousin and great warrior, Fabian Oltenburg who is s child prodigy in magic, Professor Leon Schach who keeps his distance. There is another one, priest Artur Richter who serves the goddess Lirenna but he doesn’t appear in this scene yet due to away on a mission.

We are now at the scene of Siegwald helping Fiene to study. Although he can hear the divine entities talk, it is not surprising since the royalty is said to have this ability. Our high schoolers in turn are surprised with this. Sorry, this game doesn’t have voice recognition. In order to prove Siegwald is reacting to their comments, they tell him to kiss Lieselotte. As words from gods, he cannot disobey and does so. It is then Lieselotte puts on the cutest embarrassed face. Siegwald was expecting a slap or her to get mad but is glad to have followed the gods’ wisdom. With Kobayashi being so ecstatic, suddenly all that dies out. Because no matter what paths in the game, Lieselotte will eventually die. Siegwald realizing she doesn’t love her so she fell into depression until she gets possessed by a witch, transforms into a monster and gets killed. She wants to help her avoid such ending but they can’t obviously give away spoilers. It’ll be too suspicious. It is better if Siegwald falls in love with her on his own accord. So the duo tell Siegwald they can see his future and that Lieselotte’s future is in danger. Only he can save her fate. They allow him to ask a question. Panicking, he screws up asking what tsundere is. Well, Lieselotte is that perfect example. The trio return studying together and Lieselotte shows more of her embarrassed side when he gets too close. Siegwald now truly believes in the words of the gods. With summer vacation coming up, Kobayashi feels they won’t be able to use the classroom to finish the game. After all, the save data is showing weird symbols and they can’t stop the auto play. Hence she suggests Endou coming to her house to play since her family won’t be home. Is she concerned about him being a boy? Well, looks like not. Oblivious. Obviously Endou has a crush on her and thinks of using this chance to get her to notice him.

Episode 2
Endou arrives at Kobayashi’s home. As instructed, he has already played a fan disk that fleshes out Lieselotte’s character. Damn, this guy getting emotional on how she doesn’t know how to express her love for Siegwald. Well, Kobayashi relays the bad news that not only Lieselotte dies but many of the other characters too especially Baldur. However there is only a route that has all of them alive and that is the reverse harem route. They strive to find a route where no one dies. So is the reverse harem route out? When they tell Siegwald to take a petal off Lieselotte’s hair, she snaps back at him for touching her so frivolously in public. However soon some light glows over her. Siegwald announces the gods have favoured her. As everyone cheers, Kobayashi wonders if Endou has this ability to bestow such on characters. He tries again this time on Baldur and it works. The gods tell him that Fiene will fight a powerful enemy and to have Baldur protect Fiene. Siegwald does as he is told and so the cousins swear their loyalty to him. The gods also tease Siegwald he is being protected by his fiancée so I guess that’s a cue for him to shape up. Soon Artur returns as he teases Siegwald with his outdated info on Lieselotte and Fiene. Also, he is interested in Fiene not because he is a playboy but rather the church has been bugging him to recruit her for her extensive healing magic abilities. Siegwald lets him see for himself as he sets up a mock fight between Fiene against Artur and Baldur. Yes, a girl versus 2 guys. Oh damn, Fiene actually beats them up in no time! Holy cow! How the f*ck did she max out her stats already?! And now she is also great in offense magic? Siegwald is told Lieselotte has been watching all this from afar. She makes her presence known after being busted. Then it seems her villainess mode is switched on as she chastises Artur’s playboy ways and then breaks Fiene’s pathetic little wand. I guess this is so that she could give her use this better wand of hers. Sweet. Fiene is grateful as Lieselotte heads off embarrassed. Siegwald finds himself more and more fond of her. Now do you know the true meaning of tsundere?!

Episode 3
Time to take a break and watch a baseball championship. This brings back memories for Endou. You see, he was once a baseball maniac and lived a life for it. Until he got a permanent shoulder injury that made him give up the game forever. His life turned upside down. One day, the class was voting members for several sports they are participating and his classmates pulled a prank on him and suggested his name to join the softball. Because the teacher was too wuss to stop it, Kobayashi stood up and told everyone he is in the broadcasting club and can’t join. So, since when did he join? Just now. But this saved him a whole lot of trouble. Kobayashi has always observed him during baseball practice and saw his sincerity in the game. Even if he can’t play baseball, there are still other baseball related jobs like a coach or sports castor. Never thought of that, did he? Yeah, brought to tears. Now we return to the game as Kobayashi reveals more mind boggling stuffs. It seems the game won’t run when Endou isn’t around. Plus, she tried to copy the save data or make new saves. This means they cannot restart or redo their actions. They only have 1 shot. In the game, trouble is brewing when Lieselotte finds Fiene tying a ribbon to her wand. Not so much the ribbon but its colour. Seems she is unaware of its connotations. The colour signifies the eye or hair colour of your love. Since she puts gold, Lieselotte blows her top that she is declaring war on her over Siegwald. However Fiene points out this ribbon was given by Lieselotte herself. Remember those books she tied up for her? Yeah. That. She also points out all the clothes Lieselotte has given her, causing the tsundere to blush. Siegwald then notices Lieselotte’s wand’s ribbon in his colours. Learning she does the embroidery herself, he wants to place an order for a matching ribbon. Embarrassed Lieselotte runs away as Siegwald introduces this tsundere concept to the rest. Cute, no?

As Fiene plans to head to the mountains to fight some monsters for exercise, Baldur offers to come protect her even though she is strong enough to fend the monsters off by herself. Well, Siegwald ordered him to protect her, so that’s that. On the way out, they pass by Leon who doesn’t leave much of an impression. But as Kobayashi points out, he is actually a sadist and harbours a secret power. Baldur shows his wand which doubles as his sword. It was given by his own family because one of these days, he is going to be wedded into the house of one of Lieselotte’s younger sisters. Yeah, she has 3 younger sisters and 2 of them are twins. He isn’t happy about it because the sisters are like family to him. As they fight the monsters, Baldur stumbles into a very powerful one. Fiene sees a vision he will get killed and tells him to run away. However he doesn’t and continues to fight. Had not Fiene lend her magic help, it could’ve spelled disaster. In the end, Fiene is mad at him for not listening to her. Even if she gets gravely wounded, she cannot die. She cannot accept if Baldur dies protecting her because the truth is, he is way weaker than her. Baldur admits to all that except that he is not weak. He is just weak for her. Uhm, is this some confession?! Yes, it is. Apparently Fiene doesn’t handle this too well and runs away. Wow. She’s caught the tsundere bug just like Lieselotte.

Episode 4
Summer break is here and Lieselotte is being tsundere to Fiene on how to spend it. So why doesn’t Fiene return home? Well, she can’t. More accurately, she doesn’t have a home. Her mother once made a powerful noble angry and they’re on a run. Ever since Fiene enrolled here, her mom disappeared and won’t tell her where. Siegwald suggests she spend those days at Lieselotte’s home. Look how happy Lieselotte is. I’m sure it isn’t because Siegwald decreed it. Too bad Siegwald can’t come as he has matters to attend to. Fortunately he will write. Fiene arrives at Lieselotte’s castle. So huge that she gets lost in the hall! Of course she won’t spend her entire summer here lazing around as Lieselotte is going to drill into her head the finer points of etiquette and magic. So prepare yourself. Endou and Kobayashi are slightly sad because they can only communicate via Siegwald and can’t do so for these ladies. Fiene is going to have a hard time learning all the manners just for teatime. Who’d knew it’s such a stressful thing! But it’s worth it once you get a hang of it. Fiene then tells Lieselotte about Baldur’s confession. This has Lieselotte remember Baldur tried to return the family’s sword, an indication he wants to dissolve his marriage to one of her sisters but her father told him to reconsider and that decision is now on hold. Because doing so means tossing aside your title and everything just to devote himself to Fiene. Of course Fiene won’t want that as she cannot carry such burden. It is also the same reason why her sisters refused since he lacks wisdom to manage a political marriage. Lieselotte then returns to knit her special ribbon for Siegwald. Just a slight mistake, she starts all over again. Yeah, how many ribbons has she wasted? Must be perfect… As Siegwald remains busy inspecting village to village, Artur suggests he visits Lieselotte since it is nearby and he should enjoy his school life as much as possible. So when Lieselotte gets a letter from him, suddenly it is a mad rush from her side to prepare for his highness’ arrival. All done in the nick of time as Siegwald arrives but the tsundere chides him for doing so on the fly. Such things take time to prepare, blah, blah, blah. Luckily our commentators explain to him all that so he smooth it over with his usual playboy charm. Artur tries his luck to flirt with the sisters and Fiene. All rejected. Good for him. Suddenly an explosion! Woah! Terrorist attack?! Who is Lieselotte’s father fighting?!

Episode 5
Apparently the monster Bruno is trying to restrain is no other than Fiene’s mom, Elizabeth! She thought her daughter is being bullied but Fiene clears the air that Lieselotte has been taken good care of her and is her friend. Lieselotte can’t hold back her grin… When Bruno confirms Fiene’s blue eyes, he realizes that Fiene is the daughter of his late younger brother, August. Wow. This means Fiene and Lieselotte are cousins! Time for some history. Long ago, Elizabeth was also from a very high ranking noble family. She and August were engaged to marry each other at an early age. Luckily they fell in love with each other. However August fell ill and was dying. However the family saw them as a pawn and thought of remarrying Elizabeth to Bruno so that she’ll be the next marquise of the Riefenstahl house. Only after August’s death did Elizabeth realized she was pregnant with Fiene and ran away because she knew her family would kill her baby. She remained hidden until one day she saw Fiene killed some intruders. Well, that was when she knew she would be fine. Yeah, if she can handle this much, no nobles could actually kill her. So she dumped her at the academy where she remained safe. Bruno wonders why Elizabeth never said all this because had she did so, he would’ve used all his powers to eliminate their enemies. That is precisely why. Elizabeth doesn’t want Fiene to be the trigger to start a war between both nobles. But now that Fiene can’t actually be killed, they might want to use her as a pawn for political marriages. That is when Lieselotte has an idea to adopt Fiene as her sister right away. This would make her the marquis of Riefenstahl. Although that title now falls on Baldur, remember this guy wanted to give it up just for Fiene. This will make Fiene safe from their hands. After all, a man who failed to woo a woman is not fit for that title and should just serve as the kingdom’s normal knight! Now the issue is focused on proof of Fiene as August’s daughter. This is where Artur comes in. The church has records of all weddings. Read: He is going to fabricate them. Fiene and Lieselotte so happy with this outcome that they hug each other. Our commentators caution Siegwald about this yuri thing might steal Lieselotte away from him. Yeah, that’s a new term for him to learn. Kobayashi is so happy with this outcome (since it always ends with Lieselotte’s death after such revelation), she wants to celebrate with Endou tomorrow by going out on a date. Seriously, a date?!

In town, a plain Endou waits for her and damn, Kobayashi just levelled up her cuteness level! What a mismatched pair! Even with Endou spamming how cute she is, she is reacting indifferently. Oh well. I guess that is the sign of bad news that she actually friendzone him. As they make their way, suddenly this hot celebrity guy, Kuon Kirise grabs her. He is mistaking her for his lover, Eve. Immediately Endou goes to protect her and wants clarification of this. Kuon realizes his wrong but he looks somewhat confused and all that Kobayashi looked like his lover and all. Later the duo discuss about this incident. Apparently in Magikoi there is a secret God route that only opens when you have cleared all other routes. This is the route in which Fiene falls in love with the God who is some hottie student actor in Japan. That God’s name is Kuon and many fans speculate he was blatantly based on the real celebrity himself. Uhm, so there were no lawsuits regarding this knockoff since his image and even real life stuffs were modelled after him without his permission? Now back to the game, Siegwald looks depressed. He knows he has to leave but he doesn’t want to. Yeah, he wants to spend time with Lieselotte and the rest instead of going back to work. Are you disappointed in seeing him this weak? Lieselotte takes this chance to give him her ribbon. This should give him enough strength to carry on. Siegwald leaves but is worried on Kobayashi’s comments worrying about the way their relationship is going.

Episode 6
What’s this nightmare Lieselotte is having? Everyone she loves turning into mud? Baldur seems to be avoiding Fiene so Lieselotte confronts him about turning into a coward after his sweet confession. While Baldur doesn’t have any interest in inheriting the title, he also doesn’t care if others think that it would make him look like he is after the title if he pursues Fiene. It is that he doesn’t want Fiene to think of him this way because she will hate him and all. Lieselotte further scolds him for being a coward and tells him off to go beg for her love because Fiene is not that kind of girl he thinks she is. Since it’s come down to this, Lieselotte leaves so the duo can talk together. Wait. What? Fiene is here?! Yeah. Hiding in the closet and heard everything! Well, time to man up and confess. He begs but she rejects him out of embarrassment. She claims she is not used to such stuff as she has lived her life as mostly a commoner. It is then she is bestowed the ability to hear the words of our gods who tell her Baldur’s words are true. Taking their advice, she asks him what he would do since he is not interested in inheriting it all. He would take her and elope to another kingdom. It won’t be a problem since both can fight but he promises he will protect her from any strife. Fiene takes the first step and accepts his courtship. With this settled, suddenly an inner evil voice speaks out to Lieselotte and is happy the obstacle to Siegwald is gone. More nightmare for Lieselotte as Siegwald dumps her for Fiene.

Hence, now it’s her turn to avoid Siegwald. However Fiene and Baldur confront her. Because the gods told her, they know she has been miserable with nightmares. Lieselotte thinks Siegwald doesn’t love her. Siegwald heard all this and wonders why the gods are silent. They can’t say it now but tell him to have faith in her especially his real feelings for her. So as he rushes out to reach her, she continues to deny him and since words won’t reach her, he kisses her. Enough for her to faint! Flashback shows how both were arranged to get married when young. Lieselotte truly loved him when they first met. However father told her to be mindful and despite being his fiancée, she is still one of his subjects and cannot impose on him. And that is how her tsundere started. Despite loving him the most, she always told him she doesn’t like him. This escalated when she entered the academy and Fiene showed up. It made her very jealous. Lieselotte is drowning in her own mind but thanks to the voices of everyone else and Fiene’s healing magic, she is safe for now although unconscious. Siegwald pleads to the gods about this witch’s curse. They explain the witch is trying to take over Lieselotte’s heart and doing so will turn her into a monster. Then she will attempt to kill Fiene and after doing so, she’ll destroy the kingdom and the world. To stop this, Siegwald is forced to take her life. Hence the key to prevent this lies in him. As long as he loves her from the bottom of his heart and not reject her, she’ll be alright. They never said this earlier since they don’t want him to fall in love with Lieselotte out of obligation. That will not change a thing. He must develop those feelings on his own. At this point, the choice is now clear, right? Indeed. Siegwald promises no matter what happens, he will always be by her side. Siegwald thanks the gods that their words have made him realize how dear she is to him.

Episode 7
Siegwald brings Lieselotte back to her place. This makes her feel awkward and all. Since she still feels insecure, the gods tell him to keep indulging her so she’ll be more emotionally stable. While watching their love grow makes Kobayashi and Endou happy, however they have to talk about how to defeat the witch since that time is drawing closer. They review the potential allies they have. Like Baldur and Artur are definitely a big help. Fabian a big maybe but Leon a big no. Because of Leon’s complicated circumstances, requiring his help may need something big like falling in love with Fiene. Hence the duo speak to Siegwald and Fiene as they reveal the witch will revive on the last day of the school festival after the ball. In order to prepare for that, they want Siegwald to rope Artur and Fabian into their fold. As for Fiene, she is to talk to Bruno for help. While Artur easily accepts the task, it will be hard for Fabian seeing because he is so cute and small in stature, he has undergone several kidnapping attempts by men! Hence his aversion to grown men! I swear those men are freaking pedos! As Siegwald finds it hard to approach him (damn, Fabian close to tears the moment he approaches!), luckily Lieselotte adds her big sister touch and in no time, Fabian is now close to her. Oh dear, Siegwald feeling jealous?! Look whose turn it is to get all worried. Be wary, there may be another rival… We take a break as we see Kobayashi and Endou providing commentary to the school’s basketball tournament. Because of their funny and creative commentary, this attracts the crowd and has them enjoy the game a lot. In the end, many think they are dating of that sort. But they have no time to be fazed about it as they go back to playing Magikoi. Fiene and Baldur go see Bruno. Sorry, it’s not about their marriage. They talk about the impending danger that will before on Lieselotte so Bruno gives his assurance he will protect her. With the gods advising Fiene to call him her dad to seal the deal, Bruno gets so motivated that he challenges Baldur to take Fiene from him! Oh damn, the guys are going to really fight so as per instructed, Fiene stops them. Yeah, she’s the strongest of them all. Later Baldur continues to assure his love for her despite she continues to have insecurities about her strength. Elizabeth then hears from Fiene fretting on how to get Leon on their side. Elizabeth believes she can win him over.

Episode 8
Lieselotte is still having those nightmares. The witch is bloody persistent in telling her Siegwald doesn’t love her and all. Meanwhile Elizabeth sneaks into Leon’s home but gets caught in his net trap. Apparently they know each other long ago. On Leon’s 7th birthday, Elizabeth is one of the many guests. She notices Leon himself is not happy. You see, the count took him in as his own son only because he had no legitimate heir. Elizabeth then used her mouse trick to cause a stir as she took Leon to run away into another room. There, they talked as she revealed despite acting like a lady, it is all part of her deception towards her enemies like her family and the noble society. She has been learning dark arts to get back at them for trying to take August away from her. She knew Leon is in the same position as her. Hence he became her disciple and learnt the dark arts. Now Elizabeth asks his help to side with Siegwald against the witch but since he doesn’t want to get involved in anything troublesome, she respects his decision. Elizabeth regrets and laments she couldn’t help Fiene although her daughter remains positive they’ll find another means. Meanwhile Lieselotte continues to have the same nightmares. She tries to avoid Siegwald but there he is every time. Eventually one night, the witch continues to bug her again. Despite Lieselotte believing Siegwald’s actions are out of pity and not true love, she still believes he has done great for his people. Then she powers up and defeats the witch! OMFG! It’s over?! Happily ever after?! Next morning, she goes to talk to Siegwald who thinks his passionate affections must’ve gotten through her. Surprise! It’s not. She rants about the nightmare and witch. She will defeat it no matter what. What’s worse than a tsundere? A pissed tsundere! When she claims to not want his love out of pity, Siegwald starts working his charm as he hugs her and tells her all the envious feelings he had for her. Likewise, she mentions those same jealous feelings she has for him and his friends. The tender moment reduces Lieselotte back to a tsundere. Kobayashi and Endou are so happy with this, they fall off their couch! Endou catching her and making this close proximity awkward. Though, they are glad of the great progress they have made and are confident they can defeat the witch. Speaking of that, looks like the dark evil isn’t planning on giving up yet.

Episode 9
With the seniors graduating, Kobayashi is now the president of the broadcasting club. Endou is the fall guy because Kobayashi is too cute to be yelled at! They actually said that! With the upcoming cultural festival, the duo intend to do a Magikoi play. Endou is further motivated since she will play Lieselotte alongside his Siegwald role. Dreams come true? Meanwhile, Lieselotte is showing Siegwald and Fiene this plain jersey that she intends to wear during the ball. The gods told her to wear something that she can freely move about. Yeah… Siegwald insists in wanting to see her in a dress and all. So he uses his suave charms to combat her tsundere and wins. Hence she compromises and will wear a military dress which is still within the boundary of Siegwald’s colours. Back to our gods, the senior rejects this Magikoi play. Yeah, they think it’s a blatant confession display. Even Endou is asking if he has a chance with Kobayashi since his love looks unrequited. Like hell they care and so they throw him a murder mystery play to do instead. As Siegwald and co go around the place and set up security for the ball, Bruno then mentions that one of his daughters, Cecilie will also be stationed as a knight. Apparently when Lieselotte introduced Fabian to her sisters, Cecilie becomes smitten with him and proposed to marry him! Then she vowed to become his knight and is now blazing through the trials to become one. Either she marries him or she’ll kill herself! Oh my! So young, so dramatic and passionate! Got to hand it to her, she has got more balls than most guys!

More blushing from Lieselotte as Siegwald can’t hold back his PDA. Hey, he is the prince and can do anything he wants! This leads to a flashback that it has been 10 years since he was introduced to Lieselotte. Despite smitten with her at first sight, she remained cold. Mom told him to be patient and to build their relationship over time. However Lieselotte became colder and colder and it was disheartening for Siegwald. Thankfully they are now back on track. As the murder mystery play goes well, a couple of guys try to flirt with Kobayashi. Endou the protector will not allow! Kobayashi’s sister then comes to visit but Kobayashi doesn’t seem too impressed. Especially onee-chan trying to meddle in between them. Later onee-chan talks to Endou alone and she hears from him that he likes Kobayashi. She wants to root for him as he continues to spout all the lovely words he want to say to Kobayashi. Speaking of the angel, here she comes! Did she hear all that?! Anyway she is not happy onee-chan once again is meddling and gives her an earful. Better go home now. Meanwhile Kuon is lurking around and he won’t give up on his Eve (he goes to the same university as Kobayashi’s sister). Lieselotte waits for the day of the ball and is very prepared to take on the witch.

Episode 10
The ball is here. Kobayashi even preparing all the stuffs to celebrate and support for victory! Counting your chickens? By day, we see the characters giving their thanks and prayers to Lirenna as Lieselotte reminisces how Siegwald’s mom (the queen) once told her about the symbol of the lirene flower which is also the symbol of the royalty. The ball begins at night. Of course Siegwald and Lieselotte taking the spotlight as the most beautiful pair begin their dance. Leon thought Elizabeth has returned but it turns out to be Fiene. Like mother, like daughter. Siegwald and Lieselotte could hardly be at 100% romantic mood since they are anticipating the witch to pop up once the ball ends. They have to be on their toes. Lieselotte mentions she would prefer to defeat the witch herself since it would be more painful for her to wait for Siegwald’s return. He suggests they go slay the witch together. As the end nears, Kobayashi is sad the game will soon end. Not as much as Endou, though. Will he get to spend more time like this with her? Suddenly the screen blacks out. That’s right. The witch is here. Kobayashi and Endou are shocked with this happening so early. Could it be because they have altered the story so much that this event is brought forward? With the students evacuated and our young heroes going into action, first they see the witch having a stranglehold on Fabian after he let his guard down. They can’t attack or Fabian will get hurt too. Time for Leon to join in. Donning his mask and under the moniker of a legendary mage named Karlchen, with this line-up, we certainly can’t lose, right? Kobayashi and Endou guide our heroes to fight the witch who also send demonic creatures to attack them. The witch retreats as Lieselotte goes after her. However it is a trap to separate her from the pack and then possess her. Unfortunately Lieselotte meets that doom as she utter her final words to Siegwald of I love you.

Episode 11
Lieselotte wants Siegwald to kill her when she gets fully possessed. But that won’t do so he throws away his sword and hugs her. I love you! Lieselotte is sitting inside the darkness, she could hear the voices of her friends calling to her but there is nothing she can do. Until the power of love breaks through it all! And just like that the witch is vanquished and Lieselotte returns! To everyone’s shock, the witch then turns into her true form who is no other than Lirenna. She regrets every bit for what she has done. Wow. Lirenna so good at prostrating herself. The reason Lirenna became a witch was because she tried to link her loneliness and hatred to Lieselotte’s heart. She tells the whole truth. Yeah, we have to go back to the beginning of time. Apparently there was a single entity. WTF suddenly it knew what loneliness meant and spilt itself into 2 entities known as Kuon and Lirenna. Together they create life and all. The first human beings too. They were Adam and Eve! F*ck, now they’re ripping off the bible!!! However Kuon fell in love with Eve and so much so, killed Adam! Unfortunately Eve never returned his love despite the numerous reincarnations. Hence Kuon decided to become a mortal to win her heart. Obviously Lirenna objected since she loves him. Because he was adamant, they started to fight. It got so epic that Kuon was blown away to another world! OMFG!!! Lirenna was left to rue all that jealousy and hence that darkness enveloped her into a witch. So basically, this whole thing started because of a quarrel between husband and wife?

Kobayashi then asks if the Kuon in their world is her partner. Lirenna clears the air that the human Kuon is possessed instead. As both were one being, she could see through his eyes too as he through hers. This means Kuon has found his Eve. Guess what? Fiene is the reincarnation of Eve! And that’s not all, because ready for another shocker? Baldur is Adam’s reincarnation! Kobayashi then asks about the God route, could it be Kuon wants to bring Fiene to this world? Lirenna believes Kuon is trying to create a link between worlds. We hear Kuon narrate how the world of Magikoi is real! Hence he used Earth’s Kuon to recreate it into the game and collected the wishes from fans who love the game to create that link so as to take Eve AKA Fiene to this world. It is that very link why Kobayashi and Endou manage to communicate with Magikoi characters. Something about their strong bond that made them communicate instead of Kuon. However Kuon needs a vessel for Eve and thinks somebody stole it. With Lieselotte forgiving Lirenna, she goes Super Saiyan! Oh well, after that gold glow, she returns to her original colours. Power of love again! She wants Artur to turn Lieselotte into a saint. Artur points out all the troublesome paperwork and rituals if Siegwald gets married to a saint. However there is a way to avoid all that: Get married before she becomes one! Oh, you’re still hesitating? Not anymore. Siegwald gets down and proposes to Lieselotte. Happy ending? Well, not quite in the real world because as Kobayashi’s sister returns to get something, right at the doorstep they see her get kidnapped! Somebody getting desperate…

Episode 12
Lirenna makes contact with Endou and Kobayashi to tell them Kuon has kidnapped her sister as she will become Eve’s vessel for this world. She lets them know where they are and in the university’s greenhouse, oh damn, is this some sacrificial ritual or something? The duo try to tell off Kuon but he doesn’t care. Plus, he uses his magic to block out Lirenna. This means Kobayashi and Endou cannot hear Lirenna’s voice and vice versa. Then she freezes them as he looks into Kobayashi’s heart and believes she is the same as him. Jealousy. Kobayashi’s turning to a witch as she realizes how she always her more beautiful sister. However she is saved with the voice of Lieselotte. Breaking free from Kuon’s spell, it seems Lieselotte tried praying hard to reach them and now she is in this comatose state. In exchange, she is in this world communicating with Kobayashi and Endou via this keychain doll. Now it’s her turn to be their god as she tells Endou that it is him that Kobayashi is uncertain. So now it’s his turn to do for Kobayashi like what they did for Siegwald and Lieselotte. Endou mans up and confesses he loves Kobayashi ever since he joined the club. A swift response because she too admits she likes him. Wanna go out? Okay. Yahoo! Kuon is not amused he is ignored. Okay then. Now they tell him off their love is different because they don’t resort to hurting others. Oh damn, he gets so mad that his barrier dissipates? This allows Lirenna to swoop down and pluck her half from this Kuon vessel. As they were once one being, she is going to seal him inside her until that malevolence is gone. Meanwhile this Kuon is relieved but also sad at his counterpart gone because when he was young, Kuon saved his life by curing an illness. It was all part of his plan for this but yeah, it’s over. Lirenna and Lieselotte return to their world as Kobayashi is happy her sister is okay. Back home, they make one final contact with Siegwald. Looks like everything is over and they won’t be communicating anymore. Final heartfelt thanks and they hope to see each other again not as gods and mortals but as friends. Communication is cut off and it’s goodbye. Start new game? Hell no… Many seasons passed and it’s time for Siegwald and Lieselotte to get married. Lirenna graces the event by bringing Kobayashi and Endou in the flesh here! Oh heck! Don’t even know how but if we’re going for the happiest happy ending, might as well go all the way! See our lovely married couple walk down the aisle. Baldur hopes to have the same with Fiene but she quickly shoots him down not to decide on it so fast. Oh dear. One big group photo for the album.

How To Tsundere A Tsundere
He gets a happy ending. She gets a happy ending. They get a happy ending. Oh heck, everybody gets a happy ending!!! YAHOO! No wonder it’s the best ending ever. So I take it this means there won’t be a sequel? Yeah, I theorize if they start a new game, this whole thing might be wiped out and they have to play the game again! Don’t want to go through all that roller coaster ride again, no?! And so to leave this kind of happy ending, the game of Magikoi will forever be left untouched! Nobody plays the game ever again! NOBODY!

Story wise, on the onset it looks pretty much generic. You know, the kind of plot that can never stray too far from a dating sim genre. New kid in town catches the eye of a few hot hunks and eligible bachelors. You choose which one you want to go down the route with. That is, if you are the player playing the game. As far as this anime is concerned, the prospects of such decision is almost non-existent. Sure, there are a few male potentials but it was already set earlier on it would be Siegwald x Lieselotte and no other route. Then of course, the title says it all as the main character would be the villainess. But unlike the villainess in Hamefura and Akulas (sorry if you’re going to hear me compare a lot with these titles), Lieselotte is not exactly the main character. What I mean is that unlike Bakarina and Aho-leen who try to take control of their destiny and thus they become the main character in focus for their respective anime, Lieselotte’s actions are mostly determined by others. Not sure if I could say Kobayashi and Endou are the main characters because they try to guide the flow of the game that leads to the best ending. In that context, Lieselotte and the other characters in Magikoi are pretty much hinged on the wisdom and words of these gods. In the end, in all 3 villainess animes, the goal is to stop her from dying.

It was a bit of a shocker when they revealed the true origins of Magikoi and even hinted to be another parallel world, it felt like one big BS but yeah, I suppose it is still better than dying and get reincarnated into an otome game. Now it gives rise to useless thoughts and conspiracy theories of the thousands and millions of such games made throughout the years. What if those worlds were actually real and they depend on our gameplay to save it! What if all video games and not only such dating simulations are like this?! That is why the player playing the game is the hero, being given the task and responsibility to save the other realm just by picking up the game controller! Sorry I deviated a bit there.

The other refreshing thing about this villainess anime is that unlike the aforementioned predecessors, the main character doesn’t die and get reincarnated inside the game. Or at least in a fantasy world that looks so much like the dating game she once played when she was alive. Here, both the real world and the fantasy world seeming carry on simultaneously. Definitely a much different take compared to Hamefura and Akulas but sometimes it feels weird because of the parallel word thingy. The more I start thinking about it, the more confused I become so I better not start any questioning. Hence this gives the series a unique take in the sense that we have a commentator and analyser giving their thoughts on what is happening on screen. It is a good thing that they don’t spam this a lot of time because by doing so, it would become some director’s cut commentary that you would usually get as extras if you buy the DVDs. Yeah. That. So they keep it sparingly and mostly at times when Lieselotte reacts. Personally, such commentary is a bit off to me because well, is this supposed to be some sort of reaction video or something? I don’t know if I’m such a cold hearted person since whenever Kobayashi and Endou give their comments, it’s like I don’t particularly feel anything about it. Worse, sometimes I thought it ruins the flow of the occasion. We have the Magikoi characters talking and interacting. And then suddenly, unsolicited comments by the gods! Weird, no? But I would say at least as such it differentiates itself from Hamefura and Akulas.

It’s good to know that there is at least some sort of true romance developing here. It’s like they really want to showcase that the power of love will shine through anything and beat the light out of any evil! Well, unlike Hamefura whose main villainess is so freaking oblivious to the affections of those around her despite being a romance fan (expert is such an overrated word for her), unlike Akulas whose main villainess is acting more sly and scheming, our main villainess here differentiates herself by being a tsundere. Ah yes, tsundere fans can finally rejoice their type has finally come. Anyway, in order to harness the power of love and build it up, hence lots of smooth talking and charm from Siegwald that would guarantee to make Lieselotte blush and go a step further and display her tsundere personality. Don’t we all like that in a girl? Especially it’s a way to effectively shut up a villainess! Heh. So with the guidance of the gods, we see how the pair build up their love in this span of time although there were lingering doubts, as proven right in the end, the power of love comes out tops. Happy ever after ending for everybody.

As we all know, Lieselotte isn’t a really bad person. She just took her father’s words too seriously and thought as a lady she cannot be seen as a loose woman and hence the start of her tsundere personality. After all, as royalty and nobles, there are certain standards to adhere to so as not to ruin the reputation of the family name. Culture, they say. Poor Siegwald continued to get confused by such concept that is ubiquitous in Japan but unheard of in this world! Note how he misspoke this term as tsun de rais! But he is a patient person and it pays off when their love soon blossoms. However this is only thanks to the help of the gods because in the original game itself, Siegwald will never know the meaning and appreciate tsundere, lost faith and went with Fiene, turning Lieselotte into a big pile of witchy despair that ultimately ends up being killed. And now that he appreciates of this tsundere term, that helps in strengthening their love and bond.

Curiously enough, there was potential romance even with our gods-cum-commentators. Endou obviously have a major crush on Kobayashi but it feels like she is just friendzoning him big time. It would’ve been a big irony that they win the game of Magikoi but in real life their romance pretty much gone nowhere. So will it be Magikoi characters’ turn to be the gods and advice this pair to become one? Lieselotte somewhat did. The best ending would be for both sides of them to end up with each other but I suppose Kobayashi doesn’t see Endou more as just a fan and that they’re just obsessed in playing and completing a game. Well Endou, maybe you should work on your commentary and if you level up enough, your words will be more than enough to tug Kobayashi’s heart strings and sway her heart to your side! Charming. And perhaps Kobayashi herself also has a crush on Endou but she plays poker and acts like a retard to hide her true feelings. Ah, I can imagine it from here, Kobayashi being the other tsundere character! Definitely 100 points if she does that! Thankfully they put all that to rest as we have seen in the end, they end up together and could it be that the game was like some sort of big exercise for this important moment?

Other characters in Magikoi, Fiene at first feels like that main heroine character. In Hamefura we had Maria and they became best friends. In Akulas we had Lilia and it turned out she was the mastermind and seemingly antagonist. And now in Tsunlise, Fiene is made to be Lieselotte’s sister. This also serves to set her up with Baldur since he is the closest competition for Lieselotte in the romance department. Good thing he does not come close to this ever since Fiene came into the picture. What better way for a game to have not one but 2 great couples. And considering their origins as reincarnated souls, wow, are they a higher level couple than Siegwald and Lieselotte since their love transcends time? Because of the focus on these pairings, there is no room or the slightest thought for a reverse harem. Artur looks like your typical playboy who wants to flirt but can only get ordinary NPC girls. Heh. But he is closest to Lirenna so there’s his girl in this context. Fabian exists to satiate shota fans but he too was soon paired with Cecilie. Otherwise he is negligible too. Then there is Leon who also just feels as negligible and even ushering him in the end as an ally to fight against the witch, that felt somewhat rushed. So will Elizabeth open her arms to him? Not my place to say about the age gap romance but if that happens, then a true happy ending because everybody gets paired and none left out! Wohoo!

Art and animation are pretty okay with of course all you characters look smoking hot and beautiful. Who wants to play a dating sim game where all the main and supporting characters look as ugly as f*ck!!!! So yes, everybody looks so dashing and gorgeous because we love and expect them to. So it’s no surprising our prince Siegwald is such a handsome blonde guy. Yeah, just like Hamefura’s Geordo too. And Akulas’ Cedric! All princes must be blonde! This anime is done by Tezuka Productions who did Go-toubun No Hanayome, Kanojo Mo Kanojo, Mahoutsukai Reimeiki and Dororo.

One main reason of mine to watch this series is because of a few recognizable seiyuus lending their talents like Yuuichi Nakamura as Siegwald, Tomokazu Sugita as Baldur, Kana Hanazawa as Kobayashi, Sayaka Ohara as Elizabeth, Jun Fukuyama as Kuon and Shizuka Itou as Lirenna. However fuelling my conspiracy further that this series is linked to Akulas is how some of them did have roles in Akulas. Especially Kana Hanazawa who was the voice of Lilia. Hmmm… Curiously, Lilia was hinted as another character in Akulas other than Aileen to be from another world. Could it be that Lilia is Kobayashi who was playing another otome game at another point in time?! Why, Kobayashi couldn’t be a villainess, right?! Yeah, how much do we know about Kobayashi? After all, do you not see how both these characters try to influence the flow of the game? And she too has a dark spot of jealousy in the deep recess of her heart, right? Very curious… So ayashi… Then of course there is Tomokazu Sugita as Baldur but in Akulas he was a crow. Was that one of his reincarnations before he became Lieselotte’s cousin? And yes, Jun Fukuyama was Claude’s right hand man and a bit of a scheming one too. And now he is the God who is trying to manipulate and get his woman. Suspicious…

As for the other casts, they are Kaito Ishikawa as Endou (Iida in Boku No Hero Academia), Miyu Tomita as Fiene (titular character in Gabriel Dropout), Ryota Ohsaka as Artur (Marco in Shingeki No Kyojin), Shun Horie as Fabian (Kazuya in Kanojo Okarishimasu), Taku Yashiro as Leon (Ryuuji in Darwin’s Game), Yukine Shiraishi as Cecilie, Yuu Maeda as Bruno and Sakie Takada as Kobayashi’s sister. The opening theme, Ibitsu Na Kotoba by Dazbee is your typical upbeat and lively anime song. However I just find the singer’s voice to be somewhat a bit flat. Sometimes it feels like she is trying hard not to screw up when she reaches lines that hit high notes and hence maintaining that blandness throughout her singing. Weird. Anna sings the ending theme, Hana No You Ni, a rather okay anime pop rock.

Overall, this third entry into the main villainess theme in recent times has been surprisingly enjoyable. Of course, this is compared to the dumb Hamefura and the passable Akulas, it makes Tsunlise stand out a bit more than those. Might be one of those typical game romance stories but it gives a slightly different take too on the way we play and comment on games. I’m sure most of us are unaware that we ourselves make comments and even have our own thoughts when we play games. Trying to influence the game’s flow? A lot of cuss words I’m sure when it doesn’t go our way. Heh. The thought of how all those might influence the outcome of a game is interesting especially one that has permadeath. Sorry, no save function to load a previous save file. Just like in real life. Sighs. The irony we can lead game characters to a true happy ending many times because real life sucks and that’s why we all escape to the other world playing video games, right? What do we all have to say about that! Leave your comments and analysis below!

P/S: I played (and still is) my favourite Mortal Kombat fighting game so much and for donkey years. Killed, pulverized, crushed, fatalitied, brutalitied so many characters so many times… Damn, I must be a freaking serial killer in this context!!!

Otonari No Tenshi-sama Ni Itsunomanika Dame Ningen Ni Sareteita Ken

I don’t blame you if you think this series is some sort of hentai. Okay. Maybe it’s just me. But seriously. With a title like Otonari No Tenshi-sama Ni Itsunomanika Dame Ningen Ni Sareteita Ken, the first thing you would think of about this angel living next door to you, always coming over to spoil you rotten. There. There’s your buzzword. Spoil you rotten. What could that possibly mean. Oh well. That’s like giving some sort of heavenly sexual service, RIGHT???!!! Yeah. Maybe it’s just me. But thankfully (and hopefully) it isn’t porn and it’s just about the luckiest guy in the world having the cutest girl in class who happens to live next door to him, always coming over to do all his chores for him without even asking for any sort of payment or reward in return. Waifu material indeed. Hard to find such a girl like that these days. Get ready to be further spoiled… Or jealous…

Episode 1
Amane Fujimiya spots Mahiru Shiina sitting in the park alone in the rain. Is she crying? He stops to help her but apparently it’s none of his business. Okay. He leaves his umbrella with her before going off. Next day in school, obviously he catches a cold. Also, Mahiru is his classmate whom everyone calls as Angel. Beautiful, smart, athletic and popular, she’s everything a guy wants. When Amane goes home, he is surprised Mahiru is outside his door, trying to return the umbrella. She feels guilty for making him sick and insists to help. Well, his place is a pigsty! She’ll be back in a jiffy. Yes, she lives next door to him. She helps nurse him the whole night. Once he is better, he asks about that incident in the park. Fight with her boyfriend? She claims she has none nor will she ever get one. She chides him for having such assumptions as he assumes her to have one since she is popular. You would think that would be the end of it and they’ll go back to being strangers but after noticing he doesn’t eat healthily, she often comes to give him the food she has excessively cook. Can’t turn her down, no? He fears others may have the wrong idea about their relationship. Well, does he think so? No? Then she sees no problem. Then they stumble with each other at the supermarket. Since she bought too much, he offers to help carry. Remember Amane’s place as a pigsty. Yup, almost tripped over everything. I guess Mahiru can’t bear to see this so she is going to clean his place thoroughly. She slips on one of the shirts but luckily he catches her. Think something romantic is coming up? Not a chance! Just chiding him that had he regularly kept clean, this wouldn’t have happened. Sorry to disappoint. Then as they order pizza to eat, he comments how she lacks charm. She doesn’t care and is fine with it. However he notes even if she seems unfriendly, she is actually more approachable and a lot more honest about her feelings. Mahiru is surprised since she never thought her behaviour was awful at school. She claims she is always like that when young. Either way, at least he gives her the permission to be as she wish whenever she is here. He wonders why she is doing this so she says it is just for her own satisfaction that she gets to help others.

Episode 2
What’s this? Mahiru sitting dejectedly again at the park. Her clothes a bit messed up too as she claims she was trying to rescue a kitty from a tree. But observant Amane knows better. Realizing she sprained her ankle, he soon helps to treat it and then proceeds to carry her home. As she continues to bring food to him, he talks about Yuuta Kadowaki who is the male version of our popular angel. Amane thought they would be into each other but Mahiru quickly shoots it down. If people fall for each other based on looks, Amane would have already been so for her. Yes, she is aware how pretty she is based on all the reactions from others. Once exams are over, Amane’s best friend, Itsuki Akazawa teases him for being one of those intelligent type. Amane argues that Itsuki could also be smart enough had he not spend his time flirting with his girlfriend, Chitose Shirakawa. Yeah, both are shameless in doing PDA. Chitose hopes Amane would get a girlfriend too because she wants to be friends with her. Well, not a chance. The way she is so frisky, he wouldn’t even want his imaginary girlfriend to get such treatment. Well, if he even has an imaginary girlfriend! After another visit by Mahiru and as she leaves, he notices she dropped her student ID. He manages to return it to her but why is he looking worried? Well, her birthday is in 4 days. Soon he asks what she wants. Suspicious at first, she eventually says a sharpening stone. Do high school girls want that? So he asks his friends for advice. He tries not to give away Mahiru’s identity but how can they give him any accurate answers if they don’t know the person? Just go with your guts! Eventually, he has to plead to Chitose to go shopping with him for one. First, got to bribe her with some food. Eventually Amane gives his present to her as Mahiru looks surprised as she is puzzled. How does he know her birthday when she has not told anyone? The student ID. Since it’s bad to reject, she accepts and opens it. A hand cream. There’s a teddy bear too. Seeing her happy face, WTF he regrets looking at how cute she is?! She soon explains she hates birthdays and never told anyone so since she gets nervous receiving things from strangers. Thus she doesn’t accept them. Amane is no stranger so it’s okay. Amane manages to restrain himself after thinking about Itsuki’s words of patting his girlfriend’s head. WTF, does this mean Amane considers Mahiru his girlfriend?!

Episode 3
Amane is not pleased his mom, Shihoko visits unexpectedly. HIS MOM?! I THOUGHT IT WAS HIS SISTER?! He won’t let her in until she reminds him who pays the rent. As she praises how nice this place looks, she gets suspicious of his actions because it’s like he is hiding something. You see, while Shihoko was knocking at the door, Mahiru was over. So he told her to hide in his room and will do something to get mom out. But too late as suspicious mom opens the door and sees a lovely Mahiru sleeping. WTF. Instantly she thinks he has a girlfriend and no matter what you say, she still thinks it is. Even when Mahiru tries to explain herself, it always goes back to this logic that they are dating. So I guess she gets the hint to leave because she doesn’t want to spoil the mood. Either way, she will support them both. After mom leaves, Mahiru finds her a very nice person despite Amane thinks she is naggy and nosy. Then they talk about calling each other on first name basis as Mahiru hints about her own parents never even calling her by that. So they agree to do that only in private but not in public. The exam results are out and as expected, Mahiru is top of the grade. Everyone thinks she is so smart but as Amane notes, they don’t know the trouble and effort she has put in. Amane buys her cake to celebrate this. They take turns feeding each other. Yeah, see that happy angelic face. Because Amane doesn’t want to always rely on her cooking, he hopes she can teach him how to cook. Well, let’s say he’s got a long way to go. This has her wonder if she’ll be needed anymore once he knows how to cook. Aww, that sad face. Amane quickly says he still wants to eat her cooking. Back to smiles again. Chitose bugs Amane to have a Christmas Eve party at his place since he is lonely. Yeah, there are no grounds to reject it either. So Amane tells Mahiru about this. Since they can’t spend time together on that day, they’ll do it on Christmas then. Maybe she can try play his video games. Not surprising, she hasn’t touched one before. So as Amane hosts his friends on Christmas Eve, it starts to snow outside. As they go outside the balcony to have a better view, to the friends’ shock, they see Mahiru next door too. You live next to the angel?!

Episode 4
So the cat is out of the bag. Mahiru and Amane reveal their daily duties to Chitose and Itsuki and of course nothing more ulterior than that. Sure. Let’s believe that in good faith. Chitose would love to be friends with Mahiru so that’s what they start out as. So we need to get those friends out of the way so we can have more quality time with the angel and gloomy guy. As usual, she comes over with more of her cooking. He likes it. She blushes. Then she also plays his video games. He helps her but unknowingly their hands touch. Oops. Back off. Then playing a spoof Mario Kart, she must be so into the game that she slips and her head falls on his lap? Cute. Then it’s like she tries to compliment him that he looks good behind those bangs as her fingers clear open them. Wow. Such nice eyes. Then he too does the same to her. Can this scene get any more romantic than this? How can you not say they’re not falling for each other at this point?! She gives him a scarf as his Christmas present. Then he compliments it is a shame she can’t smile as often because she really looks cute doing so, causing her to wrap the scarf around his face so he can’t see her cute blushing face. Next day, Mahiru is having a slight fever. She remains stubborn she isn’t sick but Amane sweeps her off her feet and ‘threatens’ to bring her back to her room. Or his room. Choose. Between the devil and the deep blue sea, I guess she chooses his room. Now it is his turn to nurse her. Wow, he is holding her hand as she sleeps. When she feels a bit better, she talks about how even at times when she was sick back at her old home, she was always alone. Even she had a housekeeper, Koyuki who was well, just doing her job so it’s no surprise she came and left at certain times. But now don’t worry, Amane is here for her all day. After all, can’t have the person who cooks for him every day to stop cooking, right? Now feast your eyes at the cute angel as she sleeps. Bad for your heart? Definitely!

Episode 5
Spending New Year’s Eve together. You know who. A cheeky text from Itsuki to Amane. And then from mom. And then from dad asking they’ll like to come over next time. Amane agrees and as he is about to tell Mahiru, oh my, she’s fallen asleep on his shoulder. How is this possible? After thinking how he should deal with this, he eventually settles for putting her in his bed. He thought she would be in for a real shocker when she wakes up next morning but wow, she’s still sleeping? Angel is a heavy sleeper? Then he goes to touch her cheeks in which she then wakes up and gets all embarrassed hiding behind his sheets. Apparently the last time he touched her cheeks, she knew about it and was pretending to be asleep. While this proves she feels safe with him, he warns her he is still a guy and can do something. Really? Amane doing something unthinkable to her? Can you imagine that? Soon, Amane’s parents drop by. Mahiru meets his dad, Shuto. Yeah, so young dad even Mahiru thought he was his brother! The parents suggest the young ones to visit the shrine. After all, mom brought her kimono along for Mahiru. Wow. A plan in motion already… They dress up nicely and it’s like damn, they levelled up their beauty 100 times! Lots of flustering as they both shyly compliment how good they look. Aww, how sweet. At the shrine, you bet those normal people are turning heads at this power couple. I’m surprised nobody took pictures and uploaded them. And well, more flustering as they hang out. Back home, pats her on the head without warning first. Good news, he won’t do it to other girls. Should he keep going or should he stop? Amane no baka. So if you like more Mahiru flustering, this will definitely ramp up the moe level. Soon, Amane’s parents leave and they hope he returns the favour by visiting them this summer. Yeah, pressure to bring Mahiru along. In school, there are rumours floating around that Mahiru has a boyfriend as she was seen walking around holding his hand. Yeah, Mahiru so cute nobody noticed the guy’s face, huh? Of course Amane pays no heed. Back home he tells Mahiru about this. What else to do but to wait till this dies down. She wonders if they really look like a real couple. Amane’s reply that he could never imagine himself as her boyfriend isn’t the right answer. Upset Mahiru doesn’t want him to think lowly of himself since he is also a nice person. So don’t be too hard on yourself. Apparently she also did some damage to herself as she’s hiding her face from embarrassment. Cute.

Episode 6
Chitose trying to ask Amane for advice on what boys want for Valentine. Then she teases him of wanting to make a move on Mahiru when they’re alone. WTF Mahiru reacted to that? Of course Amane denies. Although Amane admits Mahiru does trigger some urge in him, he has never thought of doing anything more as he doesn’t want her to cry or hate him. In class, lots of girls give their chocolates to Kadowaki. After class, Amane goes to give him a plastic bag since he looks troubled he can’t carry them all home. Hmm… I thought his sad face was because he doesn’t appreciate all those gifts? Back home, it’s time for more Amane x Mahiru moments so we can see how cute the latter blushes. Yeah, at this point I’m not even paying attention to what they’re talking but Mahiru feels embarrassed and storms off. Just one step to become a tsundere… But she leaves behind some not so sweet chocolates for him to counter Chitose’s Russian roulette chocolates. Yeah, some of them are spicy! On another day, more of Mahiru blushing act as Amane tries to thank her for everything she has done and given. Then she asks him for his birthday so that they can celebrate it together (since he already knows hers). Wow, the way she now over flusters about how she doesn’t dislike him, she’s really on her way to become a certified tsundere. Amane tries to shop for a White Day gift. What to give to a girl who is not a girlfriend but very close. Friendzone? He returns all dressed up and damn, he’s got his hair done! Shocking moment for Mahiru. He can undo it since she doesn’t feel relaxed seeing him this way but changes her mind since she doesn’t want him to go through all that trouble. He gives her present which is a nice bracelet. Also is a ticket that she could wish him to do anything. Later Itsuki talks to Amane and can tell from his reaction that Mahiru liked his present. Itsuki ‘predicts’ is future that he will change and despite saying he has no feelings for her, it’s basically the same as admitting he has. Amane doesn’t appreciate this ‘analysis’. Amane returns home as Mahiru just finishes cooking dinner. He notices her thin hands and touches them before realizing she doesn’t like to be touched. Tsundere moment because she says she doesn’t mind being touched by him but what she meant was that she doesn’t want other boys to touch her. Confused? Yeah. Nice blushing face, though. Amane returns to his room and probably he too is at his limit because Mahiru is looking more and more like his cute young wife!

Episode 7
Oh. Looks like Itsuki had a fight with his dad over Chitose. Hence he is running away from home and would like to stay at Amane’s place for at least 3 days. Are you sure, Amane? Would that interrupt your time with your angel? Of course no matter how much Amane denies it, Itsuki can still see both of them get along very well despite on the outside he has this anti-social expression. Soon, Chitose learns about Itsuki’s stay and you bet she is right away going to come stay too. Can’t miss out on Mahiru’s cooking! Look who’s the lovely couple at their place now? Chitose stays over at Mahiru’s place and sends a very cute pic of Mahiru in her pyjamas and teddy bear. One for the album. After 3 days the guest couple leaves. Yeah, better for Itsuki to crash at Chitose’s place. Why did he not do this from the start? Anyway, with our usual couple now having the place back to themselves, it’s that moment we’ve been waiting for to see Mahiru’s usual blushing since she found out he has seen that cute pic. To even things, she wants to see his embarrassment side too. Perhaps she got more than she bargained for because Itsuki sends her a pic of Amane coming out of the bath. Wow… One day, Amane sees a woman talking to Mahiru outside her door. She doesn’t sound happy nor impressed before leaving. Amane asks Mahiru about it and she explains that is her biological mom. She hates her and is used to such admonishing. You can see the sadness in her smile so you bet Amane won’t leave her alone. At his place, it’s time to reveal her circumstances. You see, her parents did not marry out of love. Let’s say it’s something like a political marriage between both families. Hence they did not intend to have children. One night they made a mistake. Ever since Mahiru was born, they only supported her financially and were rarely home. Mahiru was raised by a housekeeper. Her parents never paid attention to her despite Mahiru excelling in studies, sports and everything else. It made her feel dumb for thinking they would change. They never. Because of this obligation, they cannot divorce until Mahiru graduates from college. Once that happens, they will become strangers.

The biggest shock came when mom told her she was an unwanted child. Hence the first time Amane saw her sitting dejectedly at the park. It made her feel sad if she was unwanted, why did they have her in the first place? All Amane could do is give her a big hug. He knows he has no right to say about her family circumstances but allows her to cry on his shoulder. She takes up that offer and hopes he will keep it a secret. Mahiru notes the irony in school she acts like she is wanted but the real her isn’t wanted at all. It makes her feel dumb since nothing about her is likeable. Amane’s turn to voice up that it isn’t so. While mentioning her good and bad points, he says there is someone here right now who sees the real her and likes her for it. Is that a confession?! She should give herself more credit. Wow. When an angel feels so blessed, does this mean Amane is her God???!!! She has a request of him. And that is to keep looking at her and hold onto her. So is this her confession too?! Amane adds that besides him, there are others who like her such as his friends and parents. Then they go out for a walk. Woah, Mahiru hugging him as thanks for doing a lot for her?! Not afraid someone spotting this PDA? She notes she never liked spring since it always reminded her of her loneliness. Not anymore, right? Yes, Amane is here for you now! Is it spring time for Mahiru?

Episode 8
Well, good news everybody. Looks like our favourite characters are all in the same class for the new school year. Back home, since Amane looks like he has some sort of troubling look, Mahiru lets him lie on her lap as she strokes his hair. There, feeling better? So good that he falls asleep for an hour! I guess she enjoyed looking at his cute sleeping face. He doesn’t want her to stare at his face but she reminds him he always do that to her when her guard is down so it’s like some sort of revenge. Yeah, see her pinch his face and the likes. It’s her privilege to see him acting like this way and nobody else. Wow. Is Mahiru starting to monopolize him? Okay, now it’s her turn to do the flustering. She note he is always doing things for her and since he brushes that off, she has him make pudding for her. As usual, he comments her great cooking and all that praising makes her fluster like hell. WTF did Mahiru just panic or something?! In school, since when Kadowaki is friends with our guys? Well, he thinks Amane is a good guy and thinks of wanting to be friends with him. When Amane wonders if there are merits in doing so, Kadowaki asks back if he becomes friends for profit. Nope? That’s why it’s okay for them to be friends. Back home, WTF Mahiru pouting because a guy comes to talk to him casually?! IMAGINE IF IT WAS A GIRL!!!! She admits she is narrow minded and overheard what they talked. It makes her feel lonely because she’s not the kind who can just walk up to anybody and talk. Of course she is not impressed he once again puts himself down that nobody wants to be friends with him. They have to still be careful because it will be suspicious if people suddenly notice they become close all of a sudden. For home economics, Mahiru joins Amane’s group, causing some to be shocked that the angel has been chosen. So you punks think she’s supposed to be alone or in you group? The cooking class carries on normally until a group of guys nearby start to fool around, causing him to spill the hot burning stuffs on Mahiru. If not for Amane’s quick reflexes in pulling her way, it could’ve been a disaster. I’m sure it’s not Amane’s lecture about taking responsibility if something bad happens that is shocking everyone, it is the way he is touching Mahiru… Back home, more Mahiru flustering as Amane pets her to ease her worries. She thinks this won’t work all the time (of course it will!) and he can’t use this free pass to get himself out of trouble. Of course, don’t do this to anyone else. Yeah, we’re all so confused by everything so Mahiru just lets him pat her head again. There, we got our free pass again.

Episode 9
With Golden Week coming up, Mahiru thinks of using the ticket to have him accompany her on one of the days. Thinking of the places they can have fun together, they decide on the cat café as well as the arcade. Sorry folks, love hotel not on the itinerary!!! Chitose comes over to help Mahiru cook. You bet Amane is wary since the last time she spiked those chocolates. We have Mahiru to keep watch over her, right? Waiting must be so boring that he falls asleep. When he wakes up, he wonders why Chitose is looking and smirking at him so he thinks she did something. She hints she didn’t. She also realizes they are on first name basis. Can’t fault her since it is they who slipped up. After she leaves, Mahiru then reveals she did something to him. Basically, she was squishing his cheeks many times while he was asleep! Then he does the same to her. Why does this look more like a tender moment? The duo have their outing together at the cat café. Having fun petting cats and Amane laughs when Mahiru got herself some milk moustache. One for the album? Then they go shopping and while he waits for her, a couple of girls want to hang out with him! Wow. Luckily Mahiru comes back in time to take him away. Sayonara, b*tches! As they take a break, Kadowaki happen to come by and spots them. The gig is up as they reveal their circumstances and all. Of course he is surprised but he promises Mahiru that he will not tell others about it. It’s not his hobby to spread secrets for fun. Later Mahiru notes Amane is quite friendly with him. Amane explains he is quite a nice guy after they talked to each other more often. Then the guys have their own karaoke as Itsuki reveals about Mahiru coming over to cook for Amane. Well, sooner or later Kadowaki is going to find out. Hence Kadowaki poses the question if Amane likes Mahiru because girls don’t stay that long if they aren’t interested in a guy. Amane hints he may like her. We all know better. Back home, Amane catches Mahiru trying to hide something. Turns out Shihoko has sent pictures of younger Amane to her. He wants to check but she won’t let him. Hence this weird scene of him coming onto her. A slip up happens and he falls over her. What does this look like? How do you like pushing a girl down and letting her submit to you? Feeling like a jerk, Amane?

Episode 10
Amane reveals why he lives alone. Okay. But can the both of them stop touching each other while he is telling his story?! Anyway… Amane is fortunate to have good parents and lived a good life. Because of his naïve nature, others took advantage of it. Basically some old ‘friends’ of him only being close to him for the money (his parents are a bit loaded) and even telling it straight in his face. Since then, he started having doubts and fear and that’s why he moved away from his town. If Mahiru had been there, she would’ve punched them! Oh girl, don’t sully those pretty hands of yours. Yeah, it’s nothing serious anyway. First world problems maybe? But that won’t do for her. And so as she comforts and touches him, this time she hopes he would lean on her. After all, she initially did the same so now it’s her turn to return the favour. So don’t complain when Amane starts to hug her from the back. Surprise attack. In class, some girls approach Mahiru and ask about the guy she was with the other day. Wow. Everyone is now on ears. Although Mahiru says he is a friend, she didn’t dispel it wasn’t a date. She goes on to shock them by saying he is very dear to her. Back home, she explains to Amane about that ambiguous talk because had they dodge the issue, people would’ve gotten the wrong idea and formed weird opinions. So if they drop a bit of info at a time, it will be easier to manage. So, they’re saying they’ll eventually be dating?! With Amane tired, she offers to indulge him. She starts off by saying she likes it when he touches her. DAFAQ?! Then she strips down and starts to go on top of him! IS THIS SERIES TURNING HENTAI????!!!! Turns out it was a dream. Or is it???!!! It might be real because Amane seems to avoid her in school and then later she asks him if she had offended him or something. So he tells her about that seduction in his dreams. He gets embarrassed trying to reveal more but either way, she looks happy. With the exams around the corner, their usual friends (including Kadowaki) come over to study. Nothing much happens. To motivate him, she will do anything for him even that thing he is afraid to ask. Really? Going hentai? Too bad he just asks for a lap pillow. More tender moments as Mahiru admits she is going to spoil him till he is useless because she just loves taking care of him. So just relax and let her make her moves on him… Really?!

Episode 11
Amane is ranked 6th in the exams. Oh boy. Now he can get whatever reward from Mahiru? Of course Mahiru herself is top spot. And so the reward is Mahiru cleaning Amane’s ears? Okay. Once that is done, she lets him sleep on her lap. But WTF, she soon falls asleep and he has a hard time waking her up to go back to her room. And this is so f*cking weird because it’s like she’s toying with him in dreamland or something, not wanting to go home and acting like a child. All while she is sleeping!!! Then he carries her to her own bed. She invites him to sleep with her! OMFG! BAIT! TRAP!!! Luckily he lets her sleep with her teddy bear. Sorry folks, nothing happening today. Next morning, she is super embarrassed. Don’t tell me she remembers! Actually, she wonders if he has looked at the picture on her table. Nope. Too dark. Then he explains what happened and now she gets super embarrassed. Don’t you dare accuse him of something he did not do! You did this onto yourself! Yeah, please don’t ask. But then it’s her turn to tease him about the skinship thingy because he had no qualms sleeping on her lap. Enjoying this? With summer here, Mahiru stops wearing her leg stockings. Basically, all guys would go gaga over this. She admits she wants to tease him over it. He doesn’t want other guys to see it but of course she would only love to show it to him. Don’t worry, no sexual thoughts. Disappointing?

When Amane stays back after school to help Mahiru with the prints, they overheard some girls talking bad about her. Mahiru has accepted this because she knows there will be some who will never like her from day 1 although many would still hold her high in respect. Mahiru doesn’t like it when Amane make it sound like she has multiple personalities because comparing to Kadowaki who has no secret life to hide. Eventually what he meant is that Mahiru herself is cuter than an angel. This has Mahiru fluster a lot as Amane get brutal on her character like her getting physical with him without thinking it. This is why guys can never understand girls because she’s saying she doesn’t do it on purpose but it is also on purpose! WTF???!!! Make it clear! Mahiru claims she is tired of playing the angel and wants to discard that façade. As long as she has someone like him who looks at her for who she is, she doesn’t need that cover. He wants to say something but fears she gets mad. She gives multiple assurances she won’t. Guys, lesson #1 when a girl says that, it is always a trap! Anyway, Amane claims sooner or later other guys will see her for who she really is and he will start feeling conflicted about it. Basically, is he jealous other guys will start to really take a liking for Mahiru seriously? Yeah. Mahiru quips how cute. Okawaii koto.

Episode 12
Amane trolls us that he is going to rape Mahiru! This is a ‘warning’ that if she tries that again, he’ll shut her up not using his hand. Well, joke’s on him because Mahiru doubles down and kisses him before running back to her room! Holy sh*t! Didn’t see that one coming?! But is she regretting it because in school, they’re avoiding each other, making it awkward. Itsuki notices this and bugs Amane for answers. He says they’re keeping their distance and even throws in some ambiguity, claiming if he looked better and all, would have more confidence for it to be easier. Nobody’s rushing you. Take your time. Later Amane asks Mahiru about that so she gives excuse it was to get back at him. Really? During the sports festival and especially the scavenger hunt, Amane knows something is going down because Chitose is the one who organizes it. You bet she’s setting something up. So we see Amane and Mahiru both hold each other’s hand as they race towards the finish line, shocking all who watch. Amane’s target is someone beautiful no doubts about that. But when Mahiru’s reveal her target as someone who is dearest, everybody loses their bat sh*t, minds! During the break, some boys hound over Amane. Is this some interrogation or something? He answers their question with the truth. He is the guy with Mahiru during Golden Week and they’re on good terms because they live next to each other. Got a problem with that? He tells them he is not interested in their angel but the girl named Mahiru. Yeah. They can’t accept it. Until the angel herself comes to appease the mad people. She gives them straight that Amane is not the dull and boring guy they think and he is in fact a very kind and cool person. Then she tells them off that they only judge others by their looks. Basically, who are you to say who dates who. Yup, that shut them up. Back home, the duo talk and know this would eventually happen. Now it’s time for Amane to man up and tell his feelings. He hugs her. This enough to tell you how serious he is? He adds he has never thought he would seriously fall for anyone but now he is proven wrong. At first he had the wrong perception of her but look at how things changed. He was also trying to avoid getting to close to her but now can’t help think of ways of bringing them closer. The clincher is when he asks to go out with her. Without skipping a beat, yes. There you go, the biggest hug. Promise to love you with all my heart till the day I die.

There Must Be An Angel Playing With My Heart (And Life!)
Hooray! Yahoo! Congratulations! Rather than leaving everything on a cliff-hanger and our good hunches when everything was so freaking obvious already, it is a good thing we have an official closure for this series as our obvious couple has become one. Finally we can put behind all those damned gossips and rumours and just be upfront with it. Because now that they are dating, screw those who are against it because they can do whatever they want and it is none of their business. Are you people ready to fight against the angel?! Don’t think so. So keep your mouths shut and cry silently inside your hearts, you losers! Amane scores big time and all he needed to do was be true to his feelings. Enough said.

Well people, you have to agree with me that the entire series is actually as boring as f*ck! The whole point of this entire series is to see our cute little angel fluster like hell and if not, put on one of her cutest smiles. It is mainly either one of these two. There is no serious or solid plot to begin with as every episode shoves down into our throats the compulsory interaction between Amane and Mahiru. It was amusing at first even though it was nothing really special. However this starts to get stale very fast and soon every episode seems to be a drag. So if you are the kind of person who love to see such expressions from a cute 2D girl, this is your anime. Otherwise, normal and casual viewers like me will find it totally boring and lacklustre as f*ck. And that is to say the least. Goodness gracious.

To think there would be some sort of plot twist in the middle or towards the end or something, I must be really feeling so bored to actually hope for something of this sort to happen. Because we all remember about Mahiru’s household circumstances, right? I thought that would come up some time to haunt her again but apparently now that setting feels like a flimsy plot so that Mahiru could become a loose girl and spoil Amane rotten. That’s right. It’s only the reason why a seemingly perfect and popular girl like her start to come over to his place every day. It was sad to hear how unloving her family is but they quickly brush that aside so we could have more intense Mahiru flustering and smiles, courtesy of Amane. Wow. Such a suave guy. Hence no cliff-hanger plot of Mahiru’s family changing their mind and wanting to take her back for their ulterior motive. No siree, nothing whatsoever. BORING!!!

Making it even more boring is that nothing really happens. To think that they try and bait us to make us thing that raunchy and risqué stuffs will eventually happen. You can see and notice how Mahiru gradually gets looser and looser with her actions and even her words. Sure, Amane is the guy whom she feels comfortable with. But then her actions start to seemingly troll us whether or not she is seriously going to start asking for sexual favours. It will be truly shocking even if I predicted it so, I would still be surprised. But now I’m left to rue with such nothing burger disappointment. Heh. How hard for it must be to please me, eh? The problem as such we can see is that even though Mahiru gives her permission (assuming she really wants sex or the likes), Amane’s options are still limited and he must actually think of his actions because as a guy, there are consequences. You do get what I’m saying, right? So where the heck is sexual equality? A girl can seduce a guy and get away with it but not the other way round. That is why it is understandable that Amane is hesitant to do anything beyond and to force of resistance remains strong. Good for him since he knows his position and realizes he is still a guy that could lead to irreversible damages if he does not play his cards carefully. But as far as entertainment value for this series, IT BECOMES BORING AS HELL!!!!

Therefore the dynamism and interaction between Amane and Mahiru is not only a curious one but a very weird one too. I don’t even know how to describe this sort of relationship because I figure friendship isn’t the accurate word or even close to it. You see, by spending so much time with each other as company, one would eventually figure out fast that they will start to like each other. Obviously they do. But because of their pride and strange circumstances, they don’t admit so and that is what irritated us. Like, can you just both confess to each other and go out already?! Yeah, even Itsuki sounded this many times but I guess somebody is still stubborn. And so it becomes this awkward situation and thus the many embarrassing and flustering actions from not only Mahiru but Amane as well just because they can’t come to terms that they actually like each other and try to be considerate with each other but are not. Oh dear. WTF did I just say because I also don’t understand it myself. Now all that awkwardness can be put to rest as the duo is now dating and hence don’t have to resort to these weird excuses and tactics just to be with each other’s company. Thank goodness.

Initially they were scared to break the status quo and that became the obvious reason why they continued and maintained this weird relationship. At this point now, so what if everybody gets the shock of their lives that their beloved angel starts dating this unknown bugger. Yeah, like are you people simping or something?! As long as Amane and Mahiru got each other, the opinions of others do not matter because eventually it is their own happiness that they should rightly put first instead of the feelings of outside parties that are of no concern. Well, not like Mahiru’s parents give a f*ck at this stage. They can’t wait for her to graduate and cut all ties completely. Amane’s parents are supportive. So what the hell’s the problem? Itsuki and Chitose are model and veteran couples should they need some examples on how to keep the flame alive in their courtship. So what the heck is stopping them from taking it all to the next stage? Oh right. It’s us. Because they think we viewers want to keep on watching the cuteness of Mahiru’s flustering. But it’s not like Mahiru to stop all that cute flustering now that she is officially Amane’s girl, right?

And that is so much I can say about our main characters because that’s about it for them. I suppose every episode has to see them play out this strange relationship so as to build their character. Oh you know, it is more plausible that they ended up the way they are now after initial episodes of Mahiru coming over to cook and accompany him. So yeah, there’s your character development for them. They slowly open up to each other in ways that were not possible had they not fatefully meet the other day. As you already know Mahiru’s household circumstances, she might be perfect in her studies, sports and popularity but the only thing lacking for her as a child is the love of her parents. This is why she seeks out Amane’s company to fill that void in her heart. May not be parental love but at least it is love in another form. That is why in a way I would say she is envious of Amane who has all the love he needs as a child. And to think Amane is a big snowflake, the reason he decided to move out and live alone. Wow. Such a weakling. I hope Mahiru spoiling him doesn’t turn him into a further weakling. So far it turned out good for them. With something official to protect, I believe Amane can only grow stronger and the same for Mahiru.

The way Mahiru always comes over to do things for Amane, does that itself not scream that she likes him? Whatever reasons she gives, it’s not really going to cut it because the only girl who is willing to go this far for a guy is only his mother, RIGHT????!!!!! Then when she ‘upgrades’ her actions like allowing physical stuffs such as letting him sleep on her lap, don’t you just feel like you want to tell them off to just be honest with each other and not become the king and queen of excuses? Oh right. This is only fiction because in real life when a girl does that to me, I’ll be freaking suspicious if she has an ulterior motive or agenda. I mean, who would want an ugly otaku with no money, right?! I don’t even qualify for such gifts dropped from heaven!!!! GGGRRRRRR!!!! Sorry. Went about some unnecessary ranting.

The whole show would be really boring if these 2 don’t even have their mini circle of friends. To also prove that at least Mahiru has a girl friend she can talk to sometimes. Considering Chitose’s personality, I’m sure Mahiru can’t just say no, right? Itsuki is somewhat ‘immune’ to them since he is long time friends with them. And so Itsuki and Chitose are the much needed pair to give hints and push Amane and Mahiru into making a decision into becoming a couple. Don’t you want to grab a slice of happiness like the duo? Yeah, see them so happy together without a care in a world. They too trying to egg and tease them in hoping they could become an item but in the end, we’ll see how brave Amane and Mahiru will eventually be.

Finally there is this odd character, Kadowaki who recently became part of the groupie. Not sure the reason for this but it just feels like he is the odd one out. I seem to have this feeling that he has this sad looks on his face. Like as though he too has a past to hide but I am thinking he doesn’t like all the attention he is getting because of his popularity. As pointed out, unlike Mahiru, he doesn’t have a double life to lead and my guess is that he is sticking around Amane and Mahiru because of the secretive relationship they have. He feels good to be among his ‘comrades’ since they want to keep away from the public, something I believe Kadowaki yearns for too. So it’s like a nice mini group whom they can be themselves and not put up masks to impress people who don’t even care. Yeah. That.

Art and animation are okay and of course our angel is so dolled up, she looks the cutest. But I have to admit that the more I stare at her, the stranger she looks. My, is this some sort of cuteness effect or something? I don’t know, it’s like the more I look at Mahiru, the more she starts looking like a life-like doll. Strange. Other characters look pretty standard as per your bishoujo or bishonen looks because when you have Amane’s parents looking so young enough to be his siblings, I wonder if old people exist in this world. Even Mahiru’s mom is pretty young looking except that her constant frowns of I-am-never-impressed-with-my-daughter’s looks make her look like the devil as compared to others. Heh. Other than that, the art style is mostly clean and the scenes are quite bright. Be warned, though. Be prepared to be spammed with lots of Mahiru close ups because that’s what this anime is about. Thus not much animation effort is needed since we all just need to gawk at Mahiru’s cuteness. In a way, saved some time because, recycled footage. This anime is done by Project No.9 who did Jaku-Chara Tomozaki-kun, Mamahaha No Tsurego Motokano Datta, Hige Wo Soru Shoshite Joshikousei Wo Hirou and Shoujo-tachi Wa Kouya Wo Mezasu. Hence you can see some art style similarities in this anime.

The voice acting is nothing to shout about. I only recognized Mai Nakahara making her cameo as Mahiru’s mom. The casts are Taito Ban as Amane (Suzaku in Shinobi No Ittoki), Manaka Iwami as Mahiru (Teresa in Tada-kun Wa Koi Wo Shinai), Taku Yashiro as Itsuki (Ryuuji in Darwin’s Game), Haruka Shiaishi as Chitose (Asirpa in Golden Kamuy), Kensho Ono as Kadowaki (Floch in Shingeki No Kyojin), Hisako Kanemoto as Shihoko (titular character in Shinryaku! Ika Musume) and Makoto Furukawa as Shuto (Banri in Golden Time).

Do you agree with me that the opening theme is the weirdest? Because Gift by Masayoshi Ooishi starts off trying to sound hip as well as trying to imitate, uhm, Michael Jackson?! Aaaowww!!! I don’t know. Hearing this part, it just felt funny and weird. The whole song feels fit like a Broadway stage play given its liveliness and all. Might want to make you dance at times but still it’s weird for me. But it couldn’t get much weirder for me because the ending theme, Chiisana Koi No Uta by Manaka Iwami sounds pretty much that. You see, I understand she is trying to sing in her character but because of that, the whole song sounds flat because of her voice. Hence this song comes off truly as strange compared to the opener which despite is also weird but at least has some classy charm to it. Yeah, the ending is like just flat to be honest. This is also the same for the special ending theme in episode 7. Ai Uta also by Manaka Iwami could’ve at least sounded decent but with Mahiru singing in such a flat way, it’s not even cute, mind you. Unless you psycho yourself that it is. To me it’s not. Oh heck, I think I’m starting to really think she actually sounds like that. Final episode’s Kimi Ni Todoke is even weirder as she tries to hit the high notes! OMFG! You don’t mean to sound this flat and weird, do you?!

Overall, this series is both strange and boring. Because it is not exactly a comedy and as much as I want to call it a romance genre, this still feels iffy in my books. It doesn’t help when the whole thing is going at a slow snail pace. Yeah, even Tonikaku Kawaii despite being another boring show, at least it is better because the young couple are married and are exploring ways to spice up their married life. This one, it’s like they’re stuck in the middle of some strange limbo of companionship or something. And yes, f*ck, no actual fanservice either. Not even a hint. Just lots of trolling that it might lead to that and that’s why it’s disappointing. At this point are we just content to see Mahiru’s cute flustering? WE NEED MORE THAN THAT! Take off your clothes and start making out!!! Oh yeah! When that happens, the next door angel would have turned into a fallen angel and then a full-fledged devil. Are you willing to sell your soul to be spoilt rotten? No, make that spoilt corrupted! Well, maybe. Because better to know the devil than the angel!

Oniichan Wa Oshimai

When is your brother a sister? Uhm, Not really sure about that but yeah, Oniichan Wa Oshimai just as the title suggests, it’s one of those weird gender bender series in which the big brother through some weird accidental experiment is now a younger sister. Yeah. Don’t ask. Don’t blame you if you think this sounds like a sleazy hentai title but thank goodness it isn’t. Sort of. So when they tell us guys to unleash our feminine inside, I’m sure this is not what they meant. Because now this poor chap has to make some serious adjustments to his daily life to live and act like a girl. Oh man. No more porn! What a bummer.

Episode 1
Mahiro Oyama wakes up to realize he has turned into a girl! That’s what happens when you play too much eroge! HAHAH!!! Trying to ascertain it by checking the crotch, his sister, Mihari comes in. Don’t get the wrong idea! But she coolly checks it out and claims the experiment as a success. Yeah, she drugged his drink and now he has turned into a girl. After all, he can’t complain since he is unemployed and a shut-in. Better make good use of yourself! Don’t worry, he’ll turn back once the effect wears off. She thinks. That’s not very assuring. Mahiro will continue his ways as he starts to play his eroge. Then Mihari warns a female’s orgasm is 100 times more intense so be careful. That ruined it for him. We see Mahiro trying to get used to his new body. Yeah, has to take a leak sitting down and not standing up. His room is bugged with a camera in which Mihari is of course watching him. Then after bath, Mahiro realizes he now has to wear bra and panties. Mihari already rearranged his entire wardrobe so he’ll be wearing girly clothes from now on. Yeah, better get used to this cute dress and all. Then, Mahiro finds himself depressed. He tried playing a BL game he accidentally bought and finds he likes it! Oh dear. So his preferences is changing too, huh? To help elevate the blues, Mihari decides to take him out to exercise. At first Mahiro is hell bent against going outside but relents after Mihari promises to stick by him. Now the younger sister is acting like the big sister. Flashback shows Mihari is a genius and excels in studies and sports. She even got accepted into university at a young age. Mahiro is of course nothing compared to her and was always judged relentlessly of it. Now, he is his sister’s guinea pig but feels fine with it. Mahiro’s nipples start to hurt just because he didn’t wear a bra. Hence Mihari takes him to a lingerie shop to buy one. This sports bra looks okay. Now he is in despair for having an identity crisis. Back home, we see Mihari’s plan for this experiment: To rehabilitate her onii-chan.

Episode 2
The heater is broken so they have to visit the public bath to bathe. I guess there are some things that even genius scientists can’t fix. Mahiro thought he is going to have a nice time ogling at the women’s section. Sorry to disappoint, all old women! Mihari gets embarrassed thinking her onii-chan will see her naked. Sorry to disappoint, he won’t even look at her body! As she helps bathe him, this brings back memories how he used to bathe her. Now the roles are reversed. After bath, since they are in public, she can’t call him onii-chan. That would be weird. So Mahiro plays along and calls her onee-chan. She likes that ring. Say it again! Back home, Mahiro braids his own hair and since Mihari sees this, she finds this cute and has other ideas. Making him dress up, she starts snapping pics. Mahiro doesn’t appreciate being this kind of guinea pig. He then dares her to dress up for a change. Challenge accepted. She does so and when she asks his opinion after she dolls up, he is indifferent since he is concentrating on his game. That earns him a smack. In order to get his masculinity back, Mahiro tries to play video games? Uhm, what?! Thinking of doing some exercise, oh damn, he can’t even move an inch in this sit-up and suddenly he has stomach cramps?! Seriously?! But seriously, he starts to feel abdominal pain. This worries Mihari but after resting, it subsides. Mihari getting emotional she was going to lose him or something. But then Mihari realizes what this is after Mahiro explains the symptoms he is experiencing. Yeah, it’s been a month already so… With the pain coming back, he goes to the toilet so I guess Mihari couldn’t finish her explanation. Just don’t be too freaked out, okay? So as Mahiro unsuspectingly does his business, he sees the horror and now the freaking out kicks in. Poor Mahiro, he is depressed and thinks life is over. Mihari gives something to soothe the pain. This has Mahiro realize he never knew what she goes through every month. So next time her tummy hurts, just tell him and he’ll be there for her. Too bad she smacks him for lacking tact.

Episode 3
As Mahiro is going to the toilet, he spots someone unfamiliar. Hmmm… Who? It’s Mihari’s classmate, Kaede Hozuki. Now that he has seen her, Kaede won’t let go of her. Is this cute little Mahiro her new plaything now? Obviously Mahiro is in trauma but since Mihari has stuffs to do, she lets him be alone with her. Oh dear. Kaede tries to be friendly until Mahiro’s stomach growls. Kaede then cooks for him she’s pretty impressive. Just when Mahiro thought she is a normal girl, suddenly Kaede wants to teach her something. Before you can say it is something yuri, well, it’s just to apply some makeup on her. In the end, Mahiro is glad she is a nice girl. Mahiro sees a trailer of this movie: Titanic. In space! OMG I want to see this too! LEONARDO!!! Wait, shouldn’t it be Jack?! Because it won’t be streaming online so soon, Mihari suggests going to the cinema. You mean, going outside?! Yeah, we’re here now and Kaede is also here to join them. With some time to kill, they go shopping. Mahiro is going to learn how exhausting girls shop. Then they try some swimsuits. Of course Kaede is so busty it’s just illegal!!! Then they realize they’re running late for the movie but arrive just in time when it starts. During the movie, Mahiro needs to go pee. Well, why is the queue for the women’s bathroom always so long! Eventually Kaede realizes Mahiro is taking too long and goes to check. She sees him crying in the cubicle. Apparently he didn’t make it. Noticing the skirt didn’t get wet, she’ll just buy new panties. This will be their secret. They return to the movie without a hitch and Mahiro is starting to see Kaede as his big sister. Back home, Mahiro is complaining about lunch but soon learns Mihari is sick. Oh well, time to step up and cook for her. Only, he doesn’t know how. He calls Kaede for help. Rather than have her come over, she guides him over the phone on how to do it. So when Mahiro presents Mihari his porridge, she is in tears because this is the first time onii-chan cooked for her. This has Mihari remember how they used to spend a lot of time together until that gradually stopped. When Mihari is well, she bakes cookies for him. Just when she thinks it is safe to leave house chores to him, she realizes he has blundered the rest. Take back what she said.

Episode 4
Mahiro sees a magical girl show and tries to act like one. Only, Mihari catches him in the act! Awkward. When Mihari goes out, Mahiro thought he has the house all to himself. But soon he gets bored with all the video games, manga and this pizza party. So when Mihari comes back late that night, you can see Mahiro waiting for her and sulking. Later they troll us like as though the siblings are having a yuri moment. Turns out they’re playing a video game and sine Mahiro lost, he is to go out to buy groceries. A big step for him but once he is in town, he is still scared of the crowd. Luckily there is this girl, Momiji helping him out. Mahiro then hears other people commenting they make a good couple and this makes him blush. Once done, Momiji meets up with Kaede. That’s right, Momiji is Kaede’s little sister. Oh, Mahiro thought she was a boy due to her tomboyish dressing?! It never crossed my mind!!! One day, Kaede and Momiji visit. Because Momiji is in a skirt, Mahiro can’t recognize her. Mahiro then cleans up his room. Yeah, better put away all the erotic manga and games. Can the closet even hold? Now it’s safe for Momiji to enter. When Mahiro compliments her as cute, WTF is Momiji going to rape her?! Sorry, just tickle her. The tickling got overboard that it causes Mahiro to bump open the closet, spilling out all the dirty stuffs. Oh my. How to explain? Well, technically not a lie as Mahiro claims this belongs to her brother who is away at college and this room used to be his. Can’t just simply throw them out because of the memories. Momiji helps him put them away. Then an accident happen as Momiji slips. She falls over Mahiro and got her hands over his tiny boobs. The rest rush in to check that loud thud. What does this look like? Luckily they’re quick on the uptake as Kaede notes they’re close enough to be best friends.

Episode 5
Mihari is shocked to see Mahiro up so early. OMG! Bring out the disaster kit! Such drama. Well, today the store has some limited goods on sale so he woke up early to get ready. Yeah, Mihari is so emotional that he has finally made some improvements. After Mahiro gets some stuffs, he visits the video arcade and this brings back his school days’ memories. Since fighting games are out now, he visits the photo booth and takes some cute shots before realizing all this is weird. Then as he plays a rhythm game, he notices somebody watching. A stalker? Losing focus and eventually the game, Mahiro soon learns this is a truant officer and he thinks Mahiro is skipping school! Not sure how he got out of that one but Mahiro is back crying in the arms of Mihari after that scary incident. Not going out anymore? With Mahiro’s hair having split ends, Mihari takes her to a beauty salon to get her hair fixed. In the end, he is surprised her hair makes her look like some princess. Impressed? That night, Mahiro gets the shock of her life when zombie Mihari comes in to eat her brains! Just kidding. It’s only a costume. Because Kaede is having a Halloween party, wanna come? Mahiro gets duped into wearing this cute fox outfit. Kaede loves it and now he loves Halloween because Kaede’s boobs are pressed against him? While the big ones make dinner, Momiji invites him to her room. They talk about boobs? Momiji thinking she’ll never become as busty as her sister while Mahiro thinking Mihari is the flat kind. During dinner, they wonder about their brother since they have never actually seen him before. They have to change the topic about suggesting a trip together. On another day, Mahiro lazes around and doesn’t want to go outside. Yeah, that truant officer is now a pretty convenient excuse to stay in. Momiji rings on the door and looks like she has brought a few of her friends here. Who the f*ck?

Episode 6
Meet Asahi and Miyo. Mihari has Mahiro go out with them and gives some money for parfait. At first Mahiro is scared of them but once she gets to know them, everything’s okay. Asahi being the lively one, Momiji better be careful before she snatches your place as best friend! Especially how Asahi wants to feet Mahiro her parfait and this makes Momiji extremely jealous. So now it’s a battle to see who can feed Mahiro? Miyo? She’s probably a yuri lover and loves watching them. Back home and after bath, Mahiro wonders why Mihari let her wear her old middle school uniform. Well, looks like the drug effects won’t come off so soon and since he already has made friends, she has made the perfect cover up. That means Mahiro will be returning to school as a transfer student! Wow. Talk about reliving your school days again. This time as a girl! Yeah, hope those other students won’t scare the sh*t out of her by crowding around. Thank goodness Momiji the saviour. Mahiro’s story for return is that he has been diagnosed with some sickness and home schooled all the while. So now he is feeling better, he is back. Then the case of Mahiro wanting to go to toilet. Understandably he rushes into the men’s toilet. But WTF he is going to use the urinal?! I thought he already got accustomed to this new body?! He soon realizes his mistake and runs next door. Not sure why because Momiji and Miyo also want to go, so Mahiro doesn’t want to do his business and rather hold it until he reaches home? Okay. He makes a mad dash but too late, he bumps into Mihari and everything comes out. Next day, the class has PE. Mahiro trying to change right in class before the boys! Momiji takes him away to change. Yeah. Girl’s changing room! I bet he is having a hard on seeing half naked girls changing. Oh right. He doesn’t have it now! Mahiro somehow feels relieved seeing Momiji and Asahi as fellow flat chest but Miyo… Damn, she’s already this mature? Thanks to Miyo telling the teacher Mahiro’s ‘condition’, she gets to sit out instead of running laps right the rest. But I guess Mahiro didn’t get that period joke thingy. Back home, Mihari can tell onii-chan is so much happier as he talks about his day at school. Definitely this was the right move. And she’s eager to hear more stories but he leaves her hanging.

Episode 7
Mahiro and Momiji are studying for the tests. The latter hates maths but it’s all easy for Mahiro. It’s all just repeating school. Wait. He remembers maths from his school days?! The other one who doesn’t do well in tests is Asahi. Yeah, she thinks Mahiro should join her in remedial class! During the test, Mahiro thinks he can score in this maths. So as not to gain suspicions, he thinks of making a few mistakes. WTF?! But the day is so good that he falls asleep! WTF?! Realizes too late when he wakes up. Now you’ll be failing material! As for the rest of the subjects, he forgot them all. So when the results are out, you bet Asahi is glad he did not disappoint! Remedial class sisters! For once, Mahiro stops gaming for a while to concentrate studying. One day, while eating lunch with friends, Mahiro wonders what girls talk about. Almost gave himself away. But the rest say, whatever girls want to talk. Since Mahiro feels comfortable talking about video games, Asahi says they can talk that too. Mahiro is happy and hugs her, prompting jealousy from Momiji as she too joins in the hug. Miyo would love to talk about romance but it’s a different kind… Later Mahiro overheard some guys talking about their favourite video game. Hence an eager Mahiro joins in and they talk a lot. Eventually when he asks which entry is their favourite, they somewhat disagree with him because it’s a game they have never played before as it came out before they’re born. This leaves Mahiro in despair. Feeling old? So, what’s this rule about not playing games made before you’re born?! Anyway, the rest think they made Mahiro cry. But after Mahiro apologizes for the confusion, the guys see Mahiro sparkling. Wow. So cute. Uhm, I don’t know, it feels pretty gay in a sense… As the class will be doing their own baking, Momiji brings Mahiro to her home so Kaede can help teach do some. In class, our quartet bake the delicious cookies they’ve ever made. Mahiro brings back some for Mihari and thinks shocks her. Now she is in a dilemma to eat them because they’re so precious. Eventually she does because that’s what cookies are meant for, right? Delicious.

Episode 8
With the long winter break here, Mihari needs to do something before Mahiro reverts to his old self. Yeah, see him play video games all day. Eventually he gets bored. But who could that be at the door right now? Oh, it’s Momiji, Asahi and Miyo. They’re here for a sleepover! They think Mahiro invited them but we can see Mihari’s smirk. After playing video games and eating dinner, it’s time to hit the bath. Mahiro goes in first with Mihari. Don’t worry, they’re both girls now, right? Brings back memories when they used to bath together. Once they’re done, it’s the friends turn. Some flashback on Momiji and Asahi being close friends. Miyo request some re-enactment of a certain skinship scene but Asahi does it on her instead. Enough to give the observer some trauma. I guess she doesn’t want anybody touching her for the time being. Then as they prepare for bed, it’s pillow fight time! Too bad it got too noisy so Mihari had to put her foot down. It’s a good time to have a girl’s talk so Miyo is expecting some romance talk. However Asahi starts off with some (lame) ghost story. Enough to spook the daylights out of Momiji, though! They hit the sack and in the middle of the night, Momiji needs to go to toilet but since she is still scared, decides to wait till morning. Meanwhile Mahiro feels cold and realizes Asahi has stolen her blanket. What a tight grip. The only way is to share with Momiji. In the darkness, Momiji sees Mahiro as a monster and gets scared. Safe to say, she wet the bed. Mahiro feels bad for her and helps her wash the futon. But where will Mahiro sleep? Yeah, barging into Mihari’s room. Can he do it a bit quieter? Next day, Mihari learns what happened although Mahiro takes the blame on himself that he drank too much and wet the bed. Meanwhile Asahi continues to sleep in a mess state. No, not some ghost strike again to put you in this position!

Episode 9
Shocking! Mihari is going on a date! Wow. Mahiro feel the need to get out of his comfort zone to go tail her and see who that damn smooth talker! Don’t worry, he isn’t going out alone and has called Momiji to accompany. Sorry Momiji, this isn’t your date. Turns out the date is Kaede. What a relief. Mahiro wants to go home but Momiji doesn’t want it to end and suggests tailing them more. They do so and see the big sisters doing normal shopping. Mahiro wants to call it a day so Momiji again gives more excuses to stay together like do their own shopping. Mahiro picks out very feminine clothes for her to try. Soon, Mihari and Kaede show up and of course they know that they’ve been tailing them. The quartet continue to have their fun outing. Back home, Mahiro accuses Mihari of lying about the date. Oh Mahiro, were you worried? Well, there’s a reason she kept it a secret: Here’s this Christmas scarf present she bought just for him. How sweet. Another day on New Year’s Day. Mihari has this great idea and Mahiro isn’t going to appreciate it. Yeah, all dolled up and looking cute in a kimono but that sour face spoils it. Uh huh. Mihari is going to take him to the shrine. Don’t worry, Kaede and Momiji are here too. They make their prayers and take a luck lottery. Then they also stumble into Asahi and Miyo before heading back to Kaede’s place for lunch. Mahiro is looking forward to it since it is Kaede’s homemade osechi. When Mihari sips a bit of amazake, she gets drunk immediately. Then she wants to hug her onii-chan! Thank goodness in her drunken state, she didn’t expose Mihari’s identity. But now she gets yuri with Kaede! OMG! A kiss on the lips! Mahiro has the loli friends run for cover but with Miyo too infatuated with this, she too pays the price and falls victim to Mihari. In the end, Kaede’s edict of a lifetime alcohol ban for Mihari. But does Miyo now have a new onee-sama?

Episode 10
It’s such a cold day and Kaede has no qualms showing off her bare legs. All in the name of fashion. In class as Mahiro and friends are taking about this, Mahiro accidentally lifts his skirt to show her leggings, causing some boys to see. He gets embarrassed and didn’t realize she could squeal this high pitch. He tries to be more masculine and vouch for the beauty of bare legs but the rest think he’ll get a cold if he doesn’t properly cover up. Miyo’s theory of one getting fat if skin is exposed has Asahi to think she exposes her boobs! Oh my! For the record she doesn’t. When Kaede is over to study, she gives Mihari a very good massage. Don’t go thinking it’s porn… Of course Mahiro gets the same treatment. Here comes heaven. When Mihari gives Mahiro chocolate for Valentine, that bugger starts to eat it! Please be reminded that the roles are reversed now. Hence Mahiro now has to give chocolates in class. He revels in exchanging chocolates with his female friends. But it’s a pitiful sight outside as all the boy wished they had some. Mahiro was once in their shoes and shows a little compassion by giving some. But that opened a whole can of worms as now other boys turn into zombie and want some! Luckily they target those boys as they get chewed out while other girls protect Mahiro and warn him not to do something so dangerous. Mahiro comes home to show off his whole bag of chocolates. But the one that gets Mihari crying is when Mahiro has one for her. How sweet. Mahiro is at the bookstore. He remembers the adult section he once patron and looks like he has gotten over it. Then he spots a couple of male classmates trying to enter. He understands but when they spot him, they panic and run. He also spots Miyo here and obviously she is here for the yuri stuffs. Heck, she piles on some recommendations for Mahiro. Trying to make him her brethren? Then they take a break eating crepe. Mahiro feeds her and Momiji spots this, causing her to be so jealous, almost choking Miyo. Now she goes to get one so she can feed Mahiro. Yeah, now she’s choking him. Broke ass Asahi can’t buy one so the rest share with her. Perks of being broke. In class, those guys try to give excuse to Mahiro they’re not entering the adult section but talking about the store’s structure. Liars. Mahiro gets the idea and won’t tell others. He wants to show them something nice. It’s supposed to be a lewd manga he recommends but they get the wrong idea thinking he is offering her body! Don’t turn into a slut now!

Episode 11
The girls talking about horoscope and some of them going chuunibyou for it. Then when they need Mahiro’s birthday to take some card reading, Mahiro only realizes today is his birthday! So when he goes home and Mihari pulls off a surprise, Mahiro isn’t all that surprised because he already realized it. Next day, Mahiro’s friends seem to avoid him. He thinks they are planning a secret birthday party. When he goes to talk to Asahi to easily get her to spill the beans, Asahi instead freaks out something about promised not to talk to him. Come the weekend, WTF Mahiro in fear or something? Then the friends come over to surprise him with a birthday party. After giving Mahiro their presents, they reveal they didn’t tell Asahi anything because they know she cannot be trusted in keeping secrets. Mahiro gets to live like a king today, ordering everyone at his call. Until he wants to go toilet so Asahi goes on his behalf! WTF?! Hurry up! Really need to go! That’s karma for you. Next day, Mihari catches Mahiro putting on lip balm. It’s not what you think! She’s just trying out Kaede’s present. In school, Mahiro has levelled up in the beauty section so much that all the girls are hounding him! Panic? Luckily Momiji the bodyguard is here to shoo them away. But everyone is still staring at awe at Mahiro’s beauty. Wow. Imagine a lip balm can have this much effect. Oh damn, is this gay because the guys are looking attracted too! Some give their chocolates for White Day. Mahiro tries to get them notice his lip balm and acts a bit flirty. This scares the sh*t out of them as they run away, prompting some girls to comment on the stupidity of boys. Mahiro rues she looked like some slut or something. Of course soon Mahiro gets a lecture by the teacher this is against the rules so she needs to take it off. Then she goes to complain to her pals the authoritarianism! So unfair! Where’s the freedom of self-expression! Back home, Mihari teases him further for not putting on makeup today. Mahiro hits back that she wears the same clothes every day, etc. Don’t worry, looks like Kaede is here to give Mihari a new look. Yeah, Mahiro may be regretting it as Mihari is now in the same level of gal class as Kaede. Will Mahiro turn into one too?

Episode 12
The girls are talking about hanging out together for the spring break. And before you know it, they’re already making their way for a one night stay at a hotspring inn. After checking in, they head out to town to buy some souvenirs before hitting the hotspring. Mahiro getting intimidated by Kaede’s goods. And because everybody here is a woman, Mahiro is still feeling very shy about it. He goes to sit by himself but soon his friends come by. Then they start tickling him because of his comments about flat chests. And what do you know? Suddenly he feels his dick grows back! WTF?! He runs back to Mihari and to explain it easier, lets her touch his dick! Oh my! Giving excuse that Mahiro is not feeling too good, they head back to the room as Mihari analyses that the drug is wearing out. Don’t worry, she brought some just in case. She cautions Mahiro that taking this might make him stay as a girl for a while. How she knows?! Mahiro is left to ponder because now it’s an emergency. That is put on hold as the rest return to check on them. After dinner, it starts snowing so they go outside to play. Snowball fight! With all the great feelings, Mahiro makes his decision and drinks the potion. Happy with way things are now, eh? When everybody is asleep, deep in the middle of the night, Momiji wakes up and suddenly strips Mahiro’s bottom! OMFG!!! SHE IS TRYING TO CHECK IF IT’S THERE???!!! Well, nothing. Then she goes back to sleep. WTF. Jump scare for Mahiro. Yeah, during the tickling at the hotspring, Momiji thought she touched something. Luckily next day, Momiji has no memories of this. On the train home, Mihari notes Mahiro’s choice. Well, Mahiro claims he won’t be a girl forever. Just want to stay like this a little longer. You think so? He gets upset after she reveals her rehabilitation plan to him. But he has definitely changed a lot. When it’s time to alight, the rest see the siblings sleeping on each other’s shoulder holding each other’s hand. Sweet.

Ore No Onii-chan Wa Konna Ni Kawaii Wake Ga Nai!
Yeah. We all know the drill. Having so much fun than before that we won’t go back to our previous ways. Doesn’t work on introverts, though. So in Mahiro’s case, you can say that he has been bitten but this social bug and now can look forward to have much more fun with the gang. Just keep taking that drug and all your problems will be solved. That sounded so wrong on so many levels…

There is literally no solid plot for this series since it is all about Mahiro adjusting to his new life as a young girl. That’s basically it. But some may feel a bit confused because this is a gender bender thingy, it is not like Mahiro is a guy wearing girls’ clothes and doing girly stuffs. That would be f*cking creepy. Now he is actually a female himself and doing all those stuffs are actually legit. That’s why it is confusing sometimes when you keep it at the back of your head that Mahiro is actually a guy but to see him do all these stuffs he would not normally do as a guy, it may rub some off as weird or even cringe. Me? I don’t know. I try to look at it from a comedy point of perspective because you know, guy trying to become a girl and getting used to it all but sometimes it just falls flat. Pun not intended. So is this a cute girls doing cute things genre? On the outside, it pretty looks much like it.

Surprisingly despite its kiddie-like visuals and generally safe (assumingly) themes, there are a few blatant fanservice scenes. I read somewhere that fans of the manga find this adapted series to be blasphemy because it deviated from the source and one of them being the insertion of such fanservice scenes in which the manga was without. Scenes like Kaede being close to a slut because of the way she sometimes dresses that screams she wants to show her cleavage and Miyo herself being somewhat well-endowed, such scenes will take you by surprise because you thought this would be a wholesome anime series but looks like it is completely not. Even if such fanservice moments are rare, it still does make the viewing experience feel a bit weird. Oh I almost forgot, the opening credits animation is filled with some suggestive fanservice scenes… Trying to bait us? Even the final episode of hotspring fanservice feels so. Thank goodness for the convenient steam covering everything? Yup. Don’t want to see Mahiro’s dick!

Curiously, the title of the series itself seems to have double meaning. While it is officially known as the big brother is now a little sister, it can also mean that the big brother is finished. Done for. So, does this mean that Mahiro is forever doomed to become a girl and never go back to be the guy he once was? The end of my big brother. Bye-bye onii-chan. And yes for you woke people, Mahiro is the truest transgender than your pseudo gender assuming identity deception! So when the series ended and says oshimai, are they referring to it has ended or Mahiro being sister-ed? Confusing…

The characters are cute and lovable in their own way but you have to wonder if Mahiro has fully turned into a different person than he was before when he was a useless male bum. Sure, it is plausible that with the alteration of the genes and the likes, it is possible for Mahiro to have a huge change in tastes, likes, preferences and everything else. Therefore, my question for Mahiro is like the Ship of Theseus. With so many changes from appearances to habits, how much of Mahiro can be considered the old Mahiro. So basically it’s like he is a brand new person. Like as though the old one doesn’t exist anymore and is just a distant memory. Seeing Mahiro trying to get used to his new girly life was fun (and weird) at first but it dies out fast. Because as we can see, Mahiro who was receptive to changes, baulks at first when he has his first experience like meeting new people. It’s understandable when a NEET or anyone to have fears for doing something out of one’s comfort zone or not familiar with. But then with a bit of assurance that it is all not so bad, Mahiro takes the plunge and is now pretty normal for him. I mean, what are his options anyway if he chose not to go through with it and throw tantrums instead. But look on the bright side, he gets to relive his life surrounded by cute girls compared to his old loser loner life. But only as a girl! Is this some corrupt a wish thingy?

And so that is Mahiro’s ultimate development over the course of the year because he was once a shut-in but is now going to school and mingling well with his friends, having a proper social life. Good for him. So the real question is, is this considered as Mahiro being saved? He is literally a totally new different person. A stranger if I should say. Imagine in a few years’ time when everyone is grown up, I wonder what kind of story they’ll spin about the big brother. Yeah. He died in college! Gasp! Maybe somebody is hoping that everyone will forget they had a big brother in the first place…

Then there is his sister, Mihari who is the mastermind behind this big change. Something about her just feels not right. As a genius at a young age, she conducted this drastic experiment to save her onii-chan. However, it has been a year and Mahiro is still a girl. So, are the effects wearing off or is it permanent? My conspiracy theory says that Mihari does not want to rock the boat and have him return to his old previous lifestyle. That is why she has been secretly feeding him whatever formula to keep him stay as a girl. I mean, think about it. Such a genius could do something to change a person’s gender. It wouldn’t make sense if it works one way but not the other. Unless you telling me it is. Therefore, she’s hiding it all and hoping Mahiro would forget his previous life as a useless guy. Sneaky.

Another theory is that she has no cure for this. Simple. But that’s just too easy. Imagine if the effects go back and forth in the sense that Mahiro keeps turning back and forth as a guy to a girl then back to a guy again and then once more a girl, this cycle will definitely mess with his genes and I won’t be surprised he turns into some Godzilla-like monster! Good thing it is not that kind of show. I hope. Sure, last episode shows the effects aren’t permanent but it still felt weird that only Mahiro’s dick returned but the rest of his body stayed the same like a little girl! I can imagine how strange this sight will be!!! Yeah, it’s a good thing Mahiro decided to stay a girl for now to avoid that kind of monstrosity! Food for thought: If Mihari can shave a few years off when she gender swaps, does this mean theoretically she can continue to live forever if she keeps doing this method!

And of course the rest of Mahiro’s friends to show that he made some progress by having some and not staying as a loner. Pretty typical group of friends because we have the tomboyish Momiji who takes a liking for Mahiro (this could be another cause for confusion because Mahiro who is now so feminine and Momiji who is reeking with male traits, are they trans or something?), Asahi the simpleton and Miyo the yuri lover who prefers to watch than participate. Wow. Great group of friends you got there, Mahiro. Momiji unlike Asahi cannot be straightforward with her heart so whenever the latter does what is on her mind on Mahiro, it makes the former jealous and hence the competition for Momiji to do even better, thinking Mahiro would prefer her more. And Yuri enjoys watching such shenanigans. Yeah, this is the typical formula that plays out among them.

The important question is when Mahiro reverts back to normal or when his real identity gets exposed, will they still remain friends? It is hard to call because logically after all the friendship things they’ve done together, Mahiro is still ultimately a man and no matter how you think of it, a college guy frolicking with middle school girls is just freaking creepy. Anime formula says they will continue to remain friends no matter who he is but I surmise that will remain only true if Mahiro remains as a cute girl. This only supports my conspiracy theory why Mihari is secretly continuing to keep her brother as a female. Besides, where the heck are their parents?! I believe I don’t see even a hint of their noses! Don’t tell me… Mihari murdered them and kept Mahiro as her experimental guinea pig! SAY IT ISN’T SO!!!

There are a handful of other side characters too especially in their class but they don’t really matter. Especially like the girl who sits in front of Mahiro, she is always sleeping most of the time. Maybe they’re just messing with us to think that she might play a significant role or become part of Mahiro’s groupie but I guess I’m just overthinking. And of course, a couple of boys who seemingly have an interest in Mahiro. Yeah, to show that Mahiro is so feminine now, she can even have a few boys who admire him. Don’t know if this should feel gay about this, though.

Art and animation are okay and the visuals feel like they lean towards younger audiences. While I am not saying that this anime looks like Lucky Star but it does look a bit cartoonish. More like the vibes of Kobayashi-san Chi No Maid Dragon, OreShura, Maoujou De Oyasumi and Beelzebub-jou No Okinimesu Mama. So get ready for lots of cute eye visual candies because they’re going to spam all the sweet colours and fluffy light hues and if you’re not ready for all those kawaii madness, you might just melt. Exaggerated but yeah. Everything needs to be cute, no? On a trivial note, when I first saw Mahiro as a girl, I thought WTF Fate series’ Ilya is doing here! And that sleepy girl who sits in front of Mahiro in class, did Lucky Star’s Konata get a haircut? Personally, I think the school uniform makes the girls look, uhm, heavy. Look how thick it feels. Is their school located in Siberia or something? This anime is done by Magical Bind whose only works so far is Mushoku Tensei.

For the voice acting, something about Marika Kouno as Mahiro (Karin in Renai Flops, Petra in Re: Zero Kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu) makes her sound uniquely different. I don’t know how to describe it but there is something different to her high pitch squealing compared to other characters. The other casts are Kaori Ishihara as Mihari (Avrora in Strike The Blood), Minami Tsuda as Momiji (Yui in YuruYuri), Kana Yuuki as Asahi (Noelle in Black Clover), Natsumi Hioka as Miyo (Hinaichi in Kyuuketsuki Sugu Shinu) and Hisako Kanemoto as Kaede (titular character in Shinryaku! Ika Musume). The opening theme is Identeitei Meltdown by P Maru-sama and Enako and the ending theme is Himegoto by Onimai Sisters, both are lively denpa songs to reflect the energetic vibes and shenanigans of these young lovely ladies.

Overall, this series is just kinda weird. Gender bender theme is one thing, but I want to say it is wholesome but it is not when you start thinking about the deeper morale issues like how Mahiro was without his consent being forced to change and live the rest of his life as a girl. Against his will. No thanks to his genius sister doing an unproven experiment on him and thus can I constitute this as abuse and manipulation?! Because they masked and sugarcoat everything with lots of cute girl doing cute things concept, we tend to overlook all this creepy stuff. But it’s anime and for good fun entertainment, right? Yeah, if that is the case, so is porn. Heh. At least Ranma from Ranma 1/2 fame can still turn back into a guy under certain conditions. Poor Mahiro looks permanent forever. Wait till he gets his first period and then it’ll no longer be fun and games. When it comes to that, onii-chan is truly finished! Oh wait, he already did. Yeah, he’s finished alright…

Ars No Kyojuu

Wow. This looks like some sort of copycat to Shingeki No Kyojin. At first I thought it was going to be the next big time since Attack On Titan has already ended. Then I realized, nothing would surpass that awesome series, RIGHT?! Hence Ars No Kyojuu could be just one of those series trying to pass off and hope it would become something great like that one of the greatest anime series down in anime history (at least by yours truly). Well, well, well… When you hear me say it like, you know how sh*tty things are going, right? Or maybe it is just me who is doing all the overthinking and comparison because at the end of the day, I’m the one who gets disappointed for being too hasty. They should call me Ming the Hasty-Jump-The-Gun-Otaku-Nerd…

Episode 1
Normal soldiers having trouble taking down a giant beast. Don’t worry, Paladins are here to save the day. Fast forward 30 years later, Kumi breaks out of her prison cell, enough time to steal some rations and escape into the city. Wow. With clown soldiers like these, even I could break free! Too f*cking easy! Should’ve put better security if she was THIS important! Hence big bad blonde hottie guy, Mezami (who looks like he is dependent on some drugs, giving him this mad looks) orders her full capture. Use any means to do so. He wants results. In town, Kumi bumps into a florist. She got away with it because she could pay with her coins! So these new clothes she gives her is enough for disguise? Next day, Myaa the Cat Chapeau bumps into Jirou and knows he is a giant beast hunter. She proceeds to tell him an expedition to hunt one so be sure to sign up if he is interested. Later Myaa opens her shop selling trinkets. Kumi happen to be interested in them as Myaa explains about these gems that hunters salvage from giant beasts as well as other parts that are valuable. Needing her to buy something, Kumi is interested in this ring in which Myaa says it is the Ring of Promise. Its wearer is guaranteed to become the saviour of Ars. If you wonder why nobody is wearing it because it has a curse that drains the life of its wielder. Oops, Kumi just put it on! Jirou joins the giant beast hunting expedition. It goes wrong but thanks to Jirou’s quick thinking, he saved some lives and the giant beast is captured. That night, all the hunters celebrate their victory and drink a toast to Jirou. After the party is over, Mezami approaches Jirou. He notices his exceptional skills and wants him to join his side. You see, there is something even much more terrifying than giant beasts themselves: Humans. Mezami knows a civil war will happen in Ars that will split it into 2 factions. He wants Jirou on his side. Of course Jirou refuses. The guards finally find Kumi. About time! They chase and corner her at the pier. In that instance, her ring lights up and soon she too. Looks like anybody who gets too close will turn into carbon. At the same time, a giant beast is attacking the city walls. The soldiers place priority on capturing Kumi. Yeah, f*ck the city. Jirou sees this and rescues Kumi. After kissing her, he is stumped a Cleric like her is roaming without any Paladin escort. Not that Kumi understands it herself. He will asks the details later. Right now, stopping the giant beast is top priority.

Episode 2
Legend has it the gods created the land but the humans stole it away, causing the beasts to get mad and go on a rampage. Hence humans calling forth the power of the gods to fight the beasts. Jirou absorbs Kumi into him and he turns Super Saiyan! At least his hair. After a tough fight with the giant beast, he defeats it but faints. Mezami examines the site where his soldiers turned to carbon. He explains about the miasma has the ability to drive a giant beast crazy. Anyone who gets close to it will rot. Hence Kumi is an experimental success. Now go find her! Jirou dreams of an expedition 5 years ago, his woman, Touka died and he was pretty much devastated. I guess we’ll have to wait for future episodes to see what happened after that. Jirou wakes up, not pleased Myaa is trying to paint Jirou as one trying to steal Kumi’s heart and marrying her. Well, that kiss is to make a covenant ritual! Good time to explain what all that was about. Clerics contain incredible power. However they cannot control it and release miasma that eradicates everything around. Hence a Paladin is needed as a vessel to control that power. Jirou storms off, not wanting to have anything to do with them anymore. Myaa and Kumi hang out at the bar and they reunite with the florist who is hinted to be a Paladin once. Soldiers then storm the place to look for the fugitive but get into a bar brawl with the bar patrons. Kumi starts to panic so they spot her. Her miasma is working up so she accidentally touches a soldier and he rots away. To solve this, Myaa knocks her out. Both get captured. Jirou realizes his spear is missing. He tries to summon it back but it couldn’t fly back to him. Yeah, it’s stuck in prison with Myaa. Better hurry or Myaa will float like this for the rest of her life! Jirou looks around and what convenience he stumbles into the florist who tells him what happened. Then he storms the Empire’s ship. Stupid guards so easily to be taken care off. He rescues the duo and at this point I think the soldiers are just freaking useless. One guy can literally beat all of them without breaking into a sweat! Jirou and co escape into his discount Millennium Falcon. He needs Myaa to start it up so in the meantime to stave off the chasing Empire, he merges with Kumi to blast a whole in their ship. Easy. Now that Jirou’s status is revealed, the Empire won’t let him go easily. This means he is fugitives like them so glad to have him on board running away with them.

Episode 3
Larry and Shemp (temporary names for Mezami’s close dumb goon guards) think they’ll be fired after a series of failures. But surprise! He isn’t mad and wants them to follow him back to the lab. On their way, they stumble into a giant aquatic beast. They are not scared because only the land ones are somehow hostile towards humans. Is it because humans didn’t take over the sea?! Jirou’s side enter the village of therianthropes. There is one that looks exactly like Myaa but is only a dog version. They weirdly communicate before all the suspicious therianthropes welcome them. Well, Jirou being a sourpuss, doesn’t want those happy kids around him. Yeah, better go play with the cute lady and cat person. They meet some of the few villagers like Deagle who is the village’s strongest warrior, Melan the budding swordsman but a greenhorn and little innocent Tillie. They learn many therianthropes aren’t related to each other by blood but take care of each other like their own. Deagle and his men are fighting giant beasts but then stumble into one with red eyes. Bad news, right? Deagle returns to warn the village about this but looks like Tillie is missing. But what do you know? She pops up with Melan’s sword and gives it to Kumi in hopes she won’t be sad. The chief apologizes for this rude behaviour as he explains Tillie is a special child who can read minds. Hence she must have misread Kumi’s mind of wanting friends. But now Melan is missing because he went to search for Tillie. Don’t look now but he is running away from the red eyes! We know this amateur can’t deal with it but thankfully, his ass is saved by Jirou. Of course normal attacks won’t work and so the only way is to combine. Yeah, so easy to take it down. Why didn’t they do it in the first place? Because Jirou doesn’t want their cover busted or make them easier to be tracked. But I guess that was a desperate situation. Then he warns Melan who has witnessed everything to forget everything he sees or else he is dead meat! Later when Deagle investigates this, he knows Jirou has did something. Melan cannot say so Deagle understands. But since Jirou saved his life, he must return the favour. Jirou plans to escape the village but the incessant rain has flooded and blocked the exit. Uhm, can the ship not fly or I thought it could sail on water?! Well, it’s back to the village for now. At least everybody welcomes them back as heroes.

Episode 4
Jirou wins big at gambling. Enough to treat Kumi and Myaa to some food. Wow. This guy is smiling and happy?! Are you sure we have the same character?! Until this buxom babe, Romana waltzes in and wants to play a game. Buoyed with confidence, Jirou agrees. As you can see, he lost everything. How the f*ck did he end up in debt too?! Gambler’s spirit says one more round! Of course Romana will not play until he clears his debt. How about betting Kumi? Instead, Jirou bets his prized spear. Later it is revealed that Romana thought Jirou was a slave trader and wanted to save Kumi. But even with this misunderstanding cleared, she still won’t give back the spear since she rightfully won it. Then news come in that the flood is going to sink the village. Everyone is expected to evacuate to higher ground. The destroyed village can be built again. Lives take more priority. Along the way, Deagle fights a fish giant beast. Uhm, I thought aquatic creatures don’t fight humans? Oh, this one goes through the mud… So technically it’s a land beast? Deagle gets injured and so it’s a job for Jirou. Romana lends the spear to him to do his job. Yeah, this fish is easy to catch. Jirou plans to throw it back into the water since the flood must have agitated it. But along the way, the fish starts to glow red eyes. Here comes the true fight. Meanwhile as Romana patches up Deagle, the latter asks Kumi about her parents. None. He believes Melan is the same as her but he is too naïve as a hunter. He thinks Melan should tag along with them. Romana could guess Jirou is a Paladin and before she could reveal Kumi’s nature, Deagle fakes some poisoning and has Kumi get some medicine from Jirou. Yeah, need medicine for his bad acting! Anyway, Deagle is trying to tell Romana who seems to believe there are no good Paladins in the battlefield because of her work as a medic. Many would die recklessly in battle. Deagle believes Jirou is different. Kumi actually goes to ask Melan for the medicine, huh? More importantly, combine with Jirou to take out the fish! Easy does it. Next day when the flood has stopped, Jirou and co leave. But looks like Romana is tagging along since she needs a bodyguard from the giant beasts. Or would Jirou rather pay off his debt for the spear? It’s not only her but Melan tagging along too because as per Deagle’s request, there is much to learn from him. Can Jirou say no? Thought so.

Episode 5
Larry and Shemp have been demoted to guard a Cleric producing experimental facility. Shemp complains about this demotion having an impact on his salary so Larry suggests joining Mezami’s elite forces. However he soon rubbishes that idea because he heard rumours of those who did will take drugs and no longer become humans. Better stay safe. Jirou and co are on their way to the next village when they are stopped by this old guy, Zen. He is Melan’s ex-master. Hearing where they are going next, he writes them a recommendation letter since that place has lots of mountain dwellers. Well, Jirou hasn’t got too fond of a memory of that place. Especially fighting against their boss. Upon reaching, Myaa makes some weird communication with her fellow Chapeau before handing the letter. When the Mad Max orc warrior boss, Babban sees Jirou’s name on it, everyone starts chanting his name to come out. As Babban welcomes everyone it seems part of the welcoming party is a test of strength in which Jirou must participate. Jirou easily dispatches the first few mountain dwellers and even some taking on him as a group. The rest watch as Kumi wonders about Zen’s words about warding names. Romana explains children were given silly names so as to ward off being spirited away or die early. Eventually Babban himself fights Jirou. Jirou puts up a fight before being defeated. Babban acknowledges his strength and the crowd cheers. Later everybody celebrates and it seems that match wasn’t a fight to the death. Jirou thought the mountain dwellers have a grudge against him since he killed many of them in his heydays. Babban notes that it is their way of the warrior to live and die. Then the topic shifts about Jirou having a mate. Yeah, some cute petite mountain dweller babes trying to flirt with him. You jealous, Kumi? Despite the odd topic, Babban’s point is that whether or not Jirou marries, he should leave his seed behind and his child will be the next strongest mountain dweller. Party time is over when a giant beast is spotted. However the mountain dwellers usher it in to let some of their warriors fight. Melan tries to prove himself by going first but couldn’t do jack sh*t. Yeah, a wise decision to chicken out. Another warrior step in to fight. But when its eyes turn red, time for Babban who is also a Paladin who fuses with his Cleric wife, to jump in. Of course Jirou and Kumi help too. The giant beast is defeated and the next day, the queen upgrades the name of the brave warrior who dealt the finishing blow. Meanwhile a couple of antagonists are the one releasing that giant beast as test. However they note their target is a certain village. Zen heard this and attacks them.

Episode 6
Zen fights Facade and tries to get info if he is working under Mezami. Of course no answers. In the end, Zen realizes he can’t defeat him and makes his escape. Meanwhile Mezami talks to Bakla about some trouble people snooping around. Should he eliminate them? Nope. Bakla says this is all a game between himself and Tsurugi so they have to be ‘considerate’ with each other since Tsurugi’s goal is to expose him. Bakla also notes Facade who is Mezami’s pawn. All he needs to do is just keep running away from Zen. As for the runaway prototype, Mezami assures she poses no danger. After all, such prototypes cannot live long outside the lab. While eliminating them would be going too far, Bakla has a better idea and that involves showing them who’s boss. Jirou trains Melan as a warrior. Still got a long way to go. During lunch, Babban’s wife talks about a legend about giant beasts who are believed to come from those dwelling from the north. Red eyes are unheard of until only recently. Kumi thinks it is her fault that those red eyes appeared. Jirou notes the coincidence but also believes without her, things might have gotten worse. That doesn’t sound convincing enough for Kumi to alleviate her worries. As Jirou plans to track the source of those red eyes, Babban suggests some stone outpost where he could spot them easier. Upon reaching it, there is one giant beast engaging with the mountain dwellers. Melan rushes in to fight but once more, realizes he isn’t strong enough and chickens out. Meanwhile the rest of Jirou’s group heads up the mountains and sees the perpetrator whom he believes is behind this. But to Jirou’s shock, it is Facade and he was his partner. Apparently Facade doesn’t remember him and he hates Paladins. Yeah, time to fight. When Facade is weakened, his assistant takes over. Well, well. Looks like Kumi! This shock makes Kumi unable to focus and fight as the clone calls her a failed product. She gets agitated when Kumi claims they are the same as she unleashes some dark power, telling her to go die. Then Babban clobbers her to let them escape. Babban and his warriors fight Facade but too bad, they all got defeated. Kumi continues to be in shock over her clone’s words.

Episode 7
Wow. Everybody so depressed. And punishment for that is for the lightning to strike their ship! Well, can’t fix it in the storm. Have to wait for it to pass. However this place seems to bring back some memories to Jirou. Next day one the ship is up and running, they make their way to the next village which is of the horn people. Because of Jirou’s troubled exterior, Romana can pretty tell that a woman is involved. Arriving at the village, the horn people welcome them. Jirou apologizes to the chief, Gohza for not coming back sooner. Well, guess what? Gohza is his father?! So where are Jirou’s horns?! Well, son-in-law actually. Gohza explains that Jirou was married to his daughter, Touka. He believed Jirou didn’t come back was because he was mourning her death and especially the curse of the Paladin. You see, Touka was also his Cleric and doing so requires a Paladin to lose a chunk of their partner’s memories when they die. Gohza advises Kumi to visit Touka’s grave to clear whatever is on her mind. Jirou is of course at Touka’s grave and you know what this means. Flashback. They met 8 years ago. Jirou was having it hard killing a giant beast when Touka helped him. As an artist, she likes to draw stuffs. Jirou suggested they travel together since he will get to hone his skills further and she will get to draw. And you guessed it, they fell in love and Jirou the dude fumbling over his proposal to marry her. Thank goodness she lets him redo it. Meanwhile Tsurugi talks to the emperor about Bakla misusing his powers to massacre the orcs. However the emperor says to let him be. Tsurugi is to concentrate on her mission to find a ring which is supposedly in the hands of her former partner. Jirou? As Kumi visits the grave, Jirou continues his story on Touka. As a Paladin, he must serve the Empire and that means being brought to the frontlines of many wars. In his group included Facade and Tsurugi. Tsurugi was in this mission to fast track her promotion but soon received orders to pull out. Then one fateful day, they were faced with giant beasts that could talk and shoot beams! Are you sure those aren’t aliens?! Touka sacrificed herself to let Jirou live. Now Jirou has Kumi to thank because of her, he is freed from the curse. He says he knows about the lab. What does she want to do next? Kumi makes her decision to save her clone and others like her. That might have to wait as Facade is releasing giant beasts to attack the village. Meanwhile Mezami has plans to dispose of Facade if he regains his memories. He also has several Kumi clones ready to be dispatched.

Episode 8
We go back 7 years in time. Mezami and his merry men of researchers are trying to create these Kumi clones as a means of taking back the land from those giant beasts. Of course many of those clones are subjected to lots of inhumane torture and many died. Bakla has a subordinate to observe Mezami’s research and he is not amused with what he saw. He will report to Bakla what he sees. Many years later, we now have subject #22 AKA Kumi. Another one of those mindless clones void of feelings. She is then made to fight to the death with #23 who does not hesitate to kill a confused and reluctant Kumi. That fear of death made Kumi unleash something powerful to kill her opponent. Back in her cell, one of the sympathetic researchers, Zeke decides he can’t stand this no more and takes Kumi to escape. However he was caught and killed while Kumi is brought back to her cell. There, she reflected on Zeke’s words to find the light. And just like that she escaped. Now we see Bakla facing the emperor who is not impressed with his greed. Despite Bakla showering assurances and praises, the emperor brushes his platitudes and knows he has a hidden agenda and wants to know his next step. Something about eradicating the giant beasts without using the army and that is a Paladin who can operate without a Cleric. The emperor is still not impressed because there is that threat of these artificial Paladins. One mistake and everyone will be united against them. Kumi leads her clone away to a field to face her. However this is not to fight her but to save her. Yeah, the clone getting scared the more Kumi approaches her because her dark orbs aren’t doing jack sh*t to her! And with this big hug, the clone is shown the world of what Kumi has experienced! Wow. Want to believe, huh? Meanwhile Facade is cornered when Zen joins in the fight. Since they are familiar with his fighting style, Facade is at a disadvantage. Just when Kumi’s clone is about to believe in her, suddenly a barrier covers her. A vision of jerk Mezami telling her she has nothing. This causes her to glow and then some explosion. Too bad Kumi’s miracle hug can’t save her this time. This diversion allows Facade to escape. Poor Kumi’s clone. She laments she couldn’t enjoy the outside world like she did. RIP :’(.

Episode 9
Obviously, Kumi having nightmares as her clone accuses her of running away and blaming her for all this. But don’t worry. We all know she’s going to be alright since Jirou and Romana are taking turns looking after her. This cues for Romana’s flashback 3 years ago when she was treating wounded soldiers in some battle. Many died. Even those who were being in the midst of being treated. There was a rude soldier who wanted Romana to treat his injuries first and didn’t give a hoot about his injured Cleric. He argued that there were many replacements. Soon he returned to the battlefield and Romana wanted to treat his Cleric but he slapped her instead! What a dick! Sadly later, she found that Cleric’s corpse in the battlefield. Once Kumi is well, she tells the rest of her origins from that lab. Making her take drugs every day and fight other clones to the death. Jirou continues this explanation that the Empire is doing such experiments so they have human weapons in place of soldiers or Paladins. With brainwashed Clerics not fearing death, they can explode themselves and destroy an entire city. In short, they’re like suicide bombers. Of course Kumi wants to go save them. However now they face an obstacle. Gohza and his men has seen the vast crater left behind by Kumi and can’t let this WMD go. Yup, they’re locked in. Meanwhile Myaa is having a discussion with her other fellow Chapeau about the ring as well as their next move. Romana manages to pick the lock and let her crew escape. Too bad Gohza expects this and will not let them go. Then Zen drops in and since he doesn’t want to let all this out, intends to kill everybody in this village! WTF?! I thought he didn’t want to start a war?! Oh right. Can’t have a war when there’s nobody around???!!! Worse timing for Kumi as her power starts acting up. Hence Romana braves up to tell the old geezer even if he kills everyone, this event will still be known because their Cat Chapeau has not returned. Just like that, Zen gives up playing the bad guy. WTF. I’m so confused. They discuss their next move and part of it is to warn other tribes and villages about this. Jirou and co soon leave and conveniently, they just need to head in this direction straight to reach the Empire. Yeah. Final fight is at hand. Meanwhile Tsurugi meets the protector tribe and reminds them of their pact to serve them. Jirou and co have come up a new nickname for Kumi after watching her grow: Kumi the Blooming Flower. Is she crying because it is so cringe?! Nah. Of course she’s so happy. Yeah, she’d better. They thought long and hard about it. I guess it’s better than Kumi the Jirou’s Wife!

Episode 10
Bakla doesn’t trust Mezami but needs him to finish his research. He also knows Mezami is a sharp guy and will know if he is being backstabbed and that’s why he is hesitant to make any moves to get rid of him. Jirou and co are at the facility. The plan is simple: Knock those Kumi clones out and take them back to their ship. Figure how to undo the brainwashing later. Yeah. Simple. Larry and Shemp’s peaceful day is ruined when they see Jirou here. He beats up all the guards easily. Larry and Shemp then surrender! Yeah, don’t get paid enough for this sh*t! They make the wisest move by running away. As Jirou heads in, he faces off with Facade. Jirou tries to remind him his goal to avoid Clerics becoming victims of war but apparently he still can’t remember. Facade then unleashes his new technique of cloning himself but oh damn, his core is easily destroyed by Jirou! Then he gets weakened as he soon starts to remember a certain woman in his life. Facade returns to Mezami and wants answers but I guess he got a violent treatment instead. We see our heroes knocking out a Kumi clone, Romana placing some herb to make her sleep and they transport them out. Damn, are they going to do this for every one?! How about this room filled with raging Kumi clones?! Don’t worry, something activates and knocks them out. How convenient. Oh Melan, better start pushing them on your trolley out. One by one!

Jirou and Kumi advance to a room where they see not only Mezami but that giant humanoid beast. Mezami claims Kumi is the perfect weapon who will join him by his side in ruling over inferior species. He reveals the truth he unearthed in this ruins how the gods created humans in their image as servants. Of course humans got cocky and think they are equals and hence Mezami will hand humans that judgment. Now Mezami turns into that discount giant humanoid beast. Obviously Jirou no match as Mezami separates Kumi from him. He wants Kumi to join him and he’ll spare Jirou’s life. Refused. Because he badmouths her name, Kumi activates the giant humanoid beast and devours Mezami. OMFG! THAT WAS SO EASY?! Place starting to collapse so let’s get out. Outside, Tsurugi has brought the protector tribe led by Kryuness here. They’re conveniently here to help purify the Clerics. Tsurugi has also arranged for Jirou and co to have new identities once the war is over. But until then, they have to help them out. You see, Kryuness explains as per the legend, when Ars reaches its peak, the gods will arrive and steal everything. Those red eyes beasts are the indicators and serve as vanguards destroying the world. Of course to prevent that, that is why the protector tribe is here to conduct rituals. A more pressing issue as Kumi collapses and is bleeding. Protector tribe’s medicine help soothe her situation but as Tsurugi talks to Jirou about this, she tells the cruel truth Kumi has not much time to live. Even with the protector tribe’s powers to suppress that, the most she can live up to is 1 year. Jirou in despair because she’s still a kid who has yet to experience the world. She just saved the world and this is the reward she gets? Yes, Jirou truly in despair because he is agonizing how to break this news to her. Short of confessing he loves her, right?

Episode 11
Kumi talks to Jirou and knows something is wrong with her lifespan. Jirou denies at first but after tricking him, looks like he has to spill the beans. To Jirou’s surprise, she isn’t mad or sad but rather thankful because she got to experience so many things on this journey. Jirou and co are taken to the underground base of the protector tribe. Tsurugi has Kryuness examine Kumi’s ring as he confirms it is the Ring of Promise. Though, he is unsure how it ended up in her hands. While the ritual is being prepared, Kumi joins the people in their own local festivities. It’s like the slightest thing that happens to her, everybody gets worried. Oh come on people, she just tripped! Before the ritual starts, Kryuness tells Kumi the truth. She is taken to a place where there are multiple pods. Reminds you of how Kumi was born, right? Kryuness explains since their people cannot naturally procreate despite their long life, this is how they are actually born. Mezami tried to abuse such device and technology for his own use. Therefore they consider Kumi as one of their children. The ritual starts and WTF Kumi dressed like a bride?! I guess we need to see Jirou blush… So the ritual has her put her hands on this black ball thingy?! And what do you know? Giant beasts decide to attack the place in hordes. Red eyes too. Jirou goes to help and Kumi sees him running off, gets worried, wants to go to. She is told to not take her hands off or it will disrupt the ritual and shorten her life. However she doesn’t care. If everyone dies, she’ll end up lonely again and that’s a no-no. So, she’s saying she’d rather die early and let everyone live?! Well, since it’s her decision, they let her go. The fellow Chapeau people are starting their own agenda too. Jirou has a hard time tackling a giant beast and he is not too pleased that Kumi is here. All their efforts for nought. Because he calls her a child, she snaps back at him that he too is a child because he always gets his ass kicked by these giant beasts! They continue arguing and aren’t they both acting like children now? Well, you want to postpone this quarrel later because somebody needs to fight the giant beasts. But more bad timing as Facade is here to seek revenge on Mezami for toying with him. I guess he didn’t get the memo. But whatever. And so Jirou and Kumi put aside their differences as they transform to put a stop to this madness.

Episode 12
Everybody all over the world fighting giant beasts with red eyes that are rampaging. There is no end to it because there is this really huge giant robotic beast that is creating more of them. Tsurugi needs Jirou to take care of this but he has got his hands full with Facade. Yeah, why not she go take care of it herself? Because Jirou destroys an interrupting giant beast, this has Facade believe he is Mezami’s student. He is now more determined to kill his ass. Too bad Zen is here to take on him and give him new memories. WTF. With Jirou and Kumi exhausted, here comes the florist to feed them some food to get them back on their feet. Then she shows off she is a Paladin by shooting a dark orb! Woah. She tells them to go ahead while she takes care of things here. But after they leave, she collapses! Oh sh*t! I guess we can’t conveniently see her spam her powerful dark orbs. Bakla is this close in uncovering some secret when Tsurugi’s aid kills him off. So much about that. Romana is having her hands full in the operating room while Melan saving lost kids but also trying to find Myaa. Zen is being cornered by Facade. To end this, he lets himself get stabbed and then with this close proximity, destroys the core in his chest. Don’t worry, he’ll live. Tsurugi gives the ring to Melan to be given to its owner. Then she goes off as a Paladin to strut her stuff. Uhm, shouldn’t she be doing this from the start? Finally Myaa shows up and picks up Melan in her ship. Jirou and Kumi are already exhausted from fighting the giant beasts and they have to keep going to destroy this giant factory beast. Sure, the big red core is so easy to hit but they’re so puny it has no effect. Time for Myaa to show up and take them away. In another dimension, Myaa in her true grown up form tells them that being a Paladin isn’t enough to defeat these giant beasts. The fight against Mezami should have made that clear. An extra oomph in the form of the ring is needed. Since Kumi has shown to be its true legitimate owner, time to end all this. She puts it on and turns into a giant version of herself and using this ring weapon to easily destroy the giant beast factory. Yeah, huge explosion too! With that, all the giant beasts with red eyes just drop dead. Yes, it’s that f*cking easy! Melan tries to hit on this sexy Myaa but realizes too late who she is. A little hasty there, huh? With everybody celebrating their survival, it’s not over yet because some monolith pops up and all over the place. Kryuness says the real moment of judgment is here.

Arse The Giant Fail
SERIOUSLY WHAT THE F*CK???!!! WHAT KIND OF F*CKED UP ENDING IS THAT!!!!!! I have a hunch that the producers themselves hate the show and thus were just winging it as it inches closer to the finale, which isn’t so much of a finale either. Then with brazen words of “THE END”, I take it that they are not going to continue this sh*t, RIGHT???!!! Good. I hope they won’t! Better to leave us all hanging and forming our own conclusions. Because I would like to conclude that the real gods have now descended and bring true destruction to everybody (all those fighting was just warm-up to get your false hopes up). Everybody dies! WOHOO!!! True ending! THANK GOODNESS!!! Whatever unanswered questions we can just f*ck it because what happened to Facade after he fell into the abyss and will Kumi ever live long enough, I don’t particularly care about it now. I don’t. THANK GOODNESS!!!

It is without a doubt that the whole story and plot feels like one big nothing burger. It’s so flimsy like as though the producers had no further idea and wrote the rest on the fly. They’re just winging it basically (note, this is an original anime). On the surface, it sounded like it has at least a decent plot but I only have myself to blame for assuming and, uhm, having some sort of hope! Oh you know, land ravaged by mysterious giant beasts and they’re going to uncover the truth behind it all, blah, blah, blah. Well, well, well. How disappointing it turned out and although it wasn’t a very complicating reveal (OMG! Who’d knew those giant beasts were going to destroy the world!), it felt like it fell short. Make that fell way too short like falling down from Mt Everest and into the deep trenches of Mariana! Because when I started to have that troubled feeling in my guts at the end of the first episode, all those fears came true as the subsequent episodes felt so lacking and lacklustre.

Hence the whole series felt like one big nothing much ado because for a huge part, Jirou and Kumi assumed on the big part of themselves that they have become fugitives from the Empire so they start running away. Yeah, it felt like some big road trip or something, stopping at various villages from various tribes around the land. WTF. To show the giant beasts still have some sort of relevance, hence every episode has Jirou and Kumi combined so that we can have those obligatory action moments which ultimately feels so boring. Basically this is the main formula of the series. To think that they want us to think Jirou and co are very wanted people feels like an overstatement because we don’t see the Empire desperately sending out soldiers to actually hunt for them. Weird. Because Mezami feels like he prefers to hang out in his lab doing his nefarious experiments whatever. Oh heck, as we have seen, he doesn’t need to hunt for them because they came back to the lab itself just to destroy it. Saved a lot of search effort and trouble. Heh.

Then there is this weird political game or whatever game going on the background between Tsurugi and Bakla which feels like nothing burger too. In the episodes, we see short clips of either side plotting some sort of move but in the end, it turns out to be, you guessed it, nothing burger. Like as though they wanted to add some sort of tantalizing mystery to this but then it turned to be rather disappointing. Because in the end, I still don’t understand why they’re trying to outdo each other. Maybe I wasn’t paying attention because the whole series sucked and blame my faltering attention to keep my focus on the episode from time to time. How f*cking convenient Bakla was just killed off like that or at least hinted so. And remember that civil war in Ars that Mezami hinted? I guess we all forgot about that one, huh?

The characters are a big fail too and they’re not really that likeable. Jirou and Kumi being the main characters, they’re supposed to showcase their relationship and how close they’ve drawn to each other, right? Because as you can obviously see how Jirou has changed from a grumpy guy who doesn’t give a f*ck about everything into someone who cares deeply about Kumi like as though she is his future wife or something. See how agitated he gets when he learns how long she has to live? Yeah. Don’t we all just hate it when we know our loved ones do not have much time left? While I can sympathize with that, this whole dynamism between Jirou and Kumi just felt underwhelming. Just because a Paladin and Cleric are inseparable and are needed for the much needed plot device to combine and fight giant beasts. That’s about all. But you know, they’re going to prove why they can beat the Paladin’s curse, right? Right. And I suppose with Kumi, Jirou has moved on from his previous lover, right? Hope the same tragedy won’t repeat itself again because you know, Jirou once again falls in love with a dead woman! HAHAHA! Kumi is the most blessed and luckiest clone because she gets to go travel the world and do fun stuffs with the gang. Literally you could say she lived for the moment. Heh. The irony Kumi should have a second nickname and take after Jirou’s old one: Kumi the Almost Dead! HAHAHA! Sighs…

As for the rest of the motley crew, it felt like they just need a bunch of weirdoes but they too fell short of expectations. For instance, the seemingly pet mascot Myaa, there’s a lot of mystery surrounding to this Chapeau race because I have lots of (dumb) theories about it like how they are the gods or at least their guardians watching over the land. For strange reasons, I suppose to differentiate them, they have a different animal sitting on their head like a hat (hence their Chapeau name). Not that I see any difference because it’s like they have one Chapeau for one tribe. Noticed how Myaa always weirdly communicates with a fellow Chapeau when they arrive in another town? What’s up with that? Is that supposed to be funny? Comes off as weird more than anything. There was one with a chicken on its head so I can’t help quip how a cock and pussy were interacting with each other… Damn… There is more than meets the eye to Myaa because you do remember that she set things rolling by giving Kumi the ring, right? Like as though it was all part of the plan to get the plot rolling or something… Didn’t know how cheap the ring would be used in the end as this. Further conspiracy theory of mine says the ring summoned the true judgment in the end because it shows all you motherf*cking land dwellers deserve to die. Oh heck, maybe the gods just wanted some challenge as they love to fight and now they found someone worthy of the ring. Whatever. F*ck it.

If Kumi and Myaa are too loli for you, perhaps buxom mature babe AKA Romana should do the trick. Every ship needs a doctor, right? Just short of a cook. Sorry, this isn’t a certain pirate series. And I can only deduce why the need Melan is because they wanted a greenhorn character so that he could be some sort of a comic relief. Almost. Because of his hastiness, he soon realized the err of his ways of not rushing into fights. Otherwise he is pretty much useless because an apprentice adventurer or something, he can’t fight as experienced Jirou and is left to do menial or easier chores. Looks like he has a long way to go…

Damn, Mezami couldn’t be a much worse and shallow antagonist. Your typical guy who wants to play God or something. They couldn’t write a better role for him since they’re going to kill him off anyway. Yeah, when you have a main antagonist that did not die in the last episode, let alone the penultimate episode, I guess he wasn’t meant to be the last boss after all. Yeah well, at least good riddance we don’t have to worry about him. That is somewhat replaced with Facade who is surprisingly the last boss of the series, the ghost of Jirou’s past and final obstacle he must overcome. Yeah, another predictable character. Controlled by somebody else, now wants revenge. Up to old partner to save him. Simple. If I have to point out the best characters of the series, it would be Larry and Shemp. Uh huh. They’re incompetent and definitely written as joke characters. But in the end they have it better than many other characters we see because their cowardice and ineptitude have them keep their lives. Yup, I can relate so much from them.

Other characters felt insignificant. I can understand like Babban or Deagle since they are just minor characters for the episode. But Zen looks like he had potential but once more, falling short and now I only see him as some sort of plot convenience. The same for Tsurugi because it’s like she and Jirou were once partners in the same group and that’s your excuse for them knowing each other. So what she’s a high ranking general in the Empire? Oh right. She can pull strings easily. Then there’s the creepy emperor who feels like the true last boss but alas, you guessed it, nothing much happens. Yeah, just waiting for the moment the old shrivelled worm to kick the bucket or something. Sheesh.

I said it earlier, the action sequences are as boring as f*ck. Every episode has this obligatory giant beast fighting scene only because it is so. Even when Jirou and Kumi combined, they don’t seem any different in terms of skill (but hell yeah, Jirou has got a great glowing hair at least. Sarcasm, note) but they have to do so because it is somehow the only method to kill the giant beasts. Especially the red eyes who are like the enhanced version or something. No special moves whatsoever just use the spear and stab it until it dies! Yeah. So unmemorable. So boring. You can’t miss their red eyes as their obvious weak point. So easy. The gods better do a better job sending more powerful giant beasts if they are serious in wanting to destroy the world. Because funnily, only the land ones have a grudge but the sea ones are just I-don’t-give-a-sh*t-not-my-problem-so-I’m-sitting-out-of-this-war. Yeah. So if humans don’t want to get terminated, maybe they should all just move underwater and live in the ocean, huh?

Art and animation are just pretty standard. It’s just average and nothing to shout about. I don’t know what else to comment but I’ll just say that the humanoid giant beasts, they somewhat reminded me of those Hollow from Bleach. Whatever. There is also some CGI done but very sparingly. Thank goodness. Because sometimes they look a bit jerky and hence their weird movements. Imagine the entire action scene was CGI based, it would just look freaking strange. This anime is done by Asahi Production who did Dolls’ Frontline, Peach Boy Riverside, Tenchi Souzou Design-bu and Million Doll.

Voice acting is just pretty average too with me recognizing Youko Hikasa as Romana and Mai Nakahara as Babban’s wife. I thought Kumi’s clone were voiced by Aoi Yuuki. Too bad all of them are voiced by Hina Yomiya (Sakurako in Sore Demo Ayumu Wa Yosetekuru). Only make sense as they’re the same people, right? Same case for Myaa as all Chapeau characters are voiced by Yuu Serizawa. On a side note, because the original Japanese audio has Myaa make cat puns (other Chapeau ones also make word puns based on their animal top), the English subtitles try to change as many words to cat puns. For example, please as “Purr-lease” or forget it as “Fur-get it. Honestly, reading it sometimes feel annoying. And to do it for every damn line! Yikes. The other casts are Toshiyuki Morikawa as Jirou (Enel in One Piece), Hiromu Mineta as Meran (Yatora Yaguchi in Blue Period), Ryouta Takeuchi as Facade (Albion in High School DxD), Asami Seto as Tsurugi (Chihaya in Chihayafuru), Atsushi Tamaru as Mezami (Ayato in Gakusen Toshi Asterisk), Kenichi Ogata as Zen (Myouga in Inu Yasha).

The opening theme is Hengen Jizai (you mean it’s not Kaleidoscope?) by Penguin Research. Since I’m not impressed with the series, you bet the song comes off as weird to me. I don’t know, personally it sounds more like a song for workout or anything similar along those lines. The ending theme is Na Mo Nai Hana by Harumi. A slow ballad that sounds as boring as f*ck. Can’t get even more boring as the animation just shows a back of Kumi walking in space. Yeah. That. I guess we need something calm and peaceful after all the substandard stuffs the series has smacked in our faces. However, there is a piano instrumental of this version and I would well damn prefer this one.

Overall, this series is largely disappointing and while it seemed it like it had some potential and decent concept, the moment they tried to expand or give more details, all that potential just vanished into thin air. The plot is paltry not to mention how uninspiring the so called revelation and truth about this whole world, the characters are so cliché and forgettable, the action scenes are just boring. And the most guilty part being that ambiguous cliff-hanger ending. That is enough to kill everything. They really want to make us mad and turn our eyes red with rage, huh? And to think the producers couldn’t pick a better title for this series and decided to call this land as Ars. Like, really???!!! What were they thinking?! Do I think what they think of this show? Because for a fact it certainly is! And to also think the gods want to destroy the world, I can somehow understand their sentiments for that. Yeah, that’s what you get when you don’t destroy the whole damn thing and what we got was this sh*tty unforgiveable production! Forget about Jirou being nearly dead or Kumi being the blooming flower. This series IS ALREADY WITHERED DEAD!!!

Hyouken No Majutsushi Ga Sekai Wo Suberu

I have a feeling it would be something of this sort. Powerful young warrior boy with magic and skills that are unrivalled to none and feared by many, proved to be pivotal in so many wars, now needs to do something that he has missed out earlier in life: School life! Ah yes, but of course. And so this is the case too for Hyouken No Majutsushi Ga Sekai Wo Suberu. Don’t be fooled by the title telling us how this Iceblade Sorcerer wants to rule the world. Uh huh. Maybe that’s the case because it must be some requisite that if you want to conquer the world, you have to finish high school first!!! WHAT DA FAQ???!!!! Do you need a degree in world conquest or something?! Yeah sorry, I made that up because that’s what I also thought initially. Sighs… Sorry for that cold joke. Me, I’m just mainly here for the harem. At least that’s how the promotional poster seemingly baited me. Sighs…

Episode 1
Wow. Who died? Enough to make a young Ray White go berserk and cause everything to freeze over. Oh, they call this overheating? The irony. Now Ray enrols in Arnold Academy of Sorcery. He is despised by many for being ordinary. Yeah, only nobles and descendants of sorcerers can enrol here, huh? Just look at how Wanda Erika foam in the mouth after being rescued by him for slipping and then upon realizing he is an ordinary guy. Albert Alium is so mad he can’t accept ordinary folks like him. Could’ve started a fight had not Amelia Rose put a stop to this shameful behaviour. Who is she? One of the 3 great noble families that rule the land. Don’t mess with her. The induction ceremony begins with principal Abbie Garnet giving her speech before Amelia gives hers representing the students. Ray’s homeroom teacher is Helena “Gray” Grady. She talks about the highest elite sorcerer rank known as grand and only 7 of them exist at 1 time. Among them are Abbie and Carol Caroline. The other being the mysterious Iceblade Sorcerer who is the hero of the far east but vanished. The rest are unknown. So, if that’s the case how they know there is 7???!!! Considering Ray’s ordinary status, the guy he sits next to has no reaction, I guess he is an NPC… During practical lessons, Gray talks about the basic art of sorcery as well as some other technical stuff. The rest of the episode sees Ray meeting other potential characters (as they give their permission to address them by their first name). Like Elisa Griffith who is trying to find some anti-material code since she is a fan of some top sorcerer researcher. Ray couldn’t be more smooth as he comments her beautiful hair and elf ears. Yeah, she covers them up for fear people would laugh at them. Then there’s his roommate, Evi Armstrong. He doesn’t care about that noble crap but only 1 thing: Both guy strip their top to show off their toned bodies! Now they’re buddies! OMG! Is it gay time?! Then there is Rebecca Bradley who is one of the top 3 noble families followed by Claris Cleveland who sounds bratty and all but Ray gets a free pass after commenting her cute twintails. Sorry, don’t know much about her beautiful family. He’s from the countryside, you know. Ray goes to see Abbie. It seems both of them were in the military but retired. Then a mock battle between Ray and Albert. Time for the latter to take out all his anger. Cool Ray dodges it. Can’t fight anger with anger because Ray breaks his sword with a mere touch. Believe it. And if you haven’t guessed it by now, Ray is the Iceblade Sorcerer.

Episode 2
Trying to troll us with some gay sh*t!!! Because as you would’ve guessed it, it’s just Ray and Evi exercising in their room. But hold on. There’s more! Because Ray soon enters a room filled with macho men! OMFG! He wants to join this environmental research club. Is that a code name for a gay club?! Just kidding. After showing off his well-toned body, the thing that seals the deal is his gold hunter licence! Welcome to the club! Yeah, makes me wonder if this club has grown adult men as members because clearly, many of them are just so freaking mature! Before you get traumatized by all the gayness, now Ray goes to join this flower garden club whom Rebecca is the president. Yes, now it’s all girls! However Dina Sera opposes to his admission thinking Ray is after Rebecca. In that case, Rebecca puts Dina in charge of Ray. Do whatever tests she wants on him and if she deems him unworthy, he cannot join. Ray’s task is to clear the weeds on this plot of land and make a flower garden all by himself within a week. Well, he only did it all in 4 days so you bet all are impressed. Welcome aboard. Soon Abbie calls Ray and tells him to be wary as there is a spy from the empire who may already have infiltrated the academy. To show Ray did his studies, Gray has him recite all the different derivations of sorcery. For the practical exercise in the Kafka Forest, they are to form groups of 4. Evi wants to join Ray. Look at loner Elisa. Care to join? Okay. Hope she isn’t swayed because of Ray’s sweet words. Last spot taken up by Amelia because she wants to. Those who wanted her to join lucked out. She chose an ordinary… For this practical, they have to enter the forest, battle monsters and collect stamps to earn points within a certain timeframe. We see Ray’s group doing their usual. Because Ray is just too extraordinary for a plain guy, this makes Amelia suspicious. Can’t always use the countryside training as his excuse, eh? Ray remembers his master telling him to keep an identity a secret if he wants to enjoy an uninterrupted school life. Of course there is an exception to expose it only to those he fully trusts. Ray hears trouble ahead and it is Albert’s team facing off with a giant monster. Ray pulls off slick moves to kill it. There’s some gratitude shown by Albert after getting his ass saved. None. At this point, Amelia is really suspicious of Ray’s background. Just then, a shady person revives the monster. It’s more vicious now.

Episode 3
Well people, our worries are unfounded as Ray easily slices it down! At the end of the day, Amelia’s team scored the highest. Claris who saw the whole damn thing is happy to cheer for them but has to be mindful and stay quiet because looks like the other losers are not happy a withered is in Amelia’s team. So their hate for Ray is more than their admiration for Amelia? Ray then visits his master, Lydia Ainsworth who was the original Iceblade Sorcerer before passing the title to him. She talks about the troublesome movements of the group known as Eugenics. It seems they are committing taboo stuffs that no sorcerer should do by cutting up sorcerer’s brains and rummaging around inside it. They approached her to join too but she refused. According to Carol, they have also begun inviting other sorcerers. Then they talk about the upcoming magic sword tournament in which Lydia won 4 times in a row during her heydays. Ray could also follow that footstep but he prefers to lie low. She passes him a manual that might come in handy one day. Elisa is about to head to the library when Ray stumbles into her. Oh, he too wants to go there? Yeah, she dolls up for the occasion. Damn, Ray pretty smooth in commenting her beauty. Also at the library is Claris. Ray introduces the girls to each other. Oh, weird introducing your rivals! Then after that, he stumbles into Amelia just finishing attending some noble event. Apparently she noticed him hanging out with a couple of girls. Apparently he didn’t get the hint of her jealousy so she has him hang out with her. Hear Ray’s comments as she tries on different outfits. Smooth. Of course, a little spider doing a peekaboo and this has her scrambling outside to him in her undies. This guy doesn’t even flinch! I WANT TO BE THIS GUY! She runs back into the changing room, hoping that one day Ray will see the real her. Busy day for Ray as later he sees Gray. It seems she has her worries of being a teacher especially seeing those who wanted to really become a sorcerer but ended up leaving with their dreams broken. She regretted not paying attention to them. She hopes she can be a good teacher to Ray and if he has any problems, he can consult her. But looks like Albert is still having his own problems. You know, that jealousy issue. What forbidden training is he doing now to get back at Ray?

Episode 4
Dina gives a spare key to Ray to the clubroom. Since nobody will attend today except for Rebecca. That must be just some sort of excuse so that when Ray enters, he sees Rebecca changing! I guess this cliché is better than that macho gay sauna challenge in the beginning!!! Ray learns about the other noble, the Algrens don’t normally enrol at Arnold but at Diom Academy of Sorcery. With the Magic Chevalier tournament coming up, Rose requests to fight Ray to see for herself if those skills are real. Ray seems to be good at sword fighting until the final move, not sure what flashback he sees. He drops the sword and hands Amelia a technical win. This has his friends really wonder who he is. Ray just says that he has a master who taught him sorcery and the sword. Sorry to interrupt but looks like Albert is here to challenge him to a duel. Finally ready, huh? So in this duel, no rules except to make the other admit defeat. Obviously Albert is so angry and going all out to kill Ray but the latter just coolly dodges everything. Albert’s flashback shows he comes from a low noble lineage. His father has been humiliated many times so he took it upon himself to increase the family’s status. Is that supposed to make us feel sympathetic towards him? Not! Ray shows who is boss and this only frustrates Albert to a point he becomes a cry-baby. WTF? Yeah, I guess anybody would after seeing how Ray cuts through his fire dragon spell! Now Ray’s friends want to really know who he is. But before he can tell, everybody is suddenly pinned down to the ground. The culprit reveals herself as Gray. As Ray could quickly deduce, she is part of Eugenics and the forest test was part of her ploy to steal students’ brains. As she uses her magic to attack him, the last straw came as she targets his friends. Ray is forced to reveal his Iceblade Sorcerer identity. Now he is so powered up that it is making Gray scared like hell. Nothing can stop him. Still don’t believe he is the one? Well, the title was passed to him so he is legit. Gray begs for her life and all. Even if this is a ploy to trick him, it didn’t work. Is that it? Since he won’t kill her, she injects a serum right into her brain, turning her into a monster. Is this Ryuk’s lesser brother or something?!

Episode 5
As we can already tell, no powered up zombie punk is even this close in touching Ray. Ray even explains some technical stuff and rewriting the anti-material to basically turn the magic into void. Wow. This causes him to freeze and bleed all over but enough time for him to defeat Gray before passing out. He is glad there are no casualties. Let’s hope he doesn’t become one. Cue for flashback where Lydia picked him up as a sole survivor of a village decimated by war. She along with Carol and the rest of her military unit known as Astrals, took care of Ray temporarily. However a decision needed to be made about his fate. While some suggested he had to be taken to the orphanage, Carol was emotionally vouching to personally take care of him. Until Ray himself said he wanted to stay with Lydia. There’s your answer. As long as it doesn’t affect their duties, this was allowed. And so Ray became part of Astrals and learnt everything under Lydia for 6 years. Then the war escalated and became brutal. Many didn’t want Ray to fight since the going is getting tougher but he insisted since he is part of their family. And then one of them died. Ray overheated. The rest is history. Ray wakes up in the infirmary with Lydia and Abbie glad that he is okay. His friends are fine too. After Lydia leaves, Abbie tells Ray the truth she didn’t want him to enrol here because of the prejudices. However Lydia begged her since Ray had no friends of his age and should be in school rather than on the battlefield. That’s why Abbie hopes he lives out his school life to the fullest and finds his own happiness. That is their wish for him. Later his friends visit so Ray tells them the truth about his Iceblade Sorcerer identity. But Ray is in a dilemma because his hands has been stained by blood. Has he the right to stay with them? Of course they don’t care and accept him for who he is. He will always be the kind Ray they know. You’re not alone. There’s your answer. Later Albert visits. This guy is fully remorseful and apologizes for everything. But Ray doesn’t hold any grudges and even give advice on how he will become stronger. Wow. Hope he doesn’t call Ray his master now.

Episode 6
Amelia thinks how great Ray is but compares it all to herself. So, uhm, she thinks she is not attractive enough for him? Ray complains to Abbie about Carol being a teacher here. In fact, Abbie requested her help since she is very talented. However Ray very much opposes this. Something about her true nature he cannot stand. Too bad he has to since Carol is here to ‘harass’ him. Later as Ray observes the candidates for Magic Chevalier, he notices Amelia being flawless in her skill but her expression shows she is troubled. Indeed. She is under pressure by her father (why does he look like a felon?) to live up to the household name and must not lose to Ariane Algrens. Amelia qualifies for the tournament after beating Albert. The latter doesn’t look that all bitter and accepts his defeat. Later Ray approaches Amelia and intends to help her. Yeah, he is going to use Lydia’s manual to train her. Flashback shows how Amelia met Ariane at a party and soon they become friends as they grow up. But that ended when Ariane defeated her in a match. Thanks to pressures to live up to her noble standards, Amelia realizes she has changed but Ariane stayed pretty much the same. Next morning, WTF Ray dons a flimsy mask and is going to be her trainer!? Ranger! Dafaq???!!! And so begins Amelia’s hell to physically train and she has to do it all without magic enhancements. Hope he doesn’t kill her… So tough his training that Amelia has this weird vision of sexy Elisa and Claris flanking her before being hit by a dashing Ray. WTF???!!! Too bad, sexy yuri moment interrupted as hell returns. Oh boy, can’t blame Amelia for running away! Ray on the pursue! Then he stumbles into Albert who still has doubts about his strength. Don’t worry, he’ll be strong without even knowing it. Now you believe in yourself? Ray finds Amelia and drags her through more hell. Ranger! Ray then sees his macho guys to become Amelia’s cheer support. Yeah, I think that’s what we all need. Ray seems to take his next step as he dresses up as a girl to sneak into Diom! OMG. So pretty, so unrecognizable! As he sneaks around with a cardboard (?!), he stumbles into a crying loli.

Episode 7
Ray AKA Lily White helps Tiana to find her sister who is of course no other than Ariane. Lily talks to a grateful Ariane who knows Lily isn’t a student of this school and wants the truth. Well, can she handle it? Look at her face when Lily reveals her identity to be Ray! Never expect him to be a guy, huh? Yeah, disguise magic so good that he literally melted all the girls’ heart and made them faint! They spar and Ariane is superior. She thought it is a waste for Lily not to participate in Magic Chevalier but she claims there are reasons. Plus, she is helping her friend, Amelia to train. On the way back, Lily bumps into this troubled girl running away, Maria. Just because Lily saves her from falling, now she is smitten by her. As she is Rebecca’s little sister, whatever doubts of enrolling in Arnold, she’ll definitely be here next year. Soon, Ray brings his friends to see Lydia who help give some encouragement in the field they are in. Lydia’s maid, Carla then talks to Ray about the worrying movements of those Grim Reapers from Aywell Empire. It is unknown what those death squad is up to but it couldn’t be more suspicious they are moving at a time Magic Chevalier is happening. You know, an event will have lots of nobles around. So keep your eyes peeled. Lydia talks to Amelia to thank her about teaching Ray to have a human heart, something she herself couldn’t teach him and the reason why she suggested he enrolled in Arnold. After food, time for a swim. But too bad we get short-changed and don’t see the ladies in their swimsuits. Who wants to see those guys in trunks???!!! Amelia’s final day of training is here. It’s make or break. Magic Chevalier begins and before the round starts, Amelia meets Ariane in the back. They hope to meet in the finals. Gee, thanks for the spoilers. And so we fast forward to the semi-finals. Amelia takes on this unknown dude and beats him hands down. In the other semi-final, it is Ariane vs Albert. To see how much he has improved, we see him put up a good valiant fight before falling to his defeat. No regrets, right? Before the finals, Carol sings to the crowd. And flashback to that swimsuit moment (oh yeah, hot chicks in swimsuits!), Carol got drunk and stripped everyone with her magic! So now you know why the guys have a slap mark on their face.

Episode 8
As Ray snoops around, he thought he found something suspicious. Turns out to be Lex Hail, the president of the environmental research club as he brings him to see Abbie and the rest. Apparently, Carla’s family is part of the kingdom’s elite intelligence agency and Lex is her younger brother. They have receive reports about Grim Reapers infiltrating the tournament to kidnap or kill noble women so keep your eyes peeled. The night before the finals, Amelia locks herself in her room. Cold feet? A worried Claris and Elisa can’t convince her to come out so it’s up to Ray. Yeah. Who else? So he first talks about the fear he has of entering her heart because he might break it. That’s enough for her to let him in and pour out her woes. Basically she is tired and at a loss of playing this game to keep up what everybody expects of her. This also takes a toll on her confidence that she cannot beat Ariane. The meaning of life, she asks, huh? Well, Ray says there is none! But it’s up to them to find it because that what it means being alive. Wow. That’s so enlightening that Amelia cries like a baby! And cry she did to sleep as Ray holds her hand the entire night. Hope that did the job. Next day, Ray assures his friends Amelia is okay because he slept with her the whole night. BETTER PHRASING, RAY! BETTER PHRASING PLEASE!!! So he sees Amelia and gives her a big hug as requested for that much needed motivation. That should do the trick as the epic finals begin. Meanwhile, Lex reports Claris and 8 other students have gone missing. Ray investigates and finds them in strewn over in the basement. WTF do does baddies have better places to hide them?! Obviously Grim Reapers try to barricade the place as Ray takes Claris and run. Is Ray abandoning the rest?! Oh right, to show off how he can still kick ass while carrying Claris. Grim Reapers get so scared of his abilities that now they try to run but he freezes them over. Easy. Lex takes over so he can return to someone who truly needs him. Better hurry because Amelia is about to lose to Ariane. Don’t know what seemingly dark power she used! Amelia is about to accept her defeat when Ray calls out to her. Yeah. That voice. WTF some magic code activates and I hope it’s not that kind of Butterfly Effect I’m thinking of.

Episode 9
Wow. Amelia so powered up that not even Ariane can touch her! Literally, she can’t touch her! Not sure WTF this explanation that is allowing her to do so. Basically it’s like turning on the cheat code AKA God mode. Of course this mode is taking a toll on Amelia too and she is close to overheating if she is not careful. Both won’t give up and continue the fight. But in the end, Amelia wins. Because now it’s time for her Oscar winning speech by thanking all those she has met and especially Ariane who propelled her to go this far. Yeah, I bet the whole arena stopped to watch this emotional girls bonding moment before officially announcing the victor. Amelia recuperates in the infirmary with half her body bandaged. Ray of course sees her and once again she thanks him for everything. In short, thanks to meeting him, she is no longer a bird in a cage and can live freely as she wants. With Amelia winning the rookie event, now the main expert finals is at hand. Favourites Rebecca vs dark horse Lucas Forst. As soon as the match begins, Lucas is so freaking fast as he ends up defeating Rebecca. Did she know what even hit her?! And that’s it! What a boring finals. But everybody loves it somehow. As Lucas returns to the backstage and passes by Ray, it seems Ray knows he has the title of the Peerless Blade Sorcerer. I’m guessing he is one of those 7 elite sorcerers. Lucas also knows Ray as the Iceblade Sorcerer and hence his reason participating in Magic Chevalier is to show how strong he is. Because his real goal is to fight Ray. He hopes Ray will be cured of his overheating or he can’t fight him at his best next year. Meanwhile Carol tries to use her sexy hypnotism to get those Grim Reapers to spill the beans. However their heads explode! Fatality! I hope it’s not from Carol’s seduction! Of course, it’s the safety device implanted by Aywell. With the cultural festival near, Ray suggests to his class to do a maid café. You bet those noble b*tches oppose because they don’t want to serve others. Flashback shows Amelia talked to Ray about this and it is her wish to hold one. Because of this noble problem, she needed his help. I don’t see how because I thought Amelia’s word would be more convincing. Anyway, Amelia is my brethren as she sings wax lyrical about maids! Yes, sister! I AGREE! MAIDS ARE THE BEST!!! Anyway, the class is convinced after Carol shows off her cute outfit. I hope it’s not her hypnotic spell. Yes, maid outfits are another class of hypnotism of its own! Soon, Dina comes running to Ray with a big problem. Haven’t you heard? Rebecca is getting engaged! I don’t see how this got to do with Ray but I know why and can tell what’s going to happen. Time for Ray to play the saviour. Because, who else, right?

Episode 10
Rebecca’s father makes some blood pact with Evan Bernstein to keep her daughter safe. Now we see a couple of weirdoes from Eugenics claiming that Rebecca is almost in their hands because it is now certain that she is the vessel after her display at Magic Chevalier. Revenge will be theirs. Amelia tries to force Elisa to don a maid outfit. A little help, Ray? He too wants to see Elisa in her beautiful form! Me three!!! And just like that, Elisa relents. Now you jealous, Amelia? Albert couldn’t have said it better because there is no man in this world who doesn’t like maid outfits!!! F*CK YEAH!!! No wonder their class preparations are proceeding ahead of schedule. Can’t wait to see those heavenly beauties!!! As Ray goes to the student council to submit the maid café proposal, he notices that only Dina and Rebecca are around. As revealed, the rest are boycotting the meeting. Cornea who is the secretary was supposed to be Evan’s fiancée but Rebecca stole him. Others aligned with her have also boycotted the meeting. And of course, Ray wants to help. He goes to see Lydia for help and so she’ll get Carla to do some recon. Learning about Ray’s maid café, Ray goes on to praise Carla’s maid outfit. Lydia is so jealous but she thinks of donning one too. However Ray laughs this joke off as a gorilla cannot wear a maid outfit! He almost died!!! Apologize! And so they’ll be coming to the maid café. Be prepared. Meanwhile Rebecca has strange dreams of Ray and as a result is crying blood. Maria is concerned but Rebecca says nothing. Then goes to cry alone. Flashback shows Rebecca has always treated her nicely when others ostracized her for her fair white skin and hair. When she hit puberty, she rebelled by dressing differently since she can’t be as pretty as her. Now she wants to help because no one should be looking sad after being engagement but Rebecca isn’t saying. Now we get to see those amazing maids! YEAH!!! Infinite thumbs up!!! Later as Ray walks Rebecca home, Evan comes to pick her up. Soon Carla has some info on Evan. Turns out his mansion has no one living there for many years. Not even a servant. Though, Evan has been attending sorcery summits and aristocratic gatherings to deceive others and avoid being discovered. This means he is after Rebecca’s sorcerer’s eye and seeing he collects them, he is definitely from Eugenics. And as our Eugenics weirdoes further reveal, they will awaken Rebecca as Kreuz and open the gate to Akasa.

Episode 11
Rebecca once tried to resist Evan but he warned her about the deal he made with her father and if she continues with this, Maria will also die. What else is a sad girl got to do but cry more tears of blood? Oddly, she dreams of Ray during his younger days at the battlefield. Maria goes to see Ray (oh Ray, you don’t mean to compliment her beauty with those words, do you?) just to tell him how she is often compared to her perfect sister. Of course Ray vows to protect Rebecca. Rebecca sees this and gets the wrong idea but realizes it is not her place to say. She continues that dream and it’s like she could communicate with Ray? With that, Ray also cries blood? The festival continues and it is going to be rocked because here comes Lily as the maid! Gonna turn you guys into gays and girls into lesbians! Ariane in total shock seeing Lily. Oh my. Too much to handle? Yeah, Maria almost loses it. Ray even has time to go round the festival grounds with Rebecca. Wow, why does it feel like some last date or something? When Maria leaves, a similar white haired woman approaches her and scares her by saying Rebecca will die. Similarly, Ray is shocked to hear Rebecca’s impending death from Abbie. He hears the whole story from Rebecca’s father who pleads to save his daughter. Next day, Rebecca raises her death flag as she tells Ray to take care of Maria. The excuse is that she will leave her Bradley house so she won’t have time to be with her. Soon, Rebecca gets whisked away by Evan to some place where he tells her straight he is going to break her. Meanwhile Ray makes his moves as he fights hordes of monsters in the forests. He is not alone because his friends are here to help. Yeah, I guess they need some screen time to show off their chops and not useless characters. So while they handle these monsters, this allows Ray to go save what’s most important. Ray remembers Rebecca’s father revealing the cursed bloodline of the Bradleys. Some massive bloodshed revolving around Kreuz once every few hundred years. Yeah, it’s that time now. Although Rebecca is far from being a Kreuz, she can’t control her sorcerer’s eye and at this rate will die before she reaches 20. Maria being born like an albino is because of the after effects of Rebecca being born as Kreuz. Hence there may be some sort of effect on Maria too. But don’t you worry daddy, Ray is gonna save them both and more, RIGHT?!

Episode 12
When the Eugenics duo arrive, one of them reveals himself to be… Evan?! So the one we see all the time is actually that white haired woman, Lieselotte Eden who is the Fabrication Sorcerer. Evan hates Lieselotte so much and blames her for whatever. His goal is to kill her and then take Rebecca’s Kreuz to reach some Akasa whatever. He thinks Lieselotte has been pretending to be him to keep the house alive although she denies that is the case. She then locks him away in another dimension as Ray arrives. The other Eugenics guy, Paratrogo knows who Ray is and wants to eat him like how he did for other sorcerers’ engram. Before they can fight, Lieselotte puts up a barrier to explain to Ray things first. She is going to make Rebecca overheat and in doing so, Ray will then seal her. They are already connected so he can do it. It is a risky move and it sounds like Lieselotte doesn’t care for Rebecca. Well, she has her own objective and needs to use whatever methods to get it done since Rebecca’s dad has commissioned her to protect her. But first, Ray has to deal with Paratrogo as Lieselotte goes to deal with Evan. The dude now doesn’t care about everything else except to kill her. He transforms into a monster but as we all know, he gets killed off! He thought she is the strongest but she brushes that off. The strongest is the Iceblade Sorcerer and the one who shall rule the world. Roll credits! Meanwhile Ray’s friends are doing fine but now the adults show up so as to show off their exaggerated overkill magic. Not to be outdone. Just stare in disbelief all the destruction… Why are these people walking around so freely?! RAY IS LOSING?! Cue for Maria to blame Rebecca that because she never said things properly, that’s why they’re in this mess. Is this some sort of reverse psychology? But don’t worry. Ray uses his trump card to petrify Paratrogo who seems to figure out Ray’s true form. Too bad he won’t say so as to leave us guessing. Now we focus on the sisters quarrelling. Screaming at each other. Slapping each other. Crying. Can this get any worse? Uhm Ray, wanna get back up and stop this overheating? Yup, trolling us like they’re about to kiss but they don’t. And just like that, Rebecca is saved. In the aftermath, we see Rebecca and Amelia arguing in what I believe to be Ray’s lover. No harem going to stop true love in the end, right? Elisa and Claris won’t lose out either. Real battle starts now? Soon, Ariane sees Ray and wants him to join her in Magicks War. What?! And who this strong loli waiting for her onii-chan to come home?

The Ice Guy And His Cool Female Harem
They just leave enough room just in case they needed to make a sequel. I believe such series won’t get one but I could be ever so wrong because in the future when there won’t be any more animes to animate, they might just dig up trash like this and give it another go. After all, that isekai handphone one already did the impossible and surpassed my expectations beyond belief. Yeah. So whatever this Magicks War which could be another new tournament and I am speculating that loli could be Evi’s little sister (because isn’t Ray the only survivor of the war in his town?) and don’t even forget that Lucas guy, for now we just speculating. But thank goodness this season has ended. Yeah, last episode was pretty rushed and clichéd too. Plot twist of Evan not being Evan but some white haired chick pulling some confusing strings, killed f*cking Evan himself and most importantly, Rebecca is saved and can now be inducted to Ray’s official harem. Is it no wonder why the Iceblade Sorcerer will rule the world?

Just as expected, the story isn’t anything spectacular. I was a fool to think and hope to expect that there would be some major twist aside what was given in the synopsis. Hence a big chunk, in fact you could say that the entire series is about Ray living out his school life. Sure, there are subplots about the nefarious Eugenics and shady activities from Aywell but that felt secondary to Ray’s school life. Only because it somewhat threatens Ray’s school life, the reason why these became intertwined into the story. Otherwise the whole lot feels mediocre and underwhelming. I mean, it is an anime about school life so what else is there to showcase? Classes, exams, tournament and of course the much beloved cultural festival that all high schools must have. Wow Ray, must be having a blast of a time, huh? So how does the Iceblade Sorcerer rule the world and did the title mislead us? Well, when Ray builds rapport and support, with so many friends around, that is how he will ‘rule’ the world! Not via violence or dominance but via friendship! To even have a flimsy plot of not knowing the 7 elite ranks of high ranking sorcerers is the lamest excuse to perhaps shoehorn in some surprise characters later on. Hey, can’t do anything about it if you don’t know who they are, no?

Because a series revolving 100% school life would be somewhat boring, to help alleviate Ray’s status into harem master and give excuse why ‘high ranking’ girls would have a heart for him, that is why within these stories, we have those troubled girls facing their own issues and Ray is there to help free and save them. It’s the best excuse for girls like them to be inducted into Ray’s hall of harem. Whether it is helping Amelia liberate and break free from the burden of her family’s expectations or saving Rebecca from her fiancé with an ulterior motive that is so typical of a one dimensional villain, only Ray can do it because nobody else can. Gives the series a much needed ‘plot’ other than the school life. Because when you have a world set in fantasy and magic, got to somehow not let that go to waste too. Yeah. Too bad the series is not long enough to give the same treatment for Elisa and Claris whose personal issues were just quickly brushed over. Now I somewhat know the unofficial pecking order of Ray’s harem…

I’m pretty sure the series is mainly targeted for male audience (obviously) because of a few fanservice scenes here and there. They don’t permeate the entire series all the time but they do have a few scenes. I’m only saying this because the ending credits animation felt like a big bait and troll to viewers (like yours truly) into thinking this series might turn into some sleazy ecchi fanservice theme somewhere along the way. I mean, just have a look at the ending credits animation. Ray’s harem (the quartet of Amelia, Rebecca, Elisa and Claris if you’re still unclear of who I’m talking) all of them in their undies as they lie around sexily while teasing our libido. This is however only the raunchiest scenes in the entire series as those in the episode proper aren’t that risqué as this. Not even that cliché shenanigan of the changing room scene whereby Amelia came running out half naked because of a tiny spider. Heh. A tough badass woman like her who is unrivalled in the sword is afraid of a puny arachnid. Boy, if the enemies get info on this weakness…

So as not to make this pure 100% fapping material for straight guys, hence I figure they have to put in the weirdest and bizarre kind of group in this anime: The environmental research club guys! I don’t know if they intend to be inclusive but these people scream gay fest!!!! There are so many suspicious things about the guys in this club. One look at them, seeing how macho and muscle filled these brawns are, your guts will be ringing like hell if they are even students of this academy. Oh hell, it’s like some secret yakuza, mafia, triad or KGB club or something! Look at how tough and badass these guys are! I’m not even talking about their bodies. Look at their freaking face! The kind of gangster face that could make kids cry! OMG! Are they really students of this school?! Nobody seems to care because either they don’t know these people exist (not really because they were publically there as Amelia’s cheer team at the tournament) or they’re too scared to voice out. Hey, what are you going to do? They’ll pummel you flat! Not to say these guys would do it but you get the idea of how out of place these guys are. And so it’s like Ray is being so inclusive and has best of both worlds because other than his cute feminine girls, now he can also flex his muscles and be part of the macho gay club. CAN I JUST HAVE THE CUTE KAWAII GIRLS ONLY, PLEASE???!!!

Unfortunately and reluctantly I am forced to give this series more points because it’s like they know my obsession for maids and that’s why many of the guys in this anime are maid lovers. Hell yeah, there are no men in this world who hate maids!!!!! I WHOLEHEARTEDLY AGREE!!!! I’ll say the maid café is the best part of the series since I’m so blinded by this obsession. Eventually I want to believe that maids will be the one who will rule the world. Yeah, Ray could do that as long as he becomes Lily. Of f*ck, Lily looking so cute in a maid outfit. Don’t care if it’s a guy behind that Façade! Must not discriminate cute looking maids!!! MAIDS RULE 4EVA!!!!!!! YEAHHHH!!!!! Sorry, went off tangent there…

Okay now, going back to the characters. Oh my, what else am I going to say? Ray is your typical main character and because he holds the Iceblade Sorcerer title, he is an overpowered character that screams he is not one to be messed with. True, other nobles hate him for his lack of pedigree but that is nothing when you can no jack sh*t about his overpowered abilities, right? Ray is also typically humble and helpful, one of the core ingredients why girls will start to like him. But there’s this other thing about Ray and that he is quite frank and straightforward. In the charming and suave department, that is. This guy doesn’t mince his words when he tells a girl how beautiful she is, etc. I’m not sure if this can be considered if he lacks tact or delicacy as the girl would obviously fluster (in which Ray is either oblivious to it or making a poker face and gets his kicks seeing such reaction) and that too helps in making the girl closer to liking him. Thank goodness Ray is good looking.

Sure, Ray’s girls are strong too but they have to have some sort of personal issues so that a stronger force AKA Ray could come to their rescue and give some excitement to this school life of his. Ray might be lacking that lineage thingy that nobles are so obsessed about but if he has high ranking girls like Amelia and Rebecca, whom coming from the top noble houses, that should shut them up a bit. Before Amelia’s liberation, she was so much subdued. But after she realizes she didn’t need to follow all that sh*t and just be herself, it’s like she is slowly becoming a bit of a joker character. Especially during the maid café, she’s like being so passionate about maids (which I wholeheartedly agree) that she seems like a funny person. I don’t know which Amelia to prefer now… But I suppose she can’t take that comic relief role away from Claris because that’s what I see her character as. She is after all blonde twintail so why the f*ck isn’t she tsundere! Then there is the shy but well-endowed Elisa as well as the cool and composed senpai Rebecca until she can’t because family curses are too big to be handled by a girl her age. Thank goodness for Ray, eh? Lastly, Evi as the only guy in the group so as to not make it obvious that Ray’s friends are all girls. At least he has a guy buddy to talk to. And also drum up some imaginary delusions of bromance between them.

The rest of the other supporting characters, I guess it’ll be too bloated to put the others into his circle of friends. Like Ariane who is Amelia’s friend-cum-rival, for now I don’t see her as taking interest in Ray (thank goodness she goes to another school because if she was at Arnold too, the rivalry for Ray could get even more intense) but she is more, how should I put it, surprised about Ray than anything else. Especially when he is in Lily mode. It’s like she can’t believe with her own eyes that he is both so damn good in both genders. Tiana is there for future loli potential while the same is said for Maria as future imouto potential. Then there is this Albert who is like a totally different character. At first, an annoying guy who can’t help stay mad all the time at the ordinary AKA Ray. Yeah, it’s like as though they wanted us to hate him. And then after that near fatal defeat and got his ass saved by Ray, it’s like he found Jesus and started to overhaul himself. This new but tamer look is way better than before, a repentant Albert is now part of Ray’s circle and even looking up to this master for advice. You know Ray and his way of words. Always stay positive. So when Wanda and her lackeys will be part of Ray’s group?

What a coincidence that the gang who picked up Ray and raised him all remain close to where he is. Abbie is now the principal of Arnold, slutty Carol is now a school teacher and master Lydia lives close enough so that when Ray needs advice, he can hop over in no time and visit this ex-Iceblade Sorcerer. Is this their way to keep watch over him? Because it’s like they really regret taking his youthful days away from him and now this is their only way to make it up to him. Just short of reversing time and take an alternate action. Or perhaps they are staying close to him because when it is convenient, they can rake him in for some shadowy operations that only his expertise can handle. He is after all the best soldier they’ve got, right? Last but not least, Carla is the best character BECAUSE SHE IS A MAID!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MAID RULES!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The action scenes are just mediocre and nothing spectacular. After all, Ray is so overpowered, I’m sure he has all the codes and lines that are not taught in school. On other words, boring. Even seeing the rest in action it’s like they’re spamming their trademark spell, put in a bit of magic special effects and voila! No tough monsters gonna ruin their day. Some antagonists may put up a fight but it’s all futile, within the script and expectations because nobody can best the current Iceblade Sorcerer.

Art and animation are pretty standard affair. Some scenes look like it lack details although it doesn’t break the entire anime. Okay, so it’s bad if you really want to be picky about it. I’m so used to such bad and mediocre quality, it has become so normalized for me. Characters look like your typical contemporary anime characters with lots of hot looking guys and girls. But why do some of the characters look like those from the retro anime, Happiness. Claris = Anri? Rebecca = Koyuki? Elisa = Saya? Ibuki = Maria? Yeah, I know. Weird. Somehow I find the design of those Eugenics pair in the final stretch to be looking different, like as though they came from a different anime. I don’t know, that beast guy I thought he came from a Jojo anime. This anime is done by Cloud Hearts, a relatively new studio and this is their first works.

The voice acting is pretty normal but I was surprised to hear Rie Kugimiya making her cameo as Lily. Not in her tsundere mode so it took me a while to realize this familiar voice was hers. The other one I recognized is Nobuyuki Hiyama as Lex. Also sounding in a quite subdued role here. The other casts are Junya Enoki as Ray (Nasa in Tonikaku Kawaii), Iori Saeki as Amelia (Menou in Shokei Shoujo No Virgin Road), Nana Harumura as Elisa (Dory in Ore Dake Haireru Kakushi Dungeon), Azumi Waki as Rebecca (Special Week in Uma Musume: Pretty Derby), Kaede Hondo as Claris (titular character in Tejina-senpai), Yuichiro Umehara as Evi (titular character in Goblin Slayer), Akira Sekine as Ariane (Princess in Princess Principal), Kouhei Amasaki as Albert (Haruo in High Score Girl), Konomi Fujimura as Dina (Natsuki in Hibike! Euphonium), Atsumi Tanezaki as Lydia (Anya in Spy x Family), Maaya Uchida as Carol (Rikka in Chuunibyou Demo Koi Ga Shitai), Nanako Mori as Abby (Dorothea in Sirius The Jaegar), Haruka Michii as Carla (Shunka in Shuumatsu No Harem), Shiki Aoki as Maria (Homura in Edens Zero), Yukari Anzai as Tiana (Momo in Release The Spyce), Haruka Shiraishi as Lieselotte (Asirpa in Golden Kamuy) and Atsushi Abe as Evan (Touma in To Aru Majutsu No Index series).

The opening theme, Dystopia by Sizuk, personally I find this rock song to be just noisy. Especially it’s like the singer trying to sing at the top of her voice and the whole thing comes off as weird. The ending theme is another noisy rock piece, Loudhaler by Maaya Uchida. Good or bad thing, I was more distracted by the fanservice offered by the animation than paying full attention to the song. Yeah. Another strange thing is that every next episode preview, a character narrates it but had to end it by identifying themselves. Yeah, helps a lot because for hell sure I don’t know who the f*ck is uttering the lines. Sarcasm.

Overall, this is another run of the mill AKA ordinary anime series. That’s right. You can find traces of its theme in so many animes before it such as Gakusen Toshi Asterisk, Rakudai Kishi No Cavalry, Seireitsukai No Blade Dance, Seiken Tsukai No World Break, Kuusen Madoushi No Kyoukan and much more. I am also noticing how there is a red head female lead like Amelia in many of those aforementioned series… Am I seeing a trend here? Yup, the trend of being ordinarily boring and disappointing! It’s just so lacking, lacklustre and generic, it makes me worry that such substandard anime series will continue to rule the world and the industry. Oh right. It is right now. Not even maids can save this one.

Inu Ni Nattara Suki Na Hito Ni Hirowareta

Looks like we need some ecchi anime this season. Perhaps last season’s perverted guild was too obvious and too hot for some to handle. So maybe they needed to tone down a bit (just a teensy wee bit) and make it not so obvious. In the sense that we need to have fanservice moments like peeking on a girl’s panties and get smothered in her boobs without the girl getting mad. The girl will allow such perverted acts without a second thought. So how to do this impossibility? Why, you turn the main character into a dog!!! That’s right. You heard me right. And so Inu Ni Nattara Suki Na Hito Ni Hirowareta has our main character turned into a little pooch and this is enough of the excuse for some ecchi fanservice. Sure, this isn’t the first time a guy has been turned into a dog (Inu To Hasami Wa Tsukaiyou is more of a psychotic b*tch abusing-cum-threatening the dog with her pair of scissors and has nothing so sexy about it) but I guess when you’re in dog form, it gives a free pass to look upskirt from a low angle and do lewd stuffs that human boys aren’t allowed to do. Cuteness > perversion. Freaking lucky dog…

Episode 1
Our main character is confused! He wonders why Karen Inukai picks him up from the streets. But I guess he is too cold and too tired to figure things out. Even when Inukai puts him close to her boobs. She brings him back to her house. He sees her mom. Damn, so hot and young! It seems Inukai puts on a sour face when mom enters the scene like as though she is not impressed or appreciative or whatever she is doing. He notes he has never seen this lively side of Inukai as in school she always has that cold demeanour. Before he knows it, he is in the bath with Inukai! OMG! Then she starts stripping and baths with him! Then in the mirror he realizes he is a dog! Woof! Gentleman tries not to look but too bad, he’s seen everything. Lucky bastard! Now he watches her bath herself before they go into the tub. She happily frolics with him. WTF she nibbles and licks his nose! THIS IS FREAKING CREEPY! Happiness combo ends when mom says dinner is ready. Time to get out. After retiring to her room, Inukai tries to teach him tricks. At first he is hesitant to obey because it means he has resigned to being a dog. Then as she tries to get him to shake her hand, he realizes in class he would never have this chance to hold her hand. So he shakes her hand and brings Inukai a whole load of ecstasy. She names him Pochita.

Episode 2
Pochita tries to go back home as his room is the last place he remembers being human. If his dog paws could only open the door. Inukai thinks he wants to go out for a walk so after putting on a collar, out they go. Pochita is in a dilemma walking with her because with this low point of point, he could see her pantsu. Inukai is enjoying this walk with him when suddenly he notices a baseball flying her way. He jerks, causing her to fall down on him. Your cue for doggie to have his nose on her crotch. Bad doggie can’t have that but what’s this? Thinking his nose is a bit injured, she wants to lick it?! Interrupted when those repenting kids want their baseball back. Oh sh*t. Inukai’s face just turned yandere! They apologize and make their way. Don’t look back, she might kill you! Then Pochita needs to take a leak. Thinking of protecting his human dignity, he tries to hold it in. He can’t. He does his business as Inukai happily snaps away! OMG. This woman is psycho! Back in her room, Pochita tries to confess he loves her but obviously she doesn’t understand doggie language. He is surprised that Mike Nekotani is here. This gyaru bimbo is his neighbour whom he hardly talks to. She is here to study with Inukai. Seems she is very frisky with her too although Inukai doesn’t react to it. Pochita then realizes if he warms up to Nekotani, she might bring him back to his home and solve this mystery. When Inukai leave the room, Pochita gets ready to approach her.

Episode 3
However the moment Pochita gets close, Nekotani becomes scared. So, she has a fear of dogs? She is cowering and trying to get away from the pup. Pochita then realizes a centipede crawling onto her back. She is so scared that she didn’t notice. He tries to warn her but she is still in fear. As she tries to run out, she trips and gets knocked out a little. The centipede has crawled into her shirt! Oh boy. Time to get down and dirty. Yeah, Pochita crawling underneath her shirt and trying to get it out. He manages to do it but after all the tumbling and rolling, Nekotani regains consciousness and throws him out. She thinks she has gone overboard and starts to get scared. Pochita approaches her and the only way to dispel the fear is to lick her wound. Ticklish, eh? However this is spotted by Inukai. Oh damn, those piercing eyes. Guess what? She purposely injures her feet so that Pochita could lick it! Good boy. Then the yandere interrogates Nekotani if she did this on her own. It was an accident. Now the sick woman forces Pochita to crawl underneath her dress too! Pochita realizes this won’t end until he obliges. Yeah, Inukai feeling so good and this is proof of their bond! WTF?! In the end, Nekotani doesn’t fear Pochita a lot and thanks him for what he did. Though, Inukai still jealous about it. You think we’ve had enough for today but Inukai returns in a sexy dog outfit. Still wanna play? Oh. My God…

Episode 4
B*tch in a sexy dog outfit trying to flirt with a pooch. Heck, she even got this device that translates dog language! So when she asks if Pochita loves her, a single bark translates… Oh, that devastation on her face. Basically it says no! Stupid translator. She won’t give up and continues flirting. Then mom opens the door to check on her. Uhm. Okay. Whatever. Just don’t hurt yourself. When she asks is it okay for people to be into weird stuffs, this reminds Pochita of his own. As a loner, he is in the gardening club and enjoys watering plants. Yeah, no need to talk to humans. Until Inukai told him that there is nothing weird about his hobby. Just because you like something different doesn’t mean you’re weird. It was when he first started to have a crush on her. Soon a call from Nekotani that she forgot her pen. Maybe next time she can come to her place to study and bring Pochita along. Over the week, Pochita realizes Inukai coming home late. Then as she sleeps, he hatches a plan to use her phone to make a delivery to Nekotani’s place. When she opens the door, he’ll run back out to his home. Sounds easy if only Inukai isn’t grabbing him while she is asleep. Time to put the tongue to good use as he licks her fingers until she lets go. Wow. That orgasmic sleeping face. Best dream? Amazingly Pochita manages to make the order. With paws! How the f*ck can he do all that with paws?! Anyway, he realizes Inukai has been doing part time jobs to cover his expenses. This makes him wonder if it is okay to return to being human because it’ll be back to the same distant relationship with Inukai. Of course he must go back being human. He doesn’t want to deceive Inukai and one day tell her in his own words his feelings.

Episode 5
Now we’re outside Nekotani’s house. Nekotani ushers them in and before they study, they play games first. Pochita thinks of using this chance to escape but looks like Inukai has got her sights on him. Where do you think you are going? He makes a break for it as Nekotani tries to stop him. Pochita barks to make her feel scared. But what’s scarier than this? Yandere Inukai thinking they’re flirting! Then the delivery is here. As the girls are confused over this Inukai’s order, Pochita dashes out. Nekotani once more tries to stop him as he realizes the railing is too high for him to jump over. Hence he is getting dirty with Nekotani like the last time in hopes she will fling him over. Yeah. It worked again! Had to lick her tits this time! Once flung over outside the balcony of his room, he realizes there is someone in his room who isn’t his parents. Why, it’s his gardening club junior, Usagi Tsukishiro. Looks like he is looking for him and also trying to find his porn mags to tease him?! More WTF, Pochita hiding underneath her skirt between her legs?! Does she not really feel anything underneath?! Or is she so obsessed in finding her senpai? She finds chocolates under his bed and tears it apart! Jealous he received chocolates from other girls. Pochita then remembers a girl giving it to him but can’t remember her face clearly. Tsukishiro then starts to cry as she is worried senpai has gone missing. But it can’t get more WTF than this as she starts masturbating herself using the corner of his desk???!!! OMFG!!!!!!!!! Just imagining riding her senpai’s hard dick!!!!!!!

Episode 6
Hearing his mom’s voice, she thanks Tsukishiro for helping to look for her son as well as water the plants in his room. Then she leaves. WTF Pochita follows her and still hiding underneath her skirt?! I thought he wanted to go home?! Soon she realizes this doggie following and picks it up. She thinks of adopting him. He then sees Inukai and Nekotani looking for him but the rain is too loud and drowns his bark. Upon reaching home, Tsukishiro collapses from fever. Yeah, she got soaked in the rain. Hence Pochita tries to get her all naked. Don’t even know how he manages to take off her dress but yeah, it’s for fanservice. Even more so as he unhooks her bra, we hear her screaming her jealousy over her senpai. Mind blowing part, how the f*ck can he take off her pantsu too?! Oh right. Fanservice. So is he going to leave her sleeping on the floor?! He finds some clothes and dumps it all over her to keep her warm. But fanservice logic dictates he must at least make her wear pantsu and another mind boggling moment how a dog can put it on. Paws put on those panties! Also, this moment is so that when he is doing so, Tsukishiro is dreaming of her senpai f*cking her hard!!! WTF???!!! Best dream ever. For us too! Once all that is over, Inukai and Nekotani are heard ringing the doorbell. You mean, they went house to house looking for a dog?! With this door unlock, they enter and see Tsukishiro. Just in time because she wakes up. Is it time for b*tch showdown over a dog?

Episode 7
Flashback shows Pochita disappointed that Inukai didn’t leave Valentine chocolates in his locker. He was really expecting it, huh? Then this strange girl (face not clearly shown), claims she somehow got Inukai’s chocolates with his name on it. Of course he was happy and didn’t suspect a thing. Back home, he happily eats everything until he passes out. He realizes too late it was a trap because that girl lied and definitely drugged the chocolates that turned him into a dog. Now Pochita wakes up in Tsukishiro’s room. All the girls are here. Wonder how Inukai knows where Pochita is? She placed a tracker on him! But took her this long to trace him? But now the real showdown begins. Inukai and Tsukishiro both claim Pochita is theirs. Inukai trying to show her superiority by stating how many hairs on Pochita???!!! OMFG!!! How many of them are brown too???!!! Best part, she also claims Pochita is hers because he goes to her crotch when she lifts up her skirt! Tsukishiro also claims the same thing and explains how Pochita undressed her! Oh God, those yandere eyes of Inukai… Both continue to fight over Pochita. Hope he doesn’t suffocate between their boobs. Nekotani suggests a duel to determine his real owner. Uhm, both will lift up their skirt and whoever Pochita goes to will be the owner???!!! WTF?! Naturally, Pochita sides with Inukai. However Tsukishiro won’t lose and puts a bone in her crotch! Extreme! WTF Pochita attract to it?! The girls start kicking each other and in that distraction, Tsukishiro bags Pochita under her skirt. As Tsukishiro revels in victory, Pochita sees Inukai’s sad crying face. Oh dear. You made her cry. However Nekotani notes Tsukishiro cheated with the bone and hence Inukai is the winner. Pochita sees Tsukishiro’s sad face but notes despite she loves him, he’ll never be her dog. Plus, he doesn’t want to see Inukai’s sad face again. As they leave, Tsukishiro vowing the next time she’ll make Pochita hers. So uhm, the b*tch rivalry is still on for them?

Episode 8
Pochita remembers that lab coat girl responsible for this. As she is from his school, the only way is to go there by sneaking into Inukai’s bag. Well, she’s not going to allow it. So how? Do those cute doggie begging tricks! That sure did the job. Of course she makes him promise to stay in the bag and not jump out. In class, Inukai is fixated at staring at him instead of paying attention. Oh well, if the teachers are scared of her… Next is PE class. See where this is going? Pochita in the flower garden having an awesome view of all the girls in lingerie. So I bet he is staying because of that! So much about plans about dashing out. During lunch, he notices Inukai eating alone and this is how she always does it. He remembers everyone from teachers to students avoid her like a plague. He too was like that at first. Inukai seems happy, though. As long she has him, she is fine. During class as they discuss about the cultural festival, Pochita then spots the lab coat girl. Needing to do something quick, WTF how did Pochita even jump up into and underneath Inukai’s shirt to lick her armpits to raise her hand so as to look like she wants to suggest something???!!! HOW???!!! WTF???!!! I don’t recall her clothes that loose?! With lab coat girl leering at him, Pochita realizes she did this on purpose. But with the dog out of the bag, the other girls take notice and want to hug him. Pochita evades them all until he gets caught. Realizing he broke his promise to Inukai, he needs to do something to make her want to bring him back to school again. And that is to let the girls rub his belly?! Wow. So many hands touching him like never before. But this only seems to make Inukai mad because it’s like Pochita is a slut! Anybody can touch him now?! I thought we had something special together?! With the students finally deciding they want to do a dog café and the teacher just agree to whatever, one of the girls want to keep Pochita since nobody knows who his owner. Time for Inukai to stand up and claim this doggie and put that b*tch in her place.

Episode 9
Inukai saying some embarrassing lines to prove Pochita is hers. If Pochita doesn’t do it, she’ll repeat it until kingdom come. Now the girls want Inukai to bring Pochita for the dog café. No matter how much Inukai shows her yandere eyes, the girls are not scared and before you know it, Inukai is roped in to help. Later the girls bring their dogs to the classroom to get them acclimatised. Nekotani comes to talk to Inukai and finds out what their class is doing. In need for some desperate fanservice, hence Nekotani in shock to see Pochita and trips over glue. Yeah, need to get white sticky stuff all over her!!! As Inukai goes to get some help, she leaves Pochita with her. Then all the dogs growl at her. Because Inukai’s class is doing a hotdog stand, yeah those canines must be hungry. Pervs. Nekotani fumbles again and trips on more glue. This time Pochita’s paws being stuck to her skirt. Hence she takes off her skirt to run while he is still in tow! WTF?! More dumb fanservice because she somehow trips and the rope ties her up. Pochita tries to save her but gets sandwiched between her thighs. Death by thicc-ness. With the sound of guys coming, Pochita wakes her up to hide. Yeah, imagine the chaos if they see a girl running around in her pantsu. Nekotani thinks Pochita is like the old one. Who? Showing a photo of a brightly smiling Inukai and her previous dog named Pochita. It’s the reason Inukai is scared of dogs. But a few years ago, it died and Inukai stopped smiling. Whatever she did came to of no avail. Now that Pochita is here, she’s opening up a lot more. Then Nekotani has this feeling Pochita isn’t a dog but a human since he is too smart. YOU THINK SO?!

Episode 10
Nekotani has to hold that thought as she now has to continue running from the dogs who have found her. I wonder if this is a ghost school because with so much commotion, nobody bother to peek out of their classroom to see a skirtless girl running away from a pack of dogs through the hallways?! Then this f*cking weird moment as Pochita controls Nekotani’s movement on where to turn by biting her ear! OMFG!!! Is this like that rat controlling that chef in Ratatouille???!!! Eventually he leads her into the swimming pool. Well, that washed off her hotdog smell so the dogs lose interest. On the other hand, her boobs are now open and free. Inukai is not impressed and thinks Nekotani and Pochita did something wild and wet together. Pochita vouches for Nekotani so Inukai must believe doggie, right? Now Inukai gets to stare are Nekotani drying herself. Don’t make Inukai any more yandere than she is. Back to helping the class, Pochita uses his paw prints as decorations. The classmates are excited to see this decoration and praise Inukai. Pochita realizes she had no friends but she’s just bad in talking to people. Seeing she was sad her previous dog died, he believes he needs to be that Pochita to make her smile again. Now Tsukishiro comes in wearing a Playboy bunny outfit. Her class is doing a bunny café seeing her senpai is a pervert. Inukai even agrees Pochita is one as he loves big boobs, gets into panties among other lewd activities! There’s your so called reputation, Pochita! Tsukishiro throws Inukai a challenge. The winner will be whosever class raises the most money. If Tsukishiro wins, she’ll get Pochita all to herself. Otherwise, she will never bother with him ever again. The fight is on!

Episode 11
The festival is in full swing. Inukai getting embarrassed by Pochita’s stares but also gets jealous when others touch him. But soon, not many customers are coming in. That’s because they all went over to the bunny café. Yeah, I bet the human bunnies are the ones raking in the money! Hence Inukai comes up with an idea: Let the dogs lick their feet?! Tsukishiro comes in to brag about her success. However as a customer, Inukai ushers in to her seat as she has Pochita lick her feet. Yeah, feet fetish degenerates gonna love this. And as we all know about Tsukishiro, she’s going to cum so hard that she falls off her chair! Other dogs also give their customers their orgasm but none will top Pochita, right? At the end of the day, the lab coat girl walks in. Looks like she is wants Pochita to lick her feet but he is reluctant. Then she poses a question to Inukai: What if her dog is actually human? That’s not possible, right? Then she adds if he was, will she continue to love him or hate him? Wow. Inukai starting to believe that? Look at how she’s sweating! Pochita tries to ‘avenge’ Inukai by licking her feet. Too bad no effect until much later. Albeit just a little. As she leaves, Inukai is still looking in despair. Pochita will not forgive her and follows her to an old abandoned school wing. Gee, like as though she wanted him to follow, eh? Yup. Inside this lab of hers, she welcomes the pooch and introduces herself as Inari Sakihira.

Episode 12
Pochita remembers that name as she has this reputation of doing crazy experiments. Inari reveals she has cameras laced all over Inukai’s home! That’s how she knows what he is doing. Yes. Everything! She makes him wear a gag ball if he wants to know how to turn back into a human. It seems this gag ball translates Pochita’s thoughts. First Inari shows all the modesty outraging scenes by Pochita. You love that, don’t you? Yup, see that wagging tail? That’s your true nature. So does he want to throw it all away and become human? Pochita says yes because he will confess to her as one. Then he realizes why he didn’t do so before. Inari is so happy her crazy face is scary. Then she tells him the way to turn back into a human: Just kiss her. More accurately use his tongue because some mumbo-jumbo using salvia with DNA, blah, blah, blah. Yeah. Science. It should be easy for him after all the practice, right? But when Inari says Inukai will be her guinea pig to test this out, this makes Pochita very mad. He will not steal Inukai’s first kiss so as for Inari to conduct her experiment. Hence he will remain a dog. Goodbye. So mad he bites and crushes the gag ball! Pochita returns to Inukai who is thankful to him for trying to protect her from Inari as well as helping her make friends. Then she kisses him. Well, it’s on the nose. So you wonder if it can happen if she kisses him? Of course. I believe Inukai is crazy enough to do that! Because of the lack of fanservice this episode, now we see all the girls trying to vie for Pochita’s affections. Because WTF all of them strip their top and try to tempt him to suck or lick their boobs! OMFG. Can you not fall into the temptation of topless women?! What is a dog to do but regrets he will become human again one day. Well, you sure you want to give Inari her way?

Special 1
Can’t have an ecchi series without a pool episode! I mean, a REAL pool episode! The one at school doesn’t count! So here we are. Pochita along with Inukai and Nekotani at a special pool that allows dogs. It all began when Inukai realizes she has gained some weight and thus it’s time to hit the pool! Not the gym? Whatever. We can’t complain seeing these babes in bikinis, right?! Well, Nekotani for some reason gets chased around by a naughty dog. Cue for her to slip, fall into the pool and somehow lose her top. Inukai tries to help Pochita swim. Now that he is a dog, such big bodies of water is scary. He nearly drowned. Luckily nothing untoward happens. I hope Inukai didn’t do human CPR on him! Then the girls decide to do some exercise. Inukai sucks at sit-ups. But when Pochita helps to hold her feet, she is damn motivated and is moving at breakneck speeds! Yeah, keep those boobs jiggling! Next is squats. The same thing. Inukai being lethargic. Until Nekotani gets chased off by that naughty dog, Inukai gets motivated and now she’s doing super squats! Keep those parts jiggling, yeah! Déjà vu again as another dog chase has Nekotani crashing into the pool. This time somehow sending Inukai’s top flying too. Because Pochita doesn’t want others to see her tits, he goes to swim and get it. Inukai is so happy Pochita swam on his own that his reward is being smothered by those boobs. Yeah. Back home, Inukai is happy she lost weight. Not on her but Pochita too. Yeah, pooch needs to get some exercise after lazing around all day. He is happy he gets to see this cute side of her.

Special 2
Time for Inukai’s much needed break at the cultural festival to go around with Pochita. But wait. Look who is on a break too? That damn Tsukishiro! Yeah, she too wants to hang out so Inukai is planning to go through this haunted house. Dare to come? Obviously Tsukishiro is scared but pretends not to. Eventually she gets frightened while the sadistic Inukai teases her about it and leaves her behind. However Pochita also notices Inukai scared as her hand holding his leash is shaking. Eventually Tsukishiro doesn’t want to be left behind and tries to catch up. Not sure how the f*ck she got wardrobe malfunction to expose her tits but there, our fanservice! Pochita can only see this because doggie got night vision. Yes, it’s time to put her clothes back on properly. WTF he tries to climb her leg? Obviously she gets scared thinking something is touching it. Oh hell, she can’t identify it is Pochita?! Her scream scares Inukai and paralyzes her. This is so that Pochita can continue his quest without her interference, I suppose. Weird logic dictates that he has to sniff her crotch and then as he uses his paws to push back up her top, his tail becomes some sort of vibrator to tickle Tsukishiro into orgasm! WTF???!!! Now she wants to be f*cked harder???!!! WTF???!!! I don’t know how but Pochita did it. At this point Tsukishiro is so scared she just runs out. Back to Inukai, how is she doing? Not good. So scared she peed where she’s standing!!! As some girls come in to check, Pochita needs to hide this ‘puddle’ and protect Inukai’s modesty so he splashes the bottle of drink over her as cover up. Those girls didn’t suspect a thing as they help Inukai who is of course grateful to her doggie for this. Later she shares a bottled drink with him and Pochita felt this indirect kiss makes them like lovebirds. Keep dreaming. You’re still a f*cking dog.

Every Dog Has Its (Ecchi) Day
Pochita perhaps must be too preoccupied with the thought of kissing that he probably didn’t figure out to just gather all his saliva into a container and then pour it down into Inukai’s mouth while she is asleep. Yeah, most disgusting method but hell, a better loophole than the kiss what will have him play right into Inari’s hands. So until he grows balls for that day, he’ll forever remain a cowardly pup and enjoy the free fanservice our slutty ladies will throw at him. Life is so good as a dog. You dog!

Well people, there isn’t any solid story here except for the fact that a certain kid somehow gets transformed into a dog. Because as we all would know, that itself screams the flimsiest excuse for us to get our 2 cents worth of ecchi fanservice. That’s the whole point of this series. The only way for us to get such nice POVs and without the girls complaining is that you turn the main character into a cute furry little creature. Despite the goal of Pochita is trying to get back being human, but that plot seems very secondary as each episode seeks to drag out as long as possible the fanservice shenanigans. After all, as a pooch, he lacks a lot of freedom and there is nothing he can do by himself as he is already on Inukai’s leash. So yeah, in this context the story didn’t go anywhere as it is just the same formula of Pochita trying to do something but it ends up looking so perverted. But we all forgive him because he’s a dog, right? Save for dog haters, nobody hates those cute little canines, no?!

I have to admit it in a way that being a veteran ecchi viewer (WTF did I just say), the fanservice level here is just average. I mean after when I watched animes that are more risqué than this (a certain healer raping series comes to mind), this one somewhat pales in comparison. Oh heck, even last season’s Futoku No Guild I would consider to be much more ecchi than this. Of course the things they do to make such fanservice scenes are way freaking impossible. Like how Pochita is often able to easily slide in between the girls’ clothes, skirt or pantsu. Like as though those clothing naturally open sesame for the pooch whenever he gets near. IT IS NOT FREAKING POSSIBLE EVEN IN PHYSICS TOO! But we’re so engrossed with the fanservice level, we just give it a free pass and don’t even give a hoot how absurd some scenes were (dogs chasing Nekotani all over school because of some flimsy hot dog smell and nobody else notices. And don’t get me started about Pochita stripping and dressing unconscious Tsukishiro in her hallway!). Pochita unintentionally gets his way with the girls, the girls do their orgasm face and moans, we all are happy. Win-win situation. Why complain further?

Furthermore, like when a series is of the ecchi genre, there will be multiple versions of it. Yup, you’ve guessed it. Censored or uncensored versions. Guess which one I watched? That’s right. Despite watching a few recent ecchi themed animes uncensored, this time I went for the censored one because, who got the time to wait for a few days for the uncensored one to come out! Besides, it’s a good time to also practice and put my superior imagination to good use. Heh. Anyway, what I want to say is that the uncensored version is not actually all that bad. You see, what I mostly noticed is that Pochita’s paw which mostly acts as the censor will only be covering a small portion of the scene, say the camel toe. That’s basically it. It’s not like they put a huge block to censor our half the screen or anything like that. Hence in some scenes, you can actually see the whole pantsu and even if the censor has to come up, it would probably be one small spot. So you won’t lose much if you watched the uncensored version and of course, have a superior imagination!

As for the characters, oh well, what else can I say? I’ve already said this a few times that the only reason Pochita gets turned into a dog is for these tantalizing fanservice scenes. The character whose basic name we don’t even know, is made to be in a further dilemma because he gets to be with the girl he crushes hard on. Too bad he can’t have best of both worlds. Either he stays as a dog to be close with her (and even get his paws all over her body) or return being a human in which he’ll never have an inch of a chance to be in the same breathing space as her. Touch choice. Be Inukai’s pet dog (a reality right now) or Inukai’s human lover (which will never happen in a million years unless something drastic happens). Oddly, if Pochita manages to retain his human conscience as a dog, why does he not do something smart like sending a message. For example, perhaps use items like building blocks to spell it out that he is a human or something? Oh right. Can’t ruin the premise of having mindless fanservice. Okay. Whatever.

Inukai being the cold unsociable ice queen character, I can relate to her why she doesn’t like to interact with humans. So it’s like Pochita is one of the very few people who could see a different side to her. It was an interesting question posed by Inari to make her think if her love would still stay the same if Pochita is revealed to be an actual human than a dog. Anybody would be in for a traumatic shocker if they had something of this sort. After all, this Pochita could be some sort of a replacement of her old one but either way, it is the only thing that brings her the smiles. Until Inukai can break free of this shackles, you’ll have to put up with a yandere version. That’s right. Thank goodness Pochita is a dog because if he was human, Inukai would’ve killed you for being unfaithful! On a trivial note, I bet Inukai is named so not because she’s a dog lover but rather because she is mostly a b*tch. Heh. So as not for her to continuously be viewed as one, hence we can see her slowly opening up to her classmates. It’s a start. Wasn’t so bad, was it?

Then there is her friend Nekotani whom I assume from her name is a cat lover but nothing of this sort indicates that. She’s just afraid of dogs, that’s all. Unlike Inukai, she is a total opposite and is more casual. One might easily classify her as a dumb blonde from the way she acts and all but despite that outlook, she cares deeply about Inukai and hopes her friend to go back to the old ways. Then there is Tsukishiro who is like a senpai maniac. Obviously a love triangle is going to happen if Pochita were to be human. So you wonder why this rabbit girl is named so? Because rabbits have a reputation for multiplying, right? See where I’m going with this?! Inukai and Nekotani are not characters who are in heat all the time. So we need one who is just freaking slutty and having hots for senpai. I don’t know, that masturbation scene of hers actually felt creepy than stimulating. Weird. But wow. Imagine if a girl have such passion for me, I’ll be the happiest guy in the world! Time to get out of dreamland and continue this blog.

Last and not least, the lab coat girl AKA Inari. There is a lot of mystery surrounding her and she’s like the last boss of the series whom Pochita needs to get to in order to unveil the whole truth. Of course I have a few conspiracy theories why she turned him into a dog and that’s because Pochita himself begged her to do it since he desperately wanted to be close to Inukai. Yeah, he lost a bit of his memories during the transformation but whatever. It was also a plea from him to help her get over her trauma of losing her previous dog because the only way to fight fire is with fire. I mean, why else would Inari be trying to confuse Inukai be doing this solely on Pochita? Are there other test subjects we are unaware of? Maybe. You don’t know how crazy the girls in this anime are to the max. After all, we don’t know how many other missing students there are in this school because we just don’t care. Or maybe she is just really a mad scientist who wants to experiment. On a trivial note, I’m guessing from her name that her animal spirit is a fox. Yup, such a sly woman.

Art and animation are pretty standard. Okay, sometimes it feels a bit substandard. But with cute looking girls and a cute looking dog, what else is there to complain? Because of the many POV camera angles, sometimes it makes the viewing experience a bit weird especially when we see Pochita trying to fix the situation quick. The animation gets a bit choppy from the ‘fast paced’ action. This animation is done by Quad whose only other work so far is Kaijin Kaihatsu-bu No Kuroitsu-san.

For the voice acting, didn’t expect to recognize anyone but to my surprise, Yuka Iguchi making her cameo has Inari. Oh wait, is that Yuuko Gotou as Inukai’s mom! Wow. Thought she retired due to her condition and only doing very limited jobs. Didn’t expect her to be here but okay. It’s a short role for a short series. That’s good enough for her. The rest of the other casts are Shuuichirou Umeda as Pochita (Saybil in Mahoutsukai Reimeiki), Saya Aizawa as Inukai (Kisara in Engage Kiss), Mayu Sagara as Nekotani (Kasumi in Love Live! Nijigasaki Gakuen School Idol Doukoukai) and Yurie Kozakai as Tsukishiro (Pekola in Jashin-chan Dropkick).

The opening theme, Gyakkyou Fuwaku Fraction is a lively denpa song sung 12 different singers! Couldn’t they just temporarily call themselves a group name instead of individually naming them all?! Guess not. Yeah, the only one I know from the line-up is Miyuki Hashimoto (credited as the main singer) and Yozuca. Not that I could hear their voices clearly in the song anyway. Everybody’s singing together so it’s kinda loud in some ways. An even livelier denpa song for the ending theme, Let’s Go My House with 3 different versions obviously. Inukai, Nekotani or Tsukishiro, which is the best one? Dunno. All sound the same to me.

Overall, this series is just average and if not mediocre. Fanservice is one thing but when you consider using a little doggie as its main theme to play out the ecchi themes, sometimes it feels downright creepy, cringe, disgusting and weird. Yeah, if you want to watch something horny, might as well go watch real porn than this half assed mess that has no story, forgettable characters and lots of cringe worthy moments (WTF Inukai snapping pics of Pochita peeing????!!!!). I believe the many negative sentiments about this is because they used a dog for it. Yeah, leave the pooch out of our horny human desires! Heh. Oh, you don’t know the human-canine porn fetish on the dark web… Anyway, I hope they don’t make variations of this kind of series. A guy turned into something which gives some sort of chance at perverted close proximity. I don’t even want to think about a plot of being turned into a vibrator… PLEASE, NOOOOOO!!!

Isekai Ojisan

Not very often you hear isekai stories of the main character coming back alive. Uh huh. When they get the isekai treatment, it means they’ll stay in that other fantasy world for the rest of their lives. Never have I heard ever return to their own sh*tty original world. That is, until Isekai Ojisan. Yes, I thought this was going to be another one of those ubiquitous isekai themed anime and theoretically it is. However the only twist is that our titular uncle has returned from that other world where he has spent many years lost there! I don’t know. Are you supposed to be happy or sad? Well, let’s hear what our uncle has to say. Because you bet all his stories are going to be lit when he starts telling them to his grandkids. Back in those good old (isekai) days… Yeah…

Episode 1
Takafumi Takaoka visits his uncle in hospital. He got hit by a truck 17 years ago and fell into a coma state. Now he has awakened. Yeah, 17 years in Gran Bahamal must have made him spout nonsense, huh?! Must be shock to learn Sega is no longer in the video game industry, huh?! Takafumi is not fond of this because ever since he is in coma, the family fought over what to do. Their finances aren’t good. Well, Ojisan tries to show him a few magic tricks. Not going to work~ HOLY SH*T, HOW DID HE MAKE THAT BOTTLE FLY?! FOR REAL?! After a few magic tricks, Takafumi has a good idea. Ojisan gets discharged and now lives with him. Takafumi uploads his magic trick videos online to get the views and the money rolling in! Ojisan relates some of his experience in the other world. Because everyone looks beautiful, they think he is some orc species and is hunted down! Yeah, 17 years being a solo player with no comrades must be hard. An elf he saved was ungrateful but Takafumi can tell she is a tsundere since she keeps following him around. Also, Ojisan is new to this internet thingy so be patient as he tries to deal with haters and all! He also gets used to ordering things online and if there are shipping fees, he just flies there to get it to save on that cost! Ojisan can use his magic to show a hologram of his memories from the other world via first person view. Well, more people hunting him down. Only to be saved by that elf girl again. One adventure has him save a group of kids from a monster. As usual, his ugly face means they force themselves to be grateful so as not to be a dick. However they soon knock him out and throw him off the cliff. Could have died but guess who saved him? Yeah, that elf girl again. As gems are memorabilia of that world, he tried to give her one as a ring since she wanted him to swear his fealty to her for saving him. But he redeemed it in some town and she continued to follow him. Since Ojisan can also keep stuffs from the other world in his other dimension, this nifty trick earns them more views!

Episode 2
Ojisan is so disappointed. His favourite game he thought would end up in first place in the rankings, came out 197th instead! On to another one of his isekai stories, Ojisan entered a town that is being antagonized by a flaming dragon. Only some ice god’s freezing sword can slay it. However it is in possession of a shut-in girl named Mabel Rayveil. Unless you can melt her heart, nobody is getting the sword. Guess what? Ojisan went to directly say the dragon instead! Takafumi orders an old Sega console and his favourite game. Apparently anything that is spent on Sega is not a waste of money! More shock for Ojisan as he found out long running series like Kochikame has already ended. Speaking of New Year, looks like they celebrate too in the other world. Yeah, Ojisan partying by himself before returning to his own room alone. But wait. Mabel soon visits him. She wants to be brave and strong like him. What did Ojisan tell her? It’s okay to be a shut-in! And just like that she returned to her reclusive life! During New Year, Sumika Fujimiya is passing by and sees Ojisan mumbling to himself. Mad guy. Then she bumps into Takafumi who is her childhood friend. They catch up a bit. But since he has things to do, he has her wait at his place first. She enters and sees Ojisan flying in on his return! He attacks her trying to erase her memories! Luckily stopped by Takafumi and explained who she is to him. Sumika finds it hard to believe Takafumi is supporting this senile old man. Don’t believe his magic, huh? Ojisan then thinks Sumika likes Takafumi. She embarrassingly denies it only to be further shot down as Takafumi claims they are just normal friends. He tries to use this Evangelion series as mature love reference (because the series was sponsored by Sega!) before talking one he had himself experienced. This brings Sumika to tears until Takafumi points out he is talking about his video game experience! Ojisan then reads her mind and although she is shocked, she still thinks he is some conman. Sumika wants Takafumi to cut ties with him and if he can’t afford rent, she’ll help him. Too bad he can’t abandon his uncle. Then she witnesses him ordering rice via online. Yeah, the delivery guy broke his back just to carry it all the way here… Don’t buy rice online ever again.

Episode 3
Due to change in YouTube’s policies, looks like Ojisan will be out of a job unless he gets the viewers! Takafumi can’t understand why they’re losing subscribers until he realizes Ojisan’s sh*tty replies to all the comments! In such a pinch situation, this reminds Ojisan when he was in some sealed city. Elf girl was in this city too as she explained how the barrier was built to keep out monsters. Ojisan then tested it by breaking a hole in the barrier! Oh sh*t! Suddenly WTF?! Monsters start surrounding the city. Attack On Titan?! Cyclops version! And some giant cloud dragon too! They’re going to attack it as elf girl prepares to go and destroy them all. However Ojisan put back up the barrier again and she crashed into it! Monsters went away. In the end, she didn’t rat him out as the culprit so as to make him owe her dinner. Guess what? He ran away that night thinking she was going to use this opportunity to extort him! Back to the problem at hand, Ojisan thinks of writing his predicament to get people to subscribe. Takafumi remains sceptical because this will only fan the haters. Guess what? People subscribe and he soon gets the much needed subscribers to remain a YouTuber! Yeah, we’re so deep into the dark side of the internet that we didn’t know there’s such light. Later Sumika visits. Once again she complains about the uncle leeching off his nephew. He suggests she can stay here and even sleep in Takafumi’s room but the nephew shoots it down because it is too cramped. Ouch. As Takafumi leaves for an errand, Ojisan wants to know if there is something that has happened to them in the past for Takafumi to see her only as a friend. Please tell. She doesn’t want to hear advice from an uncle who plays video games! That hurt his feelings so he leaves. But soon, elf girl is here! How?! Takafumi returns and is shocked at this. But he knows this is Ojisan in disguise after posing a few Sega questions. Playing out Takafumi’s memories on a hologram, it seems this ugly as f*ck brat is Sumika! OMFG???!! REALLY?! She bullies Takafumi a lot. How uncouth! Because Takafumi recognized her in the streets after changing this much, Ojisan realizes it is not about the appearance. As Ojisan is still in elf girl form, they stream him playing video games. Viewers tremendously increase! This is going to be viral! Hot girl virtual avatars are the way to go! But when Ojisan sees a comment that says no need for a game console, he gets disappointed that things didn’t change and reverts back to his uncle form. Sumika gets terrified seeing this morphing process. Oh well, at least the video pay out after that is good.

Episode 4
Takafumi used to get bullied by other kids. But those bullies are put in their place when Sumika enters their scene. They fear and respect this ugly boss lady! Takafumi and Ojisan are so thrilled seeing this memory but of course it is super embarrassing for Sumika. Though, she shows them of a photo of herself in middle school in which she suddenly became more feminine. Sure it’s not a different person! Talking about birthday presents, she sends him a picture of herself in a swimsuit in her middle school years. He immediately deletes it for fear of being arrested and then heads off to go buy coffee! Ojisan quips Sumika lost to coffee in terms of content! OMG indeed. Then as he accidentally spills coffee on her, he manages to freeze everything including her. He lets her bathe while he goes out. Sumika wondering if Takafumi’s mind will change if he sees her in the nude. Here’s your chance as he is back! She squeals while he runs away embarrassed. Taking this chance, she tries to get all flirty with him but it seems he thinks she is just being considerate and summons Ojisan back just to erase his memories! Don’t do that! With Ojisan noting Sumika is now of legal drinking age, he gives her an advice: Pinch is chance. What? After a lecture on to never give up, this reminds him about his first time drinking too. Time for another isekai video. If you’re wondering why Ojisan looks the same, please note he looks like that too in his twenties! Elf girl returns all dressed up as she b*tches to him about that barrier incident. And then she learns how he defeated the flaming dragon without the ice sword. Unbelievable. He tells her she couldn’t defeat it because she gave up too early. Hence the same motto he parted to her is actually from a Sega game! Are we so disappointed! But what’s this? Suddenly Ojisan gets a little aggressive and forces elf girl to follow him to his room. He’s holding her waist and all as they make their way. Then it turns out he is drunk and thanks her for guiding her back. Yeah, she gets locked out after that! No prizes to guess next morning her eyes all red. Crying all night, huh?! Sumika so disappointed that she forces everyone to drink. Unfortunately Ojisan can’t hold his beer so he gets drunk and takes them all flying! No more drinking. Later we see another video in which Ojisan sucks out poison from elf girl and then tries to make her feel better by removing her armour and touching her all over. Yeah, looks like an erotic video! Of course she knocks him out after that. Now Sumika requests Ojisan for some poison to use on Takafumi!

Episode 5
Sumika suggests Ojisan get into baseball because the pay out is good. Too bad Ojisan has bad memories of baseball club in his school days. This however reminds him when he was almost assassinated. After that barrier incident, it seems a shady figure has been following him. She attacks but Ojisan manages to block. Turns out to be Mabel! Heck, she blames him ever since he saved her village, she has been released from her duty. Basically she is useless. Knowing Mabel doesn’t want to actually kill him, he brings her back to his room to talk. Mabel did take up his advice to be a shut-in but she still needed to provide for herself. There were some differences with the villagers so she ended up freezing all their feet. Since Mabel still hates working, Ojisan talks about his working experience. And some video game reference too. For now, she is going to find a way to break the ice seal of her sword completely. Ojisan tries to comfort her that she is a nice person to talk to. That’s when she realizes a ring on her finger. He put it on while she was asleep! Of course Ojisan is unaware of what it means. Mabel tries to return it to him but he puts it back on her finger! Panicking, she wants to bathe. WTF Ojisan starts smelling her to see if she stinks?! That is when she hears him say sell to ring which is enough to cover for expenses for the rest of her life. Understandably, Mabel goes berserk and tries to kill him. The commotion wakes up elf girl next door. Obviously she is going to misinterpret this scene. Ojisan tying Mabel down and this looks like some sex position! Tears in her eyes! Worse, that ring on her finger. Elf girl cuts Mabel loose as she freezes Ojisan. And that how he was almost assassinated as both girls forge some sort of friendship. Later Sumika notices the girls speaking and Mabel speaking something about Japan Bahamal. Do they know about Japan? Elf girl then proceeds to tell about the legend but it makes Mabel sad because it’s like spoilers to her and she wanted to tell it. Speaking of bonuses Ojisan received, of all the many times he got hunted down as an orc, the first time he got here, it seems some god spoke to him in some different language. Translation app says it will grant him a wish. However it wasn’t the power to eliminate those who were torturing him but rather to speak their language. And so he suddenly knew how to speak and understand this world’s language. That could be his bonus. Although he didn’t get killed, he was soon sold off as a rare orc in some freak show. Since it is getting too heavy, everyone takes a coffee break.

Episode 6
Well, bad news. Ojisan was worth less than some scrub! Yeah, those who captured him tried selling him off to a freak show and got way less than expected. Ojisan was then thrown into the basement for a week. Because of his translation magic, he somehow managed to make contract with some light spirit and hence obtained a light sword that cut him out of his cell. Seeing other poor animals, he cut them loose too. However those animals attacked him! Hence Ojisan went crazy and started slaying those beasts the whole night. Crazy. Then he stumbled into elf girl fighting a dragon. Damn, he killed the dragon in 1 strike! To be fair, elf girl already dealt some damage to the same area so he just dealt the killing blow. As thanks, she berated him. Tsundere. He got a shock thinking she stabbed herself when actually she was keeping the knife in her other dimension on her belly. So he stripped her to find the injury! We can see where this is going. Of course, more mean name callings for him. Since Takafumi and Sumika want to know the aftermath of Mabel freezing him. Well, next morning, he found both girls sleeping on him. Elf girl’s lame excuse to warm his organs for some tribe. Whatever. He is about to let her continue but what’s this? Mabel having some sort of traumatic dream? Turned out she still doesn’t want to work! Each time they suggested to her to sell the ring, she gave some excuses. So Ojisan put her under elf girl’s care. Wow. Now she’s calling her as her master. Ojisan soon planned to scout some dungeon a hero is trying to clear. Elf girl noted a strong hero whose title remained vacant for 50 years until one came about. Elf girl can’t go since she needs to go back to the town to get back the ring she sold (must have felt threatened by Mabel?). Mabel can go but since she only operates at night, she’ll sleep through the day. Please wait till then. So that’s it for today’s video as Ojisan treats them to ramen. Tastes good until he doesn’t have enough money so Sumika has to cover the rest.

Episode 7
Ojisan wants his hoodie back that he lent to elf girl. So he chains her up and tries to remove her clothes?! WTF this look like a rape scene?! Luckily she tricks him into undoing part of the magic since it is making it hard to take the hoodie off. Once that happens, she punches and knocks him out cold. Another story, we see Ojisan joining up with a holy mage named Alicia Edelcia and her groupie to defeat a horde of goblins. Sorry, Ojisan isn’t a goblin either! Ojisan tries to do the tricks and moves from Golden Axe to kill the goblins but none worked. Until he sliced the mountain and it crumbled onto them! That wasn’t in Golden Axe! Later, Ojisan learns Alicia saw him as the one who recreated the barrier in that city. She is about to praise him but he erases all their memories! Then they go hunt down some monster hedgehog terrorizing the people. Sorry Ojisan, it is not blue, cute or fast! Looks like a real hedgehog! Ojisan burns it along with the entire place after learning the hedgehog is tormenting the people because it loves to hear their screams. Takafumi then realizes Sumika forgot her handphone and so with Ojisan, they fly to college to give it to her. But what’s this? Some ugly as f*ck dude (could he be a real orc?!) trying to hit on a very reluctant Sumika. Ojisan bestows some magic onto Takafumi to go help. So he pops up to return the phone. Then he realizes this dude is their childhood friend, Chiaki Fujimiya. You mean that cute looking Chiaki?! Since when did he grow up and turn into an orc???!!! Sumika introduces Ojisan who is that famous YouTuber. Too bad Chiaki doesn’t know who he is nor does he know all those old Sega games… Such shock… This leaves Takafumi to demonstrate some of his magic to Sumika as they head elsewhere to talk. Now you impressed with his magic? She thought he came to her rescue and of course he denies he was jealous or anything. This prompts some old memory whereby he rushed to her to protect her from being bullied. But further probing into her memories, it was her who was the aggressor instead! Anyhow, Sumika is flattered he came to her rescue. Sumika’s friend, Sawa sees them and gets acquainted with Takafumi. Is she trying to pair him up with Sumika? Back home and continuing Alicia’s story, when Ojisan asked about that strong hero, Alicia reveals the big surprise as she is that Shining Crusader hero.

Episode 8
It seems Alicia and her guys just became heroes a short while ago. This is thanks to the head priest crediting them to the public as the ones who killed the goblins and repelled other monsters. Ojisan accompanies them to the dungeon to find some sacred weapon. Ojisan uses his magic to find the quickest route there. Yeah. We’ve got it. Seeing how easy it is and everybody seems disappointed about it, Ojisan erases their memories and redo the whole thing again. This time going through all the obstacles. Yeah, now it’s worth getting it. In the end, Ojisan wanted to erase their memories of him helping but seeing how Alicia is so grateful, he lets it be. He leaves the group as he claims he has urgent matters at the capital so Alicia gives her healing spell cards as gratitude. Ojisan’s true intention is to find the mastermind behind this so using his mind reading on the guards, he learns the church is behind this. He goes to see the head priest who is currently planning something new with the army’s commander, Ricardo Markfield. This proves they’re just lining up their pockets and planning to use the hero party as pawns by sacrificing them. Even if he claims they knew the risk before joining, he is trying to get them killed again with another mission. So that’s a no-no. WTF Ojisan transforms into some old school teacher of his and slaps Markfield! Because nobody could outdebate this teacher! Yeah, Markfield gives in! Markfield then argues about someone working in the shadows to undermine the natural order of this world. Technically it is Ojisan’s fault since he had a hand in them.

Mabel then pops up to fight him since she is recruited into the army. We see an epic fight between them. Too bad it’s an illusion as Ojisan and Mabel are hiding somewhere and talking. So as Mabel boasts about this job she got, she hopes he could throw in this fight so she could get promoted and all. No can do. That goes against his principles so it seems like he is going to rape her again but Markfield and the guards see through the illusion. Markfield thinks she is a spy working for Ojisan. To prove him wrong, Mabel now seriously turns her ice sword against Ojisan. However she is too reckless and injures some of the guards. Luckily Ojisan saves the day and pinpoints the head priest as the perpetrator imposing his will on Mabel to do this. Thus Ojisan questions Markfield if he is willing to work with this shady old guy and dirty his hands just to protect his land. What else is there to resort? Trust your men’s abilities. And if it gets too hard, just call his name and he’ll come to the rescue. Everyone except the head priest believes in Ojisan. So Ojisan uses his magic to show an awesome fire dragon before flying away. Now you believe? All this coolness is of course learnt from his Sega video game. On a tragic note, Mabel gets a notice of dismissal… Takafumi suddenly grows scales over his skin?! Ojisan believes that it is because when he was granted magic then at the college, he didn’t repay the spirits back enough. Hence he will be turning into a velociraptor? Don’t worry. Ojisan has got this covered. WTF he also transforms into a velociraptor???!!! What is Sumika going to do with 2 dinosaurs in the house?!

Episode 9
Ojisan’s panic is starting to get real when his Sega console is broke! But don’t worry, the internet can help fix it. Because of the hot weather, Ojisan has some ice spirit make this room a lot cooler. Yeah, I guess they’re too broke or have some dumb pride not to get an air-cond. This leads to a talk about spirits. Sorry to disappoint but they don’t have any beautiful forms and just a voice you can here. Speaking of which, as payment for cooling the room, the spirit wants a cow head or it’ll destroy humanity! Luckily it settles for a fish head. This leads to a talk about that time the guys turned into velociraptors because Ojisan once turned into a flaming dragon and risked not turning back so as to have some cool exit. It is only thanks to elf girl after an epic aerial battle did she put a stop to his rampage. While he sleeps on her lap, this cocky dude, Hagen Regfalgen goes up to her and wants her to pay her debts and dues. Of course he knows she is an elf princess and she’ll fetch a higher price. She is about to fight him and his men but Hagen puts a pact collar on her. He gives her a choice to pay off her debt or go into arrears and be his when suddenly Ojisan wakes up and easily breaks that collar! He doesn’t know what sh*t is going on but consider whatever he owed her for stopping his dragon form, paid off. He is about to leave but she won’t let him, giving lame tsundere excuses. Elf girl is about to continue her fight with Hagen’s men when suddenly Ojisan puts a ring on Hagen’s finger?! Yeah, he learnt she is in debt and gives him one of his rings. This pisses off elf girl even more. Did you know how hard she worked her ass off to buy it back?! Her rage causes the ground to give way as they fall into the mud. Because of that, Hagen doesn’t want some muddied elf anymore. Ring still can’t get off his finger, though. Story over as the trio the place has now turned into a very cold wintery place. None dared open the window for fear of offending the spirit! Freeze to death… Later we see Ojisan heard some parasitic rumours. So he barges into the room and lifts up elf girl and Mabel’s skirt to check their stomach!!! Turns out he is the one having the parasite. Yeah, this gonna get bloody and ugly…

Episode 10
Sawa arrives to see where Sumika hangs out. Too bad she already gets traumatized by Chiaki who ushers her in. Worse, she thinks this place is some sort of cult! She wants to take Sumika and run but Ojisan just returned. Damn, those shady flashes of smile! She tries to tell him off about the cult but he thinks it is some Sega thingy. Of course she soon learns the truth. Sawa then tries to test if Takafumi is interested in Sumika as she shows him pictures of her. However he gets irritated by all the unknown men in the background! Those are just passing by! When Ojisan tries to read Sawa’s memory and then erase hers and Chiaki’s memories after this accidental reveal, Takafumi and Sumika kick them out and then lecture Ojisan’s bad habit about erasing memories. This of course reminds him of such. Yeah, we go back to the story where we left off after Hagen. They’re soaking at the hotspring. The young ones are anticipating elf girl fanservice… But it’s just Ojisan! The disappointment! Sorry, no footage from the women’s area. Apparently this hotspring inn was founded by another guy who came from their world. However he died a few days later as he was already old. Elf girl talks to the current owner who reveals about a person from another world dies, everything that person bought over will also disappear including the clothes. Yeah, Ojisan busy rearranging his inventory than listening! Unskippable cut scene?! Elf girl is looking forward to sleep in the same room with Ojisan. Too bad he prefers to sleep in the closet. But soon she gets a surprise as he massages her feet as gratitude. Oh boy. Another rape-like scene. The struggle has them end up in an ambiguous position. Will things get steamier and more adult-like now? Only, Ojisan busts Alicia and her guys from eavesdropping next door. Yup, they’re crashing here too. Elf girl gets along with Alicia fine since the latter favourably views them as an item. Anyway, they are here training to get stronger. To elf girl’s dismay, Alicia has painted the sacred weapon into a cuter colour. Her men also carelessly mistreat the other weapons until they go missing. Elf girl can’t take this anymore and leaves to go look for it. The rest are left behind but oh look, monsters are attacking the inn now.

Episode 11
Alicia’s guys step up to handle the big monkey monster. It sounds like they are praising Ojisan but eventually when it turns out to be another person, Ojisan gets depressed and locked himself in the toilet! Too bad he didn’t hear how they subsequently praised his name. He manages to get out of the toilet and resume the footage. Thanks to elf girl finding the sacred scabbard, she helps snipe some of those bird monsters away. As Ojisan returns to Alicia, she is running away from her men and inn staffs as they are now acting like zombies. Ojisan tweaks her wand for some barrier power. Cue for Ojisan to make it look like he is getting down and dirty in this close proximity. Once that is done, Alicia unleashes her power to free her friends. With this new power, she is able to borrow her comrades’ skill and thus send that monster monkey packing. As the fire foxes (not the browser!), Ojisan got it all covered as he burns everything down with his fire. Oh well, at least the inn has got a new open bath view. Later as he bathes, Alicia comes to talk to him. He thought she is naked and erased some of those memories. Well, she’s not. Almost. To her shock, she learns he is younger than her! Yeah, he looks like 30 but is only actually 20! This prompts Alicia to claim her birthday might be fake since she has no prior memories. She thought of having Ojisan peek into her mind to find the truth but he apologizes that he has erased her memories twice. She also learns that he was the one who broke the barrier in that city because his goal is to return to his world. He thought doing so would distort space-time and allow him to return. It didn’t work. Alicia forces him to promise not to use his mind erasing magic anymore. Because she doesn’t want to forget about him. Yeah, so what about the part he almost saw her naked? Trying to recall hard on that! Then as Alicia is going to show him something (is she stripping?!), oh well, jealous elf girl rains down hellish sniping on him. Take cover! Sumika and Takafumi think he used that erasing magic on himself in the toilet but he claims no. Some real life technique to kill sensitivity by killing your heart before it takes damage. Takafumi is convinced with this and tries it out. So refreshing that he looks so dead! And that my friends is how you handle adult life!

Episode 12
Shortly after the hotspring incident, Ojisan takes on a quest to slay some singing monster in the woods. Turns out to be Mabel. So she got bored of the city life and decided to come live here? In that case, Ojisan will kill her as part of his mission! Mabel gets scared and changes her mind. Wow, Ojisan sure looked disappointed. They talk and it seems Mabel has no confident about her singing especially in front of others. Ojisan notes that had she been a singer in his world, she could’ve been helluva rich. Yeah, she likes that ring. Rich… Because Ojisan still wants to find a way back, Mabel offers to sing songs from his world. Don’t be surprised if they are Sega BGMs! So nice that Ojisan falls asleep on her lap as she continues singing. A group of knights hiding in the bush waiting to ambush but they’re all taken out by elf girl. Yeah. Yandere mode now? Later on, Ojisan is in despair after realizing he has been spelling a game character’s name wrong all the time. This prompts a time when elf girl told him her real name. You bet Takafumi and Sumika want to see this. Okay. Replay. It seems elf girl is tired of him calling her that since he addressed Mabel and Alicia by theirs. Well, duh. You never told him your real name. It’s the same reason she keeps calling him orc face since he never told her his. Yousuke Shibazaki. She becomes very interested and captivated as he writes and tells what it means. In return, she reveals her own. Be prepared… *takes a deep breath*… Suzailgiererzegalnelvzegilreagranzelga Elga!!! OMFG!!! I DON’T EVEN KNOW IF I TYPED THAT CORRECTLY!!! Since it’s too long for him to remember, he wants to shorten it to Sui. However doing so is disrespect in her clan. Elf girl flusters after he explains the beautiful meaning of Sui in his language. In that case, they’ll call their nicknames only among each other. Meeting up with Mabel, they head to a shrine that Ojisan wants to destroy, thinking it will bring him back to his world. I guess taking rituals isn’t his taking. Doing so, a huge God-like power being appears. Mabel and elf girl handle the zombie wolves that pop up. But after doing so, it seems Ojisan’s mind has been taken over so he attacks them. They barely escape. Luckily Alicia and her men are here to help and heal. Alicia dives into Ojisan’s mind to see his dark past. A kid who shuts himself in his room playing games? Wow. Dark indeed. Ojisan manages to break out of the spell and then summon a flaming dragon to help fight. The only way to fight something without a physical body.

Episode 13
Well, how do you slay or even kill something that is seemingly immortal? That’s what the dragon has become and we’re in sh*t. Elf girl says her ancient magic weapon can do the trick and the jewel on her forehead is immune to mind control attacks. How assuring. Sorry Mabel, like the first time, you were not needed. Since Alicia is getting too close to Ojisan, elf girl has Alicia’s party formally introduce themselves to Mabel. Elf girl wants a hug from Ojisan for some power. He is reluctant (oh, that facial expression!) so he ties her up instead. So while the rest try to handle the dragon (Mable being chicken sh*t of course), Ojisan wonders why elf girl lied to them about defeating the dragon. Because she doesn’t want them to go through the misery like what she did. Ojisan is enlightened and never thought of that. Now the duo are ready as they prepare to take on the dragon. A moment that Takafumi has been waiting for months. Finally! A real fantasy action battle! This time with everyone’s help, they manage to destroy the dragon and Ojisan storing its energy essence in a bottle. Elf girl has a happy time as Ojisan carries and floats her down. Ojisan then goes to thank everyone. Mabel loving the praises but also teases Alicia about wanting to be carried in the sky like Ojisan. He actually does it, incurring elf girl’s wrath. But that is only miniscule as Ojisan tells his real name to Alicia and Mabel. Elf girl not pleased he tells it to them so easily. However they prefer his nicknames and this makes Ojisan smiling like an idiot. As for why he is keeping the essence, he saw how a warp in space-time happened for a while during the collision when the dragon was slain. He thought of making it stronger so that it will cause a warp powerful enough to send him back to Japan. Elf girl doesn’t like it and tries to destroy it! I guess she wants him to stay here forever. Ojisan notes in subsequent years, he continues to be a solo player and there won’t be any events as big as this. Sumika wants to know how he got back but Takafumi stops her. Can’t have spoilers now! But can we wait for 14 years to hear the rest of his story?! Yeah, time to take a break and have ramen. Takafumi narrating how he has gotten used to living with Ojisan. I’m sure that means getting ready for the next pile of disappointing isekai stories! Here it comes!

The Manhandled Stories From Uncle
Yeah, it must be lonely now in the isekai world ever since Ojisan left and returned to his original world (I’m always curious how he finally came back – can anybody tell me its spoilers?). I bet elf girl is crying her eyes out day and night. Uh huh. It would also be interesting to see the aftermath after Ojisan has left. He might not have left a huge mark in that world (assuming what he said about the subsequent uneventful adventures are true) but is sure did for those who know him well. I’m sure many strangers will also start to miss the strange ugly looking orc. Yeah. I suppose Ojisan will be more than happy to stay put to the land he was born so he definitely won’t go back to that isekai world again. Yeah, this Earth isn’t so sh*tty like other isekai series. Just boring but liveable. Hope elf girl kept a picture of Ojisan…

I have mixed feelings about the overall plot and story. Well, actually there is none. The whole series is about Ojisan just telling his isekai stories to his nephew and his (girl)friend. That is basically it. So basically, you can say that this series is one huge flashback but with a lot of intermission breaks in between. So as not to turn this entire isekai storytelling thingy to be boring, sometimes we see Ojisan trying to readjust himself to current life. Of course that is really hard seeing he has been in coma for decades so he missed out on a lot of stuffs that has made Japan a popular and international brand (and meme!) throughout those years. This means, getting shocked or surprising the young ones about his old mentality and especially his diehard Sega habits. Yeah, sad to say although I am also a fan of Sega (actually more like I have played more games under Sega compared to Nintendo), there are many jokes that I don’t understand. I have to admit that I am not that obsessed of a Sega fan and that there were many Sega games I do not know. Therefore I can’t use that I-am-feeling-old excuse whenever Ojisan makes such Sega reference because I don’t really get it. But yeah, I am about his age during the booming years of Sega and that means I can’t undisputed the fact that I am that old. :-(. Sighs…

Anyway, although the isekai stories from Ojisan aren’t really that extraordinary, some just felt like cliché and worse, some I don’t really get it at all, in a way it is refreshing because this isn’t technically 100% isekai as he is telling his experience from that world after returning. It’s like you’re going on a camping or fishing trip and your dad starts telling you stories of his good ol’ days in whatever or wherever. Hence in this context, it is a bit unique the way the series’ story plays out. And also it is such a big convenience that Ojisan manages to replay all his memories with perfect edited footage. Yeah. I myself have trouble all the time trying to even recall what I did a few days back and even sometimes those memories are fuzzy! Curse being old! But wow, Ojisan’s iculus elran manages to replay all those memories in fantastic resolution, angles and everything. It’s like watching a Hollywood movie but even better. Anyway, the point of telling such stories, or rather I should say, the punch line and joke of such memories is that the young ones would be hoping of something exciting which is most probably in line with their believes of what a fantasy world should be. Sorry to disappoint because it turns out the other way and you could see their disappointed looks soon after. More than often, the illogical actions that Ojisan took is often the punch line because surely nobody expects a sane person to do that, right? Right.

I’m sure there are a lot of mind boggling questions bugging me but I’ll try to keep it short. For instance, how the f*ck does Ojisan manage to return to this world and retain all his magic?! If his body was lying comatose all these years, it shows his soul was transported. So, are you saying that all those magic spells he obtained are kept in his soul? Of course, having such magic is for convenient plot purpose because look how he is conveniently making a living as a YouTuber. With today’s technology that includes deep fakes and even that recent AI ChatGPT, you bet everyone nowadays would think it is some sort of that cool effect. Can’t blame them. Yeah, that’s why it boggles me that the military or people in power haven’t sought out Ojisan’s abilities. Not that I’m worried since I believe Ojisan can kick their asses. But it is baffling the government hasn’t made a move on Ojisan, declared his powers a danger to public safety, blah, blah, blah. You get the idea. And I thought the government is always watching us! Oh right. Too busy watching all those dumbasses strutting their stuffs on TikTok. Sorry got a little off tracked there…

In addition to sometimes the simple but confusing plot (at least for yours truly), the other thing that ‘breaks’ my mind are the tongue twisting spells. Hell, you know me with such weird terminologies. Here I was complaining about mumbo-jumbo sci-fi terms. Now I have to add fantasy gibberish to it. Sheesh. Anyway, with Ojisan being an overpowered character, he has a lot of spells and magic under his belt. Thus each time he chants them, it really feels like gibberish being pulled out from thin air and my mind starts to go, “WTF is that spell again?”. Forgive me for not understanding the language of the other world but I really have a hard time remembering any one of them. Even the iculus elran that replays Ojisan’s memories, I barely remember this term as it still sits dangerously at the edge of my brain, waiting to drop down into the abyss of forever being forgotten. Yeah. I only remember it because every episode Ojisan spams this spell to replay it to the young ones. But for the rest, I’m so freaking lost.

The characters are a mixed baggage and as for our titular character himself, I’ll just start off and say that he slightly different than many other isekai protagonists. Not only because he has returned from his isekai excursion but rather he is also an uncle. A middle aged man. Yup, many such main characters are all teens or young adults who died young. So in this particular context, it is refreshing to have the main character of the isekai genre as an uncle. Can’t blame him if he sounds like a lifeless zombie. Hey, he just woke up from a long slumber. Plus, he isn’t the social kind so I kinda understand. Like many other characters, there is nothing much about his past or nothing too deep because it’s not like Ojisan suffered some sort of life threatening trauma, right? Oh right. What’s this about forcing him to take part in football? Yeah. That. So if you’re hoping for some sort of character development, you’d be disappointed. We’re staying for his weird stories, right?

Like I’ve said, being in coma for many years, Ojisan has missed out on a lot of trends so his return is like a culture shock. Not the Japan he knew back when he was a youngster. Yeah. Very traumatizing. Sega is no more! OH THE TRAUMA! This of course sets the stage for the jokes due to the cultural gap and the strange way Ojisan acts or thinks. Especially towards the girls in his isekai life. Yes, while many male protagonists are often oblivious to hot chicks liking them, the same can be said to Ojisan but the only difference is that since he went to the other world in the 90’s, this means it was a time before the term tsundere became popular or mainstream in Japan and around the world around the 2000’s. That’s right. This means as all of us veterans could identify right away the tsundere attributes of elf girl, Ojisan remains oblivious to it all since that term is so alien to him. And of course, being a loner with no romantic experience himself plays a part. Thanks to this, it is probably a good food for thought to think what Japan was like before it became an international brand. Uh huh. You didn’t think concepts like tsundere existed in Japan like since time immemorial, did you?!

Thanks to this uncle that lacks tact and does things at his own pace, this sets another running joke (if I should call it that way) of manhandling his isekai girls. Not sure if this is supposed to be the fanservice part but I suppose it is funny and cringe at the same time how he manhandles them. Like as though it looks like he is going to rape them! Obviously this dude doesn’t see them as women, the reason why he can so easily touch their bodies. Even if his intentions are good, you just can’t help wonder if he has another way of doing this. Then again, many of his actions would surprise us anyway. Uh huh. Instead of doing things in proper order, because of his overpowered skills, he just destroys it or whatever that is the shortest cut. Saves all the trouble, no? Hence with Ojisan seemingly caressing the girls’ body in bondage position from top to bottom, not even flinching or batting an eyelid as he undresses them, I bet if he does this in this world, he’ll get more than sexual harassment lawsuits. But of course those girls are allowing it and tolerating the embarrassing moments because they like him. RIGHT?! But I understand why he could easily do so because remember how this world in which many see him as some orc? Yeah, why bother being nice if that’s how others treat you? And hence Ojisan probably had no intention of striking up romantic relationships with them and that’s why he treats them equally like other denizens.

So speaking of the isekai girls, what else can I say about them? They’re obviously sticking around him and coming across him from time to time because they like him and it’s no coincidence he keeps bumping into them. Especially elf girl. Classic tsundere case. Is there anything more that I want to say about this girl? Unlike many others, she sees the beauty of his heart rather than his, uhm, ugly face. But then again, it could be because it’s anime. Oh you know. Hot cute girls always fall for the fat ugly guy! And then there is Mabel who resembles more like a NEET since she is lazy to do anything. Is there anything else I should say about her? Finally there is the hero Alicia. Well, all I can say is that behind every successful girl is an uncle! Heh. She is being credited by everyone for her heroic deeds in which Ojisan was actually the one who did all the work. In that sense, do you see why she wants to stick around him? No, not because he gets the job done for her. Something more than that…

Back in the real world, Ojisan is blessed to have his nephew look after him. Of course he is now doing so because he is interested in listening to his isekai stories. But other than that, there is nothing much about Takafumi to talk about. That’s why it is intriguing to bring in Sumika, his childhood friend and supposed love interest to spice things up. But as we would all know by now, it’s going nowhere. Yeah, the resisting force is strong in this one. Sumika has a mountain to climb if she is going to turn Takafumi over a new leaf. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Yup, I’m assuming being lack of anything charming runs in the family’s genes. Sometimes it feels like Takafumi is slowly turning into the same character his Ojisan is that he was initially not impressed with. Yeah, Sumika’s feminine charms levelled up like hell and that itself didn’t do the trick, let’s not hope Takafumi doesn’t turn gay. I have a feeling she is sticking around to woo Takafumi more. Sure, she too is interested in Ojisan’s stories but I bet she isn’t going to be Takafumi’s partner in watching Ojisan’s videos. I mean, this isn’t some sort of club or cult to watch Ojisan’s experience, is it?! Hence the irony that Ojisan’s stories are somewhat looking more interesting than trying to see these 2 play out their romantic lives. Which is none. Don’t give up, Sumika. Don’t give up, Sawa. WTF Chiaki, I don’t see why this character needs to be around but I guess it’s to show some characters do change for the worse. At least physically. He looks like he is going to be some sort of comic relief goon.

Art and animation are pretty okay. It’s pretty conventional for today’s standards so I’m not really complaining. Of course there are hot looking people as well as ugly looking people. Obviously Ojisan isn’t an ugly person but when you compare him with just about everyone else who looks so dashing and hot, yeah you can see how this makes him the ugliest. But then again, because like I’ve pointed out many main isekai characters are young are good looking, it is refreshing to see someone like Ojisan who doesn’t fall under that category visually. Sure, he looks weird when he gives us that big smile (like in the end of the opening credits animation) but looking from a different point of view, I guess he looks pretty funny. Heh. I wish I can say the same for the now Chiaki and the young Sumika because damn, they’re really as ugly as f*ck! I believe it is for comedic purposes but that was my shocking moment when I first saw them. And of course it goes without saying the girls here as cute as hell. Elf girl, Mabel, Alicia and Sumika are all pretty pleasing to the eye. This series is done by AtelierPontdarc whose only other show is Ganbare Douki-chan.

One main motivation of mine to watch this show is the stellar casts. For the longest time, I believe that I could recognize almost all of the characters played by recognizable seiyuus (by my standards, that is). For instance, Takehito Koyasu as Ojisan (not badass like Jojo but still enjoyable) as well as Jun Fukuyama as Takafumi, Mikako Komatsu as Sumika and Aoi Yuuki as Mabel. Then there is Haruka Tomatsu as elf girl whom I didn’t quite catch on at first because she has been lying low for a while (at least, I did not watch the animes she played roles in) and a few other animes gave me false impression it was her but wasn’t. So it was a bit of a surprise when I realized it was really her. The same case with Aki Toyosaki as Alicia. The last time I heard her I was shocked (and still is) as she was unrecognizable as the main character in Isekai Yakkyoku. While she is not totally in that trademark voice I often recognized her in, but at least there were some hints that made me firmly believe it was her. Thank goodness. Then there are Kenichi Suzumura and Nobuhiko Okamoto as Alicia’s guys (sorry, forgot their names). The other casts are Hisako Kanemoto as Sawa (titular character in Shinryaku! Ika Musume), Wataru Takagi as Chiaki (Genta in Detective Conan), Kousuke Toriumi as Hagen (Nozel in Black Clover) and Tomoaki Maeno as Markfield (Schubert in ClassicaLoid).

The opening theme is Story by Mayu Maeshima. Your typical badass rock outfit but also filled with lots of synthesizer effects in the background. A cool song if you want to make some sort of dark and edgy AMV. But that’s just my personal opinion. The ending theme, Ichibanboshi Sonority is an anime pop ballad. Sounds pretty okay to me but the most surprising thing for me is that this song is sung by Yuka Iguchi! Oh damn, here I was so proud of being able to distinguish a lot of seiyuus in their voice acting roles here but I fail to identify one singing?! Yeah. I guess there is another area mind I need to brush up. Obviously such talents would sound differently while reading a script and singing. So yeah, that song is indeed sung by our Index-tan.

Overall, I find this a pretty okay anime and nothing that special but at the same time it is not all that bad. After all, the most refreshing context and perhaps its selling point is that an isekai returned from the other world and lived to tell the tale to others. Yeah, it’s like waking up from a bad dream, huh? Only difference is that you could take back with you all your special powers! So now Ojisan has come back and returning to his own life, it begs to question which kind of life does he prefer. Because unlike many other isekai treatment of main characters, this world is so bad that they are whisked away and given a chance in another. That’s right. Black companies. Overworking. No exciting social life. Oh wow. So I’m still waiting of that isekai treatment happening to me! Any time now! Oh well, I guess my life is so boring that those people in the other world don’t even want to hear about it! Heck, I don’t want to even talk about it! Back in those good ol’ days… Nothing happened! Most boring uncle I’ll ever be!

On a side note, I’m not sure if this series will get another season because of all the production problems that it faced during its run. Well, the series had to be postponed TWICE while running due to Covid-19 related reasons. Oh gosh, you mean that is still happening?! I suspect this studio outsourced its work to China since that was the only major country still having such strict measures during that time in which Corona cases spiked too. Imagine delaying the series to the next season was bad enough, then they had to delay the FINAL EPISODE to a few months later! THE FREAKING LAST EPISODE! Oh, you bet fans were mad. Even yours truly wasn’t impressed (now you know why this blog is so late – because I prefer to binge watch my complete anime). Hence with such production issues, you think we can trust this studio to do another season, let alone another show? Whatever the reasons, I’m sure this is one story we want to forget talking about. Now, what was the spell to erase memories again? And for hell sure I don’t have the patience for them to animate the rest of Ojisan’s boring adventure years! There’s no way I’m sticking around for that!

Tiger & Bunny S2

Oh well. Here is another old anime that has been dug up to be given a sequel. However I am not sure if they waited this long to give it another season. It might just be a big coincidence that Tiger & Bunny S2 came out in the year of the tiger (of the Chinese lunar calendar). Because the first season aired about 11 years ago when it was the year of the rabbit then. Sure a couple of movies between those years (which I didn’t see of course) but I’m still wondering if this was all on purpose. Just wait for a whole cycle before releasing the next season. Or maybe the western style superhero industry is not doing so well in recent years (are we tired of all the shenanigans of the MCU, people?!) and hence we need those Japs to show it how it is done. The irony.

Episode 1
In case you’ve forgotten what this show is about, we see criminals trying to escape after a heist. But soon heroes pop up to chase and apprehend them. Of course all this is broadcasted live as a reality show with hero agencies earning points for certain tasks they accomplished. I believe there are a few new heroes I have never seen before like Magical Cat, He Is Thomas, Mr Black and Golden Ryan. After the successful mission, a party is held to also celebrate this new buddy system implemented thanks to Tiger and Bunny who are the pioneers. However during the party, some sort of disagreement between Kotetsu and Barnaby and just like that they aren’t on talking terms. Although it is pretty much the same between Thomas and Mr Black. They might look like they’re cooperating and that is only for business purposes. Privately, they don’t get along with each other and the feeling is mutual. On another day, the hero alert is sounded. Thomas and Mr Black arrive at the scene first. They have to be careful dealing with this international criminal, Andrzej Hedman because he has this strange power of stopping anything that comes close to him. Including living things. Now that Tiger and Bunny are here, Tiger has a strange and risky suggestion. He tries to throw a fastball using his helmet at Andrzej to see if he can stop it. However he throws it at the wrong direction. This distraction allows Bunny to take him out. Wow. That easy?! Thomas and Mr Black are stumped that they are so coordinated and didn’t hear them say anything to each other. As they explain, they’ve known each other for so long, so they know the other well even without saying. So I guess this means they’re back to being buddies like before.

Episode 2
Subaru Sengoku AKA Mr Black enthusiastically asks the other heroes why they become so. He then mentions about Barnaby doing so out of revenge. Ryan tells him off past reasons don’t matter as Subaru explains he became one to save others. Subaru is then reminded by his agency to do better or he’ll be fired. Kotetsu and Barnaby soon learn Subaru was from a small town and part of a small time hero group. He managed to pass Stern Bild’s superhero exam and that’s how he got here. As for Thomas, he is the opposite. Graduated top from the academy and got in without even taking any hiring exam. This means Mr Black has lots of pressure. When the heroes are deployed to stop some criminal rampaging under some drug’s influence, Mr Black is also called but his alarm isn’t working. The case is solved and they don’t want to hear Subaru’s excuses of why it was somehow not working. They think of making him play a supporting role to Thomas and this doesn’t sit well with him. Plus, he is not amused being a superhero in Stern Bild is like a reality TV. Ratings more important than justice? Too bad he is told off to do a better job first. Then they can talk. Soon all the heroes are called in for a briefing. They have found the drug lord kingpin, Veron Urbano who has been distributing the drugs that has resulted in some deaths. However police are unable to arrest him since the manufacturing equipment he makes those drugs ‘disappear’. This is where the heroes come in as they want them to raid the warehouse where he is based in now. First, Origami will impersonate as his right hand man who got arrested today. He will get close to Veron to get the needed evidence before he uses his powers. As the plan gets underway, Mr Black wants to get ahead of Thomas. Because of that, he makes a mistake that alerts everybody. Veron orders all to be killed and so the heroes bust in and take everyone down. In the end when they apprehend Veron, the equipment is missing. Will he go scot free again? However Barnaby realizes the trick to his power. He did not make the equipment disappear but merely shrunk them. He gets arrested finally. Later the heroes confront Mr Black about his actions. He admits he wanted to get ahead of Thomas. Tiger advises him all that doesn’t matter as long as the person is saved. Mr Black realizes his wrong ways and apologizes. Later Barnaby talks to Yuri of how his life has slowly changed thanks to Kotetsu and others. He is starting to smile more often and although not fully satisfied yet, it could release him from Ouroboros’ spell.

Episode 3
Blue Rose and Ryan don’t get along too? Well, Ryan is being petty so I can’t blame Blue Rose for getting annoyed. Soon, Blue Rose gets a note from a sick girl, Nadia who is her fan. She wants to meet up. Because she is also a fan of Tiger, Blue Rose sees Kotetsu to talk about doing this meet up together. However Ryan sees this and misinterprets that Blue Rose is trying to ditch him and make Tiger her new partner. He talks to Barnaby about this although the latter is not really convinced since Kotetsu will always consult him first. But Ryan is being so pushy that he might be sowing doubts in Barnaby. When Barnaby goes to confirm with Kotetsu about Blue Rose’s visit, Kotetsu thinks he might feel hurt so he brushes it off as nothing. Suspicious… As Kotetsu and Blue Rose plan out their meeting, Ryan goes to secretly record them. Because of the interference and all, without the context, he tries to further convince Barnaby that they are planning their new partnership when it was actually on how to surprise Nadia. On a side note, news of heroes from Ryan’s city where he used to work got attacked. Ryan doesn’t seem to care. Fire Emblem reveals Ryan worked in Stern Bild before getting an offer from a rich guy to work in that city. One day while chasing a criminal whose powers is to make NEXT go out of control, Ryan became a victim. It caused a lot of chaos and the building collapsed on him and he has this hideous scar on his back. However the sad part was that his teammates didn’t even bother to help him and always thought of him as a rival. So when Ryan came back here, he felt glad to be back because he knew these guys won’t betray him. Blue Rose and Tiger go meet Nadia. Turns out to be a creepy stalker of Blue Rose who planned out this whole thing just to hug her! WTF?! Creepy! At the same time, Ryan and Barnaby barge in to catch them in the act. Of course Blue Rose and Tiger are shocked to hear his accusations. In the aftermath, Ryan apologizes for the misunderstanding. Blue Rose assures him that she is still his partner and won’t betray him. After all, it was his power that helped caught that stalker before he escaped.

Episode 4
Fire Emblem is complaining that his partner Sky High is too perfect? Wants to see his shortcomings?! Is this why is bummed out? But recently Sky High seems to be avoiding him too so Fire Emblem talks to others for advice. Soon, Sky High and Fire Emblem are needed for some event. Tiger and Bunny are also roped in. The event is the opening of some sky tower and part of the programme is for the people to ask the superheroes questions. There is a rowdy guy in the bunch. Mr Black wants to tell him off but the rest hold him back since it won’t be very hero-like. Disaster strikes when the structure starts to fall apart. Nobody did any QC?! The superheroes go into action to evacuate the people but since there are too many, Sky High and Fire Emblem combine their powers to just weld the structure back together temporarily. Once that is done, Sky High admits to Fire Emblem that he isn’t the perfect person he thinks. He too has his flaws and dislikes. The reason he was avoiding him was because he was trying to think how they can become better buddies and how to talk to him about this. He views Tiger and Bunny as being the role model for this buddy system and even so, they weren’t perfect in the beginning. Yeah, they’re still having their usual petty arguments.

Episode 5
Antonio is worried that his partnership with Origami is over and might split up. Talking to Kotetsu about this, it seems during a drinking session he got drunk and belittled his name. Because of that, Ivan is not pleased and avoids him as much as possible. Although they still work as a pair as professionals, apart from this Ivan avoids the man like a plague although Antonio feels sorry about it and wants to make up. Barnaby talks to Ivan who then tells him about his name being an origin story. When he was young, he showed a couple of kids his powers. However they soon ostracize him to a point where he didn’t even exist in their lives. One day while on a school trip, a heavy storm occurred. Ivan then used his powers to save the day. That is how his hero name came to be. Antonio with Barnaby and Kotetsu try to brainstorm on what to do. You mean a simple apology won’t do? Yeah, making it more complicated. Even Subaru chips in and suggests complimenting his name instead. Here comes Ivan so Subaru does the complimenting. Because he sounded unsure, Ivan thinks Antonio put him up to this. Antonio tries to deny but with the wrong choice of words, the suspicions only get worse. To a point Ivan thinks of changing his hero name to Toilet Paper Soft Wind?! Antonio goes after an upset Ivan but looks like they stumble into a robbery in progress. Their quick thinking and teamwork allow them to take down the robbers without any casualties (although Tiger and Bunny got the best part in dealing the final blow). Because Antonio now truly compliments how he lived up to his name, just like that their animosity is gone. They’re back to being partners and friends.

Episode 6
Lara Tchaikoskaya (Cat) has her mom who is her personal trainer too. However her biggest concern over her daughter’s growth is Dragon Kid. She believes her partner is deliberating trying to keep her from the spotlight and make herself stand out more. She wants Lara to view her as a rival and not her partner. This stems from mom’s bitter experience in which she got betrayed by her partner. During a robbery, Dragon Kid wants Cat to evacuate the people while she herself goes after the criminals. Cat disagrees and wants to come along too but Dragon Kids refuses. Eventually Cat disobeys and tries to catch a fleeing robber. She gets spooked when his shot misses. Worse, she falls off the ledge but Tiger is there to save her. Due to minor injuries, Cat is hospitalized. Mother visits and speaks her mind to Dragon Kid that all this is her fault. See Cat sheepishly agreeing with her. Mom accuses Dragon Kid of trying to hog the spotlight. Since her daughter is good enough to fight crime, she wants Dragon Kid to be her support. Of course she won’t do that and is willing to do it all by herself. After Cat is discharged, Dragon Kid teaches her some yoga? Then another crime scene. An arsonist. When Cat confronts him, her powers cannot work. Dragon Kid saves her and as they hide, time for Dragon Kid to reveal the truth. She apologizes for everything. She knows Cat’s powers are strongly related to her emotions. The more nervous it is, the power won’t come out. Dragon Kid initially did what she had to do so as not to pressure her. She thought of letting her follow from behind and get used to it little by little. Now it’s back to deal with the arsonist. Dragon Kid suggests Tiger and Bunny block his fire since their suits are fireproof. Cat will finish him off. At first Cat is nervous but with Dragon Kid having confidence in her, Cat’s power soon blast the arsonist away. Dragon Kid also admits the mistake of side-lining her that made her lose her confidence and should have relied on her powers. Lara goes home to tell mom that Dragon Kid isn’t the kind of person she is. But mom insists she is being nice to let her guard down. Trust mom on this. Okay. Whatever.

Episode 7
Kotetsu and Barnaby are supposed to go out drinking today. The former forgot his wallet so as he returns home to get it, he thinks someone has broken in. Turns out to be his daughter, Kaede and her friend, Saroja. I guess they want to get some autographs from Barnaby since Saroja is a Bunny fan. Barnaby lets Kotetsu spend time with his daughter since she rarely comes by. Hence Barnaby hangs out with his old school friend, Mattia Ingram who is working on some new experimental drug that would change the world. Then there is some law session for kids hosted by Yuri. Damn those kids say the darnest thing because they ask if it’s wrong to kill to protect someone. Long answer short, no. This means they view Lunatic who kills murderers means he is protecting them. The way they casually say all that… Elsewhere, Barnaby brings Kaede and Saroja to tour Mattia’s lab. It seems Saroja’s NEXT powers is awakening and she fears people will laugh at it. Mattia gives her hope that his new drug will tear down the wall between NEXT and normal humans so no one will have to go through what she’s going through. Back home, the real reason of Kaede’s visit is revealed. She wants to go to a superhero academy. But she thinks dad will not allow her. He points out it’s a dangerous job and she’s already saying I-told-you-so. She accuses him of being one but neglects her. She runs away. Time to go look for her. Kotetsu calls his brother about Kaede and learns his daughter is always worried while seeing him on TV. Barnaby finds the girls and advises Kaede to talk things out with Kotetsu. When Barnaby saves a boy from a speeding truck, this sets a chain reaction of accidents. Saroja fears to use her power so Kaede uses hers to copy hers to go save the dangling construction workers. However she runs out of power and all could have fallen to their death had not Kotetsu rescued them in time. Then they go to the superhero academy in which the principal is happy to see his old students again. Saroja feels she has no right to be here after freezing at the scene. The principal has her look around to decide what she wants to do because at this place they’ll teach her how to live with her powers. Back home, Kotetsu talks to Kaede again. He is not against her being a superhero but currently there is a superhero serial killer going around. He is happy she wants to be a superhero and will support her 100% but he needs time to think what it means to be a superhero and to do that, he needs to do his job.

Episode 8
When Thomas and Mr Black corner a robber, he gives up. This lets their guard down as the robber sneakily whips out his pistol and shoots. However he misses and hits the leg of a random lady. This makes Thomas mad as he beats him to a pulp! In the aftermath, Thomas receives 3 days suspension as Yuri claims this incident is similar with the one with his sister. Thomas denies it is and storms off. This incident poses the question if the people wants Thomas a superhero anymore. As the rest try to find out what happened with his sister, Thomas will not tell. How can they help if they don’t know? Trust is important. That is when Thomas says he doesn’t need trust. He has worked alone in his entire life and will go somewhere else as a hero if needed. When Thomas is nowhere to be found, the rest learn from his manager about his past. When his parents died in an accident, Thomas and his sister, Ruby were put into an orphanage. The director assured them they will be together but ultimately betrayed Thomas when somebody wanted to just adopt Ruby. Thomas took her and run but came into thugs who then fought back and she got shot in the leg. The shooter was arrested but Ruby was soon adopted and her whereabouts after that unknown. Thomas might seem like a rich prodigy kid but all that was just invented for marketing strategy. In reality, he worked hard and paid for his own stuffs. Life was hard. The rest are resolved to help Thomas but doing so might send a wrong message to the public they support his actions. Barnaby knows a way they can do it via actions. After Thomas visits the museum of a powerful NEXT, L. L. Audun, an old couple seeks his help to drive them back home for medications. He does so and in return, they make him stay for dinner and even stay for the night. Fun times. Then he sees on TV his hero pals all using teamwork to help save trapped construction workers. This is all part of Barnaby’s plan to send him a message. Then he calls his manager who tells him about everything. Basically the public wants him back as a superhero so don’t go believing those fake news that he is fired. Just when he is back into trusting others, the old couple turns out to be thieves who rob unsuspecting others into houses they rob by copying their fingerprints. Thomas beats them up and he is back to being an untrusting loner again.

Episode 9
While dealing with a museum on fire, an explosion occurs and it took out Bunny! Now he lies in comatose state. Flashback shows he saw a girl surrounded by fire. He went to help her but as she tried to save this artefact, it was going to blow up. Bunny took it and ran but got caught in the explosion. The perpetrator behind this is Vincent Carl whose power is to turn things he touches into bombs. Kotetsu acts like normal but he is going down on the ground to investigate. He is soon summoned by Yuri for this since superheroes have no jurisdiction doing investigations. This is a police’s job. Kotetsu replies he’ll do it on his own time. This has Yuri fearing the downside of this buddy system. Whether it is a rift between them or their partner clouding their judgment, Yuri has plans to dissolute this system in the near future. Meanwhile Mattia is in hospital after he injected himself too many of his experimental drugs. His partner, Randle Upton visits him to warn him that they are doomed for. Their sponsors are coming tomorrow to check for results and they might be pulling the plug on their funding. When Sigourney Rosicky arrives and sees no results, she calls off the funding. Randle panics and accidentally injects himself with the serum. Soon, she goes to see Nicolai Brahe who is the one backing the superhero hunt (both of them are from Ouroboros). She claims she has a drug that could make that easier. For years she has been trying to make a drug to give non-NEXT powers like NEXT. She has found that solution and is willing to give it to him. After all, their bosses want them to work together. Kotetsu responds to a crime scene that has Vincent wanting to steal something. Tiger arrives in time to take him down but bomb distractions allow Vincent to escape. Tiger goes after him but when he turns the corner, he sees Vincent beaten to a pulp. Who did this? Yeah, those crazy twins, Fugan and Mugan.

Episode 10
Yuri confirms with the heroes that none of them especially Thomas or Kotetsu did that to Vincent. Now all that’s left is to find the perpetrators and that is the police’s job. As Kotetsu visits Barnaby in hospital, he sees creepy dolls resembling the heroes hanging above. Before he knows it, Sky High and Fire Emblem get done in. They are in a frozen state. Back at base, it is revealed that there is somebody targeting superheroes but this is kept a secret seeing they don’t want to cause the public to panic. Based on Fire Emblem and Sky High’s cam, they see Fugan and Mugan mocking and playing around with them before knocking them out with a single punch. This has the heroes on the edge but they think they’re okay for those who have not revealed their real faces and name to the public. On another visit to the hospital, Kotetsu once again sees those creepy dolls. Who could have entered the room when the guards did not let anybody in? He calls his pals to warn them the perpetrators are still in the hospital. But before anything else could happen, Dragon Kid and Origami get kidnapped by those twins. In some subway, the twins argue about those dumb creepy dolls while letting the duo wait. In the end, Mugan tells Fugan to sit this out as he will handle them. Mugan says his power is to turn invisible. So he mainly fights Dragon Kid but obviously he is just fooling around. Dragon Kid then knocks out the power that causes the subway to blackout for a while before backup power comes back on. This is to signal to her pals where they are. So, everybody was just so sitting and waiting around except Thomas who was scrolling the internet to see if there are any power outages. Lucky him. Well, he says that if they stop and think about it, it is obvious this would be Dragon Kid’s next move. As they rush there, Dragon Kid calls them because with Origami, they manage to zap Mugan while he was distracted. Yeah, this dude is crying because he hates being zapped. But of course this is all a ruse. Mugan was once again fooling them. By the time they arrive, he reveals his true power is not invisibility but warping. So he wrests Dragon Kid and Origami and disappears to somewhere else, leaving everyone else frustrated.

Episode 11
Origami and Dragon Kid are found frozen. Since the enemies know their faces, the heroes have to start living together. Lara is feeling down and guilty for not having enough guts to go with Dragon Kid to visit Barnaby. That’s why Origami went in her stead. Antonio has got it worse. He was at the hospital but yet his partner got kidnapped. Can’t change the past but they have to look forward. Randle tells Mattia their experiment is a success. Their sponsors are pleased and will be continuing the funding. They’ll be rich and famous. Kotetsu as talking to Yuri about taking affirmative action. Yuri is against it since they are not sure the kind of powers they are dealing with. Meanwhile Fugan and Mugan warps into the hero’s base and attacks everyone. It’s a game of hide and seek as they also tease and taunt the heroes. In fact, they reveal their powers. Fugan can absorb any attack and return it as a stronger attack while Mugan does the warping. So, who does the petrification? While Karina and Ryan is keeping them busy, Antonio takes Lara, Thomas and Subaru to escape to call for help (the twins have a jamming device). This is successful as the rest return to fight the twins. Fugan gets injured so Mugan panics and warps back to the lab. Nicolai wants them to regroup but they are in a haste to finish the fight. Sigourney has the perfect present for them. This serum can boost their NEXT. Nicolai is against them using it but since the twins want to become stronger and surpass all the adults they hate, they take it. By the time Kotetsu and Yuri rush back, the place is decimated. Kotetsu having that I-told-you-so tone because are they going to wait like sitting ducks anymore? Antonio, Ryan and Karina have been defeated. The twins are super amazed with their enhanced powers. Finally, Barnaby wakes up.

Episode 12
The cat’s out of the bag. Fugan and Mugan making a public announcement how they have taken out several heroes. Well, if the media won’t cover them, they’ll do it themselves! Although Barnaby is back, no time for any reunion as the remaining heroes need to work together to put a stop to this. It seems the twins’ goal is to surpass Audun who defeated 17 superheroes. They plan to defeat 36 of them and our remaining heroes would reach that magic number. We see the heroes drawing up a plan to handle the twins’ troublesome power. Barnaby will be their trump card since they don’t know he is back in action. He will surprise them with an attack and also their plan hinges on blindfolding Mugan since he has to look where he needs to warp. At an empty stadium, Mr Black mocks the twins to come out and fight. As expected, the duo pops up. However they don’t like this place and want to change. If the heroes don’t like it, they can fight another day. Since this is jeopardizing the plan, Bunny then makes himself known. So everybody is going to warp somewhere else to fight. At some town’s intersection, there are lots of people who are whipping out their phones to snap pics and take videos but Tiger tells everyone to escape since this can turn nasty. Once everyone does so, the fight begins. The twins own everybody. Too fast, too furious for our heroes to see. But they aren’t giving up yet. Meanwhile Mattia is doing his own investigation as he snoops around the lab to see Sigourney and Nicolai continuing to conduct those drug experiments. Tiger somehow lands an attack that temporarily knocks out Fugan. It is deduced he cannot absorb attacks while attacking them. So is this where the tables turn? Maybe not yet. He gets back up and with all the absorbed attacks, he is even more powerful. They unleash it all on Tiger and the way he is sent flying through, this one could be fatal.

Episode 13
Flashback shows Nicolai brought the twins to his orphanage. However, other kids bullied them so they wanted to live with the old man instead. Ouroboros ordered Nicolai to use the twins to defeat the heroes as part of their plan to show the fearsome powers of NEXT. Nicolai was reluctant because they could die. Of course Ouroboros doesn’t care. There are replacements. All of them are pawns. Hence the twins decided to go ahead with this so as to repay their debt to him. Tiger is still alive but this makes Bunny made as he throws a flurry of punches at Fugan. Although this causes an extreme backlash on Bunny that incapacitates him, Bunny’s plan worked. You see, with so much power absorbed, Fugan’s body cannot take it and now his left arm is broken. However Fugan can still use other body parts as the twins target the remaining heroes. Mr Black is taken out but again, Fugan breaks another limb from all the absorbed power. Meanwhile, something happens in the lab. The experiment has gone awry. The prison whom the experiment is conducted on, Gregory Sunshine has escaped. He has stolen the drugs and killed everyone including Sigourney. Nicolai was in another room when he noticed the commotion and goes after him. With Fugan weakening, Mugan doesn’t want to continue with this but Fugan insists they need to finish them off. As they target Thomas, Cat draws inspiration from Dragon Kid’s words. Uses her power to blast them away. This causes Mugan to be pierced by a structure. Fugan tries to finish the rest but Thomas controls Bunny to send the last twin to his defeat. The heroes need their cooperation but the twins aren’t giving it. Though, they are happy the heroes acknowledge them as the strongest. Mugan with enough strength, together teleports with Mugan back to Nicolai. He is shocked to see them in this state. This distraction has Gregory shoot them all dead. With Nicolai dead, the petrification spell is undone as the heroes in hospital regain consciousness. In the aftermath, Mattia reports the discovery of the twins’ body with Nicolai at the lab. Police are further investigating the matter. The heroes recuperate in hospital and the recent incident has strengthened their bonds. Especially Mr Black and Thomas. Yuri burns away his dissolution proposal.

Episode 14
We see the heroes going about their usual training and job. Barnaby talks to Mattia who feels guilty for the recent events so he is trying to create a drug that will neutralize those effects. Mattia also notes that despite seeing the twins’ body with Nicolai, he did not see Sigourney’s corpse anywhere. There will be a show for fans to meet the heroes. Of course Tiger and Bunny who are in hospital and just recently got discharged, they will me a surprise return. This is kept hugely a secret from anybody. However Origami and Rock Bison accidentally see the secret plan and tell it to the rest. Well, they’re not appreciative of it because it spoils the surprise. Now they have to pretend not to know! Yeah, they’re getting nervous now! Even more nerve wrecking is that those guys will drop in right now as part of the surprise gig! And so the duo arrive, the rest fail in pretending but Kotetsu flubs his whatever lines. Awkward. As the show begins, the moment Tiger and Bunny are announced to make their surprise appearance, suddenly Yuri calls for an emergency dispatch. The show is still salvaged since fans can now watch live the action as the heroes go to do their job. Everyone welcomes back Tiger and Bunny to the job as they admit their pretending didn’t work. Oh, only Tiger actually believed they didn’t know! Anyway, it seems in this area, many NEXT people are going berserk, causing nuisance to others. The heroes quickly rein them in as they wonder what is causing this. Don’t look now because it could be that Gregory dude disappearing into the crowd.

Episode 15
All those rioters are unconscious and in hospital. However the source of their rampage still cannot be determined as all suffered some sort of unexplained seizures before starting their violent act. Meanwhile other heroes are thinking Karina and Kotetsu are dating since both are awfully close and he invited out to dinner. Of course she dismisses that and claims he just wants to thank her for some therapy and mental health care books she recommended. Soon, another call for the heroes to get into action because there is another outbreak of NEXT. This time it is happening at several places. As usual, they manage to handle it but there is one whereby Bunny knows she is faking and putting up and act before restraining her. He could tell since she wasn’t showing typical symptoms of those who went berserk. Apparently she wanted some attention from her lover whom she thinks doesn’t love her anymore. But she went too far and getting others hurt. And then there’s Blue Rose giving her a good piece of advice about love. Is she a love consultant? But why is she looking sad about it? Later Ryan talks to her. Something about this recurring nightmare he always has. A time when he was a hero in another town, the perpetrator used his NEXT power against his and got away. Ryan suffered a back injury. The nightmares are tolerable thanks to her being his partner. This in turn has Karina assuring that she isn’t sad or anything. She admitted she loved Kotetsu and wanted him to see her in a certain way. But that wouldn’t be the man she fell for. Over time, those feelings blurred and she is unsure if she still loves him or not. She also thanks Ryan for being her partner and it helped her focus on her job as a hero instead of always thinking about him. Whoever Karina falls for, Ryan will always be there to support him. Though, she quips he’ll be the last guy she’ll love.

Episode 16
The cause for those people going berserk still cannot be determined so they have been conveniently labelled as X. Of course, more such incidents as we see a happy Gregory doing this make several of such go berserk. The heroes are called in to stop this rampage again. As always, Thomas isn’t a team player and prefers to go solo. Not until Mr Black comes back to say his sister is trapped in the tower! Wait. I thought Ruby was missing?! Did miss something?! Better get your ass there fast. Meanwhile Tiger and Bunny try to apprehend this final X who is shooting beams discriminately. The plan goes awry because Bunny starts to feel a sharp pain in his leg. Thanks to Tiger’s improvising, the X is captured. Thomas manages to clear the debris and save the trapped people including Ruby. Time for an emotional reunion. As the heroes finish up, there is a group of protestors calling for NEXT to be kicked out of town. Gee, that’s the thanks they get? As Thomas and Ruby reunite, the latter knew HIT was him. She wrote letters to him but he never replied. See, that’s what happens when you don’t read your fan mail! In fact, Ruby thanks Subaru because he had arranged plans for them to meet. Yeah, Thomas realizing he has been a dick to him. Subaru claims this is to atone for his shortcomings. A previous mission showed Mr Black was clumsy, not only letting the criminal get away with his mistake but it impeded Thomas too. It was the cause of why their partnership is on bad terms. Hence it was for himself but laments he dragged Ruby into this. On the contrary, she is glad that she managed to see her brother. She tells Thomas not to carry all the burden himself now. WTF Subaru is the one crying the loudest at this touching moment?! Even giving Thomas a big hug! Hope that didn’t rub the wrong way. Barnaby sees the doctor who diagnosed some unknown cause in his leg. As there is no known treatment, he is advised to refrain using his NEXT as that aggravates the pain. Gregory is a happy and drunk man as he returns to meet the real mastermind behind this who is no other than Sigourney. Time to move onto the next phase.

Episode 17
I didn’t know Obama is the mayor of Stern Bild!!! Anyway, he is under various pressure to handle this X incident. Flashback a month ago after Gregory broke out of the lab, it seems he was wasting away himself. He tried to rob an old lady but wrong time, wrong place because the police arrested him. To his horror, coming to see him was Sigourney. However she offered him a deal. Either he can remain in police lockup forever or if he cooperates with her, he’ll get to live the way he wants. She needs his power and those drugs. So now that everything is going as planned, Gregory believes Sigourney is from Ouroboros from her mark. He thought it was just some local gang so Sigourney says the organization has its hands in almost everything. From politicians to the police all around the world. Ouroboros controls everything. As for its goals to make NEXT fight with non-NEXT, one reason is to influence the economy. Because she planned something big, he is not allowed to fail and will follow her orders to a T. She still haven’t forgiven him for shooting her, though. The government has ordered non-NEXT citizens to evacuate for fear that it may spread. Yuri then calls the heroes for a meeting. Because of the rumours, government has also decided to suspend all hero activities for fear X may spread to them and they’ll go wild. This means they cannot apprehend criminals and being normal citizens, it is against the law. Yeah, an explanation there were many cases of such in the past but this led to injuries and deaths. Hence the superhero system was made to protect NEXT. However this means other NEXT are not allowed to act as superheroes. So we see all the heroes returning their suits and having that solemn look as they begin their life as normal citizens. Enjoy your long break. It doesn’t take a genius to see that with no heroes around, crime rate has skyrocketed overnight! Yeah, the police can’t even keep up! Must be so proud, huh? Dumbasses. Sigourney is pleased that no heroes can interfere with her plan now. The party is about to get started as Gregory uses a fake ID to enter the evacuee camp of non-NEXT.

Episode 18
Thomas tells Subaru he is quitting as a hero. At least for Stern Bild. He will be going to another city to be one where they are recruiting. While Subaru accepts his decision, inside his heart he is reeling from this breakup. Gregory causes an X to go berserk at the camp. This in turn leads to more people protesting and the need to segregate. Hence Obama the mayor has no choice but to evacuate NEXT but this is just a pretence to segregate them. Kotetsu and Barnaby bump into an old janitor they now as he has info on the real perpetrator. He saw it with his own eyes how Gregory hugged and turned one into an X. Talking to the rest of this, they think this guy could be the same guy in Ryan’s past. However he brushes it off because such effect doesn’t last long. But what if Gregory has powered up? Barnaby confirms with Mattia a mugshot of Gregory since he has seen that dude in the lab. But isn’t he in lockup now? They have an audience with the mayor but he dismisses them as records show Gregory is still in prison and there have been no breakouts. The heroes decide to go look for Gregory. At the same time they learn of Barnaby’s condition. Don’t worry, we can all count on each other, right? So where to look for Gregory? Ryan knows this guy loves booze so you bet he’ll be in some bar. But so many bars in Stern Bild. Perhaps they should start where X went on a rampage. As they hit the ground, Gregory soon panics because he knows the heroes are looking for him. Sigourney has him relocated. Soon Mattia calls Barnaby to tell him he made a mistake. See this picture of Gregory? Looks close to the psychopath we know. He is a non-NEXT too. But soon a call from Pao Lin that they know where Gregory is. While relocating, he stopped by an alcohol store to have bottles delivered to the real place. The staff recognized him because he was rude. The heroes soon surround and ambush his new place but he is not in. From the looks of it, he knew they were coming and ran. Subaru believes there is a traitor. However it’s not among them. Well, well. Looks like a hypnotized Mattia has been ratting out info to him.

Episode 19
All the heroes suspect Mattia since he is the only one knows about their plan. Barnaby insists he is not a bad guy and it couldn’t be him so he is told about the possibility Mattia befriended him just to deceive him when the time comes. Kotetsu and Barnaby decide to go see Mattia themselves. They find him unconscious in a burning room trying to kill himself. Luckily they save him and in hospital, Mattia has no recollections of what happened. Barnaby talks about the probability of him being controlled by a NEXT. There could be a NEXT who could control others. Indeed. That power belongs to Sigourney was we see her control several people or rather shift her consciousness to others by just touching them. Eventually she got to Mattia and had to do damage control after Gregory slipped up. Gregory and Sigourney end up blaming each other but she can’t kill him because doing so will undo all those he has affected. It couldn’t be worse a timing as Little Aurora has stepped into the picture. She is a NEXT with great psychic powers and has been using her powers to help better the world. It is thanks to her that NEXT and non-NEXT get to coexist. Now she has turn her focus to help Stern Bild. This puts a damper on Sigourney’s plan so she tells Gregory to lie low. The heroes apologize to Mattia for suspecting him. For now, Barnaby will put him at a safe place. Kotetsu manages to get footage of their meeting with Mattia. After they left, they see Mattia talking to someone on the phone. How convenient, Kotetsu using his power to amplify and drown out the noises to hear what Mattia said. Can’t make out most of it but Mission A was mentioned. Mattia knows about this plan as he overheard Sigourney talked about it. Basically it’s to drive a wedge between NEXT and non-NEXT. The heroes go into full force trying to find Gregory. Kotetsu and Barnaby hear the local news that a couple of young punks have been on a robbing spree. Oh look, they just pass them. Both go on the chase. However this does not sit well with the police who think the heroes are trying to steal their glory. WTF. So when police reinforcements come by, our heroes let them continue the chase but WTF they are here to arrest the heroes for violation?! You f*ckers gonna let those robbers go scot free?! Meanwhile Yuri gets a devastating call. Yeah, those robbers shot and killed his mom at her home. There’s her body right there in the morgue.

Episode 20
Yuri visits mom’s caretaker in hospital as she survived the attack. She blames herself for this tragedy but Yuri puts up a strong face, telling her she isn’t and the fault lies with the killers. Kotetsu and Barnaby get off with a warning. They still continue to look for the perpetrators. Speaking of them, they’re going to assault this lone woman who just came out of her home. Unfortunately for them, here comes Lunatic as he burns one of them to death. Before he could do the same for the other, Kotetsu and Bunny drop in. Kotetsu gets wounded saving the culprit as Barnaby pushes himself to fight Lunatic. Ultimately the pain is too great for him to bear. Lunatic finishes off the other killer and then escapes. In the aftermath, all heroes are made to sign a disclosure to not act on their own again or they will lose their licence. This works in Sigourney’s favour as now they are contained and can’t act on their own. Mission A is back in action. After Kotetsu and Barnaby get discharged from hospital, Yuri sees them to sign the disclosure. Kotetsu is frustrated because at times like these, he wants to protect this city as a superhero till the end. This is when Yuri reveals the shocking truth that Mr Legend is his father. He thinks Kotetsu will become like him, a prisoner of his own identity. Troubled by his declining powers, Mr Legend resorted to fixing up crimes to maintain it. Isn’t that why Kotetsu came back even after retiring from his declining powers? His father became so obsessed that he abused mom and Yuri also lived through hell. So with this development, this could be a good chance to take a break from being a hero. Kotetsu thanks him but also shares what he thinks. He is grateful to Mr Legend for saving him and inspiring him to become a hero. Although what he did is unforgivable, if only he had a friend like Barnaby to stop him, things would’ve turned out differently. One day he will lose his powers and not become a hero anymore. But he promised himself to always be himself. Yuri comes home, reminiscing happier family times. He continues to be haunted by Mr Legend’s visions. To his surprise, father admits his wrongs and doesn’t want to be forgiven. His life has been warped thanks to his sins. That’s why he wants him to stay true to his justice no matter what form it takes. Mr Legend vanishes and now Yuri doesn’t want anybody to go. All alone. Poor guy. Must be so heart breaking :’(.

Episode 21
We see the heroes bumming around and some packing their stuffs ready to head for the evacuation centre. Ryan’s boss tries to talk to him not to cause trouble because by doing so, he might cause trouble for Blue Rose and her family. Lara’s mom will go to the evacuation centre with her to further talk about her future. It seems she is trying to point out she has been right all along. Lara’s ranking has not risen ever since and she’s like playing a supporting role to Dragon Kid. Lara disagrees because she views Pao Lin as her friend. Too bad mom won’t have any of it. Sigourney is glad Mission A is back on track and promises Gregory the life he wants. But behind the scenes, she shows her true snake colours as she tells her subordinates to get rid of him once the mission is over. Soon on the news, the prison that is holding the X is up in flames. Oh, you bet Gregory is behind this as he makes them go berserk and do a prison break. Kotetsu is going to risk being a rogue hero but Barnaby is here to pick him up to meet the other heroes for some special taping. From what I understand, because they are on this special programme, that is just the cover story for them to go into action covertly. Kotetsu talks to Barnaby privately because he knows something is wrong. Looks like the doctor still cannot determine the root of his pain but knows the more power he uses, the more painful it will get. This means he cannot live his life as a superhero anymore. That is why he wants to do this with him as a last chance to bring heroes back. Kotetsu then talks to him about what he just told Kaede about the meaning of being a hero. In the end, Kotetsu has no reason to stop him so it’s his choice to come along. The heroes get ready to go into action.

Episode 22
Lots of dead guards inside Abbas Prison. Yeah, Gregory using his power to make prisoners go berserk and rampage. Hence our heroes think the A in Mission A stands for Abbas. As the heroes go into action to stop the X convicts, this is played live over TV so you bet many are in shock that the heroes are operating instead of being suspended. Especially the police who still think the heroes are out to steal their glory. Therefore it’s a 3 way fight. Heroes vs police vs X criminals. With the heroes here, Gregory is panicking since this isn’t part of the plan. He calls Sigourney for an escape but she tells him to continue his job because if the heroes stop all the X, the mission fails. Gregory tries to make his escape but finds a certain prisoner who might prove useful. The heroes continue stop the rampaging X as some of them possess troublesome abilities like swapping places and swimming through solids. So far so good, not letting any escape outside the perimeter of the facility. Meanwhile Ryan and Blue Rose head into the facility where they believe Gregory is hiding. They find the bugger in the flesh but he isn’t panicking. Because he sends Audun to deal with them. Now we see the real perpetrator, Obama the mayor is getting ready to kill Aurora. That is what Mission A actually stands for.

Episode 23
Ryan and Blue Rose can’t stand up to Audun’s power. Now he is helping Gregory escape and previously Gregory told him these superheroes are the villains in wreaking havoc across town. Being behind bars for 10 years must have taken a toll on Audun as now he thinks he is a superhero who will help save humanity again. Hence we see Audun taking down the heroes one by one. No match for him. The mayor is giving his speech as he waits for Aurora’s arrival. WTF plot convenience because Mattia notices he is a left hander and the one who controlled him. IS HE THE ONLY LEFT HANDER IN TOWN?! Oh right. Those weird glowing eyes. Hence he deduces Mission A is to kill Aurora and he is being controlled by a NEXT to do so in order to drive a gap into both sides to fight forever. The mayor welcomes Aurora on stage before making his shocking proclamation that all NEXT can go to hell. He pulls out a gun but before he can shoot Aurora, here comes Lunatic. He is going to kill the mayor but Tiger steps in. Obviously the one remotely controlling the mayor is Sigourney. Because of the struggle, Lunatic gets cut and this allows Sigourney to control him to go after fleeing Aurora. Lunatic unleashes his blast but Tiger uses his body to protect her. Meanwhile Bunny and Mr Black are the only heroes left to face Audun. Mr Black wants Bunny to go aid Tiger but can Mr Black do it alone? Don’t worry. Thomas is back! Sorry, it’s not to help you but to meet his childhood hero, Audun. Okay. Whatever. At least Bunny is now free to go to Tiger.

Episode 24
Mr Black and Thomas are having a hard time against Audun. So are Tiger and Bunny against a controlled Lunatic. But first, time to delve into Sigourney’s background why she is doing all this. She and her group of friends were all NEXT. However their powers were weak. Only Sigourney’s power was considered somewhat useful as she was approached by Ouroboros. She is one of those Nemo Children. Because her friends were treated like garbage, they cannot take it and took their lives. Sigourney always believed NEXT are just pawns to non-NEXT and promised herself to right the wrongs to save NEXT. That’s why she didn’t hesitate to use her own comrades as pawns to achieve her goals. She worked hard to rise up through the ranks of Ouroboros but that one blunder made her demoted. So she thought of killing Aurora to regain her reputation. Thanks to Aurora, people’s perception that all NEXT can be useful. So, this dumb reason is why she wants to kill the old lady so badly? She also blames the heroes for having a guilty hand in this since their very existence made people think NEXT have to be useful to them. Other fallen heroes get up to help save the injured people. Yeah, time to preach to us why they love being heroes. Thomas once again thinks Mr Black is in the way and that he is best working alone. This causes a rift between them and Audun thinks of using it to his advantage but gets defeated by their last minute combo. Apparently this is a ruse to let his guard down. Yeah, the duo know each other well inside out. However Audun wakes up and smashes them. Tiger and Bunny use all their energy to take down Lunatic. Sigourney transfer her conscious to another subordinate to flee but Tiger and Bunny won’t allow it. Suddenly Gregory shoots and this also effectively kills Sigourney. Wow. That easy? Then he wants Audun to kill the remaining ‘baddies’. However Audun has his doubts. All the ‘villains’ he fought were valiantly acting like heroes. Plus, he needs to go help the ordinary people. Gregory cannot accept this sh*t and injects his serum to make Audun’s powers go berserk. Can Tiger and Bunny do it together? For the first time Lunatic fights side by side with them to take Audun down. Tiger then tries to apprehend Gregory to stop this madness. However he thought Gregory’s power manifests when one is hugged. Apparently it is not. Just a lick and Tiger now goes wild!

Episode 25
Bunny tries to stop a rampaging Tiger and is having a hard time. Other heroes are having their hands full. Oh my, what huge convenience as a report plays over the airwaves as he reveals the heroes were gathering proof that X was created by Gregory instead of being an infectious disease. Yeah, that is enough to get everyone back to root our heroes again. With Lunatic having a hard time fighting Audun, suddenly Tiger regains himself to help. The only possible deduction is that he has lost his entire powers and thus no longer a NEXT and no longer under Gregory’s control. About time the dumb police chief decides to cast away his pride and support the heroes. After all the sabotaging! Bunny is left to deal with Audun but his suit breaks. Kotetsu throws him his as he receives new power to kick the daylights out of Audun. The day is saved. Ryan and Blue Rose corner and escaping Gregory and beat the sh*t out of him. Kotetsu and Barnaby follow Lunatic’s blood trail. Not sure if they realize he is Yuri as he unmasks himself. They claim he is a hero but Lunatic tells them to carry on their brand of justice before burning himself to death. WTF did he just hara-kiri?! Speaking about that, the police transporting Gregory do another hara-kiri as they crash their vehicle off the cliff just to kill him! Holy sh*t! With that, all the X return back to normal. Now all the heroes want to know what Kotetsu will do since he is now a normal human. Basically, without powers he still wants to help others and will continue to think what he can do. Well, you don’t need to be an official superhero to be a hero. As for Barnaby, he still wants to continue being a hero despite his leg still hurts like hell. So he wants to be like Kotetsu? Even if they can’t be together anymore, they’ll still be partners. Lastly, Tiger and Bunny inducted into the hero museum as buddy hero legends.

Unsung Heroes Of Reality TV
Well, will there be any more sequels in the future? Do we have to wait another cycle of the Chinese lunar calendar to get our answer? I don’t know. The way things are shown, it pretty much ended everything or at least for the most part of it. Sure, maybe new heroes will pop up and the rest will continue doing their hero job. I can’t see anything else major happening thereafter. After all, this series was originally written. And sadly, this season was adapted by Netflix. Ugh. I won’t say it is that awful and bad but well, I’m not really impressed either. I thought at least things will be different since Cyberpunk: Edgerunners was well done. Looks like Netflix back to being Netflix again. Not even the heroes can save them.

The stories and plots for this season feels a bit underwhelming. I don’t know, I just don’t feel the excitement watching it over 2 cours and find certain episodes to be draggy and boring. Especially those that try to focus on the superhero pair and character. Oh you know, try to give some limelight and focus on their issues and relationship with each other as a partner and working professional. It was supposed to give us some more insights into that particular character but at the end of the day, it just felt boring. Yeah sure, they all have issues but nothing that is grave enough to effect anything because it is all sugar coated for some feel good factor anyway. Like for example, Lara’s issue with her mom. Lara is too timid to speak her mind to her mom who wants her daughter to be the main star instead of a supporting background character. Uhm, I just don’t feel the intensity of that issue there. And it all got somewhat resolved or at least mom had a more favourable thinking after seeing Lara in action on TV that put her life at risked. Yeah, that actually changed the mind of a stubborn old goat. So to speak. Then you have Thomas who is a non-team player and it’s like his character is written to be a dick because of his lone wolf tendency. And of course, once he gets reunited with his sister, his world view suddenly changes because team work not so bad now. Wow. So easily resolved.

Apart from focusing on the relationships and dynamism of the superheroes and their buddy system, the plot itself isn’t all that exciting. Of course I’m talking about the need to have villains because that is what superhero genres all need, right? Yeah. An important ingredient after all. Anyway, the first half has an interesting crazy pair of twins. Too bad they are as shallow as we know them. No wonder they took half of that first season focusing on our superheroes while they were just being relegated to the background, disposing off non-important heroes in other lesser known towns. I thought the twins could have been better fleshed out but unfortunately they were written in such a way just to play that shallow villain of the day. Since they were crazy and unpredictable enough to give the heroes a run for their money so that had me interested in them for a while. Too bad they got killed off in a pathetic way so that’s that.

Then came the second half which rubs me and many other viewers the wrong way. You heard me right: Racism. While it is nothing new nor it is nothing wrong to have the theme of ordinary powerless people to fear those with superhuman powers (mutants in X-Men, anyone?), it is sad to say that living in an age where wokeness and politically correct has been permeating the media, I can’t help wonder if the series was trying to subtly hammer in some sort of message even though there is a big chance that there was no intention of this. Hence seeing the second half’s plot of puny normal joes and janes trying to protest a bunch of people who possesses something they don’t, are these people dumb or what? You know if you pissed off a NEXT, one can hurt or even kill you with the NEXT power? Sure, liberty, rights, freedom, whatever. I guess it’s just us being humans to find racism in everything even if there is none.

And so that theme for the second half felt somewhat surreal and it’s like the much needed plot to tie one hand in the back for our heroes and not give them a free pass to do as they wish because had they do so, everything would’ve been solved so easily. Yeah. Good guys always play by the rules and end up finishing last. But alas do not fear. There is this thing called plot convenience and cliché that allows all good guys and heroes to always win in the end. Phew. Therefore the second half’s antagonists are so much more boring and pathetic with drunkard Gregory and scheming Sigourney failing to be even half as interesting as the twins. Yeah, it’s a big disappointment seeing Gregory himself is a coward and relies on others, this is only so because we can hate this despicable character with no chance of redemption and all. His death is so WTF but I guess we don’t care. It’s just to tie up loose ends. And what’s this about Sigourney’s past and ideals? We don’t care! That’s why they could easily kill her off like that. Good riddance.

Sure, they want to put in themes which are not so black and white, themes that dwell in very grey areas and its very thin line that separates what constitutes being good or bad. Because people nowadays are so complicated and we can’t have a straight up good vs evil story since that will be so boring. That’s why they’re trying to confuse, uhm, I mean make us think if having superheroes around is a good thing. To put it simply in my opinion, there are 2 sides to a coin and nothing is perfect. While the justice system isn’t all that perfect, superheroes are the closest thing an ordinary joe can have to protect from super extraordinary bad things. So when things are seemingly corrupted and you question the justice system and all, it is fine to do so but you can’t lump everything all together and call it bad. Yeah, it’s tough being human, no? Strangely, Boku No Hero Academia’s current season is also facing such issues… The very great thin line between justice and evil.

Speaking of antagonists, I thought Ouroboros would finally play a more prominent role this season but looks like this worldwide shadowy organization continues to remain in the shadows. Well, maybe they’re working in the shadows and not shown to be in focus so as to keep the mystery on them. After all, it is said they have many well-known people working under their belt so it could be a huge thing. Makes me wonder if the heroes can take them on if they ever decide to go global with their nefarious plans considering how we see them struggle with such low level villains. Yeah, what if Ouroboros doesn’t think our current heroes are not even good enough to stop them! Oh well, controlling the economy and making money sounds good enough for them for now. Otherwise, their presence this season felt paltry since we don’t even hear anything about their goals or whatever. My guts tell me that it could be Ouroboros who had a hand in killing Gregory because that WTF scene, this could be the only plausible action. After all, perhaps Ouroboros aren’t some inelegant crude brutes and even if they are going to do something evil, it must be with class and style! Yeah.

As for the characters and our superheroes more specifically, what more can I say about them? As already said, some episodes focus on some of the pairs but that doesn’t bring anything much to the table. So if you’re fans of Sky High or Fire Emblem, you’d be disappointed that they only have 1 stinking episode they were prominent in and that episode also felt crappy. Otherwise, they’re just reduced to side supporting characters. And to think this pair is the #1 and top rated pair in Stern Bild. This means the other characters, new and old also mainly face this sort of problem. Yeah, that’s the problem when you have quite a number of characters and don’t have enough time to flesh them out. Forgive me since I didn’t watch the few movies that came out before so I am not sure if I missed anything or if any plots were brought over. Because from what I read, that Ryan guy made his debut in one of those movies whereas Cat, Mr Black and Thomas made their debut this season. Sad to say, they hardly made any impact at least in my books. Yeah, noticed how the final arc’s bosses are always somewhat fought by Tiger and Bunny while the other heroes are taken out? Too bad you guys aren’t the main characters. On a side note, noticed how the superheroes’ moniker are either based after animals, colour or elements? Is there a theme they must follow that I am unaware of?

Of course our titular character gets the bulk of the attention. Safe to say that they are really like best friends, which is a far cry from their cold icy relationship when they first started out at the beginning of the first season. It’s good to see them being this close as friends but oh I don’t know, I just felt there was something lacking that would make me want to support them. After all, Tiger being the guy who cares for his pals and everything, at the same time is facing issues of his relationship with his daughter (which was conveniently improved in the second half because of his seemingly winging it answer of being a superhero) while dealing with his own declining powers. For more added drama, Bunny too is having his setback that he might lose his powers forever. What a way to ramp up the drama because if Bunny can’t fully utilize his power to the max, that means our main characters are in danger, no? So will he do self-preservation to stay a hero or will he risk it all and be a hero for the last time? Well, let me say that there are everyday heroes who don’t wear capes… After all, even superheroes are still humans despite all what’s being said and done. See, Kotetsu still being Kotetsu even after completely losing his NEXT. Who says one has to retire as a superhero if you don’t have NEXT? Might be an ojii-san now but he is still a hero in the hearts of many! Like Kaede eventually.

And blurring the lines further between heroes and villains, we need to have Lunatic fighting alongside our titular heroes once. Because that’s how it is. I’m sure we all know at this day and age, most of us sympathize with the villains’ goal and that’s why they make such drastic changes unlike heroes who always want the status quo. However it is only the villains’ methods that we do not tend to agree on that mostly divides our full support. So in Lunatic’s case he became a villain because of a tragic past. But I guess people like him need a chance at redemption and that’s why a temporary alliance with Tiger and Bunny to show that even people on different sides can put aside their differences to work together for a common goal. Yeah, are we tired of hearing this theme already? But shockingly, they decide to kill off his character in the end and I don’t see why they have to do this. Can’t come up with good reasons to pit Lunatic and the heroes anymore? Yeah, this double character persona thingy is perhaps not looking so good so might as well kill him off and call it his redemption. He already had his brand of justice, now it’s time to pass that torch to others.

Then there is this Mattia guy whom I have mixed feelings about. Basically he feels like he is shoehorned in for a lot of plot convenience. It’s like as though the heroes needed an ordinary civilian to help deduce the mystery or at least help them make a decision for their next moves when their hands were tied. Without him, the heroes will still be running around like headless geese trying to find out the source behind X’s rampage. How convenient, right? And to think that he was Barnaby’s old classmate, this makes it easier for the writers to put him in because well, that’s what are friends for, right? So that Barnaby too doesn’t look like some sort of nerd. Because other than his fellow hero colleagues and Kotetsu as his partner-cum-best friend, you do note that all this dude does when he gets home is to water and talk to his plants! Is that sad? Well, not my place to say but to each his own.

Lastly, I need to comment about the police of Stern Bild. Basically they’re the epitome of what a dumb cop is! Especially the big police chief himself. Ugh, see how ugly his fat face is too! Anyway, the police are depicted as dumb here because that is the only way to make superheroes special, right? Especially in the second half when all they could think is to salvage some reputation by taking down criminals themselves, they got owned so badly they don’t even know it. Yeah, why can’t I help think this is yet another politically incorrect theme of hating the authorities? Anyway, these dumb f*ckers are so dumb that they could see nothing but their own selfish greed to get some glory from the public. This also serves to play a subtle plot that our good heroes must play by the book and not break any laws until the plot calls for it. Then it’s okay because by then when the series ends, the people will mostly back them again. So yeah, thanks a bunch you dumb cops for being an idiotic stumbling block. Geez. Too late for trying to support the heroes in the end. Sure, better late than never but with all the dumb sabotages, I’m still not going to have favourable views of the police in this anime.

If there is one thing I want to note about this series, it is the excessive use of CGI apart from the 2D animation. Well, I have to admit that the CGI animation is not bad but it does make the characters look weird. This is mostly employed when our superheroes don their outfits and head into action. While the CGI is smooth and satisfactory quality, sometimes their movements are too smooth and that makes them move in weird ways. At least better than many anime series out there with obviously bad CGI. As for the 2D animation, they still maintain their quality there so it’s good to see they didn’t skimp on it. Okay, now I have to talk about how certain characters resemble certain real life celebrities. The most obvious being the mayor of Stern Bild suspiciously looking like America’s former president, Obama. It couldn’t trigger my suspicions further because Obama is a left hander and the mayor is one too. This cannot be a coincidence, right?! And why does Aurora look like the late Betty White?! What Fugan and Mugan look like visual kei pairs while Gregory is like a love child between Steven Tyler and Mick Jagger on drugs. Yeah.

It’s nice to have all the original seiyuus from the first season reprising their roles. Of course there are new ones joining like Yuuichi Nakamura as Ryan. I thought Mamoru Miyano played both the twins since they sound indistinguishable but apparently it’s only Fugan while Mugan is played by Kensho Ono (Floch in Shingeki No Kyojin). The one that shocked me the most is Takehito Koyasu as Gregory. I should’ve been so familiar with his voice but I guess he sounded gay and different from his usual trademark that it never even crossed my mind it was this guy! Yeah, I’m still surprised as I type this. Woah. The others are Shouya Chiba as Mr Black/Subaru (Rein in Beast Tamer), Nobunaga Shimazaki as Thomas (Shido in Date A Live), Tomori Kusunoki as Cat/Lara (Natsume in Deca-Dence), Takako Honda as Sigourney (Hone Onna in Jigoku Shoujo), Hiroyuki Kinoshita as Nicolai (Doussant in Radiant S2), Shuuhei Sakaguchi as Mattia (Mest in Fairy Tail) and Tetsu Inada as Audun (Gamagoori in Kill La Kill).

Unison Square Garden who sang for the first season, continues to sing the opening theme for this season too, Kaleido Proud Fiesta. If you are familiar with their style of rock music, you can feel very much at home because to me it sounds similar to their other anime songs they sing like Kekkai Sensen and Yozakura Quartet. The first ending theme is Aida by Ano. This song is weird to me. Firstly, the somewhat screeching electric guitar as the background music. Then the song gets really noisy when it picks up. It sounds more like interference than music if you ask me. Lastly, the singer’s voice sounds weird. Sounds like a kid singing a song (singer is about 25 years old, by the way). For the second ending theme, Pilot by Taichi Mukai suddenly becomes a slow hip hop ballad. I guess we need a change of pace. After all the heroic action, sitting back and relax is what Kotetsu and Barnaby need.

Overall, while this season isn’t all that bad, it still misses some mark and fails to stir some excitement in me. Even weirder with the series playing that racism theme card so that set off some weird vibes. Even if it was all just for entertainment purposes. Sad to say, I still feel that the current and sixth season of Boku No Hero Academia is still far more enjoyable than this one in terms of superhero related content and action. Not sure if they are going to make movies, specials or another season down the road but when that happens, looks like our heroes will be called out of retirement to don their superhero outfits again in the name of justice. And save us from the sh*tty entertainment that we are drowning in! Oh well, who are we to blame since we created and consume such mess we are in right now. We are just as guilty.

Tokko

I was having this dilemma whether to watch this series or not. While I knew Tokko was basically a supernatural themed anime and the reason why I stayed away from it in the first place, there were some sites that listed it as comedy. Oh gosh. You know what that means. Confused the hell out of me. So is this a funny series laced with supernatural themes or what? Are you sure they didn’t mislabel this anime? From the promotional poster and synopsis and even reading some reviews didn’t show that it was such. And so you know me, the only way to blow away all those doubts is to watch it and ascertain it for myself.

Episode 1
A hole opens up in town. Lots of monsters come out. Kills everybody! Bloody! Blood everywhere! Ranmaru Shindo trying to run away from it all but this topless hot chick saves him. Turns out it is a dream. Reality should be better because his sister, Saya doesn’t flinch being in her undies before his eyes. They’re siblings, right? That’s what they always say in anime… Both are graduates from the special police training academy and they’re already late for it but make it in time. His best friend and partner, Ichiro Hanazono knows about Shindo’s dreams since he has been having it for years. Shindo notes the intervals are getting closer and closer and it’s like this topless chick trying to get close to him. Yeah, even Saya knows about this and wants to introduce her colleague, Mikae as his girlfriend! So stop dreaming about naked girls! How caring. WTF?! Shindo narrates 5 years ago, a mysterious mass murderer massacred 97% of the households at the Machida complex. The victims included his parents. Yeah, it was bloody all over. Hence it is the reason the siblings joined the police force to solve this murder mystery. Shindo and Hanazono get posted to some mobile division under Kaoru Kunikida. Damn, is this the yakuza?! Then the duo stumble upon Lt Kureha Suzuka. Hmm, she licks Shindo’s face and takes an interest in him? Of course later she notes that this is to ascertain that he ‘tasted’ like coming from the other side. Later other colleagues tell the duo about Kureha being a genius because she commands her own special security section in this division AKA Tokko. Rumours have it that they have special and dangerous weapons and that they chase things that aren’t human. When an earthquake occurs, Kureha knows a hole has opened so it’s action time. Shindo and Hanazono soon get a call of a murder crime scene. Get ready your barf bag because blood is everywhere and the victims’ bodies are chopped up into pieces. This doesn’t shock Shindo since this seen reminisces of his parents’ murder. Suddenly strange zombie punks attack and kill the police. Eerie voices saying they smell a traitor and survivor among them and to kill them all. No bullets can kill them so is Shindo done for? Until Sakura Rokujo cuts off the parasite from their body. Squish those bugs too to play it safe!

Episode 2
Right after all that gore, hazmat guys take the bugs as specimen. With the Tokko division here and saying how they’ll report this as a drug gang fight, Kunikida is not impressed and he wants answers right now. Some of his men were killed, you know? However Kureha plays it cool and even issues a subtle threat for that persistent yakuza guy to back off. Shindo talks to Sakura as he realizes she is the girl in his dream but isn’t aware she is part of Tokko. She warns him that survivors of Machida are being hunted. He is surprised she knows him as she says they talked before. However he doesn’t remember. Kunikida and his assistant, Shogo Muramasa try to uncover the grotesque mystery but all those photo evidences are locked behind some password. Restricted access. Not much of a hacker, huh? Talking about rumours how Tokko always show up right after at such incidents, they’re going to investigate this thoroughly. Shindo dreams of a young Sakura at Machida. He gets devastated to see her being killed by a demon or something. Yeah, Saya thinks he is a lolicon now dreaming of a young girl! WTF?! With this bugging on his mind, Shindo goes visit Machida. It’s been a while he is back here. Security at the front is tight so he manages to sneak in. So much about security. Seeing this place brings back bloody memories. Then he remembers this place where he met Sakura and now remembers her. Noticing a huge hole in this complex, he soon starts to feel weird when some power wells up in him. Muramasa tells Kunikida of this weird hand that controls people. They think catching the owner means nabbing the culprit. Of course the Tokko guys are already on it. Then some zombie turns homeless people into park into one of them by implanting those bugs. Kunikida dispatches his men to the scene. Yeah, he thinks he can kill them using big firearms! Didn’t do anything! Time for Tokko to show up and show it how it’s done with a sword. A gentle reminder you normal people can’t do any jack sh*t on this. Oh f*ck, Kunikida won’t lose and thinks of calling in the tank and chopper next time?! Seriously, dude?!

Episode 3
Shindo confirms with Sakura herself that she once lived at Machida and that she is also a survivor. She warns him that those things will continue to show up until he takes out the main body. Can she just tell it straight on not be so ambiguous? No wonder Shindo with that confused looks. Me too. Back home, Shindo notices strange tattoo marks on his body. Some short horrifying visions to go with it too. Saya spots those marks and because he claims they are bruises from his job, she starts nagging him to go to the hospital to check and she’ll go with him. Yeah, now she’s like his mom. Next day, Shindo gets his check-up but the doctor doesn’t find anything strange in particular since he isn’t feeling any side effects from it. Just to be sure, he takes a blood sample to test and have him wait. Being the guy not to sit around, he notices a strange brick building across. Wow. Heavily guarded with those MIBs. Yup, time to sneak in. These guys need to do something about their security… He then spots a comatose guy in a room on ventilator. His mark starts to act up and causes him to pass out. When he wakes up, he is in another room with Sakura. Meanwhile Kunikida dispatches his men to the next scene. He orders them to shoot those monsters. Uhm, I thought guns don’t work? Precisely. Just keep shooting to buy enough time till Tokko shows up. Their goal is to gather as many evidence before them. Too bad they arrived too late and Tokko already swept the place clean. Sakura explains that guy is her younger brother, Hiroki who has not woke up in 5 years. Back then, she heard Hiroki’s voice calling for help so she rushed back all the way from school only to see him bloodily injured. Shindo spams her with questions but she cannot say. All she can tell is that Tokko exists to hunt those creatures. Meanwhile the doctors who are testing Shindo’s blood get attacked by those bugs. Can Saya stop those possessed doctors? Oh damn, her scream must be so loud that her brother could conveniently hear her and rush back to protect her! Of course Sakura dealing the killing blow. Slice ‘em up and squish ‘em real good! Later Sakura explains that those monsters are attracted to the blood of Machida’s survivors. Hence not only Shindo is targeted. Those monsters are known as phantoms who come from another world. Saya organizes a mixer and WTF she called Kunikida over? She thought it would be too dangerous for her brother so she called a more dangerous being!? WTF this logic?! Because of that, the siblings get into a heated argument. The fun becomes stress instead…

Episode 4
Oh my. Saya trying to set up her brother to go on a date with her senior, Yukino Shiraishi?! As she works in the forensics lab, all the more reason he rejects. As Kunikida continues to order his men to look for evidence but all the case files are cold, hence the only place where they can get those proofs they need is at the crime lab. I guess it’s time for Shindo to ask Saya for a favour to hit him up with Yukino. So we see them go on a date (damn Saya tailing them?! She no life or what?!) as Shindo talks like he is interested in the kind of job she does. So after explaining the kind of work a forensic worker would do, he would like to visit her workplace. Wow. She brings him there just like that? Sure, a few security checks and all but they really let an outsider in?! And the way he dresses so casual… WTF?! She shows him the work she has been tasked to research by some government organization. Basically, a research on some Italian alchemy about immortality and the likes. See those demon illustrations? Resemble like those bugs, huh? However this conversation is cut short when her father reminds her not to tell such stuffs to outsiders. So as he leaves, Shindo mentions about seeing those monsters but those evidence of scattered body parts are always taken way to this lab. He wants her to help look into it but she cannot say more as she knows she is being watched. Meanwhile Muramasa has also stumbled into some Vatican lore about those demons. Seeing the similarities? Back home, Shindo asks Saya about Yukino’s dad. Was he always that grumpy? Saya explains Yukino’s mom was killed in a robbery and the culprit was never caught. Guess what? It happened 5 years ago. Coincidence? He wants to call Yukino but Saya says she might be at the lab for night duties. Yeah, more lax security as Shindo manages to somehow get in after hearing some screams. Some demon killed a couple of security guards. Shindo faces him off and recognizes him as the one from his visions. Weakling can’t do anything but when the demon unleashes his bugs, his tattoo activates to repel them. Great timing again from Sakura to show up and slice those bugs but demon dude just got away. Tokko identifies that dude as #12.

Episode 5
Shindo is recuperating in hospital. Don’t worry, he is fine. Sakura visits and sees his tattoo. She tells him not to further get involved in this. You think fate will allow him?! Anyway, she calls that tattoo as the mark of destruction. Shindo is soon back at work as a worried Yukino visits him. She needs to talk to him. Noticing those MIBs watching her, he brings her to his secret place on the rooftop. So, the MIBs don’t follow here?! She shows him a photo of a demon’s hand that was brought into the lab for her father to research 5 years ago. She explains her father’s specialty in biology and about evolution. It seems he believes in the theory of altering DNA to evolve. Hence theoretically it is possible for a bug to become a dinosaur. She knows all this because she was his assistant as she shows more photo evidence of that bug. Soon, as more corpses come in, a special division was created where he was transferred to continue his research. In fact, that demon hand she learnt later came from Machida. Ever since, there have been rumours of staffs going missing and sightings of demons eating people. She is very afraid about where her father’s research is heading to. She brings him back to the lab and this time the security won’t let Shindo in. Oh wait, they change their mind since her father specially requested to meet him. Shindo mentions he was here the other night and saw demons. He accuses him of creating monsters. Of course he rubbishes that because why would he do that to kill humans. He talks about some old European legend whereby aristocrats used the Box of Druj to open the door to the underworld. However demons popped up and ate humans so they got scared and tried to close it. Too bad, the box became 108 demons already. In reality, he mentions a drug addict using this legend to go on a murder spree and that’s that. He ends the conversation and WTF, did he just leave Shindo to his own device and not escort him out?! Yeah, Shindo sneaks around and stumbles upon a lab filled with demon parts. Surprise motherf*cker because Yukino’s dad and his staffers are part monsters! He claims this is evolution and to save humanity from destruction. They turned into so by eating those parts. They want to take Shindo as their own but it seems Yukino protects him and gets fatally wounded. She’d rather die as a human than turn into this monstrosity. He notices Shindo’s tattoo repelling his attacks and notes about its symbiont. Time for Tokko to show up again and slash all the monsters. Yeah, security is really so lax…

Episode 6
Sakura is having nightmares too… Ryoko Ibuki reports to her chief, Ogata about the incident at the lab. As for Shindo being a symbiont, if the time comes, they’ll deal with him properly. Shindo gets the worse job to go out drinking with Kunikida. Bad mood. But luckily Kureha is here to steal the most eligible bachelor from that yankee. Hey, better to date a hot babe than a hot headed boss, no?! Kureha plays with her words and claims they aren’t hiding anything and is putting out info the public needs. Because if it was top secret, all of them would be dead. The duo do date-like stuffs as Kureha avoids questions about the job although she hints she was reluctantly trust into this position and even suggested they run away from everything. Just kidding, right? Eventually she brings him to the grave of her brother, Akito. She was also a resident of Machida and her parents too were killed. The siblings were out but rushed back to the complex only to see blood everywhere. Then they got infected by the hole and collapsed. When they woke up, they’re in hospital and Ryoko says they’re been sleeping for 2 years! As they have the tattoo, she recruits them to fight those things since they want revenge so badly. Ryouko’s mission is to find people with such tattoos. It is proof that they are symbionts AKA phantoms living inside them. As the legend of Druj is real, hence Tokko’s mission is to gather all 108 parts and seal that gate. However those parts only come from the main body like that demon Shindo stumbled into at the lab. As he is the 12th phantom they’ve dealt with, oh boy, it’s a long way… With this info, it is all up to Shindo to whether he wants to awaken his symbiont. Doing so allows him to use them as weapons that are the only things that can kill phantoms. We know what will happen if he fails to control it and it controls him, right? As parting gift, she kisses him. As for how Akito died, Kureha killed him after he turned into a monster :’(… At least got a part…

Episode 7
Tokko’s Takeru Inukai is fighting BDSM monsters?! Too bad he gets injured while protecting a group of high school girls. Because he is out of action, Ryoko suggests to Ogata to recruit Shindo as they are short on manpower and that the gate’s threat is growing. However Ogata mentions the higher ups are reluctant. Hence he wants her to test him by letting him fight a phantom. If he dies, they ‘win’ by getting a part from him. Meanwhile Hanazono is jealous at Shindo for having dated so many hot chicks. Yeah, so is he hinting that he wants to go for Saya? Too bad, Ryoko is here to ‘borrow’ Shindo. Curse that popular guy! Not sure what this outing is for as Ryoko just takes Shindo out to lunch and didn’t reveal anything. Soon a big earthquake happens and Kureha can tell it’s #13. Shindo now questions what this mobile division is for. Despite joining to get revenge on his parents, he has yet to do anything and instead got himself entangled with all this supernatural stuffs. Kureha and Sakura are having it tough fighting those BDSM ghouls. I thought they’ve always been fine cutting monsters down even when Inukai is around? Anyway, Ryoko mentions she couldn’t tell Shindo anything as she doesn’t want to rush him. This has Kureha speculating the higher ups having their own agenda. But as she mentions about her date with Shindo, Sakura isn’t impressed and slaps her! Is she jealous?! Shindo gets a call from an unnamed guy who claims he knows who killed his parents and can help him get revenge. He also knows the thing inside him that will awaken. Of course Shindo doesn’t trust him but still goes out to meet him. At the park where that hole just emerged, he gets attacked and almost dragged in by BDSM ghouls. Until of course Sakura and Inukai show up to do a lot of slashing until they kill it. Hole closes and they get a part. Wow. That easy. So is Inukai back on duty? Sakura reveals that he too lived at Machida. However his sister was taken away instead. He has since lived with the guilt of not being able to protect her and thought it would’ve been better on his conscience had she died. When Shindo mentions about the call, Sakura believes it is from the special security trying to test him. However Shindo believes it is not them because he wanted to show him the truth. Sakura then warns him not to get involved. Can he at this point?!

Episode 8
The site of Machida is worsening. It could collapse anytime. Yeah, because another hole just emerged from there. Shindo talks to Muramasa why this division was created. He goes on to smoothly explain it was to deal with unresolved grisly murders and crimes. Because they couldn’t get anything done, hence Tokko was secretly formed and officially they do not exist. With another earthquake felt, Shindo rushes to the site which is not in his jurisdiction. He asks the local forces if they have seen Tokko but apparently they were already here and got things done by the time they showed up. They too aren’t happy with this. As Shindo returns, a couple of MIBs warn him to stay out or he’ll regret it. Back home, Saya asks if there is any girl he likes because there are rumours floating about the various women he is seeing. Then she relays a message from Yukino about the 108 parts and to go see Ryoko for more info. He does so as she reveals that initial ‘date’ was to see if he has any desires to join Tokko. However seeing the way he is now, she doesn’t want him to. Shindo thinks he will be alright if he awakens his symbiont because that is what he needs to avenge his parents. However she reminds him about Akito. You heard what happened to him, right? Yeah. Don’t be like Akito. When Saya goes to meet Mikae, she gets involved in a hit and run accident. Although recuperating at the hospital, Shindo believes it must be that warning from those MIBs. Hence he returns to Machida as Tokko is waiting there for him as they believe he has decided. They tell him there are many other societies including those who want to use phantom for their own nefarious ends. Rest assured, those residing in them are their allies. This is why those phantoms want to kill the ‘traitors’. With phantoms showing up, time to slice and dice those mothers. They also reveal that their job is to prevent them from returning to the hole. After eating humans, they will do so to make the gate grow larger. At this rate, in 2 years the human world will be completely sucked into the underworld. With Shindo ready for his awakening, Kureha kisses him as distraction before stabbing him and let him fall into the hole. It’s all part of the ritual to plunge his soul into darkness to bait the phantom. The rest is up to him whether he turns good or bad. Of course we know and he’ll get a very strong phantom that is on par with Satan himself. Because see how Shindo awakens with his new power that blows away all the monsters!

Episode 9
Shindo’s getting in on the phantom slaying action. He hangs out at their base. Not the best of places but remember, they’re not supposed to be official. Ryoko then continues explaining more truths. It seems that there are other symbionts out there but they do not know if they are friend or foe. Then as we all know, as symbionts they possess a part. You know what this means if they want to get all 108 parts, right? Kunikida is so mad because with official papers, it makes Shindo part of Tokko but he will still be stationed at his office and not be limited to his command! Ryoko then has a meeting with the higher ups who are not happy that Shindo is awakened. Now they have more problems. They want to punish her as Ryoko then speaks her mind that she knows some of them want to coexist with phantom. However she stands firm that they must be eliminated. This is not diplomacy. This is war! Later Ogata calls Ryoko to inform that he managed to get her off getting some punishment although she has made some enemies. But thanks to her, she has revealed that some are agents working for phantom. He warns her not to do this for revenge but she assures him she is control of her emotions. Mikae asks Shindo if she could visit Saya (why is she hinting she really likes Shindo?!) when a bullet is shot at him and the stray bullet grazes his cheek. Mikae recognizes that car’s plate that banged Saya. Shindo going to run after the car?! Conveniently Muramasa lets him get in his as they give chase but soon loses it. Ryoko is being attacked by monsters but Shindo is here to save the day. He has superhuman abilities and even can sniff out where the main phantom is. After Tokko destroys the threat, Ryoko wonders how he knows she was in danger. Well, he just knew. A voice seemed to tell him where to go. Kureha notes Ryoko is bleeding. Unlike the rest who can regenerate, she is only a normal human. Kureha reveals Ryoko’s former partner was assigned to investigate phantoms but was killed while protecting her from one. Ryoko laments if only Tokko was around those days, probably he wouldn’t have died. Ever since that day, her only goal is to kill phantoms.

Episode 10
Shindo and Sakura talk. It seems she was always bullied and thus alone. That’s why Shindo hung out with her so as to make her smile. Then they talk about the horrific possibility of killing each other in the end as well as the mysterious reason why the survivors of Machida all have symbionts. Tender lovely moment with Kureha coming into the picture. Shindo now has nightmares about killing Sakura. When Yukino meets up with Shindo, she says she has quit the lab and returned to her university. Bad girl as she has illegally snuck out that Druj book just for him. Then she reveals another truth. There is a picture that her father brought back during his archaeological dig in Italy. It is one of the 108 parts. Shortly after that, the Machida incident happened. The part went missing because of the robbery incident that took her mom’s life. She fears this is what caused the chain of events today. Shindo tries to investigate more on this but hits a dead end. Muramasa then brings him to the mansion of a strange monk for answers. Because he seems to know a lot of stuffs, Shindo realizes he is that guy who called him. He accuses him of siding with the phantoms but old geezer claims his symbiont is different and that is why he called him. Does he not want to know his true self? Well, Shindo gets violent but gets knocked out by his power. Next thing he knows, he is back in Tokko’s base but he is in a trance as he tries to kill the rest. The obvious answer is to kill him but Sakura won’t. Ryoko shoots him to make him unconscious. Don’t worry, that won’t kill him. Sakura offers to dive inside his mind to save him. It is risky because she too can die. Yeah, going into his mind is like stabbing themselves like sheesh kebab? Anyway, Sakura is trying to prevent Shindo from going over to the other side. Obviously a trap by fake imposters impersonating as his parents to call him over. But she too is being dragged down by her fears and insecurities. But when Shindo realizes her in danger, he cuts everything down including his imposter. And just like that they return to reality. Aww, how sweet they’re holding hands…

Episode 11
Flashback shows when Sakura rushed back to Hiroki and see him unconscious, a monster attacked her. This caused her to fall into the hole where she became a symbiont. Tokko talks about the strange old man whom they call Taishi. It seems that his origins are unknown and no matter how much they try to investigate on him, he always gives them the slip since he has immunity and can pull strings from behind the shadow. Seriously, they even think he is some reptilian race or something! Meanwhile a monster attacks and kills those guys attending to Hiroki. On another phantom hunting mission, Shindo uses his skill to detect the main body. Well, well, guess who? It’s Hiroki! He fights them and Sakura is reluctant to kill him. From his actions, it looks like he is taken over by phantom but there is still hope to save him. Hence Sakura tries to talk to him but he blames her because he was waiting for her to come save him but she never did. Then he cuts her before escaping! Don’t worry, it’s not a fatal wound. Kunikida and his men come by and they are shocked to see Shindo doing such stuffs. Not sure how he is going to explain his way out of this one because Muramasa is also looking quite suspicious. Back at the base, Tokko talks about the strangeness in Hiroki because he is showing emotions. Usually when phantom takes over, the host do not show emotions. Well, Sakura still thinks she can save him. In this condition? Ryoko then confronts Muramasa and knows he is a spy for Taishi. She wants to know Taishi’s whereabouts but he dares her to kill him because doing so won’t change anything. After a struggle, she manages to make that guy talk. She goes back to tell her comrades that he is at Machida. Well, well. Looks like Shindo and Sakura are there too. Sakura talking to Shindo how she blamed herself for letting what happened to Hiroki that day. Oddly, the phantom she saw in her dream is the same as Shindo’s. Are they the same? Now here comes Hiroki. He claims he is feeling much better after this evolution. Unlike Yukino’s dad who thinks evolution of humans is only restricted to the body, Hiroki says true evolution is for the soul. Hence humans will not be destroyed but reborn. Yeah, another nutcase. Since the guys don’t like each other, they fight. Too bad Sakura’s diplomacy for reconciliation meant nothing. As Sakura still cannot fight him at full force, Inukai jumps into the picture. Both guys take each other out. Oh sh*t. Inukai dead?! Believe it. At least they got a part… And Taishi overseeing everything with a smirk…

Episode 12
Ryoko has obtained an arrest warrant for Taishi. She pulled some strings to get it. However as Ogata warned her, doing so he cannot protect her anymore. She is fine with it as she has already prepared herself for the consequences. Of course Tokko isn’t necessarily going to arrest Taishi alive. They’re going to bring back his corpse if it comes down to it. They further discuss about Taishi being an evolved being. Going back to the Druj legend. The nobles who summoned them were killed and the demons were sealed by 12 alchemists. Coincidentally, there are 12 Machida survivors. Shindo and Saya move into Ryoko’s place for security. Security my foot because all Tokko members get attacked by monsters! As Shindo chases one, he stumbles into a pair of siblings killing them. They are Itto and Mayu Araragi. They hunt phantoms and eat them because since they ate their parents, revenge is best served by eating their cooked meat? Sorry, bad pun. When Shindo reports to his comrades, it is obvious those siblings are Machida survivors and since they eat the phantom’s meat, its parts are inside them. Tokko goes to Taishi’s mansion to arrest him. Yeah, those MIBs can’t do jack sh*t to stop them. Taishi is like the big boss but it seems he is only interested in Shindo. He dares Shindo to kill him if he doesn’t care about his loved ones. After all, Shindo and him are the same. He tries to make Shindo mad like hell by admitting he killed his parents in the cruellest way. Luckily Sakura’s voice reach him not to fight the devil himself. As Tokko fights him, they cannot harm him as he regenerates and can even stop bullets! So, this called providence? All part of the evolution. He tries to convince Shindo to see his true self but Shindo is Shindo. Taishi claims they are both evolved and the only difference is he is one step closer to a new existence. He escapes and mentions a nice present he will leave him. Next day, the police arrests Ryoko for falsifying documents and attempting to murder Muramasa. Yup, that guy behind this setup. But Ryoko isn’t shocked, she saw this coming and is prepared to face this. With Ryoko’s arrest, Ogata dissolves Tokko. He claims now they are free and don’t have to kill each other. Damn, the girls slap him so hard his cheek is bruised! They’re not going to let this go easily. Meanwhile Shindo gets a call from Taishi. Saya is kidnapped. He’ll give her back soon in her evolved form. That’s his present. Oh, you mad now?

Episode 13
Shindo is so mad and wants to go save Saya. Kureha and Sakura have a hard time restraining him. Oh, Sakura’s slap did the trick to calm him down. When he has a cooler head, they tell him this is the enemy’s ploy to take advantage of their hatred and sadness so don’t give in. There are arrest warrants for them so they scram. Yet again, lack of security has them sneak into the security section’s HQ. Yeah, for a division named so, clearly they are so lacking. Oh right, monsters killed them. So we can slice their way through with ease. Oddly, there are those MIBs they have to face too. Kureha and Sakura will go save Ryoko and they want him to concentrate in finding Saya. Kunikida catches Muramasa doing shady things. So he beats up and interrogates the guy. Yeah, what’s this about him being a spy for the security section to avoid panic? Kunikida isn’t buying it. They attack and wound each other. Shindo’s search has him to stumble into the Araragi siblings. However they hide because they can sense Taishi. That guy kills phantom hunters like them! Kureha and Sakura’s weapon cannot destroy the special cell Ryoko is in. Kunikida is here to help them by creating explosives! OMFG! You mean that did the trick?! He lets the ladies escape while he faces off with the armed MIBs. How is he going to come out alive on this one? Shindo is at Machida as Taishi tries to lure him in. He is tired of his prattle about evolution, blah, blah, blah. Taishi reveals the truth that humans are the one who created him. After the alchemists sealed Druj, Taishi has been travelling the world for hundreds of years to find those parts to call them back. The final piece is in Japan. Now they face off as Taishi sends grunts for Shindo to warm up. Wow. These grunts have parts too? Dropping them like flies. With Kureha and Sakura here to assist, Kureha takes a deep slash as Taishi escapes into the hole. Don’t worry about her. Permission for Shindo and Sakura to chase the old dude. Dropping into the hole, Taishi plays tricks on them. Sakura realizes they cannot beat him like this so she wants Shindo to kill her and obtain her power. Of course he won’t. She forces him to fight as he accidentally kills her. Now united with her part, he powers up and no phantom can even come close. He continues his fight with Taishi but as I can see, they’re still worlds apart. Not sure what happened as the hole then covers up. In the aftermath, we see Kunikida still alive but it is hinted Muramasa pulled some strings so he is no longer the chief. Sakura is in comatose state. Saya is alive and normal. So are Shindo, Kureha and Ryoko. Then a huge earthquake and a giant hole now appears in the middle of the city. Taishi’s gay laughter resonating…

Between The Inner Demons And The Deep Hell Hole
Well, now I can also see why many of the reviews say it sucked because of the ending. That ending that did not actually resolve anything or bring us anywhere is one of the main factors that many gave this series the thumbs down. Now they can add my vote to that too! It is unfortunate that this series will get another season because as I have found out, the manga that it was adapted on only had 3 volumes. Wow. That’s very short. But there is a good reason why it was that. Because the series got cancelled! Oh my. Therefore I am not sure if the cliff-hanger we see in the anime is an original one or part of the cancelled original source. Either way, we will never get our answers and we are free to form whatever conclusions we want because it doesn’t matter anyway.

It is unfortunate that although the series itself has an interesting concept (food for thought: Will humans remain as humans if they evolve to a higher being? My personal answer is no because that isn’t what humans are or what makes humans human), personally I felt that it was poorly paced out. Even for the anime version, it felt like a drag. Because for a big part of the season, it was like going nowhere. I mean, Shindo only awakened to his parts at 2/3 of the season! Before that, he was just a confused cop trying to go around and get more clues but it all yielded nothing until he became a member of Tokko. But even that, the story continues to unfold at a snail pace. Sure, bits and pieces of the plot is sprinkled to us but as we all have witnessed, it wasn’t really close enough to solve anything. At least no solid evidence for us to do so. In hindsight, if the series didn’t get cancelled and they added another season to the anime, perhaps it would have been bearable. However it was sadly not the case and we’ve got this meandering mess of I don’t even know what to call it now.

Thus a lot of unresolved cases too because you do remember that #12 is not caught and still out there, right?! Did we forget about that or did I miss something about this phantom already been destroyed?! Don’t even get me started on the Druj legend thingy because if it happened half way around the world, why is this only happening in Japan? I’m not sure if it is happening elsewhere in the world, but from the way they show it, only Japan is having these huge holes. Yeah, the public is dumb enough to believe all the flimsy cover up excuses of gang fights and accidents. Maybe the people are so scared they prefer not to look at the truth. Then with Taishi’s revelation that the last piece is in Japan, f*ck, now I’m even more confused. So are there more fragments to the 108 pieces? Like 1 of those pieces can be split to more pieces? That’s why in the finale, it’s like raining pieces everywhere for every phantom our characters kill. So I’m confused. Are there actually more pieces than meets the eye? And only if survivors of Machida can become symbionts, aren’t they really lacking in recruitment to fight phantoms? Shouldn’t they round up all the survivors then? Yeah, because it feels so convenient that this character has this power because, surprise! Machida survivor!

Making it worse are the characters whom are mostly a miss rather than a hit. It was interesting that each member of Tokko has their own tragic circumstances and their reasons for being involved with this. However as far as the anime plays out, they are not fully fleshed out and so we’re left to just accept whatever that has only been revealed. The saddest and most unfortunate case would be Inukai. I thought he was going to be some sleeper hit or something. This guy is quite stoic and in a way is pretty cool. Then they actually killed him off! Oh dear. Here I was having this thinking that he might play a bigger role later on and even if he doesn’t amount to that in the anime, at least there would be the potential as long as he is alive. But now he is dead and this renders his background of finding his missing sister relatively useless. Sad but I guess having some sort of background and tragic past is better than many of the other generic background characters. Like Hanazono. I have this feeling this guy is going to be the comic relief but sadly he isn’t even close to that nor is he memorable. Just existing to tell us that he is best friends with Shindo so that Shindo doesn’t look like some sort of loner. And Hanazono can take the loser role too because Shindo getting hit on by so many chicks, is this anime trying to be a harem anime?! Yeah, Inukai getting killed off means Shindo is the only male in the group. Are you sure this isn’t trying to be a harem anime? I mean, Yukino actually likes this guy and doesn’t have any ulterior motives. What happened to her anyway? Is she interested in seeing Shindo after her father got killed? And what’s this minor character Makie having that potential too? I swear, I can feel Hanazono’s jealousy right now. Shindo may not be the best phantom killer because he’s a better lady killer! HAHAHAHA!!! Sighs…

And where’s the comedy part that I was so intrigued by this series? Ah well, I should have known and seen it coming. The small banter between Shindo and Saya is supposed to be for laughs, right? Yeah. This is your comedy part because Saya feels like she’s not playing the big sister (although she’s the small sister) but also his mom. Yup, can’t stop constantly nag him but I guess that is only right seeing Shindo’s character who doesn’t really know how to take care of himself. I’m sure without Saya, his normal daily life would be ruined. She is the one who cooks for him and every other household chores. Imagine having a sister so concerned about your wellbeing to a point she wants to match make girlfriends. Oh wow. Does she not have a life? Why do I have this gut feeling that she has this brother complex and all this is just to hide it? Like as though when he actually settles down, she can finally let go of her feelings for him. Yeah. That! But of course, unfortunately, it could be just me overthinking and not really something important for the series.

Oh right, perhaps the funniest part of the series (which is also the dumbest) are the security scenes. For a division that is created under that name itself, it freaking lacks a lot of it! When you have a plain guy like Shindo being able to sneak around and without even getting caught until much later, it says a lot about the security. Like as though this whole thing is a farce and just for plot convenience. Anybody can sneak in and show up because of it. And all those MIBs looking tough are just for show only, huh? It’s a good thing such security level is not present at important events like UN meeting or something. I mean, how the f*ck is Tokko going to do their job each time they have to seriously clear security, right? Yeah, how the f*ck do they always arrive on scene before others? Do they have a phantom that teleports them because hell I sure don’t see that anywhere.

Shindo as the main character, his motivation is to go after his parents’ killer but as we can see, he is just a confused kid and has no clue on where to get started. He gets dragged around and doing wild goose chases even as part of Tokko. Oh, what’s this about his true form that is hinted by Taishi? So, I’m going to guess that he is the great phantom devil himself. Uh huh. Satan. That’s the mystery that they want to hang around him but looks like it will remain a mystery forever now. Sakura is supposedly going to play his love interest too? From the way she reacts and all, most likely. As a character who doesn’t show a lot of emotion, she keeps it under wraps. Hiroki seems like the motivation she has to keep going but ever since they killed him off, that is the reason why Sakura is able to do the impossible and let Shindo kill her. Yeah, all for plot convenience later. Which will never materialize anyway. It feels like their dynamism is wasted because despite spending some seemingly tender moment here, it’s like they got nowhere closer. Except maybe for the final part she sacrificed herself for him. Which chick in love wouldn’t do that for a guy she loves, right? Maybe. And to think I had this impression she would do more (because she’s the poster girl for this series, right?) but it all fell short of expectation. Because all of Tokko members are sounding so serious (Sakura, Inukai and even Ryoko), Kureha’s casual behaviour is to light up the gang because otherwise Tokko will be just a very drab team. Yeah, Shindo is this close in becoming a no-fun guy.

You wonder why the series needs to introduce the Araragi siblings when they are so miniscule and don’t even matter. Oh right. For future plots. Which will never come! Because of that, it feels like their presence isn’t actually necessary and the whole anime could’ve been done without them. They’re an interesting pair who eats phantoms they killed but that’s so much about them. Then there is this Kunikida who is hot headed and sometimes it feels funny that he tries to get in on the mystery but in the end is given the run around. He might look like he is a violent person but deep down inside he is a good man. Maybe a lot louder and crude. Obviously I could even tell when I see Muramasa the first time, he is a suspicious dude. He has after all those looks. Even shadier how he can access to several important info which also feels like plot convenience too. Eventually his true colours are shown but it is not clear if he is the real bad guy. Because like Taishi to be some sort of unbeatable boss in the end, I guess Shindo didn’t activate his cheat code properly so that we all get a generic and rushed happy ending. So we’re stuck with this crappy one instead. Yikes.

I have to say that art and animation feel average and well, actually some parts are substandard. While this series came out in 2006 and it is understandable the art style are reminiscent of that era, however in some scenes especially the action parts, you can obviously how much the details downgrade. Sometimes the animation get wonky and it makes the experience a bit weird. Even weirder, Shindo looks like the discount version of GTO’s Onizuka. It couldn’t be more ironic as I soon find out that this series was written by the same author who created GTO. Yikes. Jokes on me then. The other characters look pretty generic too like Ryoko your typical hot secretary babe, Saya your typical cutie imouto, Kunikida your typical delinquent and Kureha, uhm, did she grew out He-Man’s hair?! And why does Taishi looked like a discount unmasked Darth Vader?! The force of ugliness is strong in this one! But creepy eyes, though. Like as though they’re staring right through your soul.

Well I have to admit that those bugs in the initial episodes do freak me out. By my standards, they look scary. I hope I don’t have nightmares about it. Therefore another irony is that because of the substandard visuals, they do not look that scary. Get what I mean? It was creepy enough to see those bugs especially when they have heads sticking out of their human host’s body. But it’s like a blessing in disguise that the animation quality was just average so that saved me a whole lot of nightmare fuel. Phew? Not sure what happened to those bugs but later lesser phantoms look like they come from some BDSM club, which makes them look freakier in the weird sense. Not scary but more like WTF reaction. And uhm, doesn’t the phantom in Shindo and Sakura’s dream look a lot like Thundercats’ Mumm-Ra?

Oh, did I mention that this series also employed some CGI? Thank goodness it is very minimal and the most obvious part is for the car and traffic sequences in some scenes. They obviously suck as you can see the obvious difference. So this is retro anime, so am I more inclined to forgive the lack of technology? Maybe. But nah! CGI is also used in the special effects when for example Shindo unleashed his special powers. But those aren’t so bad because we don’t really know how such fireballs or barriers look like as compared to real life cars so I guess that’s okay. Then again, maybe not. This anime is jointly done by AIC Spirits (Maken-Ki, Girls Bravo, Tokyo Majin Gakuen Kenpuchou) and Group TAC (Grappler Baki, Gakuen Alice, Shinigami No Ballad).

And yes, we have to talk about the fanservice. The version that I saw has a bit of nudity. That’s right. There are some scenes that show bare tits. I’m sure the very early scene in the first episode of Shindo dreaming about Sakura is to bait us viewers into thinking that we’re going to see more topless chicks like that. You can only see those ‘clearly’ during shower scenes. Like as though they want to animate that on purpose. Yeah, WTF do we need to have shower scenes anyway? Oh right. Be thankful for the tits. And of course the biggest bait in the fanservice is the way Kureha dresses. She actually dresses like that in public for all to see! Ah yes, it is so eye-catching and draws attention for every straight male. I mean, who is going to arrest her, right? The fashion police? The moral police? She’ll cut you f*ckers down! Not sure why she dresses like that so I’m just going to say that it’s because to bait us viewers into thinking we can see some sort of nip slip or something. Does her cleavage need to breathe or what? With just a jacket to cover those tits, it’s like making us hope there may be a chance she could flash those bare nipples to us. Unfortunately with the average animation quality, I can safely say there were none of such incidents. Uh huh. How the f*ck could she keep her modesty as she slices and dices the monsters?! Oh, damn those camera angles too, maybe.

This series’ main draw I believed is the action parts. But once again I have to point out with the mediocre animation quality, sometimes it feels laughable. This means although there are a hell lot of blood spilled here, there and everywhere, it all feels paltry when you consider the animation to be poor. Yeah, this also means poor background characters meant to be killed off by having their limbs cut off or head decapitated, it all just looks like it’s poorly done. I could’ve put the bloody parts on par with Elfen Lied but here I am repeating it like a broken tape recorder, the visuals are just of below average quality. Worse, the Tokko members don’t seem to have any special skill. They just swing their weapons around and that’s all. Maybe it’s my fault to think they’ll come up with some unique special moves like in fighting games but yeah, it just feels boring and cliché because Sakura and Kureha will always pop up at the right moment to cut those phantoms in half. Why does Kureha’s weapon only look uniquely different while the rest look like typical generic swords?

For the voice acting, it’s pretty okay and nothing that extraordinary. Hey, at least better than the animation quality. Heh. So it’s nice to hear recognizable seiyuus like Kenichi Suzumura as Shindo and Kana Ueda as Kureha. When I say I am surprised to hear Hiro Shimono doing his cameo as Hiroki, because I thought this guy was quite a young chap (bugger is almost same age as me????!!!) in the sense that he is in the voice acting business for these handful of years. Didn’t realize he has been in this industry since the early 2000s! Yeah, how the f*ck did I ever come to such conclusion?! Other characters are Fumiko Orikasa as Sakura (Rukia in Bleach), Rio Natsuki as Ryoko (Nanami in El-Hazard series), Susumu Akagi as Inukai (Moutoku in Ikkitousen), Akemi Kanda as Saya (Ryou in Clannad), Wataru Takagi as Kunikida (Genta in Detective Conan), Hiroshi Tsuchida as Muramasa (Ganesha in DanMachi), Tadashi Mutou as Hanazono (Hideaki in Gundou Musashi), Aya Endo as Yukino (Reine in Date A Live) and the late Ryuji Mizuno as Taishi (Midguard in Turn A Gundam). Both the opening and ending themes are sung by dB, Nothing and Sherry respectively. The former sounds like weird hip hop piece while the latter is like a pop ballad.

Overall, I can see why this is considered by many to be disappointing. Draggy story that didn’t go anywhere, interesting characters that ended up with wasted potential and especially that damn lousy ending with no closure that made it all much worse. Don’t we all feel so cheated, no? Sorry, this anime couldn’t evolve into something better and got destroyed instead. The irony that such a big gaping hole in the anime’s setting and story, left a big one too in our impressions and hearts. The legend of summoning 108 demons to our world may be just a myth. But making crappy and bad animes is fact and that itself can easily summon the raging demons inside us to criticize and condemn this piece of garbage. Heh. We already have the perfect evolved demons inside us already.