That’s the good stuff
The episode quality rose up this week compared to comparatively weaker stuff from last week. Onihei’s episode was the absolute winner while Seiren finally seems to have gotten back on its track about the whole “romance anime” aspect. Both Demi-chan and Masamune were a bit weaker but apparently we’re due for some exciting stuff next week so we can all look forward to those.
Onihei (5): This week’s episode features the younger member of the Arson Theft Control, Chugo, and his escapades that landed him broke. Recently assigned to nightly patrols, Chugo is enamored by the brothel in his route and his “cute” demeanor charms one of the girls and he ends up as a regular and soon ends up without any money. Spending all of his wages as well as the savings passed down from his late father, Chugo is troubled but the girl, Omatsu, says that his constant service garnered the attention of one of the shop’s supporters and his service is extended free of charge. However, Heizo had sent Kumehachi to snoop around and the secret to Chugo’s recent high morale is revealed to the chief. Being the understanding man he is, Heizo only punishes him to be relegated back to doing tasks around headquarters. In the background Heizo tries to investigate a recent case involving a criminal named Shugo who is also the said supporter of the shop who was willing to help the shop only for Omatsu, whose personality resembled someone he loved. Chugo’s desperation has him sneak out of headquarters and onto visiting Omatsu but finds Shugo’s crew gathering to prepare for a raid and he keeps watch of their hideout while he gets some civilians to relay a message back to Heizo. The raid is busted and Chugo more or less witnesses the death of Shugo and is handsomely rewarded, only to go spend the money in tribute to the now closing brothel. A surprise awaits for him when he gets there where the owner mentions how his father actually frequented the shop and now with the idealistic image of his father tarnished, Chugo runs into the sunset to Yoshiwara to meet with Omatsu again. Easily my favorite episode from the series with the entertaining charm.
Masamune-Kun (6): Masamune has no choice but to advance on Aki with the kiss mentioned last episode but as per usual, Aki punches him away but the important thing was that he got his “intentions” across. The episode moves on over to Masamune waiting for his clothes to dry and Neko joins him. He decides to pose the question Aki asked him from before on what exactly Neko likes about him and she responds at how modest he is to not notice his own charms. Masamune writes this occurrence down while on the other end, after school, Yoshino trails Neko around, deeming her a considerable threat. Yoshino is discovered by Neko and the latter sees through the former’s guise but both are roped into cooking dinner with Masamune’s mother and Masamune himself comes back to his home to see two girls he didn’t expect. He quickly brings Yoshino up to his room to explain the situation and he begins to hide some of his compromising photos and his vanity fair room with all the work out gear. After dinner, the group plays with fireworks but as the night’s festivities come to an end, Masamune finds his old photo with Aki gone and Neko is revealed to have taken it.
Seiren (6): The trio + Tooru continue their gaming sessions but Shoichi seems to have some trouble keeping up with Tooru’s reignited passion for competition. Tsuneki shows up with one of the kids that lost to Tooru and Shoichi and they two duos duke it out in some games, only for Tsuneki to lose and generally be slightly more interesting than in her own arc. Shoichi and Tooru finally get a moment together which finally addressed my issue with Seiren’s rather strange pacing but the scene in the cafe really brought back the Amagami vibes this series has been lacking. Some suspicions with Ikuo and Araki go around but aside from all that drama, it turns out that someone Ikuo was interested in happened to go to the same cram school as Tooru did and he got help from her. Araki’s case was that he was more jealous of the charm Tooru gave to Shoichi instead of Tooru herself. Overall, way better than where Tsuneki’s arc was on their episode count and I’m hopefully not misplacing my trust in the rest of Tooru’s arc.
Demi-chan (6): Takahashi spends some time in the Takanashi household were he meets the sister’s stay-at-home father and how the twins usually act at home. Definitely the smaller details such as the father dyeing his own hair blonde to make Hikari’s hair less pronounced and the likes. More smaller arcs are detailed this week with Himari and Hikari, a minute segment with Satou, and the awkwardly hilarious moment with Machi and Takahashi where the former doesn’t know the latter is still awake while stroking his head. Overall an enjoyable episode that still delivers its brand of comedy and heartwarming situations.
Lair of the Idle 