Ah, look, this one again. I'm actually really excited for OreTsuba after this episode.
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| Where could her nipples possibly be? Damn mutations... |
I'm glad I waited around for the story; the "twist" introduced was really good. Truthfully, I didn't see it coming...because there wasn't any real foreshadowing that could possibly have led to this. Either way, this episode was by far the best so far, introducing the story (finally).
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| The twist was that this is actually yaoi. >D (I kid.) |
Once again, this episode focused on Dora (yay~) the most, beginning with his "date" with Naru. (After the requisite super-ecchi and entirely unrelated scene at the very beginning, of course.) I'm glad to see that she's so open about her interest in him; I would have hated her archetype more if she was going to be coy and indirect (although the latter is really a Japanese trait, I'd still have held it against her).
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| One must fear any kind of public contact if this turns out to be true. |
Honestly, nothing much really happened in this first while of the episode. We found out that Dora counts a black man and a foreign child in his harem (although saying that last bit is disturbing, we did see it coming from the first episode). There was also some mentioning of the aftermath of the fight from last time, wherein they talked about Kakeru's injury, what happened to the shooter, and so on. It was pretty standard stuff.
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| At least she's incredibly direct. |
There was a net cafe scene right after, wherein Dora wanted to hear more about the leader of the rival gang. I must say, that set-up seems incredibly convenient. It's entirely walled off, and apparently no one bats an eye if more than one person goes into one of the "stalls". If this is actually what some net cafes in Japan are like, I'm surprised there haven't been any sex scenes taking place in them. I mean, seriously? Perfect spot. I'm sure it's cheaper than love hotels, too.
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| Note to Pearz. |
Chitose was up next, spending some time with his lady (in entirely concocted situations), as well as some interaction with his friend, Kakeru. Here was my first revelation, although I should have easily seen this coming. I mean, it's not like anyone tried to hide it. The Kakeru that is the leader of the YFB and I deigned to desperately want to be a part of Dora's harem is the same Kakeru that's Chitose's friend. I didn't see it coming because it was hard to remember names, and also because the two Kakeru's look nothing alike. In this day and age, with wigs and contacts, I feel kind of stupid for not realizing it...
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| That chair has sharp edges? How does a blunt object create immediate blood-gushing? |
That wasn't the real twist, though. The actual twist occurred when Chitose got hit with a chair (and unrealistically hemorrhaged immediately), and began blacking out...causing Dora to appear?! That was a confusing little bit - although, they were so obvious with it this time that my first assumption was immediately that they're able to switch bodies somehow. Rho (who, surprisingly, was watching with me) assumed that Chitose/Dora had multiple personality disorder - but the appearance of the character changed, which made me suspicious. Besides, we knew that these people come from a different world (unless they're insane, which we won't assume because that kind of points to MPD), so some kind of body-shifting was very possible.
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| By the way, the next pictures will mostly be Dora-related. |
Things became pretty clear in the coming moments; Dora was seen, with a bandage on the back of his head where Chitose got hit, heading into Haneda's house. If viewers still hadn't put it together, they even had a cathedral scene where Dora and Chitose met each other and talked about what had happened. Here it is: the three known numbered men are sharing a single vessel. Haneda gets the morning, Chitose gets the afternoon, and Dora at night. Whether they all have actual bodies (in their other world?) or are just entirely spirits (from a spirit realm?) wasn't answered, but I assume it's the former.
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| This looks kind of like the love hotel in Kurenai. Maybe all love hotels look alike...? |
The foreshadowing, if you can even call it that, was actually plentiful. Dora got his nickname because no one saw him during the daytime, we only ever saw Haneda in the mornings, the beginning of this episode had a note from Chitose in Dora's hand, and so on. It's not like it clearly pointed to this outcome - you'd have to be magical to actually figure out this kind of thing spot on - but I can't say it came out of the blue, either.
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| Alice makes her reappearance! I'm divided on how to feel about her, bah. |
Overall, I'm really pleased with this episode and especially this turn of events. I was getting a little concerned for the last two episodes, where things seemed like they might have been dying, but I'm glad I waited it out. I don't expect a sudden change of pace to something faster, although that would be delightful, but it's good to know that the story isn't taking a backseat to the point of being forgotten. That would be just sad.
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| Gawd, what ugly shoes. |
I'm not addicted (it's not that strong of a series, after all), but it's not something to write-off. My enjoyment of this series is definitely rising. I'm looking forward to the next episode~
~Aaro
