Who’d have figured that this show would’ve spun an episode entirely and explicitly devoted to T&A into a moving character portrait? Can’t say that I did- - especially after that cheeky (yet oh-so-sonorous!) opening ode to curves. This time, it’s not Ichiko who’s getting the multi-dimensional portrait, but her oft-humiliated guy-friend, Keita.
As weird and creepy as it sounds, the kid’s hopeless attempt to hide his… uh… excitement at the end of the episode was actually rather poignant. We know that the guy’s had to take on some big responsibilities early, raising a family of kids and trying to set a good example for them. He isn’t a voyeuristic perv like our “mad monk,” but he’s still a guy, and there’s no way of denying all the… reflexes the come with that when he finds himself in a bathhouse full of pretty, naked gals. Hell, his brothers and sisters kind of don't him to deny them, either.
I’m also totally aware that I’m probably “in too deep” with this show, at the moment, since this exactly the sort of episode you’d have to come up with hasty rationalizations for. Some “norm” could barge in, see me watching a cartoon girl testing the buoyancy of a chick’s DD’s and then listen dubiously as I gave a stammering, insistent explanation of how, “No no no… I’m watching this for the moving character studies!”
We’ll see if Momiji’s shrewishness really came to her just needing a good bath and scrubbing. I’ve brought up some (overly-serious?) comparisons to Dickens throughout the course of this series, and it’d probably make me seem even smarter if I could note some parallels to Shakespeare and “The Taming of the Shrew” as well.
Yes, yes… anything to justify all the juggling.
Watch this episode, "…Who Are You?!?1” here and decide for yourself, then read my comments on the previous episode here.
Tom Pinchuk’s a writer and personality with a large number of comics, videos and features like this to his credit. Visit his website - - tompinchuk.com - - and follow his Twitter: @tompinchuk
They crushed the fourth wall in this episode, especially with that song at the beginning. An "obligatory fan service episode" (I still need to make a concept page for that) is much more enjoyable when it's self-aware and not pretending to be a regular episode. Still, stuff actually happened in this episode to set up the final arc, so it wasn't just pure fan service either. Well done, Binbogami ga!, well done indeed.
This episode also practically turned convenient censorship into an art form. Maybe some anime studios will learn from that, instead of using horrible, lazy, and often very distracting beams of light or shadows to cover up nudity. The censorship used on the dudes wasn't nearly as clever, but instead managed to be obvious in a funny way instead of an annoying way.
I hope you watched after the ending sequence by the way, or you missed a few minutes of content.
@Daniel_Newton:
God, I can't believe they sang that song without Momiji, Ichiko, or anyone beating them up. The episode was awesome and insanely funny. I find it bizarre that little Ryuuta would peek into the women's bath even though his sisters are on the other side.
Momiji, Keita, Ichiko, and Ranmaru had a killer combo with the humor in this episode.