Yowza!

The producers over at A-1 sure like to give us glimpses of Maya’s zettai ryouki every week. And I’m not complaining – it’s easy on the eyes. As for the episode itself, unpredictable as ever, Seikimatsu goes in a fairly new direction this week with a story focused on Maya’s childhood, seen through flashbacks triggered by a meeting with Ami’s Dad, Shige. Shige is a burly, lovable construction worker who loved Maya as a kid and apparently the occult, too. Saddened by the teenaged Maya’s seeming hostility towards all things supernatural, he concocts a wild scheme to turn her back into the old Maya again, using crop circles, aliens and cow mutilation, with JK and Smille as his lackeys. My question – does this mean JK and Smile actually mutilated that poor cow?

The whole premise was pretty preposterous in hindsight, but I’ll confess that I didn’t catch on until the big reveal. Given that this is a series about time travel and alien invasion the notion of a traditional “gray” in a very classic flying saucer didn’t seem so out of line. Really, the saucer gag was more or less an excuse to develop Maya and Ami’s relationship and show us a little more of Maya’s childhood. In addition, we saw Maya and Fumiaki working together in a much more cordial manner this time, though she wasn’t above insulting him. Clearly their relationship changed after the NDE episode last week, and I find it much more interesting than watching her hit him constantly.

The entire episode had “Kamichu” vibes for me, even more so than the previous six. It wasn’t the masterpiece that 06 was, but certainly strong in its own right and kept the momentum going nicely. We saw just a moment of Mikaze, but enough to remind me that we haven’t seen the old obaa-san since she first appeared – all the more reason to suspect she and Mikaze are the same person.