How appropriate that here, almost at the end of this series, we finally have a cat fight.

And it was a good one, too – if all too brief. Aoi and Manami got into it after Manami “confessed” to clueless Kio on Aoi’s behalf – without Aoi asking her to. Aoi was understandably pissed and told Manami so, Manami slapped her, Aoi slapped back and otaku everywhere wiped spittle from their chins. But alas, the assistroids appealed for calm, the NATO army attacked and that was that.

As for Kio, first he gets a Catian plug suit and now a bell – the lad is slowly being turned into one of them. And he truly did seem clueless when Manami lamped him to Aoi’s feelings – I don’t think it was an act. Aoi nailed that whole situation pretty well – she got on Manami for doing something for Aoi that she didn’t have the guts to do herself. And, as Aoi suggested, the timing could hardly have been worse with Kio about to lead them into deadly danger in space, to rescue the crew of the time-frozen Catian ship. Fortunately Kio seems so dense that the incident had no effect.

What else did we have this week? Let’s see – the loli-weapons dealer Ichika, playing the Doggies and Kitties against each other. Another reach deep, deep into the abyss of of sci-fi obscurity with a reference to Neal R. Jones’ pulp hero Professor Jameson. That’s what makes this show interesting – despite its seeming formulaic nature and rather silly plot, it’s clear that the minds behind it are very smart, quirky and well-versed in the obscurities of both Japanese and Western pop culture. While it’s hardly a classic, Asobi ni Ikuyo series continues to show the ability to surprise, week after week.