The folks behind Kamisama no Memochou must be thrilled, because the series hasn’t gotten this much free pub since the anime went off the air.

Haiyore! Nyaruko-san W – 03

It struck me this week that Haiyore! is really sort of cheating – in a way, they’ve found a loophole that allows them to be as dumb as they want without repercussions.  After all – if Mahiro takes the time to constantly point out how stupid the plot developments and endings are, the show can always say it was all on purpose.

And boy, did Haiyore ever put that to the test this week – that plot was seriously dumb.  A deity created in Heaven’s memo pad for the express purpose of having an endangered deity as a fundraising tool – and the whole thing resolved by Mahiro using the magic keshigomu to erase it?  Oy.  The funniest part of the episode, to be honest, was Mahiro pointing out just how stupid all that was.

On the plus side, we did get to see Hastur’s true form – or at least something one step closer to it  (voiced by Seki Tomokazu no less) – as he transformed into a sort of GAR-Bishie version of himself to do battle with the Monkey God.  He seems pretty eager to have Mahiro forget about that, though.  The running gag of Nyaruko continuously trying to insert last-episode cliches so she could get to the love-love after story was amusing as well.  Not one of Haiyore’s more hilarious efforts on the whole, but as usual good for a decent share of laughs.

Mushibugyou – 03

The cast rollout of Mushibugyou continues, with this week’s episode focused on the “Killer of 99”, Koikawa Shingiku.  Along the way, as usual, we get more hints as to the larger story at work, including another mysterious interview with the insect magistrate (Han Megumi’s role still being played by a bell, for now) and the introduction of one of Mugai’s old cohorts in the Insect Hunters, Mitsuki.

The notion of the Insect Magistrates as the realm of the social outcast and left-behind certainly doesn’t take a hit with Koikawa, who despite Jinbei calling him a samurai is actually the scion of a murderous gang called the Black Spiders.  While he kept his vow to his kindly mother not to kill, when she died – an act he mistakenly blamed on his father and his gang when in fact it was the work of the Insect Hunters – he went on a killing spree, leaving 99 corpses in his wake.  As a result, despite his official duties, Shingiku  is roundly hated by the people of Edo and seems quite content with that.

There are larger questions of just who does and doesn’t deserve a chance at redemption – I’d be a hypocrite if I was too judgmental, given how many people Kenshin Himura killed – but this isn’t the sort of show that’s going to obsess over that in solemn fashion.  Mostly it’s just a romp through old Edo, a chance to see swordfights with giant bugs and roll the outstanding music, and this episode sticks to the script.  Next week brings us the last of Kotori’s underlings, as the child onmyouji Ichinotani Tenma gets his spotlight episode.  After that one assumes we’ll either get an ep focused on Kotori himself, or start to dig deeper into the main plot.  I suspect the fact that this week’s mushi, the bladed mantis, was breaking into rich folks’ houses and eating gold is going to be a relevant plot point.