Comedy wins the day, though giant bugs are always welcome.



Haiyore! Nyaruko-san W – 02

I think we all know what to expect from Haiyore at this point, but the good part is that it seems intent on delivering it.  So far, at least, this season has echoed the better parts of the first and not so much the parts than dragged.

This was certainly a nice week for fans of the King in Yellow, or “My Shota Great Old One can’t possibly be this cute”.  Hastur got a lot accomplished: backstory (Class Rep who broke up Kuuko and Nyaruko’s fights, library part-timer), a hug from Mahiro, Mahiro brushing his hair, and getting Ponta off while eating takoyaki.  The library scene managed to get in a pretty decent Toshokan Sensou parody, drop Kamisama no Memochou’s name and cover, and allow Kukko to drop a TLR: Darkness line and pout when Mahiro doesn’t take the bait and respond.

Who knows what’s really going on with the “Celaeno Library” plot – and as usual, it doesn’t really make much difference.  Some bad guys are trying to steal something for some reason and the good guys will stop them.  The series keeps hinting at how Hastur is actually much stronger than Kukko and Nyaruko – perhaps we’re finally going to see some of that in action now, since he’s the most directly-linked to the library.

Mushibugyou – 02

The hostility towards Mushibugyou from the manga readers seems alarmingly strong to me, but I an only assume they have their reasons since I haven’t read it.  All I know is “Oh! Edo Insect” is still working for me.

I admit that a large part of the reason I like this series is the music – both the OP and BGM are terrific.  But I also like the look of the series and for simple, straightforward action/comedy I think this is quite an entertaining series.  I like Kenn’s manic wholesomeness as Jinbei, and this week saw the formal introduction of Hibachi (Ookubo Rumi) the ninja who’s cast Jinbei as her supposed rival for Mugai’s love.

The second episode was a blend of the same sort of action we saw in the premiere (this time the opponent was a giant dragonfly) along with a fair dose of pretty standard ecchi comedy and Hibachi moe.  None of it is revolutionary but it’s well executed and fun.  While the next couple eps seem likely to continue the introductions of the Mushibugyou team – next week is Shingiku (Takuya Eguchi) who’ll presumably be followed by the boy onmyouji Tenma (Serizawa Yuu) – there’s a larger plot being set up surrounding the Insect Magistrate.  He’s quite the mystery, never have been seen by any of the team, and with Han Megumi set to play him I’m curious to see where that’s going.

The other element of this story I find sort of interesting is that it seems to be a sort of homage to the lost traditional pillars of Japanese culture.  In an era that’s otherwise left them behind we have a samurai, a ninja (whose style bears the rather embarrassing phallic name of “Chinpou”), an onmyouji – all finding usefulness in fighting the giant bugs we’re told have been plaguing Japan for a Century.  I don’t know if the plot is going anywhere deeper with that angle, but it adds an appealing element to the mix.