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Don’t worry, Saori – I’m sure it’s just a cold.
Sometimes you just have to accept that what entertains you entertains you, and that’s where I am with Gokukoku no Brynhildr. I could spend all day theorizing on just how straight it’s trying to play it and what its intentions are, but in the end it really doesn’t matter – the show is a blast. Gloriously trashy, campier than Yosemite in July and without an ounce of shame. But that said, I’m pretty damn sure it knows exactly what it’s doing.
It’s pretty safe to assume that all bets are off at this point – there’s going to be an asspull for every contingency, and a hilarious justification for it. I expect a kind of Swiss army knife of plot contrivances, and the first big one this week is that Saori has the ability to turn back time (did they tell us that last week?). This is very handy after Kuroneko has just been cut in half, and Ryouta manages to sneak-attack and wound Saori badly enough (though is himself killed in the process) so that she has no choice but to engage the ability. The result is that none of the three are injured, and Saori hangs up from OD-ing on magic use.
That’s just the beginning, though. First of all, Ryouta’s memories are wiped – so he now has no idea that Kuroneko is now sporting oppai moles. Sadly for Saori she’s toast now – she’s failed in killing her prey, and she can’t accept Kuro’s offer to join them in escaping because she’s wearing a tracking beacon on her harnest. My favorite part of all this comes after she “melts” (d’aw) and a slimy green thing is revealed – and the clever Ryouta makes the leap to figuring out that while “harnest” is indeed wasei-eigo it doesn’t mean “harness”, but “her nest”. That’s so delicious I want to eat it for dinner.
The fun continues when Ryouta and Kuroneko arrive back at the observatory, having found only two boxes of death suppressants (possible side effects include: not dying). Kazumi is waiting for them, ready to claim her 50% of the bounty (she was kind enough to split her last pill with Kana, though). Kuroneko gives Ryouta two items that were “given to her when she escaped” (by who?) – a small tablet PC of some kind and a tube which Kuroneko claims a baby alien – or rather a “fertilized alien egg”. The matter-of-factness of this exchange (and indeed much of the series) really has to be seen to be believed.
A few days later Kazumi shows up again unannounced, teases Kana for a bit while waiting for the others, then announces that she’s going to be staying over for a while as her abandoned house is now too close to land being surveyed for the damn (foreshadowing?). The highlight, surely, is one of the most hilarious onsen scenes in recent anime. There’s no bath at the observatory of course but “there is a small local onsen close by – but it’s mixed.” Of course there is – and thank goodness! First Kazumi mercilessly c-t’s Ryouta, then gives him a close-up show of her full inventory – but says she’ll only charge him an “oppai fee” and throw in the rest for free. Finally, she’s tricked Kuroneko into coming along and leaves the two of them in the bath – and although Ryouta cops an involuntary feel, he doesn’t think to check for moles.
Naturally Kazumi (who turns out to be half-Austrian) transfers into the school. And she’s not the only one, either – Ichijikou (Touchi Hiroki) has bosses less than thrilled with the way he’s handled the escaping witches, and anxious that the “plan” should not be delayed. Fortunately for Ichijikou one of the escapees has returned looking for pills and ratted out the others, and after ejecting her he sends an even stronger attack dog after them – AA+ (the “+” stands for quality) witch Takatori Kotori (Tadokoro Azusa). Her place in the OP/ED seems to indicate she’s destined to switch sides before long, so look forward to more hijinks at the observatory.
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Dick McGuy
April 28, 2014 at 1:30 pmSpeaking of "judging by the OP", if I were to try and judge what they're going to do with the manga based on the OP they're either going to start cutting or rushing through a lot of material. Which is odd, because it has been almost 1:1 with the manga so far.
Kaname
April 28, 2014 at 1:43 pmIt's fun. That's what matters right? I agree with you.
Gary Cochran
April 29, 2014 at 2:33 amThis is for sure a guilty pleasure. I enjoy watching it each week.
whemleh
April 28, 2014 at 1:49 pmWow you sound legitimately giddy in this post. Can't disagree, this is gloriously silly stuff.
They didn't tell us what Saori's second power was last week. We were told she had one but they deliberately held back on telling us what it was for the suspense. Also, council of evil and vagueness is an always welcome addition.
I reckon the best part of that onsen scene was the oppai fee punchline in the aftermath. ("Hey, can I be straight with you for a sec? Your boobs aren't worth that mu-" *kick!*) Ryouta's a pretty ballsy protag, and the dialogue in this show is hilarious.
Antony Shepherd
April 28, 2014 at 2:51 pmKazumi's other witch power is "Lens Flare Boobs", of which J. J. Abrams would be proud.
But yeah, the show is just totally ridiculous with that switch from gore and monsters to onsen antics, but it's ridiculous in a good way!
Simone
April 28, 2014 at 4:10 pmSoooo… is this like, Valvrave with magic?
SixFlags
April 28, 2014 at 4:30 pmThe sillyness aside, that was propabably the craziest (and I guess creative) resolution of a cliffhanger I've ever seen in anime. Including crushing that green alien thing with the foot by a freeked out main character like spider in the bathroom.
And thankfully the goriness and killing of random characters is held quantitatively low so far.. which makes it way more enjoyable than Elfenlied.
Stöt
April 28, 2014 at 7:28 pm*lever = clever
damn = dam
(I don't really care about spelling errors, but I get the impression that you might be someone who does care, and there's been a few of these lately)
This was supposed to be more of a guilty pleasure for me, but reading your review and thinking about it kind of altered my view slightly. It's redic in every way and there's atleast two ass-pulls per episode. I didn't realise that it might have been intentionally so! Hah! Great stuff. The "paralysed" chick is annoying me, though. How can you have such perfectly permed hair when nobody washes you for days and you're without electricity? god damnit.
admin
April 29, 2014 at 12:49 amWell, Kazumi pretty strongly implied that the paralysis thing is an act or a put-on.
nc622x
April 28, 2014 at 9:12 pmI'm loving' the OP, the song and the visual. I cannot praise enough the art and sound director responsible for it. Content-wise, I lol'ed when Ryouta shouted in horror and immediately proceeded to stomp on that green slimy thing. I hope he cleaned his shoe afterwards.
Every time that paralyzed girl uses that keyboard I just wonder why they couldn't come up with some other means like a super-powered thought-reading voice machine. However unrealistic that is, it's still better than that keyboard.
maverickmann84
April 29, 2014 at 1:02 amIn the manga I'm pretty sure they mention her time reversal powers, but it really doesn't make it any less ridiculous. But plot holes, absurd fixes, random contrivances, and all of the other nonsense aside it really is super entertaining. I don't think it quite makes guilty pleasure status, but only bc I agree that it isn't absurd by accident. Btw the Kazami/Ryouta interactions are at least half of what make the manga fun to read. That, and the fact that each character seems to have their own moments that make them extremely likable (and that's not counting the hilariously ridiculous stuff they do).
Hunter.Wolf
April 29, 2014 at 6:26 pmThey did mention that Saori has a 2nd power the previous week, they just didn't mention what it was … the characters clearly knew what her second power was before going in so it's in no way an ass-pull .. they just held from telling us what that 2nd power was to create some suspense .. personally i'd rather they told us anyway .. it feels a little cheap ploy to create suspense (holding back on Saori 2nd power last week) but it's not an ass-pull at all .. i don't know where are you getting that impression.
Second, the alien container and the small tablet PC were given to Kuroneko by one of the scientists who were killed in the "accident" that freed all the "witches" .. it's in a flash-back in the 1st episode, she was stuck under a truck wheel and dying when she gave her those items.
sonicsenryaku
April 30, 2014 at 1:02 amWasnt Kuroha the one who thought she was coming down with a cold after the onsen antics?