I’m laboring under no delusions that these posts will generate much of a following, but I plan to stick with Muhyo to Rouji no Mahouritsu Soudan Jimusho, at least for a bit.  The series has a fair amount of nostalgic traction with me, and I also happen to think Deen is doing quite a good job with the adaptation.  There’s also the fact that there’s really nothing else airing in the same vein as this series, relic that it is.

Muhyo to Rouji is also one of those series that’s a bit smarter and more sophisticated than it might appear to be.  Yes, it very much applies the supernatural mystery of the week format (since these are WSJ chapters, it’s actually two per week in anime form).  But none of these stories are really stand-alone – sometimes they have a role in advancing the larger plot or introducing a regular character, but most of the time they relate in some way to Muhyo or Rouji and the dynamic that exists between them.

That was certainly the case this week, as we’re starting to see the nature of that dynamic clarify itself.  The first story involves a genius young pianist named Aya, who’s called the boys in to help with mysterious 2 A.M. performances on the piano her parents (absentee) gave her.  The rub here, of course, is that this is a case that hits close to home for Muhyo – he, too, knows what it’s like to be resented for being too talented and too young,  This is what drives his sometimes acerbic nature, really – the drive to prove he’s the equal of his reputation.  And it manifests in a singular impatience with the “dregs” – the zaku who lack his massive natural ability – not because they lack it, but because they hate him for having it.

This connects directly with Rouji, who’s the focus of the second story this week – one which spins off of another of Nana’s spirit photographs.  He’s no genius, and he knows it (not that Muhyo would ever let him forget) – in a sense his drive is the polar opposite of Muhyo’s.  When a notice comes from the magical law association inviting him to take the exam for promotion, Muhyo tells him it’s three years too early.  This prompts Rouji to try and tackle Nana’s problem on his own using the incantation pen the association has sent him.  This very nearly ends disastrously for Nana (and by extension, for Rouji) and would have it Muhyo had not intervened in the nick of time.

The thing, though (and I suppose even this might be saying too much) is that Muhyo is someone you have to judge by his actions, not his words.  Not that they’ll always reflect well on him, but they will be a truer reflection.  In that sense he actually reminds me a bit of Killua – obviously there’s nowhere near the depth and complexity of characterization in this series that there is in Hunter X Hunter, but the two are cut from the same cloth.  And as easy as it is to forget just how young both are, remembering casts their actions in a much more understandable light.