Well, shit got real pretty fast there. We’ve past the point in Otome Kaiju Caraméliser where I’ve read the manga, so this is all virgin territory for me at this point. There are a couple of different major developments in this episode, and the fact that the final one doesn’t totally overpower the first couple is an indication of the weird nexus point between kaijuu series and happy romcom where this series lives. Sometimes that works better than others but overall it’s a balancing act the show pulls off quite well.

I mean, these kids are 16 or whatever. The other stuff feels life and death to them, even with monsters wreaking havoc on Tokyo. Tachibana-san turns out to be every bit the witch one might have surmised she was. She lures Minami-kun into a thoroughly unwise TV appearance that will have the exact opposite effect of what he hopes (already is, in fact). What’s worse, an actress named Seina-san – definitely older than Arata but possibly not enough for cougar status – gets bumped because of his appearance and blames him. Because Arata is too pure pure boy for his own kid he owns that, and in the process thoroughly charms the pants off her (if she has anything to say about it).

Kuroe sees this – pretty much everyone does, it seems – and is pretty shaken when Arata calls her afterwards and asks to meet. She gets a little too boisterous in her discomfiture and blows his cover, so suggests they go back to her place to talk. Noting that her mom is away for two days, though Arata is less unnerved by this than you might expect. When he says “do I need to hold back?” Kuroe is pretty convinced Tokyo will be destroyed that night, but Arata just wants to cuddle with Jumbo King. Tokyo is saved. Or is it? When Arata tells Kuroe about Seina, things take quite the turn indeed.

We could talk about the question this whole encounter raises. Namely, just how the heck is a horny teenage girl in Kuroe’s position supposed to have a relationship? But the more immediately problem is that thinking about Seina gives Kuroe a very particularly Kaijuu sort of heartburn. So much so, in fact, that she heads out onto the balcony and releases a Kuroe Housha Nessen (that’s what Godzilla’s atomic breath is called, you can look it up – it means “radioactive heat ray”). She manages to fob off Arata with a story about fireworks on the Sumida River and send him packing, but that doesn’t mean she’s gone unobserved.

So who is the red-haired kid who saw the whole thing and calls Kuroe “Nee-san”? We don’t get a name, but he offers to keep her secret if she’ll “hang with him”. It doesn’t seem like he meant anything untoward by that but she bolts anyway – after popping a tail and leaving the guy in no doubt about what she is. Meanwhile Rinko-san has, as expected, headed for the island after seeing it on TV (maybe the same one after all). There are more eggs there – seemingly watched over by a group of luminescent butterflied. And not only that, Koutarou-san is there too, having had the same thought.

One thing we can safely say at this point is that Rinko is a complete nutter. Even 17 years ago. She’s fine with kaijuu wreaking havoc as long as they’re roaming free – for the human race she seems to have no regard whatsoever. That puts her at odds with Koutarou, who (as she knew) works for the government spook inspectors. One more egg survived, and it’s been growing for 17 years in front of Rinko’s video camera. And after a tussle over her gun, she smacks into it hard enough to crack it. This kaijuu (it’s red so Koutarou calls it “Akae”) isn’t nearly as cute as Kuroe even in kaijuu form, and seems to have a lot less self-control. Rinko is fine with that, but Koutarou not so much. And it seems like Harugon may be about to take the field for the good guys.