I mean, surely he knows now, right?

There are three parts to the title of this series. You’ve got the girl, the monster, and whatever the heck “Caraméliser” is supposed to mean in this context. Since I have no clue about that last one (maybe it’s just she loves sweets), the other two are the relevant terms. The focus for the first several eps was definitely on the “Otome” part, but the balance has gradually been shifting towards “Kaijuu”. That’s only natural I suppose, and it even tracks with how kaijuu movies are usually structured.

You can argue about which mode suits the series best, but this ep was probably the best example yet of it in its kaijuu form. There’s obvious affection for the tropes of the genre, and it’s in the blending of them with seinen romcom tropes that it derives much of its traction. These Akae-Kuroe scenes were really good, if you can get past all the CGI (which wasn’t egregious by anime CGI standards). If you’ve watched as many of those films as I have you recognized all the little details this ep got right. And it managed not to totally forget that this is still a romantic comedy, and Harugon is still a little girl inside.

One of the nice – and unexpected – twists here is that Katsuragi Seina didn’t turn out to be a conniving shrew trying to steal Arata away. She’s actually kind of a bro, and even gives him some much-needed advice about the perils in the path he’s following (and the woman leading him on it). It’s like she sees how bereft is after the Kuroe kerfuffle and goes into big sister mode, realizing that the jig is up. The whole hug thing is a total non-starter of course – it’s just a scene in the “Godolla” movie. Manatsu and Raimu realize that but at this point, Kuroe has already flown the coop.

Happily they do manage to capture a video of Arata plaintively searching for Kuroe, but by the time she sees it things have already gone ass-over-teakettle with Akae’s arrival on the scene – and she’s clearly gunning for her Onee-san. What’s great – and part and parcel of why this show works – is that even as this is happening Kuroe is still thinking mostly about Arata. But Imouto-chan is a handful, and she’s making quite a mess of Tokyo. After an all-too-brief reunion with Arata Kuroe transforms (he has to get it now, surely) and goes into combat mode. She really doesn’t have much of a choice.

The kaijuu battle gathers quite an audience: Takamine trying to film it, Manatsu and Raimiu in her chopper (with a terrified Seina in tow), and little (figuratively) Daichi-chan. He and Arata eventually wind up sharing a front-bridge seat for the action, where Akae seems to have the upper hand at first. But finally the balance tips to Kuroe, whose human intelligence (single generation evolution and all) seems to be give her an edge. Harugon manages to take down Akae, and starts plodding down the river towards her beloved. She she forgets a crucial lesson of kaijuu fights – never turn your back on your enemy.

All through this battle – which was really well-done overall – I kept thinking “I want to see some atomic breath already”. Well, we finally did, but it was from Akae and not Harugon. Seems to have done some serious HP damage, too. It’s easy to forget as things get bigger and more over the top, but that’s still a joshikousei in there – when you actually think about Kuroe taking real damage it’s kind of jarring. And hey, even Harugon is probably the cutest kaijuu around.