Bugs. Why did it have to be bugs?
What They Say:
Baby Beel and Oga head deep into the mountains to help train Beel to get over his fear of bugs, where they run into Aoi and Kota. Aoi is all nervous because it seems like a date, until her master martial artist grandpa shows up! Worried about his granddaughter, he takes the initiative and attacks Oga!
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
After not only surviving his fight with Tojo but causing a whole lot of destruction with the school, the pair are ready to just rumble and cause more problems. in the area as they get their sync fully back into motion. Unfortunately, it doesn’t really get going as Oga has quite a discovery when it comes to Beel that needs to be dealt with; Beel’s afraid of bugs. His fear over a cicada is comical and it ends up really pissing off Oga over it since it’s a weak link in their partnership and bond that shouldn’t exist. Considering the way Oga hates to show weakness, it definitely makes sense and having the two of them head off to the mountains for some training only feels right considering the characters and setting.
Naturally, they don’t end up being the only ones out there as even Aoi ends up out there as well visiting her grandfather. It’s a pretty appealing area with some designs to the area that certainly makes it an inviting place to spend part of the summer. When the two come across each other, Oga’s actually pretty happy to see her in the midst of training, but she has the guilty feelings rising about how he doesn’t know who she really is from school since she’s managed to build the two separate personalities, though not intentionally for the most part. It’s cute how she wants to tell him about who she really is, but there’s that fear that he’ll get completely upset about it and blow her off. And since she does like him on some level and wants to protect that potential, she gets all caught up in herself.
The episode offers a good bit of fun as Oga ends up having to deal with Aoi’s grandfather who has a bit of a protective nature about him when it comes to her and the fight turns pretty fun. Oga’s largely dealt with fighters his own age and thereabouts, but fighting someone much older with more moves and experience has him beaten but thrilled. He’s the type that really does thrive on these kinds of experiences and it gets his bond with Beel strengthened because they both love a challenge. And it’s a good challenge because it gives him a place to train that could help raise the bar for what he’s capable of. Of course, tying it without Oga’s knowledge about how he views Oga as a potential future husband for Aoi just adds to the fun of it all.
In Summary:
After the last few episodes of pretty serious material, Beelzebub goes back to the good, simple fun that has populated a lot of it. While the big fights like those against Tojo have their moments, I much prefer these kinds that deals with Oga and Beel just working through things themselves. Beel is a bit light in this episode but he has some great moments, especially when he challenges Aoi’s grandfather and the man is just thrown by the whole idea by saying “What’s up with this baby?” It’s just simple, spot on humor. Overall, there’s a lot to like here as it works Oga and Aoi to good effect and further cements them together in a light way while still highlighting the main problem that she has with Oga’s not knowing who she really is. This series continues to be a fun litle delight that I never expected it to be.
Grade: B
Simulcast By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Sony KDS-R70XBR2 70″ LCoS 1080P HDTV, Dell 10.1 Netbook via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.
