Poor Nana get her hopes raised – briefly – by Lala latest invention, while Rito ponders just what it is that he really feels for Lala…
What They Say:
When junior princesses Nana and Momo transfer into Earth School where big sister Lala can keep an eye on them, things SHOULD be smooth sailing. In addition to sister drama, Yami, the Golden Darkness, enters the scene with all the subtleness of a supernova, along with an army of possessed high school students! All of which is certain to make Rito’s life suck more than a black hole at the family picnic. Unless, of course, a certain semi-demonic princess will open a can of Develukean Whoop Ass! It’s “Wham, bam, thank you, Space Ma’am” time once again in To loveru Darkness!
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Having noticed Nana’s lack of development in certain departments, Lala’s come up with a little gadget to help her sister: the Boobie-Up, which Nana’s overjoyed with. THere’s an unfortunate side-effect, though, as Momo’s ample bosom disappears in exchange. Meanwhile, efforts to learn more about Mea and her Master are still drawing a blank, while Rito’s trying to figure out exactly what it is that he feels for Lala…
Lala’s inventions nearly always equal fun, and this time around is no exception (especially when we get other special automatically-tying rope). Just a shame there’s isn’t more time spent on them – especially the Boobie-Up, as Nana so clearly enjoys finally getting lord it over Momo in the chest-size department. Alas, her ego deflates along with her chest in fairly short order, as normal service resumes.
Setting aside the fun stuff, there are two main almost-serious threads that the series tries to deal with this week. First up is the identity of Mea’s mysterious Master, as-yet unseen (and at the moment not worrying too much about keeping her protégé in check) – while Mea’s been doing a good job of being friendly with the gang lately, there’s still plenty of distrust around about just what she’s after and what she’ll do next. There are a few hints as to who her Master may be, too, but following up on the possibilities there is left for another week.
Mainly because there’s the serious business of Rito examining his feelings for Lala to deal with, after Ren accuses him of stringing Lala – and to a lesser extent, his female half Run – along with his refusal to actually commit to one of the girls. Which gets Rito to thinking that, while Sairenji is still top of his list, maybe Momo’s harem plan wouldn’t be such a bad idea after all.
So. Fanservice? Check (usual editing applies). Humour and mayhem? Check, and check. Story progression? Check, as long as you remember this is To Love-ru we’re talking about. These things are relative.
In Summary:
Put it all together, and there’s a good amount of fun to be had from this episode – which is par for the course for Darkness so far. It doesn’t take itself to seriously and rides right on the boundary of what they can get away with – which, if you’re just looking to kick back and not think too hard about what you’re watching, is just what you want. Works for me, anyway.
Content Grade: B+
Streamed by: The Anime Network (North America), Anime On Demand (UK & Ireland)
Review Equipment:
17” Apple MacBook Pro, 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo, 4GB RAM, Mac OS X 10.8.2
