The every day events of life can be exciting, with the right people.
What They Say:
Utao is worried about how to see her little brother, but is reassured by news that he wants to see her, too. But their meeting is interrupted by an unexpected visitor, who’ got more than a passing interest in Kyohei?
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
With life getting back to normal in the city, things are settled for the most part but there’s still some underlying tension. With the length it took to get back, things are still weighing on peoples minds with what’s happened. Utao in particular has had a lot to grapple with, being scolded a fair bit for her actions as well as getting a bit more of a look at what her family history is when it comes to the surprising revelation about her brother. Overall, she handled it well as someone that age should since the larger consequences tend to not come to mind, but her brother is very much in the back of her mind now.
While Kyohei is getting back into the school routine as is Hibino, Utao gets a surprising visit from Moyako who has come to help her with Kukuri as he’s still not entirely a hundred percent yet. She has a bit of fun in the mix with everyone as she’s an outgoing personality but not obnoxious as she says things plainly but not in a mean or cruel way. She simply expresses her thoughts. And that’s bad for Kyohei since she’s also come to find out what’s going on with his search for Aki, which as we’ve seen has not gone well overall. While Moyako has some of the basics down for what’s happened, she’s been kept out of the loop like others so some of what Aki has said does get to her, which helps her understand his mindset in general. The more Moyako interacts with everyone, the better a mild catalyst she may become for the show.
Much of the episode is focused on the small moments, which is largely defining the series at this point. There’s some real fun to be had when Aki is together with his “savior” as she’s pretty in his face, which is almost sexual when it comes to the tension, but there’s some really good fun elsewhere. When Hibino and Kyohei actually spend some time together, he’s getting closer to admitting something of how he feels about her, making a connection that he wants. Running that in parallel with Aki who is getting as far from everyone and a connection as he can while still being in the midst of the city is very well done. He’s taken what’s been done and said to him so personally that it’s eating him up inside yet he can’t help but to want to be a part of things.
In Summary:
There’s a lot to like here with Kamisama dolls, especially when you get down to the bookend sides of it that deals with Utao and Kirio as they try to establish a friendship even though each “house” is an enemy of the other. What’s in the middle is the meat of the episode though as we watch everyone getting back into a normal life but still grappling with all that’s happened. Things have slowed down, even for this series, but the character interactions are still good and you want to see them progress more. But therein lies the rub in that if it doesn’t get moving soon, it’s going to lose what goodwill it has. The series is definitely still a favorite, but it feels like it’s missed a lot of its potential. This episode could signal a change though in a few ways, if you go by the surprising ending.
Grade: B
Streamed 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.
