Has Beelzebub fatigue finally started to hit?
What They Say:
Oga and Tojo still have a score to settle with Azuma, but their fight is interrupted by a brand new teacher, who takes them all out like it was nothing at all! Who is this guy and how does he know about Beel?!
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
With the volleyball match completed, things have settled down just a bit around the campus as the match made things a little more apparent to both sides where they stand. Some power was shown, some external forces caused a ruckus and in general everyone had a good time as it even put a few people on the same side. But there’s also that larger, darker overtone to it as Oga was told to be careful in exposing his demonic abilities in public, which made ig clear that others that aren’t in the inner circle are aware of what Oga is all about. It’s welcome to see that kind of twist in letting others in on the main storyline to some degree rather than just being overwhelmed by his power eventually without understanding it.
In the midst of all of this, the school has gotten something rather surprising in the form of a new teacher named Saotome who looks like a bit of a punk himself. Considering the nature of the school, it’s not what you’d expect with what they’ve pushed in the past in terms of refinement and all that. He’s a rough looking guy with a bit of an amusing approach as he’s got a grin and a laid back feeling that has him coming across as rather disarming. The guy has a fair bit of power himself as we come to see and that sets the mood completely differently here within the school when he unleashes it, showing where the series is going to go for at least the next few episodes and potentially into the finale itself.
Still, there’s something that just feels a little off with this episode. The progression of events isn’t bad, but it’s like it’s lost its voice to some degree. The cast has grown considerably since the start, which is expected, but it’s gotten crowded with those that are actually controlling the narrative. And that keeps it from having a defined voice as everyone seems to have their story taking precedence at times. And even worse, it pushes Oga and Beel further down the list. Oga gets some story time, but Beel is even worse off and outside of a cute moment at the start here, is largely a non-entity. And considering he’s the title character, that’s frustrating me a lot as the show moves on.
In Summary:
Beelzebub is starting its next arc here pretty quickly and it goes big past the halfway mark as the new teacher and his powers go up against Hilda, which is the only really interesting moment of the episode. The two have a history and sense of power about each other but there’s also a disconnect in general as it’s something that we’re not really clued in on. It’s the opening salvo of what’s to come next and I do like the idea of having it involve someone who is similar in nature to Oga but with more age and experience to him as it could provide the real challenge and it comes at a time when Aoi is realizing how close she wants to get to Oga and other subplots are moving along as well. But it’s just too busy overall here and the people I want to see are so little used here that even as it hits interesting points, it feels uninteresting.
Grade: C
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.
