Oga returns with quite an interesting trick up his sleeve.
What They Say:
Behemoth’s Pillar Division has come in force, and the only thing that can stop them is the newly trained Oga! But the technique he’s learned is so powerful, it risks the life of the user itself! It’s a life or death gambit!
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
While Oga has been continuing his training, events have certainly picked up now that Behemoth and his gang have arrived on the scene to cause trouble. And it’s not just any trouble either since En is there and being kept out of the loop at the moment, though that can certainly change at any moment. Having Behemoth there with his gang and how they fight is definitely something to be concerned about, and you can easily see why someone like Furuichi is panicking. But it goes to a whole other level when Oga himself arrives and he’s using Alaindelon as a weapon, just like a huge club. And amusingly enough, Alaindelon is pretty keen on it since he seems to be enjoying the whole experience.
Giving Oga a more hands on approach here after the very secondary at best role that he’s had for awhile now is definitely a positive for the series. It lets him act cool and be strong, but it also knows when to slide in a bit of humor as well in order to shift the mood in a way that’s appropriate for the series. With there being, you know, a baby demon on his back, hauling out something for Super Milk Time is just priceless and works pretty well. Playing it serious and straight just adds all the more to it, especially since Beel gets all excited about it and wants it. Having everyone look along in disbelief and shock is even better though, but they just keep topping it with how he handles the whole milk thing. It’s an amusing way to reinforce the “parent” bond that he has with Beel to be sure.
Oga’s increase in power just works in such a fun way here that when they do move it to the next level, you almost wonder how they haven’t done something like this before by combining Beel and Oga together into one form. It’s amusing how cute they do manage to make him in this way, but you also have to realize the obvious problems that can come up as well if, say, Beel’s sense of fashion becomes overpowering. When the show does go big, it tends to do so in a fairly quick burst so it’s not a surprise that events here aren’t exactly an over the top and overextended affair. But it’s the kind of sequence that works well in reinforcing a lot of bonds, especially for someone like Hilda who may finally really be seeing that there is something much more between Beel and Oga that has them so perfectly suited for each other.
In Summary:
Beelzebub has definitely felt off for quite a few episodes now and while this episode doesn’t exactly reverse it, it does put it on a more interesting path for awhile as it brings everyone back together. While there could have been some good fun to Oga’s training side story, it was poorly utilized and the larger focus on Furuichi ended up dragging his storyline out more than it needed to be. With this episode, they just go big for a bit with the action and importance in the way that Oga has often done before by just getting hugely intense quickly and burning out. There’s some good humor to be had here throughout but also some good action and overall evolution of the relationship between Beel and Oga. Hopefully it’s a signal that the series will be getting back on track in a more regularly enjoyable fashion for a bit. Well, at least after we have Beelezbub Saiyuki next week…
Grade: B
Readers Rating: [ratings]
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.
