Izumiko works harder to make her case, but can she get past her sister problem?
What They Say:
Todayama Izumiko reason for visiting her sister is vague, but the group doesn’t care. With the help of Oomari-sensei, she might become the first outsider to join the club.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
With the first three episodes, we got a pretty good trio of parodies that were delivered to us, though not all hit things well. The opening with Saint Seiya hit me pretty well and make it clear that the parodies were going to be a big part of the show as it plays with the characters. The Sailor Moon one really won me over because it was just a heck of a lot of fun and very well done. The third one didn’t do as much for me though, working from all the older Earth Defense Force material, as it just felt a bit unfocused. On the positive side, it introduced us to Kyouko’s sister and that to some degree explains a fair bit about her and her family overall.
With Izumiko, she’s doing her best to try and get into the Astronomy Club even though she doesn’t go to this school and has her own mysterious reasons for wanting to get in. Her approach is solid as she tries to win over Rikei who herself has some troubles in this episode as their teacher, the cat Oomori, is getting all paws-on with her in a way that makes her super, super excited. It’s disturbing erotic and cute at the same time and runs in opposition to the way she’s so cool, calm and methodical the rest of the time. The whole Oomori aspect of the show continues to amuse me for its stupid simplicity and the kind of silliness that it manages to bring in, especially since it’s a light moment in more serious sequences involving the cast.
Izumiko’s attempt at getting in to the Astornomy Club is coming at a time when girls across the campus are temporarily disappearing or coming down as ill, which makes her the prime suspect in Kyouko’s eyes. Enough so that she’s going to torture Kanamori in order to get her to talk of all things. There’s plenty of silliness abound in here, but the parodies are lighter and the show more focused on the characters and letting them shine through. We actually get a bit of good material about Izumiko here that makes it clear that she’s part of things in a way, but it’s those last few moments that hints at something bigger coming down the road when they look at the stars, which is enough to keep me curious for a bit longer.
In Summary:
Ebiten has been an up and down kind of series from the start and the fourth episode largely figures into that mentality as well. We do get to explore the characters a bit more with Rikei getting some time, good and bad for her, as well as a better look at Izumiko and why she wants to join the club. And while we certainly don’t get a real softening of position on her from her sister Kyouko, we do get a clearer picture that there may be something bigger going on here with all of this as well with what’s written in the stars. Things are more story focused here with some good bits of comedy and pervertedness as well, but it feels a bit more subdued overall, unless you’re Kanamori.
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.
