Someone is stealing Yukimura’s panties. Yukimura thinks it must be Muneakira, who has finally revealed himself to be attracted to the underdeveloped set. Sen cannot believe that, so she sets out to prove Muneakira’s innocence. Who is the real culprit?
What They Say:
Episode 2: “Kiss Again”
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Oddly, a lot of plot is being introduced at this time. First, there appears to be a lolicon panty thief breaking into the dojo/maid cafe whose only target is Yukimura’s panties. While Hanzo tries to catch the thief, she fails. Sen and Yukimura (during a bath, naturally for this show) discuss larger matters: who are the mysterious four girls who beat them in the previous episode? We are told by Sen that they can’t be tied to the resurrection of Shiro Amakusa, since the process of his rebirth takes 100 years before the next cycle (and they just stopped his resurrection at the end of the previous season). After bath time, Sen and Yukimura discuss the panty thief, and Yukimura has a theory: it must be Muneakira, since the thefts only started after his return, and it “must be true” that he’s suddenly turned on by Yukimura’s small charms. Sen is so filled with disbelief, she promises to dance naked in front of everyone if Muneakira is the real culprit.
So, both girls proceed with their plans, Yukimura intent on seducing Muneakira, Sen investigating to clear his good name. In the meantime, we see that the real thief is a small monkey of some sort who seems to love fruit. Naturally, Muneakira happens to be carrying around fruit that is going unused (since they have so few customers), and the two get together to eat some fruit. Right at the time that Yukimura uses Matabei’s strong sense of smell (don’t ask how she acquires her test scent) to track down the latest pair of Yukimura’s panties to go missing. Of course the four girls come upon Muneakira with Yukimura’s panties, and “hilarious” and violent misunderstanding ensues. At least it doesn’t last too long, as the monkey tries to escape but is noticed by Hanzo and swiftly brought into custody. It turns out, however, that the monkey is Sasuke, once the pet of Yukimura and Matabei. She was ordered to stay behind in Ueda when Yukimura and Matabei decided to infiltrate Tokugawa territory.
So, now they have a monkey. The problem is, the cafe is hardly making enough to support the people already living there, but to have a monkey around would just add to their debts. Sasuke decides on her own to leave, but is stopped by both the kind-hearted and dimwitted Jubei as well as the just plain dimwitted Kanetsugu. Through a chain of oh-so-hilarious, yeah that should be “hilarious” events, it happens that Muneakira and the monkey share a kiss (the one hinted at in the episode title). And it appears that Muneakira’s power is not only still present, but even works on female monkeys, as Sasuke is transformed into a monkey-girl with Master Samurai fighting strength.
Uh, okay.
While utterly ludicrous, this event does help the financial situation greatly, as suddenly the cafe is filled to the brim with students from the academy (remember, they’re all technically living in the samurai academy run by the Shogunate). As Yukimura, showing audience (not character) knowledge notes, the number of students at their academy varies with circumstances. Sasuke, in both semi-human and regular monkey form, is a big hit and the cafe’s finances seem no longer to be in doubt. The only loser in this whole situation is Kanetsugu, who now fears that she will be completely unneeded as the show has a new mascot character.
I’m not sure there is really much in the way of commentary to offer. There were plenty of fanservice shots of all varieties, including panty shots that were shown in full and naked bits that were, as usual, covered with strategic ink blots and brushstrokes, all part of the “this is being painted on a scroll” motif that they have used from the beginning. There were oddly some important pieces of plot information thrown in among the silliness and sexiness, as we know the four mysterious resurrected samurai are not tied to Amakusa. There is even a brief scene of the four themselves, where they wonder if Musashi made the right choice in giving Muneakira a month to shape up before they come to destroy him for good. This show is not deep, but then it doesn’t have to be. It just has to deliver silly hijinks and plenty of fanservice shots in order to fulfill audience expectations. For the moment, it is managing to do that without being boring or annoying.
In Summary:
This episode is taken up with monkeying around–literally in this case, as there is a monkey going around stealing Yukimura’s panties. While the girls have some strange theories as to why Yukimura’s panties are going missing, the truth comes out and Yukimura is reunited with her former pet monkey Sasuke. Through the usual kind of silly accidents that pepper shows of this sort, Sasuke and Muneakira wind up in an unexpected lip lock, and a new Master Samurai is created. Uh…okay. Well, I doubt anyone is watching this show for plot or character development. Fanservice and silliness are in high quantity, so they continue to deliver on the formula.
Episode Grade: B
Streamed by: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Apple iMac with 4GB RAM, Mac OS 10.6 Snow Leopard
