Jinbei gets a rematch with the water bug Insect-man.
What They Say:
“He Shed His Skin? The Insect-men’s True Form!!”
Content: (please note that the content portion of a review may contain spoilers)
Even after their dramatic appearance last episode and declaration of who they are, it doesn’t look like Sanada, the leader of the Insect-men, is going to fight them — that is, until Jinbei calls him a big old coward. Rather than amusing him like everything else, this comment actually makes him angry, and even though the whole situation is predictable and a little contrived, it’s interesting because it shows that Sanada has an unstable, crazy side that he uses a lot of will power to control. He agrees to fight Jinbei, Ooka, and the rest of the City Patrol. Because of samurai honor, and because this is a shonen anime that needs to show every bad guy fighting at some point, the City Patrol will fight the remaining crucifix insects one by one.
They get inside the palace, and of course Jinbei is immediately separated from the others. He soon faces off against Jinpachi, the water bug Insect-man he fought when they first entered Kishuu. The fight immediately gets a little ridiculous when it moves underwater, and despite his complaints about the difficulty Jinbei proves pretty adept at fighting while he floats, not to mention his apparently limited need to go up for air. It looks like Jinbei is about to win again, but, again predictable, Jinpachi has another trick up his sleeve, and morphs into his true, more humanoid form. Again, it looks like he’s about to be beaten, but then Jinbei manages to remember something his father said about another secret Tsukishima technique involving water, and masters it in the midst of battle. Exciting, but a tad too convenient.
Meanwhile, the rest of the group continues to run through the palace grounds until they encounter another Insect-man, Saizo. Some quick banter implies that Hibachi knew, or knew of, who Saizo was before he became an insect, and she takes on the fight herself. What happens, exactly, isn’t clear, since her battle isn’t shown; by the time Jinbei shows up, she’s been knocked to the ground, and it’s looking as if Jinbei’s going to have to step in.
In Summary
The episode is definitely fast-paced as Jinbei takes part in his increasingly epic fight with Jinpachi. Things do reach an eye-rolling level of over-the-top moves (suddenly Jinbei can control the flow of water), but it still manages to be fun. The Magistrate, Mugai and the others aren’t shown for more than a few moments, but I’m sure that as the City Patrol makes their way through the Insect-men that something more exciting will occur with their group. As for the final fight shown, while I was initially thrilled to see that Hibachi was going to get her own solo fight, with Jinbei on the verge of finishing the battle for her I’ a little disappointed, not only that the girl has to be rescued, but that the show feels it’s necessary for Jinbei to take part in every fight, never giving the secondary characters a chance to shine on their own. I’m still hopeful for next episode, but it looks likely that it will be more of the same.
Grade: C+
Streamed by: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment: 13″ Apple Macbook set to 720p
