It would appear that Raul and Fino have the upper hand as Airi shows them around the Amada store, while the Leon staff try to make a deal with a major product supplier for better wholesale prices. Appearances, of course, can be deceiving.
What They Say:
Episode 06: “She Couldn’t Become a Hero, so She Reluctantly Decided to Get a Job, Too.”
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
It appears that Raul is not the only would-be hero who reluctantly decided to get a job in the service industry. At first, Airi tries to cover up her job by telling Raul that she does security, but Raul sees right through her (well, the costume makes it really obvious). It would seem that Airi’s pride is hurt at being reduced to the same lower tier service job as Raul, but it apparently is better than the first job which she got straight out of school, which paid very well but apparently involved “lying to people” (we’re not told yet what it exactly was). Fino tries to comfort her with her own cheerful view of customer service, but it remains to be seen if Airi will be won over, since Fino is rather simple (in a good way) and can find fulfillment in her job.
It’s not all Raul, Fino and Airi, as we also see what the Leon corporate folks have in mind for saving the store that Seara manages. One of the managerial guys goes with Seara and the rest of her staff to visit Delila Magtec, a producer of magic vision equipment (televisions) in order to get a better deal on products to sell. At the same time, Airi takes Raul and Fino around the Amada store. You would think that the people at Amada might be concerned about the activities of their competition? Well, they’re not concerned…because they’re already more than aware of everything. A manager from Amada comes upon our trio after Airi is harassed by a scumbag in the store and he and his minion (the clerk who had been trying to sell Fino a camera last episode) let Raul know that they are aware of him and Fino and what they’re up to. At the Delila factory, the manager there also shows the Leon group around, but when they are somewhat upset at the sweatshop conditions that use monsters to make the products, he lets them know that they won’t be making a deal with the Leon company anyway, since Amada bought out Delila right before Amada opened up their flagship store.
It would seem (unless this is all unexpectedly resolved quickly) that this is going to be a major story arc, the fight to stay alive in the face of the challenge presented by Wa…ahem, Amada. A huge store selling cheaply made junk produced through near-slave labor against the smaller store that features good customer service, but lesser selection. Of course, we see the two competing head-to-head again as Raul and Fino are forced to dress up in silly Leon mascot costumes to hand out fliers and get completely upstaged by a large billboard truck from Amada featuring a Sphere concert and their “huge selection” sales pitch. But…but we are then presented with Raul meeting the older woman he helped at the Amada store back on its opening day who had been looking for an air conditioner. It seems that she could not find what she wanted at Amada, whose salespersons keep on going on about fancy features when what she wanted was just an air conditioner. Raul, of course, provides her with more useful help back at the Leon store. So, we’re presented with the triumph of personalized service over infinite (but poorly assisted) choice.
We get another sign of the personalized service that the Leon store provides when Raul has to go out on a magic refill house call (since some people are apparently born without magic power, but need magic to power their appliances). This time, he has to help out Suinoya, their local snack shop. Nova had come by earlier to fill the magic tank, but no matter how much magic she put in, it kept on being emptied. Raul also could not fill it. When Fino tried however, it appeared that a magic parasite, a slime-like creature called a Magic Eater was living in the Suinoya tank, eating all of the magic. Fino, however, had so much magic, she caused the slime to explode (from an overfill of magic).
In the meantime, Lore had gone out to install the magic air conditioner for the nice woman who bought it from Raul. When she got to the address, however, an Amada truck pulled up soon thereafter. Raul later gets a call from Lore, telling him that there is trouble.
Clearly, Amada is a bully that engages in dirty fighting (thus part of how they got so much market share). It would seem that we may see some real fighting come to pass, though it’s not like Raul’s hero powers will be enough to win easily or outright, as Amada probably has quite a few former hero candidates, not just Airi, among their employees I am willing to bet. Things have turned in a rather serious direction, though we are far from the end of the show, so this is not one of those last-minute “we’re deadly serious” plot arcs that comedies suffering from drama-envy throw in often for their final two episodes. This is not necessarily an unwelcome development, even though I think I liked the light and fluffy tone of much of the series so far and hope that it doesn’t become all dramatic and heavy for the rest of its run. So, we wait to see how this situation will be resolved.
In Summary:
While there’s still plenty of comedy and even some double entendre running about, it seems as if Yusibu is getting a little serious here with a nasty fight brewing between the little Leon Magic Shop and the bullying, dirty Amada superstore. No sparks just yet, but one wonders how long it will be before Raul may have to unsheathe his old hero sword again. Challenging times ahead.
Episode Grade: A-
Streamed by: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Apple iMac with 4GB RAM, Mac OS 10.6 Snow Leopard
