“The Witch Trial Begins”
What They Say:
Following the events of the game, the orphan heroine Hinako Nakayama suddenly reunites with her twin brother Hikaru who asks her to take his place at Shishiku Academy, a private boys school infamous for its rough-and-tumble student body. Hikaru being the child of a powerful Yakuza family, the Onigashima, he is obligated to become the leader of Shishiku Academy. Hinako will have to hide her identity and fight to control the school. How will Hinako deal with a school full of handsome boys who let their fists do the talking rather than talk about their feelings?
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
After giving us a lot of stuff with the relationship side that just didn’t do much for me, we hit the penultimate episode of Kenka Bancho Otome and it feels like a lot of the energy has fallen out of the show in the last couple of episodes. With the fights being interesting early on but too short, following that model throughout has left it in a place where you know it’s simply padded out a whole lot. So when we get the lead-in here with a lot of people either messaging online in stills that are panned over or shadowed pieces of punks ready to get even with her standing outside looking angrily toward the school, it lacks the push forward it needs because of the sidetrack that it ended up with over her older brother.
With a storm of action brewing, we get the group coming together to be ready to face it as the truth is now out there about Hikaru being Hinako, though Hinako isn’t admitting it and the guys she’s aligned with push back against the rumor since they don’t believe it. Mirako amusingly takes some of the blame for it over his manhandling of her before and how that would set off rumors but it’s obviously more than that. Everything serves to up the tension about as it’s like watching a pot boil at high – it’s not there yet but it’s going to hit it rapidly with what’s going on. A lot of it is kind of amusing as you even get the guys on her side talking about how it can’t be true as there’s no way a girl could be that strong. Once that kind of garbage starts flowing you just want Hinako to reveal the truth and beat the ever loving crap out of everyone and make it clear she’s a true badass.
In Summary:
Fragile egos all around in this episode over the rumor of a girl doing what’s been done and how all these tough guys can’t accept that, even those that she’s beaten thoroughly and directly that have sworn allegiance to her. While she won’t reveal herself, and there’s a sense of truth about it picking up, the arrival of some bad hombres from elsewhere showing up to cause trouble has them align together against them, which of course surprises Hinako a little after what some of them have said recently. It sets the stage for a final fight that really needs some payoff with it but has me wary of it being able to accomplish it at this stage.
Grade: B-
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
