We are now in episode 9 of a 13 episode season. Amazingly, episode 10 will be the second parter to this monster of the biweekly routine. There is absolutely no progress in the main story. Nor is there anything to suggest much character development in this episode.  Meanwhile, the story itself is not that interesting. And although we get a couple cool Maya faces, they’re close to ones we’ve seen before.

So basically, during a summoning class, the Vice President accidentally summons a lost loli, instead of Maya’s dead father. The loli latches onto Smile and Maya, and the gang decide to help her soul find peace.

Bunmei is mostly out of the picture, because he doesn’t adhere to the Maya and bros before hos rule. And continues to serve as Mikaze’s food puppet and her schoolground pimp, this time getting approval for her to serve ice cream to the kids.

The gang finally find the loli’s home, but things go strange when instead of being happy, she cuddles up in a corner, creates a miniature blizzard then disappears. In talking with the landlord, who’s apparently used to small summertime blizzards tells the gang that the little girl froze to death on Christmas Eve waiting for her dad to come home.

The gang track down the loli’s dad and tries to get him to help them save her. But he rudely dismisses them, because of his guilt. Of course, we know he’ll eventually help them in the next episode, the loli will eventually find peace, and the dad will be relieved. And there will probably be some flashbacks to Maya and her relationship with her dad and her finding a bit of peace through the loli. Book it. Yep, I said it. Book it. If the next episode doesn’t unfold in this way, I’ll randomly pick a commenter to write the post for the next episode.

Meanwhile, I’m looking forward to episode 11. Mostly because that’s the soonest episode in which actual important things might occur.

                          

It’s hard to imagine, what with the naked apron display capturing our attentions in the previous episodes, but this is actually the first truly Saeko-centric episode. And she doesn’t disappoint. It’s the type of role all actresses would kill for. Sexy, cute, action-packed, yandere, possible sex scene. The director threw the book at Saeko this episode and well… maybe I’m just crazy, but I’m even more hot for Saeko than ever before.

Saeko and Takashi happen to come across an amphibious ATV which allows them to take the long way back to Saya’s house. During a quiet moment alone, Takashi decides to pop the question, that is, does Saeko like anyone, and she responds affirmatively. Takashi decides not to probe, but the way she answered the question, it seemed like she was thinking of someone besides him. However, once night falls, they go back on the move, fording the river and almost immediately tossing the ATV into a fountain to draw the zombies to the noise. Which is a very odd set of tactical decisions, because fighting in the dark is not to the humans’ benefit. Zombies are drawn by noise, remember? Not light. Light is good for humans, it keeps you from not noticing a zombie jumping out from the shadows. But stranger yet is their decision to toss the ATV into the fountain. Why they couldn’t use it to just run over every other zombie, I don’t know. They’re not as fast as Hummers and motorcycles, but they can definitely pick up enough speed to do some damage.

Those tactical errors don’t seem to impact them much though, at least not so much as Saeko freezing in front of a group of zombie kids, forcing Takashi to save her by shooting a zombie child in the mouth with a shotgun. Now this was a fantastic red herring. Because all the while I was thinking DAWWW, Saeko just can’t bring herself to hurt the children. She’s so cute. Nyet. Not so much. Once Saeko and Takashi escape the park, they take refuge for the night in an empty temple. And there Saeko tells Takashi what’s really been going on. About her past. An attacker. A beating. Her bloodlust. Her psycho yangire nature. And now the opportunity to become wet with indulgence.  From caring mother-type character, to blood-huungry sadist. That is one heckuva 180.

Takashi responds like how every other red blooded male would respond to after receiving a confession of craziness. A kiss and a loud romp in the sack. Well, we can’t say for sure. But the kiss seems definite. And the loud romp in the sack? That seems like the only good explanation for why zombies were drawn to the temple from the beginning of the morning.

Having allowed to enjoy the purity of love, Saeko hesitates and seemed doomed to be the first to die. But Takashi awakens the S-girl in her by torturing one of her boobs which lets her go off and yeah, that’s right. Get wet. Probably from sweat. To make things even better, the show finally upgrades her pansy-ass wooden sword and gives her a cold, steel blade for her to get off on.

And finally, we Saeko and Takashi make it back to Saya’s house. A picture perfect happy family. One pants wetting loli. One yangire S-girl. And one badass harem leader. Rei is not going to be very happy. And I guess Saya isn’t either, based on her reaction seeing Takashi and Saeko holding each other. But to be honest, I forgot that she was even in the competition. She’s going to have to settle for Kouta. And settle quick, before Alice the loli steals him.

A second season is seeming more and more likely to me. There’s only 3 episodes left. Nobody besides Saya has gotten to see their families. It doesn’t look like that’s happening next episode either. Rika the sniper has gone missing. Shidou, the cult leader teacher, has been MIA. And it doesn’t look like there’s an end to the zombie epidemic anytime soon.

                          

Although I suppose he’s got a point. I mean, as soon as they stop to eat, they find they’re being shown on the news, reported as missing. Well, Joey and Denton are anyway. Psy isn’t. Seriously, what the heck? Why does no one care he’s gone? At least Psy is with the program to realize that he’s gotten the short end of the stick once again, and comments on it. Poor Psy. He should be the hero, really.

I'm really that unimportant?

Also, these may be the stupidest trio on the run I’ve ever seen. Only two of are wanted by the law, so send the wanted ones shopping and let the chopped liver sit in the car. This makes perfect sense! Then Joey calls on a payphone, which can possibly be traced. Way to go. And of course it is. Then the big bads are fighting, hinting who is actually good, and who is truly evil here. And my brain in stuck in ‘So stupid’ mode.

No one in the grocery store likes me...

The episode leads to yet another try to escape from the government, which this times fails. Denton and Psy are captured, and Hughes confronts Joey.

He's kinda psycho.

I was pretty pissed off with the lack of brainpower in this episode, was honestly, I’ve been excited to see what the eventual showdown between Joey and Denton would be like. So while this episode disappointed, I’m hopeful for the next one.

It's my show now!

                          

Summary 6: The group go to the onsen on the mountain, then wander out at night like gullible idiots. They get attacked, as expected, but Day Rikuo decides to do something for once.

It’s somewhat like in this episode the writer thought “Hey, I know what to put in this episode. The Plot!” The first few episodes were contained stories where by the end all problems had been solved. Episode 5 is the first episode that feels like the start of an arc. It’s the sort of thing that shonens do; start off with taster episodes before getting into the main plot, getting to know the characters and the initial situation before the plot comes along and causes the situation and characters to change. it also means that things are bound to get better from now on because this is where the interesting stuff happens. And the battles should get better too. The end of episode 6 looked promising in that sector at least.

It was surprising to see Rikuo use a sword in that last minute but it does hearken back to what was said at the very start of the series. On the flashback of Rikuo’s first transformation someone said that Night Rikuo only had the strength of a 12 year old. After the whole chopping a snake in half lengthways and destroying a giant demon rat with an oversized sake cup I was a bit dodgy about that first statement. Now I believe that that statement meant that Night Rikuo and Day Rikuo have the same level of strength, except Night Rikuo has some magic sake cups. It’s not unreasonable to assume that Rikuo had some kind of training, he does order a house of demons around without any complaint. It’d make a lot of sense if he was able to beat the crap out of them if he wasn’t a pacifist. And I bet his grandfather would’ve made him too. The heir of a clan of demons wouldn’t be brought up to be weak, even if he decided he doesn’t want to be one. The outcome of this is that Day Rikuo is more badass than I previously thought since it’s likely he can chop snakes in half lengthways too. Seriously, anyone who can potentially do that is automatically badass.

The other plot that started in this episode it the long awaited (by someone out there at least) romantic subplot. So basically Kana likes Rikuo but hasn’t realised it yet, but she gets very annoyed at seeing Tsurara and Rikuo acting all cute together. Tsurara on the other hand doesn’t seem to see Rikuo in any way other than a master, albeit a master she cares about, while Rikuo seems to be the standard shonen lead, too caught up in demons to worry about romance. The only romance that wasn’t seen coming a hundred miles off was that random blond guy getting a crush on Tsurara. So obviously I’m rooting for him. At least he seems to care about her.

Look at us, we’re gullible idiots who walk into obvious danger without a second thought. Aren’t we great?

There’s one in every series…

  
Some characters obviously haven’t shown up yet.

 
Still my favourite character

Kana’s ridiculous facial expressions partly make up for her utter uselessness

 
The real question here is, where the hell did he pull that sword from?

Overall: This entire season is a bit of a letdown. NuraMago is the only show I’m watching and it doesn’t match any of last season’s shows, and by the looks of it, next season will surpass it as well. I’m hoping that with this emergence of a plot the show will pick up a bit. Best case scenario is that all these random human characters will get some decent development instead of being bait and cannon fodder.

                          

Ami’s dad tries to rekindle the love that Maya used to have for the occult by recruiting JK and Smile to lead them on a wild, fake goose chase. Unfortunately, Maya catches wind of the scheme and unloads on Ami’s dad which leads to her getting a bitchslap from Ami, and the cycle of violence continuing with Ami’s dad bitchslapping her for slapping Maya.

Episode 8 picks up the plotline with Maya and Ami seemingly coming to apologies, grudgingly at least, when a major chupacabra attack leads to Ami getting kidnapped by the lonely chupacabra prince. Unlike those pussy vampires in Shiki, the chupacabra prince unveils his massive 6 inch fangs and takes a nice chomp out of Maya, before running away with her.

One highlight of the episode is seeing Maya get all deredere for the occult, letting everyone know that it was the chubacabras who ensconced with Ami. After a nice uplifting montage, the gang track down Ami and save her when Ami’s dad nail guns the chupacabra prince in the face, which leads to its head popping off like a champagne cork. A couple snaps from Bunmei reveal that none of this is the Nostradamus key, but it doesn’t stop the Vice Principal from burning the house down to "get rid of the evidence." Whatever that’s supposed to mean.

Overall, this was by far the weakest arc of the season. While the gag comedy bits remained good, the overall storyline was boring and the drama between Maya and Ami felt forced. Also, what the eff is up with the chupacabra prince? Someone spent about 15 seconds thinking about how to escalate the drama and picked the worst choice possible. But whatever. Now we’ve seen episodes on Maya, Kozue, Ami and Bunmei. It’s time to move along to the main story. I like the comedy, but no more Scooby Doo mysteries of the week.

There were a few redeeming parts about the last couple episodes though:

1. Listening to Hana Kanazawa as Kozue. At first, Kozue annoyed me. I even preferred the serious, occult sucks, neko-mouth-less version of Kozue. But then I listened to Kozue. Really listened to her. And realized what a marvelous job Kanazawa’s doing in hamming it up. From hearing Kozue getting tossed around in a truck, raeped by chupacabras or tossed off cliffs, I just get this picture in my head of Kanazawa going bonkers in a studio and it just cracks me up.
2. The gradual manification of Bunmei. He was still somewhat cowardly when he thought it was a real alien (although his reaction is understandable, considering his experience with aliens = massive destruction). But he unleashed some pretty cool lines when they were out fighting the chupacabra. He is slowly getting to the point where you’d count on him to not run away.
3. Maya in varying stages of uber kawaii.

                          

Anyway, 18, Mio gets asked to play Romeo, Ritsu is suppose to play Juliet, as the class is apparently a bunch of hardcore Mio x Ritsu shippers. The two initially have some difficulty with their parts, but Ritsu gets over it, however Mio struggles with stage fright, blah blah blah.

This is Nightmare Fuel.

Who am I kidding? There’s only one part of this that anyone really cares about, well, if the general K-On watching population has the same weakness for maids that I do. Mugi’s idea to deal with Mio’s stage fright leads the girls to working at a maid café.

This is really one of the cutest scenes I’ve seen of the girls all season. The outfits look great on each and every one of the girls, and everything just seemed to fall in place to make the scene work with the different antics of the girls.

Mio honestly took the scene with her stage fright and nervousness, which somehow made her more entertaining. From hiding from serving, to fumbling to take an order, it was all adorable, although I felt bad for her.

Ritsu and Yui definitely had there fabulous moments with Ritsu’s smile, and Yui and her cheese pen.

Sadly, as quickly as the maid café came, it went, but I think it’ll easily be one of the non-musical highlights of the season.

                          

I don’t know what sort of nonsense this "chairman" (what is that?) was spouting to the POTUSA, but I was heartened to see that even in his dying non-zombie breaths, he was concerned about fulfilling their duty to uphold the US Constitution. Hey, they may be zombies, but at least they still care… unlike say a certain Barack Obama (zing! political jab!). Seriously though, the whole opening sequence made no sense to me. It looked like they were flying in Air Force One, but apparently just about everyone, including the First Lady and the POTUSA were bit by zombies, and I couldn’t tell if the "chairman" maybe that means Vice President, was trying to convince the POTUSA to launch nukes on everyone or what.

Kouta’s got it made apparently. He has all the guns he wants. A tsundere bishoujo. And a loli in his lap. Hard to believe, but after the zombie breakout, life has really improved for this former outcast otaku.

Oh God, Saeko moe. Considering Saeko pretty much ran away with the naked glomp, and the pee fetish polls, I’m not even going to bother to ask who you’d want to find, drooling on your lap. Let’s just say I’m looking forward to the next episode. Between Rei and Saeko? Well, I hope Takashi ends up with Saeko. Oh, but actually I just doomed her to die, didn’t I? Because the clear final couple is Rei and Takashi. Ah shit.

One thing that this episode does particularly well is changing up the dynamic. After the non-stop action and fanservice from the past couple eps, the first half of this episode is downright peaceful. Not a helicopter, not a zombie in sight. Sakura petals gently falling to the ground to the tune of a choral chorus playing in the background. It’s just the right mood to put you to sleep. Until BAM. Kouta announces that the zombies are back and in mass numbers. A mad rush through a field of zombies goes awry, when they notice that the area’s been fenced off, forcing Shizuka to make a sharp turn and a quick stop, which throws Rei off from the top of the car (why were she and Takashi even up there?) and slams her down to the ground in what looked like a very painful fall.  And the bad news? They’re trapped with a mass of zombies about to swarm them. Except they’re not really trapped. The wire fencing looked pretty effective in keeping the zombies at bay. They all could’ve pretty easily helped Rei to her feet jumped onto the top of the car and over the fence and then started shooting the zombies at a distance. And actually, the gaps in the fence looked more than large enough for them to not even have to go over it, they could’ve gone through it. But best not to think too hard about this, because otherwise we wouldn’t have gotten scenes like this:

When Takashi’s shotgun runs out of bullets, he uses Rei’s breasts as a nice pillow to rest a high powered rifle to take out the zombies. And that’s not all.

Saeko goes all Neo I’m in the Matrix flashing us her pantsu and synchronizing her boob movement perfectly to let a bullet through. With that kind of body control… wow, the mind boggles. I couldn’t help but laugh out loud during this scene. It’s just so over the top  that I couldn’t do anything but applaud it. It wouldn’t surprise me if at some point, Saeko’s boobs launched grenades on their own. Any way this sequence will go down in the annals of fanservice history. It’s absolutely mesmerizing.

Even Saya comes out to fight with the gang, but they seem to get nowhere. It’s a little weird, in some angles it looks like there’s a manageable number of zombies. In other angles, it looks like they’re in zombie Times Square. With the zombies bearing down on them, Takashi sees little crap dog Zeke try to gnaw on a zombie’s ankle and gets an idea. Break through the crowd and attract the zombies using noise. Saeko joins in on the plan. And it’s a good plan, because they end up taking a narrow stairway onto high ground. It would’ve been a perfect area for them to fight in. But for some reason, these zombies are not responding to the noise. What’s up with that? Are they evolving? Or are these a different type of zombie?

Luckily for the gang, help arrives after the ED in the form of Saya’s mom II would’ve sworn it was going to be Rika instead) and some projectile firing troops dressed as firemen. It was a pretty cool scene seeing Saya reunite with her mom. An unexpected victory. However, that leaves Saeko and Takashi stranded and having to find another way to get to Saya’s house. I’ll just assume they couldn’t just run down the higher ground, hop over the highway fence and slide on down to where everyone else is, because we should see some good Saeko scenes next week. And I sort of get a kick out of seeing Rei squirm.

                          

Moyashimon is a weird show. Even the anime was a little weird. But the live action really seems to accentuate the weirdness. The most normal part of the show is Tadayasu’s impossible ability. The weird part is how crazy the characters are, and seeing them do ridiculous things in the 3D world makes everything seem that much more outlandish. It’s not really a good thing, maybe it’s not a bad thing either, but it’s something I’m having a little trouble adjusting to.

As Tadayasu and Takuma try to nurse Kaoru back to health, after being completely mauled and raeped by a soused Haruka. However, things are unusually quiet, as the constant chatter of bacteria appear to be missing. Be it from the spoiled rotten bacteria that Tadayasu failed to identify (have Kaoru and Takuma heard of a refridgerator?) or the usually mischievous romantic suggestions from his little friends when Tadayasu meets up with the mysterious gothic lolita… who’s name he still hasn’t asked for, even after spending the night with her. One can only imagine what the two were up to. I guess a pretty racy makeout session? Ugh.

Things go haywire once Haruka suspects that Tadayasu can’t see the bacteria (speaking of weirdness, why was she hanging in the men’s bathroom, waiting for Kaoru and Takuma to complete their battle with the runs? This is the sort of randomness the show could do without). And it all culminates with everyone crashing in on the naked yuri party between Mutou and Hazuki, and Kei revealing his trueself to Tadayasu as he’s being hounded by Haruka. What’s that? The hot gothic lolita is actually Tadayasu’s longtime friend, Kei? A really buff humongous man-child? Oh, this is so wrong in more ways than one. You know how Kei in the anime is one of those girly type of guys. In fact, I’m pretty sure there were several instances where characters commented on his feminine features. So then the trap is believable right? Well, the live action decided to make things really zany and replace effeminate Kei with ridiculously tough Kei. Now everybody laugh. Because it’s totally silly. No? Well, I’m not amused either. This is another one of those instances where the live action tries to go the ridiculous route and kick it up for laughs, and instead just falls on its face. It’s already ridiculous enough for Tadayasu to have unknowingly spent the night with his best male friend, Kei. You don’t have to totally blow away my suspension of disbelief, by making male Kei an impossible trap. Well, so much for that. I did appreciate the Fight Club-esque montage of scenes when Tadayasu is realizing the girl and the guy are the same person. Pretty nifty visuals there. I guess we have the Japanese equivalent of David Fincher directing Moyashimon.

Meanwhile, episode 7 picks up right where 6 left off, except Haruka takes the reins and tries to beat the truth out of Tadayasu. He finally realizes that he can’t see the bacteria, and Kei points out that a similar thing happened to him in the past. This issue lasts for a few episodes in the anime, with Tadayasu going through some serious soul searching, but a swift knee to the head from his not-so-trappy best friend, Kei, brings all the bacteria visions back to Tadaysu. There are a few subsequent scenes in which Tadayasu wonders whether Haruka and Itsuki sensei are just using him for his ability, but it never reaches the depths that the anime reached. I’m not sure if they plan on revisiting this later in the season, considering they have plenty of episodes left to do so, but I’m not too hopeful of it. I think the show would rather just play for cheap laughs.

Although the show does go light on the trials and tribulations of Tadayasu, it does a little better showing off the softer side of Haruka. A Haruka that shows off a sensitive side, upset by Kaoru and Takuma’s accusations that she just sees Tadayasu for his germs. But after a conversation with Kei, who revealed to Tadyasu that Haruka is actually looking out for him, trying to keep him from being taken advantage of (although you could argue that she just wants to keep him for herself, but we won’t), and a nice scene in which Itsuki sensei gives everyone the yeast cultures that she’d been preparing for them to christen the new brewing laboratory, we see her pontificating by a patch of magic mushrooms. After a pretty cool bacteria info scene about the milky sea, Tadayasu, Kei and Haruka find a peaceful middle ground and they return back to the lab to enjoy an undoubtedly stinky feast featuring kimchi stew.

I think the live action is what it is at this point. And that would be a slapstick comedy. It’s a shame, because the original anime offered a lot more depth than just cheap laughs, but I think it’s unlikely the show will take a drastic turn for its second half.

                          

The girls and Sawako go on a fruitless search with the girls trying the classroom and gym before giving up, as each on doesn’t meet their needs. The idea of a studio pops up, and luckily they have the money for it. I won’t question how they have the money—probably from the guitar sale so early in the series, but just accept the fact they do, and that their problem is solved.

Poor guy

I laughed quite a bit at the girl’s responses to the large mirror just for it being spot on. I’m not the most girly girl but whenever I see a mirror, I always have to primp a little. Eh heh heh.

Unfortunately, they get caught up in drinking tea and working on lyrics, and don’t end up practicing at all in the studio. At least they did something productive. Although the studio did go to waste, I think it could have been worse.

I wish showing your ID was that simple...

Luckily, construction work ends early, and much to the girls’ joy, they have their room back! They’re so happy that Yui surprisingly is the one who initiates the actual practice rather then Mio or Azusa. That’s…a big deal.

The episode ends with Ui’s getting sick, leading to Yui being inspired to write the lyrics that the group decides on. Now they’re all ready to go for the festival it seems.

I have a question? Why do they have a car? There seems to be no adult in the house, and neither Yui or Ui drive...

For the most part, I really liked this episode. It flowed very well. The only complaint I have is that Ui getting sick felt tacked on, as if it didn’t fit the rest of the episode. Maybe they tried to do too much in one episode?

Also, html on here is confusing me. Why are some of my images centering, and some aren’t? Will someone help a html dumb blogger please?

                          

This is for all the Saeko fans who voted for her in the last poll. A gift from Saeko to you. Kouta and Takashi watch helplessly as the zombies chow down on some straggling people. Saeko plays the realist in reminding them that they can’t save everyone, and that shooting will draw the zombies’ attention, and the lights will draw the surviving humans attention. Honestly, at this point I’m more afraid of the humans than the zombies. The zombies are like miniature T-Rexes, only responding to sound. They’re slow, they’re predictable. They just come in mass numbers. People though… Yeah, people. Unpredictable, irrational, willing to turn on you. People will get you killed.

We see an example of this when a father and her daughter loudly try to find shelter, only for the father to get stabbed to death with a makeshift bayonet. It’s remarkable what a little knowledge can do for you. As the father loudly tried to force his way into the home, I couldn’t help but wonder what different approach he would’ve taken if he’d known that sound attracts the zombies. Similarly, would the family have killed the father, knowing that his daughter was likely to make a scene, thus drawing the zombies to the house? Luckily for Takashi and the gang, they’ve been able to stay pretty rational throughout.

As she watches her father pass, the girl, Alice, starts crying, drawing the attention of the zombies. To make matters worse, the rat dog that’s been getting everyone killed maliciously tries to get Alice killed by yapping away. He’s a walking zombie trap. Stupid dog. Pee scene aside, the director used a bit of fanservice restraint with Alice. Not one upskirt shot. Of course, she’s only 7 years old apparently. I would’ve sworn she was like 10 or 11.

Kouta’s protector instincts flare up and he breaks the "no shooting" rule and begins taking out the zombies that have converged on Alice. Takes them out like a pro. Probably nowhere near as good as Rika over long distances, but from the short to medium distance range, Kouta proves himself to be dangerously genius with the sniper rifle. Meanwhile, Takashi decides , that because they can, they need to do something. And with Saeko and Rei’s help, he takes off on the bike to save Alice, with Kouta providing supporting fire.

Takashi arrives and basically totals the bike as he takes a bad turn on a dead body, but is able to fight off the mass of zombies and close the gate. In a surprisingly subtle scene, he creates a makeshift memorial for Alice’s dad, allowing her to lay the final flower. I think HSOD is too hamhanded for these scenes to be too emotional or touching, but it wasn’t bad. And Takashi acquits himself as a pretty smooth operator. The Rei "do me now" face is a pretty good indication, even before he played loli hero.

Trapped with no way out, Takashi decides to take the aerial route. It’s a ballsy plan. One slip of the foot and your zombie food. Especially when you’re also carrying that stupid yappy zombie trap dog. I totally would’ve tossed that dog into the crowd and then made a break for it (although the zombies don’t seem to eat the animals). But things go too well, and next thing you know, Alice is pulling an R Kelly.

Things look grim when Takashi takes a misstep and nearly trips into the zombie mosh pit, but thankfully, the crew arrives driving the humvee, with Kouta taking the captain’s seat, and naked apron Saeko showing off her skills. Saving a loli, getting peed on, and then watching naked apron Saeko take out zombies while the apron (among other things) flopping all over the place? All in a day’s work.

All in all, a very nice ep. The fanservice seems to become more blatant by the episode, but it’s what we’ve come to expect. I hope Saeko keeps that outfit for the rest of the show. I’m sure the apron serves some functional purposes. It’s light, breezy, keeps you from becoming overheated while fighting zombies. You probably want to tie the back, so it doesn’t snag on anything, and it’s not going to add much to the armor score, but it works.