「魔の山に仕組まれし罠」
“A Trap is Set on the Evil Mountain”

Thanks to the groups over-interest in youkai/over-interest in free onsen and meals, the Paranormal Patrol ignore how incredibly creepy the professor is and fail to heed Rikuo’s warnings. With all the foreboding and hints, there is no doubt to the viewer from the beginning that they are walking into a trap. Even with various humorous bits involving Rikuo x Kana and Yura’s receipts mixed in, things were still pretty dark at times, complete with the ominous music. When they arrive at the inn though, the mood changes again with bath scenes. There was Shima wanting to peek at Tsurara in the nude, then immediately agreeing to a youkai hunt after finding out she’s going as well. The love rectangle (parallel lines to be exact) is really just a perk that doesn’t seem too intertwined with the plot and can be frustrating to watch; somehow, I have a feeling Shima’s efforts will come to nothing 😛 The more lighthearted moments seem to be a way to balance things for children, since all “kill-kill-kill” isn’t completely suitable for younger viewers (of course it’s hard to say how appropriate ogling at butts is either). However, I did lol at the assorted cute facial expressions.

With even Yuki-onna getting way too apprehensive, only Rikuo and Yura have their heads together and pretty soon the whole group is split up (just as the bad guys planned) in part due to the antagonists’ puppet abilities. Two of Gyuki’s minions are introduced, Mezumaru and Gozumaru, who make a point of mentioning their names for the viewer while conversing. Watching them throughout the episode, I can say that their ability to control humans is very useful— and perhaps also a bit “overpowered”. They use their powers efficiently and the episode clearly tries emphasize their evil sides, though I don’t think Gyuki is going to be the real villain in this story.

I would say Rikuo really shined in this episode, protecting Yuki-onna after she got stabbed in both feet (ouch) and attacking Gozumaru in his human form. I have no idea where he pulled a sword from, but he sure does look pretty heroic. It seems to be a recurring theme in shounen series that even a wimpy protagonist is able to step up and fight in order to defend his friends. Indeed almost every series features the “protecting others” element in some way, something that’s often not seen in Western entertainment. I’m not worried for the good guys here though; it would really break the mold if any of them actually died. Main protagonists getting killed in this genre is usually a rare and very serious event. Predictability aside, this episode was fairly fun to watch even if nothing was shocking, featuring some action from Rikuo, Yuki and Yura; preview indicates there will be more action next week too as the plot picks up.

 

Preview

17 Comments

  1. Its interesting how the writer have made the story fit both shounen and shojo romance genre types. We got the weak male and female main characters. A strong high status male as female love interest and a few moe type girls as male interests. I wonder if its intentional and if its working?

    Znail
  2. Somewhat Kana’s character in the anime is a bit different in the manga. In this anime, she’s more refined and shown to be more interested in Rikuo than in the manga where although they are both shown as scared of youkai, the difference is she’s more brash when it comes to expressing her jealousy towards Rikou and Tsurara and is more interested in the youkai Rikuo than the human counterpart. Oh well, IMO they got Rikuo, Tsurara, and Yura’s character pretty well.

    I wonder how much the anime would cover from the manga? it would suck if it’s only up to Gyuki’s arc.

    X
    1. Since it’s a two-cour series, I’m going to guess that it’ll cover up to
      Show Spoiler ▼

      There’s too much time for them not to cover the
      Show Spoiler ▼

      but anything past that would need more seasons.

      Shiden
  3. I still really want a second season, shipping this off with just 24 episodes would be like calling the first 26 episodes of Hitman Reborn the whole anime. That doesn’t really show what it’s all about.

    lHyDrAl
  4. Initially I was against this thinking it was just another shounen blow out, but after watching all 6 eps It’s actually not that bad. It’s interesting, slightly believable and got a decent story to it, hoping for a second season too if it continues like this.

    crazystudyguy
  5. I did wonder whether the human side of Rikuo was getting ‘influenced’ by the youkai side of his, since Night Rikuo was appearing more regularly, and he had that short ‘chat’ with him in the previous episode. Evidently, perhaps not after they showed us his face whilst he was cradling Yuki Onna… haha. I was half-hoping for a slightly youkai-ish expression on his face when the camera focused on Rikuo. =P

    Teabie
  6. In the manga, I wonder if Show Spoiler ▼

    is going to be an important character. At a rate of about 2 chapters per episode, I also wonder if they really will be able to get to the start of the “current” arc…

    Again, the anime, while well done, irks me. Somehow Tsurara came across as being more powerful and just caught entirely off guard in the manga (“he knows everything. Why is he attacking?”) instead of useless as hell -_-

    rufe
  7. well that was interesting, I think this episode has been closets to the manga thus far. Though i with they would have shown Kurata chasing the train on his Motor Cycle like in the manga.

    Anyway if i they continue to stay true to the manga, things could either get interesting or incredibly lame. Depending on how they adapt the story from the manga.

    BTW: The whole implied ‘love triangle’ (Or rectangle according to Prooof). Doesn’t seem to be developing, rather something they just kinda dangle in front of us. As if to see how long it takes to piss us off.

    Snicket
  8. It was a long time ago since I read the manga, so I might be wrong. But wasn’t the entire Yokai Rikuo x Kana alot more obvious to the point that Kana even told Rikuo about it?

    Znail

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