Tsuujou Kougeki ga Zentai Kougeki de Nikai Kougeki no Okaasan wa Suki Desuka

Posted by Choya on September 6, 2019 September 6, 2019 First Impressions / Tsuujou Kougeki ga Zentai Kougeki de Nikai Kougeki no Okaasan wa Suki Desuka

「おっと, こんなところにスイッチ床があるぞ. まあ踏まないけど. いや踏まないから.」 (Otto, Konna Tokoro ni Switch Toko ga Aruzo. Maa Fumanai kedo. Iya Fumanai kara.)
“Whoa, There’s a Pressure Plate in a Place Like This. Well, I’m Not Stepping On It. No, I’m Saying I Won’t!”

For our latest arc for Tsuujou Kogeki, we are scaling a large tower dungeon with the prospects of finding a grail to grant their wildest wishes. But in the process, they also discover the emergence of a rebellion group made up of youth who have abandoned their mothers. Will Amante, the leader of the group, eventually making her way into Mamako’s group, or will she continue her uphill battle to claim the grail in their name without giving away all of their secrets? This is an answer that only Amante could give by accident.

Since the episode wasn’t as worried with the limitations of a single setting such as with the academy, there were more chances for the show to play around with its comedy. I was initially wondering how Medhi would be able to mesh with the rest of Mamako’s party, curious and a little skeptical on how she’d set herself apart from a magician like Wise or a potions expert like Porta. It might seem like a step back as far as what she learned from her mother, but it was hilarious to see Medhi take after her mom’s more vindictive side by finding any way she can to one-up Wise. She does start to exhibit her darker side when she’s with her friends as her eyes start to distort whenever she is faced with the chance to embrace her hatred. The funniest instance of this comes from her verbally eviscerating Amante as she is gleefully pulled back by Masato. The other characters have their time to shine as Mamako’s love for Capslock and inability to type ends up causing her survey answers and their guild name to become littered with typographic mistakes. Jokes such as a death glitch “saving” Shirase from encountering disgruntled mothers, Mamako taking Wise’s fortune-telling seriously enough that Masato would have reason to be concerned that she’d wish for fresh eggs, and the cave spiders being harmless and receptive to Mamako’s poking were humorous as well.

What helps this episode shine beyond its comedy though is the narrative implications of a group like Amante’s party. Mamako takes it harshly when she realizes that the people within her party are also kids who rejected their mother. She holds onto the sentimentality of making her son’s bed to heart because she places enough value on the mother-child bond that she is sad that other children have a difficult time connecting with their mothers. Her love is to a fault as it is still blind to Masato’s desire to pave out his own path and independence, but it does provide an adversarial obstacle for her as her opponents aren’t mothers who need to learn from her, but rather children who can’t stand their mothers. There is concern about how the next episode will fare as there’s a grave cliffhanger now that Amante’s assassins showed up on Mamako’s doorstep, but given the tone of the series, I wouldn’t expect anything too dark.