「すれ違い」 (Surechigai)
“Differing Intentions A Hero’s Worth”

Now that Rokuro & Benio’s marriage has been arranged, it’s time to learn more about Rokuro’s (presumably unlucky) childhood friend.

Real

The best reason I can give for why I’m enjoying this show is that most of the characters feel like people, or are beginning to. Mayura is clearly the unlucky childhood friend, but she doesn’t seem as perfect as her kind personality and big breasts would have you believe, at least according to the tropes. That’s true of most characters who have gotten more than token screentime, including Nagitsuji Ryougo (Maeno Tomoaki), who spent the episode showing off just how good of a friend he is by not wanting to drag Rokuro back into exorcist work until Rokuro was ready. I can’t say we have anybody unique, nor an outstanding character that stands above others of their type (though Benio is eyeing that title), but they all feel like real people more often than not, rather than cardboard cutouts created to advance the plot. That makes me invested, because I know the tropes, but I want to know the story of these people.

A Warrior, Not a Baby Maker

I said that Benio is the closest thing this show has to an outstanding character, though that’s mostly how she seems to dodge the tropes and act…well, modern. She’s not a yamato nadeshiko, despite her looks (even Mayura doesn’t seem to be angling for that title), nor is she a tsundere, nor anything else. What she is, is a warrior. It struck me that, when she dismissed the idea of marrying Rokuro since he’s running away from being an exorcist, that Benio is so refreshing because she doesn’t get bogged down in love. Not that that isnt fun! But not all girls (or guys) are in love with being in love. She isn’t. She wants to be a warrior who destroys kegare. If Rokuro shapes up and a partnership (or even marriage) with him is her best way to do that, I can see her being open to that path. Once again, it makes Benio feel like a real person, not to mention giving her an understandable reason for dismissing Rokuro right now. I don’t blame her. I wouldn’t want this Rokuro either.

Looking Ahead

I like the pacing so far, it’s deliberate without being too slow. Which is to say, this episode felt a little slow to me, but I was also full of delicious Stilts home cooking, so I’m trying to calibrate for that. I dunno, I’m full and on the verge of food coma.

The season schedule should appear before another Sousei no Onmyouji airs, so you’ll find out then whether we’re going to continue coverage with this one. Until then!

tl;dr: @StiltsOutLoud – It’s unlucky osananajimi week, while Benio shows her strength of character & Rokuro worries #sousei 03

Random thoughts:

  • Another revealing moment: Benio thinking about how she wouldn’t want large breasts because they’d get in the way of fighting. That’s so Benio.
  • Mayura being like a cousin or a sister wouldn’t be a problem for most anime leads. Her being an actual cousin or sister wouldn’t stop a bunch of them.
  • Those merry-go-round jiggle physics. Though Mayura’s breasts aren’t even that large, by anime standards. Realistic breast sizes? Gasp! I never thought I’d see the day.
  • “You’re the only one who understands how awesome I am, Mayura!” Now you’re just being mean.
  • First Napoleon, now an anime is going to quote Robert Kennedy? I feel like this is a good sign. Some mangaka are branching out of the incestuous anime waters. Import, don’t recycle!

My first novel, Wage Slave Rebellion, is available now. (More info—now in paperback!) Sign up for my email list for a FREE sequel novella. Over at stephenwgee.com, the last four posts: Frictionless routines, Even if you see it coming, it can still work, Batman does not kill. Superman does not kill., and Inside Out: What Emotion Drives You?.

 

Preview

19 Comments

  1. ‘“You’re the only one who understands how awesome I am, Mayura!” Now you’re just being mean.”‘ Almost didnt get what you meant but i laughed out loud afterwords cuz yea…unfortunate osanajimi syndrome. I thought mayura was going to be either overly nice and positive or be that annoying osanajimi who pesters her crush about everything. Luckily, she was a combination of sweet/nuturing and snarky; I really like the synergy of those traits. I was like gasp, she kinda has some personality

    sonicsenryaku
    1. True, I quickly warmed up to her because of that as well. It’s exactly the kind of snark you’d find among friends, and it makes their relationship feel a lot more genuine.

      Dvalinn
  2. Yeah a merry go round probably wouldn’t move vigorously enough to get that much motion. At least there was no Gainaxing i.e. both bounced together and not separately. Also yay realistic sizes. I’ve seen enough overinflated water balloons or large sized hams, even this season.

    zrnzle500
    1. Brah, we need to know how unfortunate she is now, so that her development can be more appreciated later on. I love so much now, still cut short comparing to Benio. And I ship her with the other one rather than Rokuro 😉 if you know what I mean.

      BlazingFreeze
  3. This episode contains mostly filler and I love it. More character interaction, more Mayura characterization, foreshadowing flashback (although not sure if we got a little too much) and more Benio’s badass moments, who said that she needs a man, she can hold her own on most battle and she is on equal footing than Rokuo, if not more knowledge and skills. If the animation can keep up with the awesome art style than I’m good. Next episode marks a change in Rokuo’s character. Here hopes that the series got 48+ episode like the rumor suggested or even two-cours. I love this series, it might even better than the manga in term of story telling imo, if not because of the annoying familiar. I wish Kegare kill him already, or the antagonist of this arc. And before anybody decides to drop the show, please wait at least 3 more episode until the antagonist appears. That is the turning point of the series imo. :]

    BlazingFreeze
    1. I feel like there’s not enough content for 48+ episodes, and a lot of places are showing that it’s 12 episodes now. So I wouldn’t count on more than that, probably. Or at least, if we pick this show up we’re doing so under the assumption that it’s 12 episodes, so more posts than that wouldn’t be assured, lol

  4. Yup, this one passed the three-episode rule for me. It’s a pretty clear example of a show that may not be the most original anime on the block, but nevertheless uses its well-worn tropes well. The characters are appealing and well-developed so far (I like Benio’s warrior mentality as well), the world they inhabit is interesting and they’ve managed to set up some meaningful conflict. Not to mention the action’s pretty decent too. This episode in particular was a combination of all those elements in one well-rounded package, so I enjoyed it a great deal.

    Though that familiar can go right ahead and die. He annoys me more and more with every appearance.

    Dvalinn
  5. Overall I’ve enjoyed the first 3 episodes of this show but Im starting to notice some troubling things that I hope don’t become too noticeable later like how the animation quality seemed to dip this episode and how annoying that mascot character is.

    livevoid
  6. OK, so 2 things

    1. Kinako is annoying, and he brings down every scene that he’s in.

    2. The Mayura boob jokes weren’t funny, and I’m curious, to anyone who’s read ahead, do they get over this, or can we expect that to be central to who she is as a character?

    Other than that, I have no major complaints. I’m enjoying this series for the most part.

    hjerry
    1. 1) Kinako just should not exist……….in the manga his role is taken by the old lady, and the prideful boasting(you should all worship the ground benio-sama walks on) is much much less and goes away quickly, why they felt this addition was a good idea is really beyond me

      2)They played up Mayura’s boobs a lot this episode, while the joke is still there in the manga(the timid character with big boobs) she does get a character arc and does just to grow

      Crixdec
  7. This has sadly failed the 3 episode rule for me, as a manga reader I’m really not enjoying this adaptation, from the addition of the mascot character(who so far i find very annoying and adds nothing) to the very odd pacing and deviations from the story. The pace somehow manages to feel slow and fast to me at the same time(the multiple flashbacks to previous episodes aren’t helping). It feels rushed cause of the deviations that have happened for example the character introduced at the end of this episode was introduced around chapter 18 of the manga(this is a monthly release so if this were a faithful adaptation I would put that around episode 14-18). The humour is also missing its mark for me too sadly, I don’t know why but they just felt funnier in the manga maybe cause they were more fresh, or I imagined them different? Oh well that’s my 2 cents, if you still enjoy the show all the power to you.

    Crixdec

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *