Impression:

Who likes cliché episodes? Need something more specific? How about an episode where the associate of the original hero challenges the successor to test his worth and even though the successor loses, an overly dramatic speech gets him another chance where he performs well enough to win in the end? Well, if you like that, then here you go. Roman and Koharu visit the grave of who I assume is their mother and wake up the next day to a robbery. A man who wants to be the second Nezumi Kozo challenges Roman to a best two out of three event in order to test his skills as a thief. Well, Roman loses the first two and gives a speech about how he failed to save a little girl. Roman gets another chance and wins. It even turns out that the challenger was the accomplice of Roman’s father. I don’t like episodes like this. Being cliché in and of itself doesn’t kill things for me because in a lot of cases things are cliché for a reason. Honestly, things like this are overly sentimental and far too forgiving. I like to see consequences for losing. The episode flowed so predictably that I started to drift away, went back in the video, and realized that I had missed absolutely nothing. Oh well, not everything in this episode was pointless. Apparently, our priestess and a certain pair of chopsticks hold a great deal of important to the fate of Japan.

Nine times out of ten, the shark is fake.

Current Opinion of the Show:

I was very critical of this episode, but this is the kind of episode that you expect from this kind of anime. Even some of the best series have cliché moments that people will cringe over, but it almost can’t be helped. I like the direction that the show has started to take and the moment at the end of the episode reinforced that. This episode was basically a filler and the only way it will become relevant is if the red loincloth, yes that was the name of the challenger, comes back to help out Roman’s gang in the future. Oh well, I look forward to this series getting serious again. Well, as serious as this series can be.