天下制覇

Ikuto… the other master of unlocking.

Impressions:

Wow, was the fanservice blatant and nonstop this episode. I’m not sure what was worse, Ikuto managing to steal Shinobu’s pants or the eels in Machi’s clothing. There were also more than a few parts where the art was just plain bad. Suzu grew another couple bra sizes in one shot, Tonkatsu was tiny in another, and Machi’s face… even above and beyond the evil glaring, had some truly cringeworthy moments. Regardless, I enjoyed it a lot more than many of the recent ones in a strange kind of way. It probably had to do with how blatant and shameless a lot of it was that the jokes and the disbelief that they actually used them put a smile on my face.

 

Summary:

Ayane is racing around her shrine on Monjiro looking for Machi when she suddenly comes to the conclusion that Machi went to play with Ikuto. She goes charging off, but Machi was just hiding in the bushes. As she steps out, she trips on a statue and knocks a seal off it. As she looks on a sign to what it was, the statue transforms into a tanuki in a pot. Machi tries to seal it, but it switches with a squirrel and drops a ton of pinecones on her and runs off.

Ikuto and Suzu are fishing, when Suzu’s careless words cause Ikuto to start fishing like an idiot. Ignoring him, Suzu breaks into the lunch for her mame daifuku. She calls Ikuto over, and his idiotic fishing has actually managed to catch all the fish. Is it just me, or is Suzu especially busty in that shot?

Tonkatsu suddenly senses something, and Suzu thinks that there’s something weird with the mame daifuku, but goes to eat it anyway. A voice tells her to wait, and then throws a seal onto them. They revert back to rocks, and Ikuto’s yell shows that his fish have changed to… something green. Machi comes up and explains that a tanuki spirit is on the loose and she needs their help to seal it. Ikuto, ever the skeptic, refuses to believe her. Machi pulls out another Tonkatsu as proof, and then tries to seal the one that Suzu is holding. You’d think sealing amulets to Suzu’s chest would… let’s just leave that line of thought aside for the moment.

The fake Tonkatsu dodges into the air and the real Tonkatsu… for some reason smaller than Suzu’s hand in that shot, jumps to her shoulder. Machi hits the fake Tonkatsu and dispels the illusion. Suzu and Machi chase after it to a cliff… but Machi ran onto an illusion and falls into the water letting it escape.

Ikuto and Suzu join Machi in their tanuki spirit hunt, along with Machi’s especially poorly drawn face. The three patrol the village, but Suzu and Ikuto can’t tell the fakes at all. Yukino and Kumakuma appear behind them and they explain what they’re looking for. Yukino suddenly gets a weird grin and transforms into the tanuki. It scampers up a tree and starts throwing fruit at Machi, some of which transform into eels on the way down and make their way into her clothes and… well… I don’t think Machi’s suitable for marriage anymore.

They hear a yell and run to find two Meimei’s. The two mimic eachother perfectly. Machi’s plan is to crush them both, but Ikuto stops her and says that he knows which is the real one by markings on her collarbone. One of them is too embarrassed to do anything, but the other immediately opens her shirt to show the marks. Ikuto’s plan comes clear and that’s the fake one, but when he grabs it, it just transforms, leaps away, and drops two giant iron balls on them.

Rin is heading somewhere in a really fucked up suit. Machi leaps in and stops her. They all suspect her because of how strangely she’s dressed. Machi, ever the opportunist, goes right for the pants and tosses them upward to check the belly for the tanuki’s outtie. Not content with a flash, she strips off the ribbon holding Rin’s clothes together. They’re now convinced that it’s Rin, and furthered by the tanuki laughing at them from the roof. Machi attacks again, but gets a huge block of tofu and assorted condiments dropped on her.

Next on the tour of the violating women on the island is Chikage at a well. Chikage says that she saw something go into the well, so Machi immediately dives in. Fortunately (or not as the case may be), it’s not Chikage, but the tanuki again, who runs off. Ever the good samaritans, Ikuto and Suzu leave Machi in the well to go chase it, and she crawls out looking truly unhinged and vowing revenge.

The chase continues, with more people in the village being randomly ‘attacked’ by the tanuki. Ayane finally finds them and comes running up. Machi smacks her with her fan, and then slaps her a few times, knocking her out before heading off again. Ayane comes back to life and yells at Machi some more before Machi says that a tanuki spirit is loose and she needs to hunt it. She says that Ayane needs to help her, and uses one of her voodoo dolls to enforce it.

Shinobu is the next to engage in a mirror match. Perfectly symmetrical violence never solved anything, ladies. The two bond over their match, but Machi is there to ruin our chances for some hot Shinobu on Shinobu action. Machi declares a fight, so Shinobu uses her cloning technique to make even more of her.

Ikuto and Suzu think that it’s hopeless, but Machi’s not worried. She, Suzu and Ikuto run to attack. Ikuto, somehow manages the impossible, trips, and while reaching out with his hands, doesn’t get a handful of Shinobu’s flesh, but manages to untie the ribbon holding her pants up and then pull them down. Amazing.

That’s the real one, so all the clones disappear. Suzu finds the tanuki one allowing Machi to dispel the illusion and the chase continues, leaving Ikuto with a cold and pantsless Shinobu. Stop dripping blood and warm her up, you putz.

At sunset, they still haven’t been able to catch the tanuki. Suzu tries to goad Ikuto into attacking it by saying that it’s absolutely impossible. Ikuto doesn’t react though, so Suzu thinks that he’s the tanuki. She grabs him and shows that his belly exposing him. Finally caught, the tanuki is tied to Ayane to prevent it from escaping. Suzu then explains her reasoning to Machi, thanks… like it wasn’t obvious.

Machi calls upon the powers of darkness to reseal the tanuki and it finally reverts back to its statue form. Ayane raises the ever important question of “where is the real Ikuto,” and they find him KOed in a ditch. He wakes up and rationalizes all of it as a dream of a tanuki spirit. Good work. Machi and Ayane get sudden evil grins and wonder if it’s the real one and move to strip him.

Post-ED, Ikuto is still being hunted by Ayane and Machi to show his rippling six pack and parts beyond. As they attack, Machi backhands Ayane out of the way… knocking her into the tanuki statue and releasing it again.