天下制覇

Martial arts! Drama! Wrath of the Guchuko!

Impressions:

Episode #22 was great. Guchuko’s deadpan and brutally efficient way of dealing with the silly upstarts who challenge her is nigh on perfect. I had totally forgotten about the sonic screams that she did too. Watching Potemayo try to imitate martial arts was just weird. And yeah, I couldn’t get Mecha Shiva out of my mind for the Potemari combination attack. Or should that be Tomayo? They just need a little fusion dance to complete the masterpiece.

The second half had silly pretenses of drama which was weird. I’m watching a show about strange catcreatures growing plants on their heads, one of which carries an ax and has symbiotic worms in her hair. I think it’s safe to say that I can live without drama. I think maybe it was supposed to be touching or bring Mikan closer to Sunao or something, but seriously… who cares. Let’s go back to the Children of the Corn vs Guchuko.

Next week… final episode #24… Flower. :sadness:

Summer time, and the living is easy. Tomari is off visiting her grandparents in the corn fields with Potemayo… who has now bloomed.

The two pick corn until they hear someone rumbling through the stalks. They go to investigate and as the stalks fall, find Guchuko, who springs off Tomari’s face and drops some corn as she jumps.

Tomari and Potemayo combine to form MECHA SHIVA to face Guchuko, but she smacks Tomari in the knee with the back of her scythe, knocking both over. Tomari then tries to use the snake fist from the ground, but Guchuko just walks off.

As she leaves, Tomari yells at her, and tells Potemayo to face Guchuko. Potemayo and Guchuko prepare to fight… Guchuko just standing there, while Potemayo takes a martial arts stance and tries to psyche Guchuko out… before losing interest and wandering off to eat.

Guchuko starts walking away again, and Tomari yells at her asking what Kyo would think. Guchuko imagines Kyo praising and hugging her. Tomari yells that’s wrong. This time Guchuko remembers back to being fed for by Kyo and her stomach rumbles. Potemayo starts drooling at the thought and Tomari yells that that’s also wrong.

Guchuko’s next thought is Kyo saying how she should behave, so Guchuko starts unloading all the corn she took while Potemayo and Tomari watch. She then pulls out a snake she stored away and they run off.

She keeps unloading corn, occasionally pulling out and then storing away other things… like a struggling crab. Yes. Guchuko has a living crab in her pants. You heard it here first. She finally finishes and walks off. The Tomari/Pote combo attack starts to chase after her, but the snake pops out of the corn and chases them into a bush where they bark at it and then try to beat it with a stick.

Guchuko hears the ruckus and wanders back. As the snake crawls onto the stick, Guchuko releases her demon sonic ray and knocks all three out… and an eagle that was passing overhead.

Once recovered, Tomari gives Guchuko three corn ears to give to Kyo. Guchuko stuffs them in her pants and then walks off as the snake recovers and returns to harassing the other two.

Back at a home, Tomari and Potemayo just chat until a hand knocks Potemayo over. Sunao’s back to pick up Potemayo. Him knocking her over stuffed her face into the glass she was drinking out of.

Potemayo gives Sunao some corn. He asks if it’s okay, and Tomari says it’s fine because Pote helped harvest them. Sunao pats her for being a good girl and the flower on her head grows a little larger. Tomari looks at it with wonder as they get ready to go.

Sunao thanks Tomari for looking after Potemayo and they head home.

At Kyo’s house, she’s enjoying the corn while Guchuko is also eating one of her ears. She thanks Guchuko for the corn, and Guchuko blushes. Her flower also blooms a little more.

Tomari is eating with her grandparents, thinking all about Yasumi and the others. He imagines him smiling at her and chokes on her rice.

Later, she’s heading over to Yasumi’s store with corn as a present for him. He takes it and she proudly asks what he thinks. He turns around… writes something unaoon a little board… and then puts the corn out for sale. He’s just screwing with her.

Sunao and Potemayo are getting ready to sleep. Sunao asks her about her day and whatnot, and they leave some corn out for his father.

Mikan and Yasumi are also enjoying the corn. She asks him where it came from, and he doesn’t tell her.

Omake time! The merchant guy is inspecting the corn… it’s good, but not as good as his new popcorn ball. He’s telling all this to Yasumi… who could not care less.

Side B, Sunao is thinking about all the places his father has gone. He thinks about to when he was young, travelling with his mother to visit his father. The two find him hanging to a cliffside… and then he falls off and vultures descend on him.

Later, he’s recovering while his Nabe (his wife/Sunao’s mother) is boiling water for him. It boils over and they all cower from it. Sunao starts trotting in place and goes over to turn it off, but dad throws him to mom at the last minute… and then spills the boiling water all over himself.

Back in the present day, they’re drinking hot milk (milk tea?) and then sucking on ice cubes.

Sunao and Potemayo pray at his mother’s minishrine. He tells her that it’s his mother’s birthday.

At school, Sunao is reading some passage while Mikan beams at him and Potemayo sleeps on his desk.

After class, they’re getting ready to leave, but Mudo tells Sunao that it’s his turn to help clean up. Kaoru wants to help Mudo, but gets blown off.

The girls head off, with Mikan being teased by the others over Sunao as usual. Outside the gate, they find Sunao’s dad waiting for him. He’s holding a weird doll thing. I missed exactly what he said about it, but something about it being cursed, freaking Mikan out. As Sunao walks out, she manages to give it back to Sunao’s dad.

He scowls upon seeing his dad and walks away. His dad falls in step and tries to talk to him, but Sunao is especially pissed today, and shoves him away, sending the doll thing flying into the air. Sunao looks sorry for a second, but then scowls and walks away.

Mikan yells at him to wait and he turns and starts bitching him out for being an ass to his dad. Everybody is shocked that she’d say such a thing to him. She realizes it too and runs off in tears. The girls chase after her and Yasumi slaps (yes, slaps), Sunao. Mikan runs back briefly to wail on Yasumi for that before running off again.

Sunao and his dad are walking home together as the sun sets. Sunao apologizes, and his dad lays a hand on his shoulder.

At home, dad is writing on his laptop. Sunao looks in and hauls him out for more of the hot milk/tea fun. As they drink, his dad says that Mikan is a good girl and that Sunao must be someone important to him. Potemayo starts flipping out and attaches herself to his face.

They all pray in front of his mother’s shrine again. Potemayo finishes praying early and looks over to Sunao, but since he’s not finished, she yips and goes back to praying. Sunao’s dad praises her for her feelings.

In Mikan’s bath, she’s thinking about how she has to face Sunao tomorrow. She can’t understand how Sunao can hate his father. In her delerium, she doesn’t notice Yasumi stacking things on her head. Dude’s in there with her naked.

He then gets frustrated and gnoshes on some candy in general Sunao-based rage.

Sunao’s dad is sleeping with Potemayo and Sunao tonight. He starts his usual teasing and Sunao clocks him. Sunao then remembers Mikan bitching him out and apologizes again as his dad is leaking blood all over the carpet.