We get the point, Akihito.

Two episodes into this show, and while it’s still about a fetish for meganekkos, the show’s also gotten quite a bit darker (both in atmosphere and tint). Whoever edited the Wikipedia article describing this show as a “dark fantasy” is obviously a psychic. Or they just read the source material, that’s a likely possibility as well.

PLOT

Out, damned spot! Out, I say!

This episode contained enough foreshadowing to drown a small litter of kittens. We start out with Aki-chan standing in a field with a (presumably) dead body at his feet, doing his best silent Lady Macbeth impression. Hiromi, Chitanda/Mio/Mitsuki’s brother, finally makes an appearance, although he doesn’t do anything other than prattle on mysteriously about…things (HorribleSubs really is quite horrible, I feel like I missed most of the subtext in that scene). Oh, and he talks about his feelings.

Lots and lots of feelings ❤

Also a large grimdark super-not-kawaii spirit-thing is fast approaching from wherever such beings dwell. Impressively, this spirit has defeated five (5) spirit hunters with nary a sweat. This show’s Big Bad, or just another minor hurdle for our heroine to conquer? Either way, I’m sure this won’t pose much of a problem considering she’s KILLED A PERSON BEFORE OH MY GOD.

That’s some fine swordsmanship there, young miss.

In any case, episode 2 was another one of those “introduce characters and set up for future events” episodes, so I expect we’ll soon be seeing quite a bit of action/demon/spirit-fighting. I mean, after the reveal at the end of this episode, I really can’t see it happening any other way.

THOUGHTS AND FEELS

HNNNNNNGGG

One thing that struck me while watching this episode was the juxtaposition of your stereotypical cutesy moe Kyoani shenanigans with darkly lit action scenes and gory flashbacks. As an example. there’s quite a bit of this:

Threatening a loli-spirit is part of an aspiring spirit-hunter’s daily responsibility.

And also quite a bit of this:

FATALITY!

I found myself reminiscing quite a bit about Full Metal Panic!: The Second Raid while watching this show (holy shit that was 8 years ago I am getting old). TSR was one of the first shows that Kyoani produced, and was based on a light novel series that is quite often much darker than Western audiences give it credit for. In TSR, you get a lot of the gag humor and moe heroines, but you also get lot of characters getting killed and dying in various gruesome ways. Oh, and there was torture, and references to pedophilia, and all sorts of other fantastic things.

Terribly sorry about that, Mio.

After producing TSR Kyoani went on to adapt The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, and we all know how that went. After the moe explosion caused in no small part by Mikuru-chan’s star-shaped mole on her boob, Kyoani would produce primarily super cutesy shows, with few exceptions. Maybe all the death and suffering in TSR really tired them out, and they needed to recharge.

To be entirely honest, I was just a teeny tiny bit apprehensive about the future of this show after watching episode 1 last week. Where was the grimdark fantasy? Are all the female characters just based on tropes? Why is there so little action if the cast featured spirit hunters? After this episode, these doubts can be put to rest. Or at the very least, shelved for the time being.