Shining Happy Yurei Smiling.
All those buddies. Ghosts, laser-beams, Santa, kendo, popsicle–all on this week’s “When Dogs Attack.” In the end, everyone gets their happy ending. Except for Mio and Yukko who get completely mauled by vicious runaway canines.
My Ordinary Planet.
Once again, Mohawk (Tsuyoshi Nakanojou) visits a medium to deal with his supernatural issues. The first time we saw Mohawk do this was in episode five and if you remember, things didn’t go very well for the misunderstood youth. He’s at it again this week.
Well, things turn out much the same for him in episode 22. We see Tsuyoshi over the entire episode, first trying to disprove the supernatural in the name of glorious science, and later, while working at his father’s oft-shown Daifuku booth. There are some heavy randomized moments in both scenes including getting his daifuku mask rigged by his father. Do we have a bad-father tag yet?
Daifuhawk.
Besides a Short Thoughts with Sakamoto, there’s a petcentric Like Love and a Helvetica Standard featuring Santa and Melon Bread. Santa is also featured (in thought at least), in a short and sweet segment with Professor and Nano. We again see Fe and Weboshi, this time in a two-minute clip in which their desserts desert them.
Hakase and Sakamoto caught in the blast radius.
The final scene follows Professor and Sakamoto, as they go for a leisurely stroll in their neighborhood. Things take a turn for the worse however, when the pair run into two demon-born slobbering hell-hounds. The rabid dogs with their vicious looks and ear thundering growls… ok, they’re just Mai’s silly looking pooches, but randomly dangerous nonetheless. The moral of the story, obviously, is that everything is better with chocolate. So true.
This was really one of the more gag oriented episodes in quite a bit, something the series has relied on throughout its run, and heavily in the first half. While I wouldn’t necessarily put the ‘random’ label on all the bits, there was definitely a silly slapstick vibe throughout. From animal bites to slips and falls, all this show lacked was a pie in the face. Maybe daifuku counts, I don’t know.
I love Professor. The scene with the dogs was easily my favorite in a some time. Her (and Sakamoto’s) total range of emotions, from absolute fear of getting bitten, to complete joy at the thought of Yukko rescuing her, was great fun to watch. You just know Yukko’s gonna’ get bit, but it doesn’t detract from the epic level of the reaction. Same for Mai’s little ankle biter.
Astronomical stratum of reaction.
Melon Bread was voiced by Shibata Hidekatsu, none other than the Führer King Bradley. (Among others of course.)
Enjoyed this episode overall. I was prepared to post some negativity while watching so much Mohawk, who I don’t really care for, but I enjoyed pretty much everything else. I thought Fe-chan’s can-do attitude was inspiring, for a moment at least. My favorite character in a supporting role is easily Yoshino, Mio’s older sister. She’s like comedy sunshine every time she’s on the screen. She’s Nichijounian. Slated for 26 episodes, it’s really hard to believe this show could ever come to an end.
First caption written to the tune of R.E.M’s Shiny Happy People.