In a restaurant established in metropolitan Tokyo, a little girl working as a waitress is directed to a table to take the occupants’ orders. At the table sit two grizzled policemen, one practically wearing a sign that says “Hey, I’m a detective that’s surprisingly useless!” The girl approaches the table with a slight sense of trepidation, and sputters her words gracelessly as she asks the detective what he would like to order. Glaring at her with a scowl that could unnerve even the most steeled of criminals, he furrows his brow and replies “A brew” in as grave a tone as possible.
Have trouble taking it seriously? That’s the most suspenseful scene Kamisama Dolls has, so you know what you’re in for- A bunch of blahness and sexual harassment, meaning that fun times are had by all, except the viewer and Utao.
There seems to be a major problem with focus that many series have this summer, and Kamisama Dolls just upstaged them all, even the hilariously nonsensical/boring Sacred Seven. As a whole, I counted around four different subplots, none of which are given much attention, seemingly in a desperate bid to point out that they haven’t been dropped out of nowhere. Of course they likely won’t be built on past this episode, which makes it all the more pointless.
First, you have the detective harassing Utao about her possible involvement with the kakashi, nevermind the fact that he has no evidence that she’s even involved. So you think he’s going to be the main antagonist, scrutinizing and antagonizing the heroes (And Aki) in a vain attempt at understanding the reason that the kakashi are wreaking havoc in Tokyo. But no, before that can gain any leverage we’re quickly yanked away from possible development and placed firmly back with Utao, who’s visited by Moyako and invited over for dinner.
So Moyako explains that she was brought in to check on Kukuri, make sure it was working, and the Hyuuga Boys are Back in Town to recapture Aki. Utao also acts bizarrely happy when she learns that Hibino isn’t after Kyouhei, saying that there’s no competition. It just seems really weird, serving no other purpose than to imply some sort of possessiveness over her older brother.
While we’re still reeling from this, we’re jolted to kooky Kuuko, only done to seemingly acknowledge her existence before dropping her off again. She jumps on Aki, acts crazy and paranoid, and generally behaves in a very psychotic fashion while interrogating him as to his village and past. Her father, the detective from earlier, then stops by to check on her in a completely unnecessary exchange. But it’s not over yet, we still have to cover those Hyuuga boys and their wacky hijinks.
Kirio and Black Keanu (I’m still attached to that nickname) are back again, and better than ever… if by better, you mean completely ineffectual. They meet up with Kyouhei and Utao at high noon, before Kyouhei is sexually assaulted by a mysterious black haired Hyuuga from the village that’s only just now being brought into the series. I’d say it’s quite the cliffhanger, but I don’t think anybody really cares at this point what new twists this show tries to bring us.
I can’t honestly say that I dislike Kamisama Dolls so far. Despite being dull for the second half and lacking much of a purpose, there’s still that underlying sense of mystery. While it’s almost all dried up at this point because of ill-placed exposition and that hilariously over the top serious episode that explains away Aki’s sociopathic tendencies, there’s still a little bit there to draw from.
The problem with this episode is it tries to bring so many plot threads together, explaining many things, while satisfying no party with the effort. The detective plot in particular seems kind of dull, not having any sense of belonging with the rest of the affair. Though calling the entire episode weak and flimsy from start to finish would adequately sum up my point. None of the characters really have much of a definite purpose aside from Aki, who’s criminally underutilized as a whole, but especially so in this episode where he has hardly any spoken lines of dialogue.
I don’t see how things can get better with what’s been presented, and adding in that last character who has the hots for Kyouhei out of nowhere was the tipping point.
Tl;dr: Why is shit so boring this episode? And why so much sexual harassment of the two male leads?
The new character looks so boring. I’m 100% sure she is going to try to put Utao and Hibino out of the way to have her love-time with our protagonist… :|
If she were introduced earlier and had time to be fleshed out some, I’d just think it was one more character addition than was needed. Now I think that if they bother to explain things, it’ll be a detriment to the show as a whole. Crunch time is fast approaching, after all.
I thought that the sexual harassment was the least boring part of the episode… not that it wasn’t boring too. Aside from Utao’s hitting on her brother, that’s just messed up.
It wasn’t bad epsiode. Maiharu role in the whole story is actually of some importance…well that is if they stick to the source material. Highly doubt it though.
I’m not saying that it’s not important, it just seems a bit late to introduce a pivotal character.
I agree he does a look like a pretty interesting character though he does look so boring :P
Click on the link below to watch Kamisama Dolls Episode 9:
http://noodpinoy.co.uk/kamisama-dolls-episode-9.html