Tsugumomo – 02-03

No pantsu in the library please!

Tsugumomo continues to weave it’s larger background story into its character introductions and interactions; a fun, peppy class on Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How, only not that dry…

The Library and the Childhood Friend

Just in case you need a refresher…

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Episode two did a great job mixing up it’s action with it’s character moments. While the primary actors were both Kazuya and Kiriha, the one at the center of it all ended up being Chisato. That’s the nature of the supernatural world when malison is in the air. But I’m getting ahead of the plot a bit. We start off with what I can only call “early Tsugumomo“, and that’s the business of Kiriha selfishly ingratiating herself on Kazuya’s beat, while all the while everyone is ignorant about all the kooky spoopy stuff. So while her obi slashes are great for offense and defense,  she’s the type to beat on an alarm clock if it inconveniences her sleep, even if it makes her “master” become tardy to school; not her concern, folks. Now, there’s a method to the madness, this isn’t just random foolery, but again, I’d be getting ahead of the actual plot. So let’s get back to Chisato.

Why do fools fall in love…

She’s has a dual-tiered problem with Kazuya. First, she’s got a huge middle-school crush on the boy, and second, he’s about as dense as a stack of lead lined pancakes. Also, not only can’t he not get her signals, he’s also falling behind on his studies. Now it looks like he’s over depended on her in the past, and that’s something Chisato might be coming into awareness of, but she’s at loggerheads as to how to move forward. So as we learn about amasogi and malison, we see she’s just the perfect candidate for the latest batch of supernatural badness to fall upon and take advantage of. But this time, the cursed item fell on a place and a time , not some natty old hairpiece like before. That trapped the two while on an impromptu lunchtime study – the closk showing the trapped second. Fortunately Kiriha tagged along (getting herself out of the box her master tricked her into) to Kazuya’s school and was able to help them out in time.

Yep, she really likes studying…

The episode was pretty darn straightforward, it got out the exposition and Chisato’s characterization with alacrity, while underscoring what we know about our two leads in the process – and taking them a step or two forward. They held back a bit in not dropping the other shoe where the malison was concerned, and of course we got a brief visit from the mysterious but watchful miko-san. But that simply brings us to…

Kukuri-hime

You fool, Noh Mask!

In “early Tsugumomo” this is the part that I was most interested and intrigued about, that being the local gods and the power they have over the area. It’s just such a lovely and broad bit of esoterica. It’s the exchange between the divine and the mundane, it’s how the normal sublimes into the paranormal and vice-versa. It’s also a big old raspberry to the idea of gods, in it’s own way.  But most it’s about the reveal that I’m getting ahead on…that seems to be my trend in covering this show. It’s still on Vol. 1, I’m caught up on Vol. 15. Heck, the reveal I’m talking about should happen next episode, so I’ll contain myself.

It’s all in grabbing the thumb

Anyway, Kiriha had her work cut out for her, not only having to take on one fairly strong opponent, but her boss as well. And when the boss is packing as much power as that, what’s a simple dishrag going to do?! Oh, don’t call Kiriha a dishrag, that just pisses her off, something that Kokuyou, the miko-san of the bottomless stomach abuses to her advantage. But that’s par for the course with Kiriha sometimes. As we saw at one point in the show, she’s connected to the dreams and flashbacks that Kazuya has been having, and that included the local god as well. So all of them are connected. That’s a plot point they had during the first episode, so it’s good to see them connect the dot so early. That leaves them free to speculate a bit more, and bring the next point into fire. Kazuya is the source of malison, which is why the amasogi gather around him in particular. So both fights are to protect Kazuya, but from what when you get right down to it? The old grudge between the two is the icing on the cake.

Yay! Hammer Weave!

Again, another straightforward episode that show’s you how they spent the money. One of the things I’ve enjoyed from Hamada-sensei from the get go was his adherence to basic story structure. He doles out a bit at a time, and keeps the revelations and details at a steady pace. The anime matches this, even if it leaves out some pieces here and there; commenters fill the gaps! I thought that Zer0-G did a good job on the fight animation for both episodes. They kept it tight and focused for the rooftop “wrestling” match, the book golem scene, and the first part of the fight between Kiriha and Kukuri. But there is more to come on that score…

Tsugumormore

Eat all you want!

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Whew, covering two weeks worth of a few shows! I wanted to keep it shorter this time around. Tsugumomo doesn’t duck around corners or have some very soft subtleties going on, nor does it have a controversy to carefully word myself around. What you see is what you get. Some good clean, dirty fun! Well, not exactly, but I’m on the right track for the most part. With that in mind, there’s nothing like water to clean things up, both in mind and in body, so let’s see what happens…

..when they pull themselves out of the…fire…water…you get the point…

About skylion

All around nerd that enjoys just about any anime genre. I love history, politics, public policy, the sciences, literature, arts...pretty much anything can make me geeky...except sports. Follow me @theskylion