This was…a strange episode. I mean, it was enjoyable as always but I have a lot of concerns about the possible negative connotations of the message it’s trying to get across? Which I think is basically, to love yourself no matter your body type? However, the way it went about it was pretty wrong, and there is no possible way in hell that the character acting as the Monster of the week is actually as healthy as the end of the episode tries to pass him off to be.
If you are getting sick after every meal you have and are throwing up so much that you are deathly thin, there is no way you’re showing up as relatively healthy when doctors look you over. Either you have a severe mental eating disorder, or you have a severe digestive issue. This really isn’t something that can be laughed off or waved away by him lifting up a rock and saying he’s healthy, because he’s not. I think there are multiple ways they could of gone about getting the same general message across or having a better character to play against Massa. Who was fat as a child, but worked to become skinny through dieting. Maasa is healthy however! Maasa isn’t throwing up every meal.
This really kills the entire episode for me, which is a shame because otherwise it’s a pretty solid episode. Maasa is throwing a ‘sweets’ festival and giving out cookies for free to all of the students. Which seems pretty nice, until he monologues about how the cookies were made with a special butter to make people gain weight. He runs off with a monologue about this right in the middle of the student council office without really even noticing that the other two are there.
We also find that Maasa and Ichiro are cousins. Which officially makes this whole team more connected to the people opposing them then we’ve ever had before. With Wakura being previous friends with Unazuki, Kyōtarō and Ryoma being friends with Ata in the past, and Ichiro being related to Maasa. This battle becomes interestingly personal as we have these friends and relatives pitted against each other in an attempt to get their prince to be the prince of earth.
In particular since the only one that seems not to be carrying some kind of bitter grudge is Unazuki.
So the questionable monster of the week turns into a thing of chicken carcass ramen and, does nothing, like he gets off one attack before he’s calmed down and his attack is more just shooting broth that gets turned into a bubble and does nothing. Though the boys do say that it tastes very good. Also the ramen the boys were eating in the scene where the monster attacked looked good. Now I want chicken ramen. Kyōtarō talks the monster down by telling him that everyone is insecure about something, be it being too skinny, or being too fat and just to keep moving on as long as your healthy. What does it matter if you’re skinny or fat.
Which once again, isn’t a bad message. If they’d had someone who wasn’t clearly suffering from something more severe! Throwing back up everything you eat isn’t natural! It’s not healthy! It’s not good for you! He isn’t okay!
Well, that aside, the student council asks Maasa about having some of his cookies. Even though they’re aware about the secret of the weight gain butter. They don’t seem to think any less of him for his bitter personality and desire to ruin the people around him. At least they seem like good friends. At the end of the episode, Ichiro shows his grade school yearbook to the defense club and shows them that Maasa used to be rather large and also that his name isn’t Maasa. It’s Magozaemon, which honestly sounds more like the name of some villain in a super sentai show.
This whole losing weight and changing your name thing. I feel like i’ve heard this plot before, good thing there isn’t any girl he’s going after or Masamune-kun’s revenge would have to sue somebody.
A good episode despite it’s questionable morals. The final joke hidden in the premiere is that next week is going to be the rainy season and that we don’t have anything this year that could get moldy. I think they’re talking about the teacher. Remember when he used to mold? Good times. I almost miss remembering that the group was running around with the reanimated corpse of their teacher.