Enen no Shouboutai episode 12

And we’re back from the two week hiatus! Though it honestly didn’t feel that long to me. But anyways, here we are again where we left off from the last episode with the 8th trying to get the 7th’s cooperation with their investigation. This episode was… alright. There were things that were nice and then things that annoyed me. But I feel like that’s how this series has always been for me so I digress.

I appreciated how the 8th basically jumped at the chance to help the 7th rebuild the town. It was a nice bonding moment between everyone in the 8th and 7th and I do just like seeing different teams get along and work together. Kind of like what happened with the 5th early on. And yes, I am still a fan of Hibana and Obi doing a fist bump of friendship. So if we can get something like that with Benimaru, that’d be pretty great. Though it seems like it may be a hot moment before that happens considering what went down this episode.

We also get to learn a little more about Benimaru and Konro and their relationship. The two seem to be pretty close and Konro is probably the only person that Benimaru can open up to, to an extent at least. We also learn that Benimaru basically didn’t even want to become captain of the 7th and feels like Konro would have been better suited for the job than him. And judging from what happens in this episode, Konro definitely does have more understanding head on his shoulders. Even being the one to suggest Benimaru work with the 8th since he comes to understand that they’re all good people and was the only one who knew something was wrong after hearing that the 8th turned Kentaro into an infernal. However, he does seem more suited as an advisor than anything as Benimaru seems to be the one to boost his people’s morale. The two of them seem to be able to run a pretty good team together.

I do worry for Konro’s health as the dude looks so sickly and his body just seems like it’s breaking apart. So far, we’ve seen characters use their pyrokinesis with little to no difficulty. However, from the battle with Rekka, we did learn that the overuse of pyrokinesis will result in using up too much oxygen in the body and also hinting that they could actually burn up their bodies from overuse as well, which we see in Konro. It’s like he’s slowly burning away and I do hope that he doesn’t die… but I’m scared for him.

And then we have Benimaru. He seems like the person to take the person’s actions over their words so it was nice to see him come around to the 8th because of it. Even saying “I don’t dislike them” is probably one of the biggest compliments you can get out of this guy. His small smile on his face when he said that was also pretty heartwarming. He seems like such a big family man, it’s actually really sweet. Considering how everyone in his sanction are super friendly with him further proves my point. And while I did say that Benimaru takes action over words, I can understand how his emotions got the better of him after supposedly hearing that Obi and Hinawa turned Kentaro into an infernal. He just cares about the people in his area that much.

Now, I honestly was kind of hoping they wouldn’t have to throw hands with Benimaru… but the nice bonding moments just couldn’t last, now could they? Looks like this series just wants the 8th to have a beat down between them and the other captains. When they showed all the forces captains, they might as well have put up a sign that said: “Look at all the people you’re going to have to fight in the future.” Because that’s honestly what it feels like. And I really don’t like how they’re fighting because of a misunderstanding, or in this case sabotage. Still kind of the same thing but eh. Speaking of which, that whole sequence was hard to follow. Were the cult members taking their form or were they just doing a voice over of them? It wasn’t clear and I had to watch the scene over a few times but I still didn’t get it.

Speaking of hard to follow, holy sheesh, the fighting scenes were directed pretty poorly this episode. Though I really shouldn’t be surprised since all of the fight scenes have been weirdly paced and directed. There were some really evident continuity problems in action throughout the fight and it was honestly kind of frustrating to watch. In action scenes, you have to transition from one shot to another in a way that makes sense where the viewer can follow the line of action. However, a lot of the time, it feels like they are skipping shots in between two different action shots, which makes the whole scene feel like you blinked and missed something. Not to mention there were certain parts that did not portray the action very well. And while it may be unfair of me to use it as an example, but the action scenes in Mob Psycho 100 season 2, specifically episode 11 had SO MUCH action going on, however, it was done in a way where you could always follow the flow of action and nothing felt jarring or made me feel like I missed something in between two different shots. There were also just strange pauses in between action that gave me this weird stop and go feeling. Something you shouldn’t really feel in a continuous fight scene.

And I may be nitpicking, but there were times where weight just wasn’t depicted very well and it irritated me. Like when Arthur and Hinawa got hit by Benimaru’s attack. They hit the ground and then stuck instead of bouncing off the ground before stilling. Which was also a problem with the shot composition. There was no need for the shot to be pulled out so far and the scene could have benefitted more if they showed a close up of Hinawa and Arthur hitting the ground. It also bothered me when Benimaru was firing off shots at Obi’s shield and there was no sense of impact against it. Those are some powerful attacks, Obi should be at least reeling back a little each time from being hit by the impact of the attacks. End of my obligatory animation rant.

ANYWAYS, I did appreciate Obi a lot in this fight. Despite the guy not having any pyrokinesis, he went against Benimaru like a CHAMP. The guy was at a power disadvantage but continued to hold his own against the most powerful pyrokinetic, even getting a headbutt in. It was cool to see him utilize so many items and tactics in the fight. So much that I was rooting for Obi to beat him. But I can understand why he couldn’t. It was also heartwarming to hear how much Obi cares for his team and will step in when the going gets rough. I suppose it makes up for his lack of appearance in the fight against the 5th and boy did he show us what he was made of. He certainly is a tenacious one in a fight. Kudos to you, Obi.

This episode was a mixed back for me. On one hand, I liked the bonding moments between the 7th and 8th and how Obi continues to be a father to his men. Though animation and pacing problems continue to be a nuisance, but that’s nothing new. A bit more of intrigue was put into this episode with the reappearance of the demon infernal that showed up in the flashback with Benimaru and Konro, similar to the one that appeared in Shinra’s past. It’ll also be interesting to see just what went down between Benimaru and Konro in the past.

Also I’m assuming it was Sho who was talking but as soon as I heard his voice, my immediate response was: Oh of course he’s voiced by Yoshitsugu Matsuoka. He definitely looks like a character who’d be voiced by him. I swear I’ve been hearing his voice everywhere these days. But if it turns out he voices a completely different character… whoops.