Chained Soldier Season 2

Episode 7

After a couple of fairly disappointing episodes in a row, Chained Soldier returns to form this week with an episode that has been proudly made by and for the freaks. When an episode begins with several ancillary characters popping out their breasts and doubling-down on their schemes to seduce the unwitting Yuuki just because the universe itself demands that literally every woman on Earth be uncontrollably horny for the guy, it's a sure sign that nature is healing. It's also something of a beach episode, which feels like an overt mea culpa on the show's part. It knows that the extended Azuma family drama was a bit too heavy on the nonsensical plot beats and lame action scenes. Now, after weeks of being forced to eat our vegetables, Chain Soldier has deigned to serve us something sweet.

That's exactly what Yuuki is in the mood for when Himari and Fubuki pull double-duty with the Reward and proceed to let their little pet with some light mama-birding and titty-smothering action. Given how overloaded this episode is with fanservice, it figures that the show would indulge in a brazen mother-daughter kink to ensure that this Reward stands out. Again, Fubuki and her…well, her whole deal isn't my flavor of freak, but I'm not so petty as to deny the MILF-heads out there a victory lap.

I'm more down to catch up with Shushu and her eternally thwarted attempts to break a piece off of Yuuki for herself, if only because her sketchy vibes are never all that threatening; the show has made it pretty clear that, if literal push came to literal shove, Yuuki would probably be into Shushu's, er, “persistent” approach to courtship. That's basically Chained Soldier's brand identity, you know? Besides, I can't help but admire a character who is essentially the result of someone engineering a horny tokusatsu fan's middle-school drawings of “What if Ultraman, But Boobs?”

The best part of the episode, though, has almost nothing to do with Yuuki's power to magically compel his doms to reward him with various acts of debauchery. Rather, it's the episode's surprisingly sweet emotional core that stood out the most. I was honestly thinking about how little action Kyouka has seen this season - in every sense of the word, naturally. Of course, Chained Soldier does the funniest thing possible by making a crucial plot point out of how Yuuki is just the sluttiest little Sex Pokémon who has ever lived, as oblivious as he can be. This has resulted in a noticeable power boost, which is all well and good, but of course Kyouka takes it personally when Yuuki is apparently too stupid to realize that she doesn't actually want her special Slave to be loaned out to any gal in need of a power boost. Yuuki is, at this point, getting passed around to one girl after another like that one spare Nidoking who gets used as a stock trading stud so other trainers can evolve their Haunters and their Kadabras. The mistress has grown jealous.

Thankfully, it only takes Yuuki a grand total of thirty seconds to realize his screwup, and the subsequent show of devotion compels Kyouka to plant a real kiss on his lips after a bout of requisite neck licking. The show plays it off like a classic shojo manga smooch, too, which is hilarious, and quite fitting. Chained Soldier has long since proven that it can pull off the classical, trashy smut that we've come to expect from it. The anime, like Yuuki, has evolved into something just ever so slightly more refined: Now, we get to revel in emotional smut, too.

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Chained Soldier Season 2 is currently streaming on HIDIVE.

James is a writer with many thoughts and feelings about anime and other pop-culture, which can also be found on BlueSky, his blog, and his podcast.