Eromanga Sensei

Episode 10

Given just how much Eromanga Sensei's popularity relies on the marketable appeal of its title character, its decision to largely ditch Sagiri for two episodes now is a bold one. The impression right from the start was that fans of the series would mostly be watching for ‘the world's cutest little sister’, so her absence for this island retreat story arc is notable. She hasn't even been dramatically removed either, like having her run away from home or otherwise move away somehow, she just didn't come along on the trip but still calls Masamune sometimes.

So it falls to the other girls to pick up the stimulating slack, and this round in particular gives the go to Muramasa. The love-struck writing superstar and apparent biggest fan of Masamune gets her own credits sequence and special title like Elf did last week, but this episode lacks the punchy twists that coasted that one upwards, instead barely getting by on the strength of character interactions.

Unlike self-assured slacker Elf, Muramasa actually likes writing and motivates others simply through her love of the craft (especially Masamune's). This means that after falling by the wayside for a couple episodes, the novel-writing element of the show makes a robust return this week. Seeing Masamune engage in writing for fun to discuss the enjoyable elements of making substance-free fluff makes for an entertaining dive into how the characters in this odd little profession compose themselves. Actually getting to observe Muramasa's love of reading interesting stories shores up her characterization more as well. Her gratifying devotion to Masamune may still be utterly perfunctory, but at least we kind of understand it now.

Indeed, the strongest part of the episode is the round-table work session with the characters writing, chatting, and just hanging out like normal people who get along. It's also the funniest the show has been in a long time, with the discussion of Muramasa's crush on Masamune devolving into an appropriately outrageous outburst, punctuated with hilarious highlights (finding out about Muramasa's private Masamune mumblings being one delightfully weird bit). The writers' round-table scene is another distinct flash of brilliance in a series that's otherwise content to be as stock as possible.

That reliance on predictable trope-fueled romcom devices rears its ugly head immediately afterwards, as the characters play a few rounds of the King's Game. They don't even try to raise the excuse of doing it for book research, and this session plays out just about how you'd expect (including a tired gay panic gag from the still-likable but underused Shidou). There's embarrassment and misunderstanding and Sagiri pops in for her one guest appearance. But as funny as the show seems to think all this played-out anime humor is, it never rises above the level of mildly amusing because there's nothing here that hasn't been done before. Honestly, the most interesting part of this game session is an oblique reference to Azumanga Daioh.

It's vexing to me that a series steeped in meta-references and seeming self-awareness like Eromanga Sensei would continuously choose to play these elements straight and expect them to be entertaining, especially given how familiar its target audience is with all of them already. The show proves with the earlier author-sitcom segment that it can use its material in new and engaging ways, so why it keeps choosing to eschew that in favor of lazier choices is a mystery. It almost feels like game theory by the author: “How generically can I present this setup and still keep the audience keep watching?” It's always frustrating to see a series that could be better choose not to be.

This formulaic song-and-dance wraps up with Masamune and Muramasa having a serious conversation on the nature of their profession and the reasons they pursue it, after Muramasa proclaims that she will stop writing novels altogether. It's a good thing that Masamune himself pushes her to get back into the game, since her devotion to his stories and lack of self-esteem is what led her to give up creating in the first place. Masamune accepting that outcome would have made an unfortunately-presented choice come across even worse. Fortunately, the rejuvenation of her motivation is presented with a universal moral behind it: You don't need to have just one dream driving you to accomplish things, and you can always strive for new reasons to create. The relationship between writers and their readers that Muramasa embodies is invoked again as well, and if her status as Masamune's ‘biggest fan’ is only a little creepy in its pandering appeal, it's at least put to good use in this scene.

Masamune and Muramasa's heart-to-heart concludes in a satisfying way, though lacking in the narrative thrust that Masamune's interactions with Elf added last episode (which annoyingly aren't touched on much this week). Muramasa reiterating her declaration to win Masamune's heart is a decently strong characterization point to end on, but it doesn't seem to create any actual tension or suspense in the romance angle the way the ending of the previous episode did. If this series is gearing up for a four-way competition for Masamune's heart, then it's missed the mark on making any choice but his beloved Sagiri believable. Despite her impassioned declaration, Masamune reacts so little to Muramasa's feelings that she might as well be talking to the air (or the viewer).

Eromanga Sensei can work as a low-key series when it wants to, but this episode only proves that it slips up when it tries to change gears too quickly, missing the mark by trying to make the characters anything more complex about than marketable symbols of sex appeal. As always, if the show had tried just a little harder, it could have had something with this plotline, but it was content to coast along to an utterly average result instead. It is a pity this won't be followed up with ‘Shidou-Sensei’ next episode.

Rating: C

Eromanga Sensei is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.