Masamune-kun's Revenge

Episode 9

After muddling along for several episodes as a tepid, often mean-spirited romantic comedy, last episode took a startlingly serious turn with an equally surprising degree of effectiveness. This episode suggests that the more serious focus may be a permanent story shift, and given how well the series has fared on the comedy front, that's probably for the best. Frankly, the few attempts at humor in this episode – such as Aki rolling around as she contemplates whether or not she can allow herself to be in love – feel out of place. That could be taken as a sign of the series swinging too far the other way, but in this case I think it's more a sign of how awkward the attempts at humor to this point have actually been.

The more serious focus allows for several important revelations. Last episode strongly suggested that Neko might actually be the classic “tragic sick girl” archetype, with the slight difference here being that she's played more seductive than cloyingly moe. This episode confirms that in a big way, even down to giving her an unspecified debilitating illness that might be cured by a risky surgery. (And one that she'd have to travel out of country for, to boot!) This creates a big appreciation hurdle for me, since this exact scenario is one of my biggest anime pet peeves. However, the episode saves itself from wallowing too much by quickly getting to the heart of Neko's intentions: she wasn't trying to be malicious at all, but she did want an opportunity at love before she put her life on the line. After seeing her scenes in the hospital through to the end, I doubt if any viewer buys her claim to Makabe that she just randomly chose him from a collection of potential suitors; her flashback to when they met at a young age shows that he made some kind of impression back then.

This has left Makabe very conflicted, and not in a humorous way. He seems to be having a harder time of staying focused on his goal, even coming close to spilling the beans about Pig's Foot to Aki. Meanwhile, the Class Rep girl reveals (to no one's surprise) that she “secretly” has a thing for Makabe herself. Aki, for her part, seems unfazed by Makabe's declaration of preference, though she does seem jealously irritated while not otherwise snapping at him anymore. Near the end, we get confirmation of something that's been vaguely suggested before; she was actually sweet on Makabe back when they were kids, and her lack of immediate reaction to Makabe mentioning Pig's Foot in her presence, combined with comments she's made about separation, all but prove that Makabe is either misremembering or someone else was passing as Aki to drive Makabe away back then.

Still, the mammoth twist is the reveal of the mysterious figure at the end who looks an awful lot like an older version of Makabe's chubby childhood self, who's trying to use this resemblance to appeal to Aki. It looks like someone beyond just Makabe and Yoshino is playing a nasty game here. Given what the series has been showing us lately, it's a great cliffhanger to end the episode on.

Rating: B

Masamune-kun's Revenge is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.