Continuing on the field trip arc, the group engages in some zen concentration before hitting the hot baths. Silk is totally jealous of Vivian, and asks if rubbing your bust increases its size. Turns out Silk’s getting tired of being known as “Ultimate Girl Little Boobs”, but Vivian tells her of some of the hardships of being stacked. Silk finally gathers up her courage and is about to ask to spend some time with Makoto, but he tells her that he’ll be heading back to Tokyo (as it’s Sunday) tomorrow to catch the scoop. Vivian tries to cheer up Silk by having them break curfew and romp around the town, engaging in some “Kyoto clothing get!” and some “Kyoto food get!” while the night is young. Everyone’s having a good time, and even the reporters are completely plastered when suddenly a Buddhist Daibutsu statue monster appears. It’s a bit early, and so none of the reporters are ready, but Tsubomi leaps into action. At first she gets whapped on the head by the monster’s flat stick, but she tricks him by going into zazen position and sitting quietly. When the monster is appeased, she suddenly grabs him in a triangle choke hold she dubs “Somosan Seppa” (words monks shout during their Zen mondo dialogue). The monster wraps monk beads around her tightly, and it’s a standstill until the monster suddenly uses kawarimi no jutsu to escape and burrows into the ground. This conveniently means that Makoto will have to stay in Kyoto an extra day and both Silk and Vivian are happy.
This was actually a pretty entertaining episode, especially when UFO Man got that action figure of himself. The reporters were pretty funny as well when they were stumbling around drunk trying to report on the monster without any cameras. I find it funny that all of Tsubomi’s battle strategies revolve around playing dead/possum before leaping into a close range grappling attack. But hey, she’s good at shogi so I guess she knows what she’s doing.
As a side note, between Samurai Champloo and various episodes like this one, I’ve been learning a lot about Buddhism this season…
