Sea Slugs! Anime Blog

Settling down from last time, we get a slice-of-life episode told in sporadic flashbacks intermixed with daily craziness. Rentarou starts off by singing in the public bath about his pathetic life that hasn’t changed, but in reality it really has. As we watch him roam around town, we see that everyone in town appreciates a likable harem lead. Because of Rentarou’s supah dad Ainosuke, everyone calls Rentarou “Nidaime” and offers him cases… too bad they’re all pro-bono. Rentarou is a sucker for charity, however, and we see the moment 2 years ago when Sara and Souju showed up on the agency doorstep and criticized the place for being ugly.

It seems the daily routine for the trio involves greeting everyone in town, doing a few chores, and then doing a little detective work. On this day, however, Sara and Souju have a bit of a fight when Souju takes over Sara’s phone-answering duties. As Souju simply doesn’t have Sara’s awesome interrogative skillz, she fails to get the client’s name. Sara wants Souju to stick to cooking, but Souju wants to help investigate. Fortunately, in the end they make up and make a hilarious schedule for chores (even though their chores only include answering the phone and making meals). Sara starts off the new era by making their meal, but it ends up being terrible. Poor Sara! They get a break, however, when Rentarou falls asleep and Sara and Souju both sneak a kiss at the same time.

We then get the second major flashback of the episode, as we see a 16-year old Rentarou sporting a yakuza-elvis hairdo. 5 years ago, a funky squid man thing that hated humans invaded the town. Young Rentarou can’t understand why his dad wants to stay and fight, and Ainosuke tells him that it’s because he “Likes this town”. He then tells Rentarou that a man can live a long life, but that his life is defined by those moments when “a man has to protect what he must protect”. In this line of thinking, Ainosuke busts out a hanglider, and Rentarou helps him pilot it into range. Once in range, Ainosuke whips out his Futaba Special One Hit Knock-Out Technique (glitter-smile + flying kick = t3n win). This moment totally inspires Rentarou, and the town is saved. When the flashback ends, we learn that the client from earlier has still not come over, and everyone is depressed. Rentarou saves the night, however, when he spots the UFO from earlier, and they all prance outside looking for it. Sadly, while they are outside looking for the UFO, the client calls back. Interestingly enough, we also get a shot of Lulu and Lala on top of the tall chimney agreeing that everything looks to be ok.

I really enjoyed this episode a lot, even if the action was dialed way down. Souju and Sara were uber-cute this time, and the many SD-scenes were humorous and heart-warming. Their fight over chores was awesome, and it made me like Sara even more (even though she sucks at cooking). The odd story about Jim and James, the two twins separated at birth who later met and turned out to be very similar, seemed to clash with Sara and Souju who are completely different on the inside, but there seemed to be an important message hidden within. The flashback with Ainosuke, however, was kinda interesting, especially the part about there being important moments when you just have to step up and fight for what you believe in. The more I watch Rentarou, the more I like him. It’s not like he’s some superman, but you know you can count on him to do the right thing when necessary. It was a bit sad when he told Sara and Souju that they should have fun or go out on dates, though T_T.