This was a fairly focused episode: most of it revolved around Furuta Sasuke visiting Tokugawa Ieyasu. This, after the pineapple incident when Oda Nobunaga was still alive. Once again it takes a unique approach to what would have been a political meeting by focusing more on the food that gets served and silly dances.
That silly dance was by far the biggest wtf-part of the episode. Silly dances are of course one thing, but in a series where the character designs are so much more detailed than usual, This episode was really a bit of a political game, and I also liked how Sasuke had huge troubles not following Tokugawa Ieyasu’s example with the pineapple and get into a fit of rage.
And again, this show handles deaths very well. This time, by not spending a lot of time to it, and just focus on the funeral of Sasuke’s brother. And again, to think that Sasuke already has two children. That’s another reason why the past season rocked: normally you never see an old protagonist, and yet here suddenly come two series with main characters who already have significantly old kids. Now the summer season brings in Usagi Drop, and I really wish that this is going to be the start of another trend.
But then again, I really doubt that Hyouge Mono will become a trendsetter. I mean, it’s got the ideas and all, but I doubt that it’s going to have the influence…
Rating: ** (Excellent)