Recap: Just as Hazama starts to upgrade his fighting skills he gets in over his head, basically resulting in the act 2 plot of Kickass.

Well this episode was pretty great. When I thought of how the idol could get integrated into the main story “sadistic sidekick” was not on the top of my guesses. Watching a pink hummer driven by a crazed magical girl cosplayer was definitely one of the best things I’ve watched all week. This is riding the line between realism and insanity the way Kickass did and I love it. The pun of a mace that holds mace is probably lost on the Japanese viewership but I got a pretty good kick out of that as well.

Initially I didn’t like how this episode devolved into violence once Mari stole the spotlight, but now I understand that this is really a teaching moment. This is basically Hazama’s “with great power comes great responsibility”. In the beginning of the episode, just because he has the power to take people out in a fistfight, it doesn’t mean he shouldn’t know when he’s outmanned. With Flamenco Girl we see how the misuse of force for a good cause can be wrong in its own way. Once it no longer serves the public good it’s simply bullying. I feel like the kind of malice Mari put into her attacks spoke of more than just a power trip. I wonder if there’s some deeper reason why she felt the need to dress up like Hazama did, especially since she clearly doesnt have the same sense of justice he has.

Mari randomly crushing on Goto was kinda out there at the end. Since the dude already has a girlfriend I wonder if they’re actually going to pursue the idea of someone going after a taken man, or if it’s just going to be a joke like the Master Student thing between Hazama and Joji. Either way this episode brought me back into the show. Once again, there is a worry that they won’t know what to do from here, but I’m starting to have more faith in the people behind this.