Cute High Earth Defense Club LOVE!

Episode 6

Cute High Earth Defense Club LOVE! doesn't elicit as many laughs as usual this week—and yet the lack of jokes is hardly noticeable. Although there's still a monster of the day plot going on in the background, it's so secondary that it hardly matters overall. Finally, the show is mixing up the formula.

The Conquest Club is more of a real threat in this episode, although their menace is portrayed lightly, which suits the series. (For example, they finally introduce themselves to the Battle Lovers, pixelated faces and all, and simply walk away after their introductions instead of following through on their threats.) The Press Society also makes a suspicious appearance at the end so we don't forget that they may prove to be a bigger problem in the future.

More importantly, Io and Ryuu are fleshed out in episode 6. Ryuu manages to go almost an entire episode without mentioning his many dates, and while Io is as financially obsessed as ever, his friendship with Ryuu takes center stage. The overall plot of the episode echoes similar plotlines in magical girl series, with both "the club will be disbanded if we don't do well on our exams" and "one of the magical girls/boys might leave the team" aspects. Ideally, the show could have played it all for laughs, befitting the tone of earlier episodes. Nevertheless, it's just the kind of shakeup the series needs at the halfway point.

While the humor isn't as pervasive in this episode, there are plenty of chuckle-worthy moments, including the much-awaited observation that monsters only appear near the Battle Lovers. (Next week's episode appears to take the boys outside their two primary locales. I wonder if that means a single female might appear on the show. Oddly enough, the show works fine without one.) Yumoto's brother also manages to raise a few eyebrows. If the latest installment had maintained the same level of humor while it changed up the formula, it might have been the best episode yet.

Cute High Earth Defense Club LOVE! episode 6 may make you forget that this is supposed to be a comedy show. While nowhere near as emotionally wrenching as a more artistic or dramatic anime, it's about equal to the stakes in any given magical girl show. The series has always successfully walked the line between parody and a straight-up legitimate entry in the magical girl genre, and this episode leans a little more to the homage side of the show. If you've been watching for more than just the laughs, you should walk away satisfied. The show can only get better from here, especially considering the continued tension between Conquest Club leader Kinshiro and Atsushi and the sinister way the Press Society is skulking about. Let's just hope the producers don't forget that many people tune in for the humor.

Rating: A-

Cute High Earth Defense Club LOVE! is currently streaming on Crunchyroll and Funimation.

Amy is a YA fantasy author who has loved anime for two decades.