Invaders of the Rokujyōma!?

Episode 8

Invaders of the Rokujyōma!? has fallen into a comfortable pattern over the last few story arcs: take one of the contenders for the apartment, give her an enemy, and have Koutarou find a way to help her defeat said enemy. Repeat as necessary until each character has had a turn in the spotlight. It's worked reasonably well so far, and the writers don't seem too eager to fix what isn't broken. This episode kicks off a new storyline focused on YURiKA, the show's spacey yet charming magical girl. The villain of the week is her nemesis, an evil magical girl named Maki who carries out some predictably nefarious schemes.

This latest arc continues the series' balancing act between comedy and drama. Most of the cast continues to act under the assumption that YURiKA is a cosplayer instead of a real magical girl, and this running joke achieves new mileage with Maki's arrival. The best moment in the episode comes when YURiKA joyfully embraces Maki, convinced that having an enemy to fight will finally help her prove her credentials to the rest of the cast. The show's continued avoidance of typical harem antics is also commendable, and allows the natural humor in each character's personality to stand out.

On the dramatic side, things remain solid but unspectacular. Maki makes for a perfectly decent villain, but her plan of attack feels like it came straight out of the Evil Magical Girl Handbook. It's easy to predict that she'll take Harumi hostage and that YURiKA will jump into the line of fire to protect her friends. It's not that the show's emotional appeals aren't effective; putting YURiKA in a serious conflict does make her a more interesting character. I just wish that the villains in Invaders of the Rokujyōma!? could display the same creative twists on old character archetypes we see from the heroines.

To give credit where it's due, the fight between Maki and YURiKA shows some commendable attention to detail. Both girls use a variety of spells, which they put to use in clever ways. Genuine thought was put into scripting the battle, instead of just having the characters lob nondescript bolts of energy at one another. The result is a fight scene that wouldn't be out of place in a serious magical girl series. I've previously complained about the show's lack of ambition, so it's nice to see this sort of effort being put in. It's the little things that make a series like this stand out, even when it isn't doing anything that hasn't been done before.

After a shaky start, Invaders of the Rokujyōma!? has made itself into a solid piece of entertainment. It may not be the season's smartest, funniest, or prettiest show, but it's become a consistently enjoyable way to spend half an hour a week. Too many anime comedies run out of steam late in the season, but this one has managed to remain strong thus far.

Rating: B

Invaders of the Rokujyōma!? is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Paul Jensen also covers anime and manga at SharkPuppet.com.