Love Tyrant

Episode 6

Summer is nearly upon us, so of course a parody as broad as Love Tyrant wouldn't be able to resist spoofing some of the season's anime staples. The decision to opt for a beach episode/test of courage twofer isn't surprising, but its attempts to work in some plot and character work amongst all the riffing are welcome, and Love Tyrant mostly succeeds at its ambitions this week.

The first portion of the episode concerns the gang's trip to the beach, with Seiji's sister Akua in tow. Just the very opening of the episode, where Akua's unfortunate brother-complex compels her to agree to the trip immediately, is a well-timed bit of comedy that puts Love Tyrant on its A-game for this one. The trip to follow is marked by everything from a quick Pokémon GO reference to over-the-top volleyball slapstick to that dang demon penguin reappearing. Even Guri, the typical centers of shenanigans, seems to be working overtime to keep up with the jokes everyone else is bringing.

That's probably the most impressive part of this beach segment, as unlike previous episodes where Akane lacked things to do or Akua came across as being sidelined, everyone feels like they have something to do. The showdown with Stolas the evil penguin provides the catalyst for this, as Akane's shonen-tastic battle with him suits her personality effectively, and seeing the other girls' reactions lets them all get in a moment at least. Seeing Akane and Guri tag-team to finish him off is also immensely satisfying for the normally adversarial characters. Likewise, this action causing Akua to warm up to Akane is a welcome development. (There's also a momentary hint that Akua's newfound admiration for Akane goes even deeper than that, and if the show wants to complicate the romantic dynamics in that direction, I think there's a lot of entertainment to be mined from such a development.)

Meanwhile, Seiji ends up paired off with Shikimi again, but thankfully this exchange turns out far better than the last time the two were isolated to a scene. Shikimi's interactions actually come across as amusing this time (funny contrast of sexual innuendos with her violent tendencies, rather than the straight discomfort it played as previously), and using this interaction to drop more hints about the family's home life makes both Shikimi's antagonism and the developing background plot land effectively. Seiji himself seals the deal with his selfless refusal to hear any more dark secrets from Shikimi, stalling the information for the audience in a way that's still satisfying. Overall, this is the opposite of the flat attempts at similar drama in episode 4.

The second half of the episode returns the team to the school at night for a test of courage, as part of a plan to get another couple together. As on-point as the beach-battle humor of the first portion was, this segment's avalanche of jokes is even better. I haven't seen Love Tyrant with a pace this rapid-fire since the first episode, and it only solidifies how good this show can be when it's firing on all cylinders. This haunted-house onslaught riffs on everything from generic Japanese horror tropes to Ghostbusters and Saw, selling it all by generating the humor through its characters. Guri and Akane are just way too savvy and strong for the likes of Sadako and Chucky to be effective against them, which is played for all its worth at the end, where an attempt to isolate them from the rest of the group just leads to the two of them beating the ever-unliving hell out of all the ghosts on the rooftop.

But the really impressive part of this little story comes from its attempt to slow down and do more. We've heard Guri ruminate on her quest to understand love before, and thanks to her dad last episode, we know it's going to be a major plot and character point for her. While it's still not terribly original ground for an anime to tread, this episode brings Guri's issues up with Akane specifically, when she calls the angel out on them. It makes sense, since Akane is still thoroughly attached to Seiji and sees Guri as her rival, regardless of how well they work together. It also does more for both characters than any interaction with Seiji yet, as Akane's harsh points finally make Guri consider that her inability to understand love might be more of a handicap than she thought, while selling how genuine Akane's feelings for Seiji are, regardless of her over-the-top yandere shtick. This exchange is the one slow portion of the episode, not punctuated with jokes and asides the way Seiji and Shikimi's interaction was, and if it's still just a little too generic or played-straight to land in a show like this, it still earns a ton of goodwill just for trying in one of the strongest episodes of the series yet.

That's the biggest strength on display in the sixth episode of Love Tyrant. Not everything works perfectly, but everything that does is entertaining enough to carry the lesser material, rather than being dragged down by it. We don't mind a backstory infodump between Shikimi and Seiji so much, because it's interesting enough to balance against the hilarious penguin battle going on at the same time. We don't worry about Akane's romantic contest with Guri seeming somewhat dry, because the bookends of the rooftop scene are enjoyably ridiculous, and the whole thing is sealed with a ghostly twist that the characters react to with deadpan disbelief. Also, Guri's Ghostbusters outfit is adorable. We don't have to worry about Love Tyrant when it really knows what it's doing.

Rating: A-

Love Tyrant is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.