Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs

Episode 10

Despite ending its episode on a minor cliffhanger – and thus supplying a story that will carry over to next episode – episode 10 isn't showing any ambition towards any sort of dramatic plot line to close out the series on; a scheme by Chisaki to get Kogarashi's classmates to accept that he really is a spirit medium, which this episode closes with, is hardly anywhere near as high-stakes a situation as Yuuna being kidnapped by a Dragon God. To be sure, there is still a continuous story theme running through these two parts, with the possibility of some shenanigans happening as a side thread, but this episode's purpose is actually something else.

What it's doing is far less grand: checking off several yet-to-be-completed boxes on the list of obligatory content for fan service-oriented harem romcoms, including the bonus boxes for those with supernatural elements. It's time for the obligatory pool/beach episode, with the latter being the precise case here. Saagiri gets the feature treatment through the first half, which involves suckering Kogarashi into going along with her to pick out swimwear for the trip. That allows the series to further play up how self-conscious Sagiri is about her own perceived lack of femininity in the wake of being overwhelmed by Chisaki's girlish perfection last episode, even though – as her companion in the ninja army points out – she's got a killer figure herself. As eye-popping as some of her other options were, she made the right choice with the bikini she ultimately went with, as it fits her personality better while still being more than enough to warrant the attention she gets in the later beach scene. Naturally that whole sequence has to include a scene where Kogarashi steps in on her in a partially-unclad state, so check that box off, too.

At the beach we're treated to some additional sharp swimsuit choices by other girls, especially Chisaki; it's always gratifying when the character designers make an effort to match up swimwear with the girls' personalities rather than just going for the most revealing outfits. The rules of harem comedy usually indicate that swimwear is typically removed in beach scenes, and the choice of culprit this time checks off both the “perverted monster” and “tentacle monster” bonus boxes. The rest of the episode is overflowing with the requisite panty shots, boobs/crotch-in-face, with some nimbly worked into the “test of courage” bit where Chisaki is trying to carry out her well-meaning scheme. Sagiri's coworker seems to regard it more as a real test for Kogarashi and his previously-unrecognized power, with the implication that the ninja army might have its own designs on him. Oboro may have competition!

Chisaki's efforts to cast Kogarashi in a more favorable light with his classmates, who didn't take his initial pronouncement about being a spirit medium seriously, give the episode as a whole a little more impact than normal. Even so, I still have to grade this one mostly on its fan service merits, and in that sense it does pretty well, with the only major weak point being that the artistry and animation aren't that good even by genre standards.

Rating: B-

Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.