Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs

Episode 7

It would appear that comments I made last episode about the series not having an ongoing plot were premature. This episode sets up a two-parter that will undoubtedly have resonant consequences for the story down the line.

The opener has always made it clear that trouble in the form of a powerful spiritual entity was eventually going to arrive on the scene, and it might involve Yuuna being literally spirited away by a dashing black-haired man. That man appears this episode and reveals himself to be Genshiro Ryuuga, a Black Dragon God. He's fixated on Yuuna because he's looking for a worthy bride. While he doesn't seem too discriminating on that count – he's apparently willing to carry off just about anyone female – his minion/chaperone Oboro is insistent on the bride being a spiritually powerful entity. With her sex appeal, potent Poltergeist ability, and enough energy to last on Earth for many years in ghost form, Yuuna fits that bill perfectly.

In a practical sense, becoming Genshiro's bride would a good deal for Yuuna, since she wouldn't be troubling Kogarashi anymore, isn't strong enough to blow Genshiro away unless he's caught completely off-guard, and apparently wouldn't have to worry about ever descending into Hell. Besides, she doesn't really belong in the human world anyway. Of course, in an emotional sense this is all wrong, since she's clearly infatuated with Kogarashi, and Genshiro is forcefully disregarding her feelings under the presumption that anyone he takes belongs to him. More forceful insistence that she wanted to stay with Kogarashi may or may not have changed the situation, but at least it would have kept her from humoring Oboro's twisted logic that marrying Genshiro is for the best. Since all this happens after Yuuna set a new record for consecutive days of pitching Kogarashi into the river because she woke up in a compromising position, this feeds further into the stereotypical harem scenario of the love interest having to be rescued from an arranged marriage by our hero. Of course, the bad guy in these scenarios usually doesn't use his magic to inflict his cosplay obsession on the heroine, but that fanservice quotient needs to be fulfilled, right?

Naturally, Kogarashi isn't going to just let this happen, and Sagiri unsurprisingly tags along despite professing that her organization regards “gods” too powerful to tackle. They both would have been smarter to go back to the inn and recruit additional help, since bringing Yaya and Nonko around would have greatly increased their odds in a fight, but thoughtlessly forging ahead is definitely in-character for them. The episode ends with an imminent confrontation between Kogarashi and Genshiro, though I can't see even Kogarashi's ability being enough to take him out. I'm also curious about what scheme they were cooking up to prevent Yuuna from being kidnapped again if they can rescue her, but we'll have to wait and see what happens.

In general, the utter predictability of this scenario provides a certain degree of cozy familiarity for harem fans, but it also hurts the story's entertainment value.

Rating: C+

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