©2024 Kadokawa/PAWORKS/MAYOPAN Project
Greetings from everyone on my sickbed. You’re joining me at probably the worst time I’ve felt physically in years, so I apologize if these comments aren’t as spot-on as I’d hoped. I’m still recovering and working through things you don’t want to hear, so I’m asking all of us to handle this situation with kindness, patience, and enough probiotics to make the elephant the norm.
Fortunately (or unfortunately) Episode 09 didn’t provide much to chew on, which is nice when I’m not yet back to solid food. You might think that visiting Masaki’s home would give you some insight into who she is or how she sees the world, but this trip is more of a diversion as each vampire tries to play sister and learns that Masaki has always been selfish asshole. We learn interesting things about her home life – her parents divorced at some point and they lived in a single-parent household for a while – and the final decision was that “Masaki’s sister supported her.” It’s cute, but not much to dig into.
What yes It’s worth digging deeper into Yuki’s secret game signals. It’s funny because she’s completely integrated into the retro game, which always makes for some great visual jokes. It was this retro-obsessed retro (geddit) that intrigued me. Almost every title seems to be a holdover from a bygone era when she had a real problem with them. This tells us a lot at once about who Yuki is and who she is today. She has the discipline to restrain herself, but she also does it by limiting her choices, rather than branching out again into her hobbies as naturally as others do….
Surprisingly, the conflict between Masaki and her former partner…huh? Like, shockingly good. Well, it was almost fishy, forcing me to turn off that little motor in my brain that was constantly expecting things to go wrong. It’s almost a little sad that all three have moved on after they stopped working together, but sometimes that’s just the way things are. Professional relationships become more toxic than personal relationships, and sometimes everyone needs to be rescued from the situation. The Hyped-Up Sisters have found a work setup that works for them and are delighted with Masaki and MayoPan’s success!
Perhaps strangely, this is not dramatic. It’s a somewhat awkward reunion for those who still want to be friends. Perhaps the most striking moment is when Masaki snaps out of the camera, a reaction I suspect she was completely unaware of. First of all, it’s inevitable – no one will follow a channel Appear in thumbnails with her. Now, it’s a compulsion; a psychological withdrawal from hiding herself because she internalizes her own image as toxic. But it wasn’t until she finally found the courage to step onto the camera again that the reality of it all hit.
Look, Masaki may be ready to get on that horse again, but she’s spent months eating fermented oats and poorly sealed energy drinks and is itching to take her for a ride. The Internet never forgets, especially months later. While Masaki’s personal and professional relationships made her feel at peace with what she had done, there was an increasingly angry group of netizens who took her actions personally. This should be an interesting final fight for Mayopan. Let’s hope they don’t get caught in the horse’s hooves.
grade:
Yolk Medium Punch Currently streaming on Crunchyroll.
Disclosure: Kadokawa World Entertainment (KWE) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation and the majority shareholder of Anime News Network, LLC. One or more companies mentioned in this article are part of the Kadokawa Group of Companies.
