In which Haruna gives a brief history of space and time, monsters are defeated with the power of ramen, and Ayumu gets married.

This show is definitely at its best when it doesn’t take itself too seriously and the creators just have fun. That episode with the whale was far and away the best so far, and this episode went more in that same vein of random ridiculousness than the plot-oriented episodes from the past few weeks.

The highlight for me was the Tanabata section of the episode, particularly Haruna’s explanation. Her math lesson was pretty good too, as was the Eu fantasy, as usual. Yuki’s ramen is awesome too. I’m not entirely sold on Yuki as a character yet though, there’s way too much blushing. And she seems really similar to Haruna for some reason – they both have childish tendencies and both seem to be of the smart idiot type (compare: Yuki’s explanation of her ramen and Haruna’s explanation of math). On the positive side, this will probably lead to some interesting arguments. I wasn’t initially  sold on Sera either, and the creators managed to turn into an interesting character, so hopefully my fears are unfounded and Yuki will turn out to be more unique in the coming episodes..

In which Eu kills Kyoko dozens of times, Kyoko kills Eu who loses all her clothes, and Ayumu kills Kyoko dozens of times more (and Kyoko also loses all her clothes).

I love crazy psycho bitches as much as everyone else, but Kyoko just isn’t working for me. The whole way the crazy psycho bitch works is through contrast: she is usually demure and friendly, but then BIG EYES and BLOODY GRIN. A good example is Rena from Higurashi. She’s usually quite chipper, with occasional creepy moments to alert you that something is seriously wrong. Kyoko’s problem is that she didn’t go through this whole development : she jumped immediately from sad girl in hospital to date in the graveyard to BIG EYES. There’s none of the tension of wondering when she’s going to snap.

This episode was fairly boring (way too few jokes) and a bit preachy, but they actually do have a moderately interesting plot so it wasn’t all bad. They just need to balance the story and silliness a bit better – it seems like the show tends to make the two types of episodes nearly mutually exclusive (or exactly half-and-half like the whale episode), when to make it most effective they should be intermingled (see: star driver). And yes, in case you’re wondering, I’m also embarrassed that I just used the word “chipper” in a sentence.

This episode continued in the good trend they started in the last episode of more humor and less actual plot and fanservice. Well, there was a lot of fanservice, but it was more directed for humorous purposes (i.e., the opening scene, Haruna’s attempt at transformation). Surprisingly the plot isn’t as horrible as these things usually go though.

The show this reminds me of the post is Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaoh – it has the same random sense of humor. That show started out really strong but then got bogged down with a terrible semblance of a plot and increasing levels of GARness – especially that superhero guy. We can only hope that Kore wa Zombie Desu ka won’t take the same path and will continue not to take itself too seriously.

The comedy continues to be top-notch- Ayumu’s cuteness jokes, Haruna’s obliviousness and Sera’s (accurate) insults. They are using the same jokes over and over again, but it hasn’t gotten old quite yet. Ayumu’s choice of date spot was classic, and Sera’s stab through the middle of Ayumu’s chest sealed the icing on the cake.

It was pretty obvious that Kyoko would end up being a psycho, but still, I applaud all usage of insane girls. And the way they kept piling titles on her was pretty funny. She also knows Haruna except Haruna doesn’t know her (that phone conversation did have a purpose, but it was still way too long). I really hope this doesn’t follow one of those “let’s all get along plots!” and she joins Ayumu’s harem, but I have a sinking feeling that she will…

This episode was definitely an improvement over last week’s. In the beginning we start out with a Doberman knocking on the door instead of the pizza delivery man, who proceeds to cut apart Ayumu’s arm. When he sees Yuu he realizes it is a misunderstanding, and Ayumu follows him to the scene of the latest serial murder, where the Doberman dies protecting a zombie from something that wouldn’t have killed him. Ayumu gets stabbed anyway when the blade goes through the Doberman’s chest. Ayumu learns that Yuu has to suffer the same pain as him to revive him. A heartbreaking discussion ensues.

Well, whatever, they were going to put drama in somehow. At least they decided to do it in a ridiculous over the top way instead of trying to take this show seriously. The dog was quite funny. And the Yuu segment was redeemed by being followed by a completely random battle against a giant whale after Ayumu told Yuu he would protect her. Way to make him stick to his promises immediately!

The battle against the whale was great, as Ayumu’s magical girl costume powered up. The Trans-Am giant whale missile dodging was excellent, as were Sera’s delayed insult and Haruka’s warnings not to power up any further. Hopefully the show can maintain the pace of this episode and the first episode rather than becoming bogged down with fanservice.

In other news, Level E has really picked up since the first episode! I didn’t find the first episode that interesting but they really made good use of it in the second and especially third episode. It goes to show that you can’t really judge much by just one episode.

Unfortunately this show is still not as funny as the first episode. Ayumu’s friend in particular was not too interesting – he is just way too predictable. Every other harem show has a protagonist’s friend who is basically identical. Still, there were a few jokes they threw into his story which were amusing and salvaged it from being a complete waste of time, such as the mask. The Jenga match was also pretty amusing.

We have some interesting plot development with the accusation that Eu is the serial killer. There’s definitely something more to it though. I am hoping that the girl in the hospital will turn out to be an axe-wielding maniac, otherwise she is just too boring.