Animehouse

As much as I do want to describe Mayonaka Punch episode 6 as being part of an “on and off” cycle between character development and humorous progression of the story, it definitely feels more like a blur between the line introduced originally with Fuu’s backstory. It doesn’t suddenly break out into a sprint, but today’s episode certainly gives MayoPan a kick in the pants to get things really going… as well as tackling the backstory of the second youngest at Banpai Manor- Ichiko.

Sometimes, it’s very easy to neglect the visual depiction of a character and roll with how they’re styled in a series, which makes it hard to really tackle their stories effectively- especially in the case of vampires where discussion of age and past are important. Mayonaka Punch episode 6 really grasps that well though, and before we can even get to Ichiko’s backstory, the series is pushing us to align Ichiko with children. For example, the episode starts off with Ichiko talking to a group of kids at a park, and has another moment where she’s sat all alone at a pachinko parlor and is mistaken for a little girl. They’re hardly very explicit moments or anything of the sort, but they do well to help viewers contextualize the 110 year old vampire as a young girl that’s rather out of step with the rest of the people around her.

Anyways, for her actual story. It’s a bit challenging to put into words, but I think the juxtaposition of maturity and age with Ichiko in Mayonaka Punch episode 6 is really solid. Having come to live with Live and Tokage well before Fuu, the idea of being a child- especially alongside those personalities- doesn’t really exist. It’s the sort of thing where Ichiko simply would not fit as an actual child, and so she came to be something that could at least retain that family dynamic. In a sense, she shelved a lot of herself in joining Banpai Manor, and never really got to take it back until the girls entered a crisis where they’d lose their home. To the older and more mature vampires, it’s not really the end of the world, but for Ichiko who’s world became Banpai Manor, it’s an understandably hard pill to swallow.

That dissonance between her and the rest of the girls is where Mayonaka Punch episode 6 shines, I feel. It presents the girls as a group that don’t really see eye to eye on a lot. Their worlds are their own, and they do as they please, never really sticking their noses into the stories or struggles of others. It’s a very interesting angle, but completely makes sense when you see just how dysfunctional the girls are, and how much of a purpose content creation serves in bringing them together- like Ichiko’s little bell routine that’s meant to save Banpai Manor from destruction.

So, if the girls tend to stay out of each other’s business, how do we get to explore Ichiko in this episode? Well, just like two weeks ago, it’s with Masaki. She’s learned quite a bit however, and with Ichiko being more extroverted there’s no repeat of her prior mistakes. From a narrative perspective, it’s really great work that makes full use of an external force acting on the girls to begin to unravel all the stuff they’ve bottled up in the last while. In terms of the more nitty gritty though, it’s really interesting to see Masaki mellow out so quickly after basically getting slapped across the face with Fuu’s backstory. Of course, that didn’t prepare her for the less melancholic and more destructive history of Ichiko, but it did steel Masaki enough to attempt to make a move against Mother, of all things.

Of course, rather than getting her head lopped off, Ichiko ends up taking the steering wheel, which was really nice to see. You could frame it as a family humoring it’s child in a time of distress, so to speak. The girls train and work together to pull of a piece of content creation, of all things. The important piece I see here is how unprompted it is by Masaki. Sure, you can talk about Live and content creation coming first, but a lot of that is because Masaki dangles herself in front of Live. Here, it’s simply Ichiko being a child and wanting to do something together with the people she lives with. It’s a great improvement on Fuu’s episode, continuing to drive home the value of content creation as something meant to be filled with passion, and as an emotional and creative outlet.

Now, Mayonaka Punch episode 6 isn’t solely about Ichiko, of course- there’s some loose ends to go with her story as well. Primarily, it’s once again how Sh-Yuki ends up hopelessly involved with the Banpai Manor girls and their content creation. It’s very funny to see how she comes closer and closer to being sucked in by the group and becoming a part of their NewTube channel. Alongside Yuki though, we (sort of) get a look at Mother, which is pretty interesting. It’s inevitable that we’ll unmask the head of vampire society, but they’re a great catalyst for wondering about how things might work down the road- primarily whether or not Masaki turns into a vampire or not.

Stepping back and discussing visuals for today though, we’ve got Katsumi Terahigashi on storyboard. Being a frequent name with P.A. Works’, I’m not too surprised to see them here. One of the most interesting pieces to come from their involvement though is just how many close ups we get with character acting, which fits well with the emotional beats required from Ichiko. Admittedly, it can run a little thin everywhere else, but Terahigashi undoubtedly excels where need be in the episode.

Conclusions are always hard, and are doubly so when dealing with something that is acting like a sliding window. Mayonaka Punch episode 6 is a continuation of a lot of the good in the series as of late. It brings content creation closer and closer to each character, isolates one of the vampires as a lead for it, includes a strong narrative component, and a healthy side of humor. These recent episodes have become much more homogeneous as everyone gets a grip on content creation, and it lets the series explore a great deal more. Because of that, I’m really excited to see what this team can do with the latter half of the series, and the 6 month time limit on MayoPan and Banpai Manor.