Ryuugajou Nanana no Maizoukin – 04

“You’re actually pretty evil, aren’t you?”

Rather than move on to the next treasure-of-the-week, Nanana sticks to the matter at hand—the fact that Juugo isn’t going to let Yuiga get away with his treachery. In the process, we get a lot more pieces to the puzzle that is Yama Juugo, beyond a blandish kid who decided to strike out on his own out of mere restlessness. Turns out he was exiled! We’re startin’ to like this kid.

When Juugo meets with Tensai at the agreed-upon spot, she notices Juugo is slightly taller, and exposes an impostor belonging to the e-lite thievin’ group Matsuri who claims to have kidnapped her new pardner. But in reality, Juugo is the son of Matsuri’s leader, and it’s once-presumptive heir. The show kept its cards close to its chest last week, but those weird cops were an early hint at what was to come.

I must say I was impressed with how elegantly the show managed to uncover all these new truths about Juugo, while keeping him true to the person we had known thus far. He’s still a tank of a feller, able to withstand all the Wizard Cane attacks Yuiga can throw at him until it runs out of juice. I was also surprised and delighted by Ibara and Yukihime’s mad fighting skills.

I was impressed by the first puzzle dungeon the adventure club faced, but I’m even more impressed at the show’s ability to change gears to something more complex and nuanced. The fact that essentially everything that transpired this week was all part of Juugo’s plan, even counting on Tensai to bring in the cavalry, and used his stature within Matsuri, but only so far.

But even better is the fact that Tensai figured it all out, which even impresses Juugo. Tensai and Yuiga’s crazy dreams irks him because he can’t feel the same way, nor does he have as defined a goal. He also seems to have trouble with people. His haughty dad who exiled him is quick to mock him on both counts. But with his growing respect for Tensai and the goal Nanana has assigned him, Juugo may be in the right place to find out what he’s meant to do.