Binan Koukou Chikyuu Bouei-bu Love! – 09

This image sums up why Binan’s characters are so entertaining to watch. When present with a riddle-slinging, overly self conscious melon monster this week, Yumoto Red is astounded and deeply excited by the riddlers, Blue and Orange are aghast at the puniness of it all, Green wonders why he’s here at all, and Pink barely looks up from texting.

The responses are varied, though generally annoyed that they have to be here. Especially when faced by such absurd, unchallenging enemies.

This week is really about puns and jokes that no one is sure are jokes to begin with. Take, for example, the “Press Society” who come to help when the BL are “Pressed for Cash.”

The boys are so perplexed by not being sure if this was an intentional play on words that they don’t even respond to the fact that the Press Society has been snorkeling in the bath to eavesdrop on them.

Or maybe their world is so ridiculous at this point that they just ignore the big stuff anyway?

As we near the end of the season, it’s reassuring that everything feels so comfortable and in it’s proper place. All the character relationships are punchy and reliably portrayed — as are the characters’ relationships to the story and world at large.

Comforts: Wombat leaves Sensei dead most of the time because that’s how the BL are comfortable to respond to him. Yumoto even hangs his bag on Sensei’s rigor mortice arm like a coat rack.

Binan Koukou  is comfort food pure and simple and, just like the tasty snails the evil hedgehog is eating, I find it delicious. It won’t win any best of awards to be sure and the humor isn’t as spot on as Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun but it’s a solid effort.