Don’t Toy with Me, Miss Nagatoro – 04 – Buns of Feel

Nagatoro’s inability to resist any chance to make Senpai squirm results in her insisting on using the same water tap as him to wash her hands, despite there being several taps available. As she suds up and scrubs her hands next to his, she mentions how it’s almost like they’re bathing before sex.

This seems a bit of a stretch, unless you remember Nagatoro’s thoroughly dirty mind. Naoto manages to slip through her soapy fingers (literally!) and dash away, but her lingering blushing indicates she got her Senpai fluster fix for the day.

From there, Naoto is having lunch alone in the art club room, a peace that’s interrupted not by Nagatoro, but her two friends Gamo-chan and Yosshi, who decided to have a little alone time to torture him. They’ve heard from Nagatoro that he’s a pervert, so they both offer their boobs for him to feel up.

When he refuses and runs for it, Yosshi seizes him and makes him grope Gamo-chan, who reveals she was padding her chest with bean buns. Nagatoro arrives with a stare that scares her friends away…but an unattended Senpai is a vulnerable Senpai!

Nagatoro quickly moves to re-establish her claim by inviting Naoto to participate in a bean-bun guessing game, where buns of different quality are hidden under her blouse. Naoto gives in and plays the game, but as his eyes are closed during deliberation one of the buns slips out, so he ends up grabbing the genuine article.

Nagatoro has no one to blame but herself for the resulting discomfort, which is why I felt it was overkill for her to beat him with one of the buns before they quietly ate them together.

The next day, Naoto is watching his classmates playing baseball outside while waiting for Nagatoro, who is late. His reason for caring is that he agreed to let her model for him again. Her lateness is explained as soon as she enters the club room with a huge green sofa she got for free from the crafts club. She also noticed him “staring pensively” out the window, and gets him to admit he’d like to be praised once in a while.

She tells him in order to receive praise, one must dole it out, and plops herself on the couch so he can praise her. While she laughs off his initial woeful attempts at complimenting her hair and lightness of foot, when he tells her her kick in the library was badass she is genuinely moved, and isn’t able to hide it. Then she proceeds to try a number of sexy poses before Naoto tells her to settle down and simply pose normally.

Still, much time passes and he’s unable to draw anything. He blames her constant moving about, but really it’s because he wants to do a good job. She says she’ll reward him if he does, but he assumes that means she’ll pull another fakeout. Nagatoro tells him she has no choice but to back down at the last second, as he “never has the guts”.

But then Nagatoro falls asleep—if nothing else, a sign of how comfortable she is around him—and he’s able to see her in a whole new light. The teasing monster is beautiful in repose, and without her staring back at him he can calm down and draw a portrait that’s much more assured than his first one.

That said, he admits he rushed through it and made a lot of mistakes, but the light-footed Nagatoro is still able to steal a look, and admits she genuinely likes it. Not enough to give him a real kiss quite yet, but enough to make him think his lips touched hers for one wonderful fleeting moment.

Nagatoro and Naoto continue to be extremely fun to watch, and one can hope their continued interactions will continue to wear down Naoto’s defenses until, perhaps one day, he summons those guts she accused him of never having, and manages a way all his own to tease her back. Even if he doesn’t, it’s clear both of them are getting something out of this, and are happy to keep it going.

Episode 4 “Senpai” Count: 25 (+11 “Paisens”)
Total: 166

Slime 300 – 04 – Mount Rokko Rumble

Turns out Laika’s announcement she’s returning to her home isn’t a permanent arrangement; she’s simply attending her older sister’s wedding, and invites everyone to join her. They’re all pumped for a dragon wedding, with Halkara in a particularly romantic mood (and somewhat disappointed by Azusa’s complete lack of love life).

Laika also provides transportation in her dragon form, and Halky gets motion sickness. After they land and she’s able to hurl (with Azusa lovingly holding her hair back) Halky says she wouldn’t mind a kiss, but as there’s sparkly vomit drips from her mouth, Azusa ain’t interested!

When they arrive at the village of Red Dragons on the volcanic Mt. Rokko, Azusa & Co. are dwarfed by Laika’s partying and feasting family and friends, but Azusa also learns her pupil once attended the dragon equivalent of a fancy rich girl’s school, which is a nice mental image. Laika’s mom is warm, her dad is loud, and her sister Leila and her husband-to-be are glad she’s there.

But then the festivities are crashed by the Blue Dragons and their leader Flatorte, who is bitter and envious that in 400 years she hasn’t been able to marry. She and her band of goons start ruining everything with their icy cold breath. Azusa is initially content to leave internal affairs to the dragons…but then the Blue Dragons go and make her kids cry.

From that point on, Azusa goes into full Protective Mama Witch Mode, making full use of her maxed-out stats to mop the floor with all blue dragon comers. After her significant powers have been largely underplayed the last three weeks, here we finally get to see her in action—and more importantly, motivated by her love of her family and desire to keep them safe.

Flatorte proves a slightly more challenging opponent then the grunts, but she’s still no match for Azusa’s fire magic, as well as her devastating Flying Axe Kick—all executed perfectly even in her nice going-to-a-wedding clothes and shoes!

They move on to the village to find the Blue Dragons there have already been handily dealt with by Beelzebub, who just happened to stop by to avail herself of the mountain’s famed hot springs and didn’t like how the dragons were threatening to cause trouble, so she cast a severe weakness spell on all of them. This nets Beel a big Azusa hug she claims not to want, but her blushing indicates otherwise.

Azusa then has Flatorte assume her human form and agrees to release her and the others only if they promise to cease their hostilities with the Red Dragons via a non-aggression pact…and pay for the damage and grief they caused. With that, the second dragon reception can commence, in which all the dragons are in human form, and Halkara quickly succumbs to the open bar.

Even Flatorte (who is quite the cutie in human form) offers a concilatory rose to Laila for her wedding, only for the Red/Blue Dragons’ “complicated” relationship to rear its ugly head once more, as Laila can’t help mock Flatorte’s lack of success in love.

Azusa has a quiet moment of rest away from the party with Laika, who asks her master if she can use her as a lap pillow. At the episode’s beginning we saw this is what Leila did for Laika whenever she was feeling down, and Laika understandably feels a little lonely about her sister being married off. Azusa is all too happy to be her pillow whenever needed.

Upon returning to the party, Beelzebub already has a completely boiled Halkara on her back and suggests everyone stay the nightat the hot springs hotel. All are in agreement, and once they’re all in the baths Azusa basks in the light and warmth of her colorful new family. Isekai OP ass-kicking and Iyashikei-style coziness combine for the best episode of Slime 300 yet.