Amaama to Inazuma Episode 9 Review

Back to basics

(This review contains spoilers!)

          Continuing the theme of last week, Tsumugi’s mother was brought to the forefront of the plot once again, as we finally get to see how Tsumugi herself is dealing with the issue of her mother’s death. Aside from that, it was essentially business as usual on Amaama to Inazuma, but the overarcing theme and the focus on character building really propelled it into the next gear.

          So what’s the story? Well, after eating curry at a school sleepover, Tsumugi’s dad breaks out his wife’s old recipe for dry curry and decides to make it next. While Tsumugi is excited about this, it also brings up some memories about her mother, and the feelings that come with the realization that she isn’t coming back.

          The obvious best part of the episode is the character building, and it’s nice to finally see Tsumugi acknowledge what happened to her mother. If memory serves me right, it was explained in an earlier episode that Tsumugi was more or less lied to about what happened, and then it was kinda never brought up again. To see this plot thread not only make it’s return, but as the main focus of an episode, it makes for a really compelling story.

          The characters were, as always, delightful to spend time with. Kotori (I’m sure I’ll remember to use her proper name without looking it up one of these days) was utilized really well, as her fear of knives was briefly brought back as she learned Tsumugi can use them now with her dad’s help. It was pointed out last week that she always wears a band-aid on her finger, so I think that may have something to do with her fear.

          One gripe I do have, and this is one I have for the show as a whole, is this mother/son duo that Tsumugi and her father seem to spend a lot of time with. The son is always being irritating and causing mayhem, and the mother always screeches at him to stop. This shtick got old after the first time they did it, but they’ve become recurring characters even more so than Kotori’s friend. I guess they’re supposed to be a contrasting relationship to that of Tsumugi and her father, but you can figure that out after seeing them just once. Why the show insists on shoving these two down our throats, I’ll never know.

          A small complaint aside, this was another excellent week for Amaama to Inazuma. I’m glad that this show’s finally found the balance it was looking for after Episode 3, because I was literally ready to quit if the status quo refused to change any longer. I’m hoping we’re not finished with the mother arc yet, because I think we still need to see Tsumugi accepting her death to really bring closure for both her and her father. Regardless of where they go with the plot, I look forward to next week as always.

FINAL SCORE

8/10

Great