9-11

Not sure if this is more an indictment of myself or the genre, but a decent shounen arc really isn't that hard. At least, when done decently, it seems so effortless, as shown here. Simple battles, some more worldbuilding, and muddy character and faction relationships that make the mind race theorizing the possibilities. Great stuff. Yuuki's sister is not quite bad to the bone, but her and her cohorts are certainly fodder for the imagination, being hostile but open to reason as well.

The setup: Aoba is a bro-con no doubt. Go ahead and mark that one off your harem bingo card. She's also adorable and still sweet when it counts. Her entire faction of girls seem to be those who ate peaches in Mato instead of the Earthrealm. A shady side organization affiliated with the Mato Corps doing clandestine experimentation on them is also shounen as all get out. More backstory than is required, but greatly appreciated and a valuable piece of world building that will help the series stay rich and interesting as further layers unfold... Typical harem ecchi shows don't have that ambition.

The battles themselves were somewhat mixed. Shu-shu and sleepyhead's battle were pretty boilerplate, though the breakthrough of using small size was novel. The Azuma sisters easily took the cake by having established complicated sister chemistry and the use of time rewinding really came through tactically. Yakumo is low key MVP. Lastly Kyoko and Tenma... Kyoko was largely relegated to the background fighting the unihorn, but Tenka stole the scene again by declaring herself Yuuki's girlfriend and consistently referring to Aoba as her 'sister in law' (and the ire that brought out of her). So cute, not to mention her slick rescue of Yuuki completely mid conversation from Aoba in episode 10.

If this is going to end the season next episode where I think it will, we're in for a treat.