Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu – Episode 09
Last week on Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu, Yoshii had to save the day by infiltrating the school’s server room amidst a maelström of Evangelion references. This week, his sister comes home from the States to check up on him and decide if he can still live on his own. Big Sister is watching you, Yoshii.
And she totally wants you.
Yoshii’s sister, Akira, shows up in a bathrobe, which she says she changed into on the train. While she appears smarter than her brother does, she lacks even more in the common sense department at times. She has come home to grade him on his living conditions, which starts a rolling counter that changes throughout the episode. She forbids him from hanging out with girls, but… guys are okay. Of course, this gets him in trouble, first at school when everyone thinks he’s hiding a girlfriend. Then they all follow him home and that doesn’t settle well with big sis. He devotes himself to his studies so his sister will get off his back and leave him alone. Yoshii almost pulls it off too, except that he put the answers in the wrong boxes. Oh well, there’s always the next exam.
Seriously, if Yoshii is questioning your decision, you done screwed up!
Wait, what... HOW can you maintain elegance when you strip on a TRAIN!?
Good job, you just got denied by your own ruleset!
No matter what you do, if Shouko is involved, you're hosed from the start.
Himeji's womanly instincts are kicking in to overdrive.
Geez... talk about mood swings.
I'm not sure whether that comment should flatter or insult Hideyoshi.
And the award for this season's most obvious punchline goes to...
You just cannot catch a break, can you?
Honestly, I found it difficult to write about this episode. After last week’s excellent showing, I had hopes that this series could get back on track. Unfortunately, all it does is retread the fanservicegasm of Episode 6, except with yaoi and incest references included. On that note, I am tired of some character’s sister magically showing up to try to throw a wrench in the workings of a show. It works well sometimes, but in this case, it feels like some shiny distraction to keep us from noticing the lack of comedic substance. Maybe if Yoshii had talked about his sister in the past it would be different, but not even the cast knew he had siblings. On the positive side, it did show that Yoshii’s fits of brilliance aren’t just a coincidence. He can perform well if he just puts himself to task. Unfortunately, I have a feeling the writers will immediately shunt that revelation off to the side like so much in this series. This week wasn’t great, but it wasn’t terrible; it was just decent.
And while she's creepy, at least your sister cares about you.
Editor’s note: To clarify, I’m not mad because of the lack of plot, I’m mad because they played the “sister card” cop-out completely straight. I felt the same way about Hanamaru Kindergarten when Tsuchi’s sister showed up, except Hanamaru handled it better.
