Monster Musume

Episode 3

Well, that was fast. After two weeks of threatening to toss its main character in jail for making a move on a monster girl, Monster Musume has pulled an about-face and now expects him to marry one of them. Viewers' opinions on "best girl" aside, Kimihito will have to make up his own mind who to wed. If this episode is any indication, we can expect much more screaming and broken bones than would normally be involved in an anime courtship.

It doesn't take long for Miia, Papi, and Centorea to start fighting over the object of their affections. An otherwise peaceful morning is interrupted by a flurry of swords, arrows, talons, fangs, and snake tails, culminating in a three-way showdown in the park. Luckily, Smith arrives on the scene and calms things down by accidentally shooting Kimihito with a few tranquilizer darts. The poor guy's evening doesn't go much better after the revelation that the government is looking for a test case to see if humans and non-humans can get married without anyone dying in the process. With a full moon turning the girls' instincts up to eleven, he has to focus on surviving the night before he can worry about tying the knot.

Monster Musume continues to draw quite a lot of its humor from tossing its unusual cast into common harem comedy situations. The girls can take a scene in a completely new direction simply by being themselves. The second half of the episode also adds some novelty by tossing in scenes that would be more at home in a horror movie. Miia peers through a crack in the door before slithering into the room, while Papi casts an ominous silhouette before bursting through the window. Centorea briefly appears to have her wits about her, but it slowly dawns on Kimihito that she's just as dangerous as the other two. This series is mixing two genres that should never have been brought together, and the results continue to entertain.

Monster Musume occasionally takes a brief vacation from being a sex comedy, and in these moments the show proves that it does have something resembling a heart. The hand-holding scene between Kimihito and Centorea is sweet enough to temporarily override the strangeness of the visuals. Kimihito's speech after getting shot by Smith is also endearing, and it reminds us all that this is more than a little weird. This whole genre is odd, this show in particular is strange beyond belief, and those of us in the audience are probably a little crazy by association. Rather than trying to keep that weirdness in check, it suggests that we might be better off acknowledging and accepting it. After all, it's not like you can be subtle about having wings instead of arms.

The trouble with this episode is that it doesn't fully embrace the ideas that it puts forward. This storyline sees the girls doing things that any normal anime character could do, rather than pulling off more of the unusual stunts that the show has offered up in the past. We need more of Miia slithering up a tree and accidentally terrifying the kid she's trying to help, or Centorea running down a guy on a scooter. Besides a few airborne antics from Papi, the characters mostly just chase one another around the house this week. As a result, it feels like the series is letting its unique strengths go to waste. These girls are monsters, gosh darn it. They should be doing monster stuff.

In all likelihood, the lack of monstrous feats in this episode can be traced back to the narrative acrobatics that Monster Musume needs to go through. This storyline's job is to give the series a direction to follow in the coming weeks by forcing Kimihito to consider marrying one of the girls. It's a very by-the-book premise, but it's better than nothing. At least it might help answer some important questions, like where exactly one might take a centaur on a date.

Rating: B-

Monster Musume is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Paul Jensen is a freelance writer and editor. You can follow more of his anime-related ramblings on Twitter.