Do You Love Your Mom and Her Two-Hit Multi-Target Attacks?

Episode 9

When an episode begins with some gratuitous mom boob jiggling, it sets some expectations for the following twenty minutes. Sure enough, after an attempt at concluding a thornier and more serious arc last week, Do You Love Your Mom and Her Two-Hit Multi-Target Attacks? is back to its best material: video game jokes, tomfoolery, and Masato being haunted by his hot and powerful mom. It's not groundbreaking, but it is an improvement.

Any apprehensions I had about Medhi not fitting in with the cast are quickly dashed by how she easily trades verbal blows with the rest of these jerks. It's a little uncomfortable, because the “dark” Medhi personality seemed to be a product of her mother's overbearing abuse, and now it's being played for laughs. On the other hand, that's now her primary personality trait within the party, and since we're past her arc now, I don't see that changing anytime soon. I'm less enthusiastic about her and Wise being reduced to romantic rivals for Masato, bitterly participating in catfights for the rest of the show, but it is kind of funny to see her also become annoyed at how effortlessly Mamako dispatches enemies. She has her own ambitions about proving herself as a healer, and you can't be a healer if there's never anyone to heal. I'm just glad her personality has some comedic edge to it, so long as we don't think too hard about its origins.

Mamako is also back to being a fun character. I love the little details, like her typing with just two fingers in the opening scene. Granted, she's young enough that she should probably know how to type properly, but that's also exactly how my dad types, so I'm willing to forgive the incongruity for the sake of a gag about boomer parents. Her offhand commentary continues to add lots of flavor to the show. She sees a giant tower dungeon and instinctively quips that she hopes it contains an elevator, which doubles as both a small joke at her expense, since she doesn't understand how video games work, but also a jab at the absurdity of video game architecture. Wise also takes the opportunity to hang a lampshade and use her magic premonition powers (i.e. having watched the show up to this point) to predict how Mamako will undermine both the tower's challenge and its reward.

Anyway, it looks like the next arc will center around this mysterious tower, promising the fulfillment of one wish to whomever reaches its top floor. As Masato dryly points out, it's obviously a scam, but it's a scam that seems to have attracted the attention of many kids currently adventuring with their moms. In attempts to either prove themselves or get away from their parents, they've all entered alone to form a faction of rebellious teens called Ribele, which suggests they're not the most imaginative bunch. One of their accident-prone leaders Amante confronts the group, but she scurries away after realizing that she's dealing with the one and only Mamako. I like the idea the Mamako is so overpowered she's become a kind of folk hero for mothers throughout the game. Empathizing with the group of concerned mothers swarming the town, she resolves to return their kids to them, emphasizing that she'd care more about saving her own child than saving the world. It's a simplistic but sweet sentiment, and that's the most I can expect out of Do You Love Your Mom.

To properly explore this new dungeon, Shirase dutifully explains that they'll need the extra help a guild can provide. Personally, I'm of the mind that Mamako could take on that entire tower herself, but that wouldn't make for much of a story arc. Of course, the guild house they get is an almost-collapsed building, and they end the episode without a single recruit, but the party stays doggedly optimistic. Perhaps they're just excited about the maid costumes Shirase has gifted them. However, it's absolute cowardice on the show's part that Masato also receives a maid costume, yet refuses to put it on. If there's going to be unnecessary maid shenanigans, I at least demand gender parity. Color me shocked that the episode ends without a maid Mamako, (even though the next episode preview indicates that won't last for long).

The gang takes a trip to Fantasy Home Depot to deal with their fixer-upper guild house, and a chance encounter with Amante gives Medhi the opportunity to inflict some psychic damage on her stair-bruised behind. This leaves us with the revelation that Ribele have sent an assassin to deal with Mamako, which the gang is at first humorously nonchalant about, before a panicked Wise tells them Mamako is in a fight she's going to lose. It's not much of a cliffhanger, but it's at least a little interesting to imagine what could prevent the ultimate mom from winning a fight. I'd wager the assassin is probably one of the runaway kids, and Mamako just doesn't want to hurt any of them out of consideration for the other mothers. Regardless, I'm sure there's no reason to worry.

This return to a light and humorous tone is exactly what the story needed after it bit off more than it could chew with Medhi's arc. It's still a long way off from being a great show, but it uses its gimmick and characters decently enough to eke some chuckles out of me, and that's all I ask at this point.

Rating:

Do You Love Your Mom and Her Two-Hit Multi-Target Attacks? is currently streaming on Crunchyroll and Funimation.

Steve is lost in space, but he can still stream anime so it's okay. A communications relay has been established on his Twitter.