Anime Reviews: Beelzebub Episode 57 - Won't You Eat a Manju? Won't You Get in a Mixed Bath?

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Plot Summary
This is another two part episode, the first half focuses on Komainu's attempts to switch bodies with Aoi. After he sees Oga and Beel practicing Super Milk Time, Komainu decides that if Oga drinking Beel's milk lets them switch bodies, then if he got Aoi to eat something of his the two of them would switch bodies.

He tries several times to get Aoi to eat some of his manju (a kind of pastry filled with bean paste), but his constant nosebleeds give his unsavory intentions away, and no matter what he tries, Aoi is too much on her guard to let him trick her into eating anything he gives her.

Kouta (Aoi's baby brother) suggests using the secret technique, cutting the unwanted food small and mixing it in with something else. So Komainu makes beef and potatoes, and mixes the manju in with it. He prepares an entire meal for Aoi, and almost gets her to eat it, but his nosebleed gives him away again, and she sends him flying.

In the second story Hilda wins five tickets to a hot springs resort, and the entire family goes together. After traveling there, and getting situated, Oga and Hilda go into the men and women's side respectively. Meanwhile, Furuichi is off skiing in the mountains, when Allaindelon comes and transports him to the same hot springs resort Oga and Hilda are staying at.

Hilda talks a little bit about her family, and how her parents are both demon servants, and that since they both serve different houses they rarely come home. For Hilda her entire life is serving Beel. After this heart to heart, Hilda gets out of the bath, and Furuichi, thinking she's in the same bath as him, ends up jumping the old owner of the inn.

Context. It doesn't help.

My Opinion
I loathe Komainu. I can't stand the wacky pervert found in far too many anime, and Komainu is no better. Granted he's overused in the anime, and he actually has a justified reason for being around in the manga, but so far he's been nothing but wacky antics I could do without.

His half of the episode was moderately amusing, and I did appreciate Kouta's "forbidden technique" joke, but overall I could have done without watching this story.

The hot springs story was slow, had some amusing parts, but wasn't eventful enough to qualify it as deserving to exist. I did appreciate the "good job" gag, but having one or two gags I appreciate isn't enough to save an episode. I have a theory that anime writers are so used to writing serialized stories, or adapting serialized stories, that some of them aren't all that great at writing stand alone episodes.

It's not like the Beelzebub writing staff don't know how to write a self contained episode, that has a proper beginning, middle, and end. But there have been far too many of these half episodes, and most of them are only there to be a ten minute long joke. Even a filler story would be appreciated, as long as it's an actual story. While these half episodes can have some amusing parts, they're overshadowed by the fact that it really isn't great storytelling to be wasting time telling a story that can't support a twenty minute run time.

This is the most fanservice in the episode.

Though I have to say, I'm absolutely surprised that this wasn't a fanservice episode. Almost any other anime would have used this as a chance to flash tits and ass all over the screen, even if it was covered by steam. For that at least the Beelzebub staff has my respect, they could have made this a typical fanservice episode, but instead they used it as a chance to give Hilda's character a tiny bit more development. It doesn't help that we already knew that about Hilda, and the story overall was mostly dull, but it's the thought that counts. So, thank you Beelzebub for not being a dumb fanservice anime.

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