This episode is brought to you by daddy issues. Manta’s family has finally caught on to their only son’s shaman antics with Yoh after last week’s semi-gruesome skirmish with Faust nearly cost Manta’s life. As a result, the Oyamada patriarch immediately orders for Manta’s transfer to a different school in America.
Distraught by these developments, Manta literally runs to Yoh, who is in the other room at the hospital, but is rebuffed and told to never come near him again…w-wait, is it friendship over for Manta and Yoh?!
If last week was the weakest episode thus far in the series, then Episode 8 is the most cluttered. Thankfully, however, there are more hits than misses this time around. Let’s talk about our main character this episode.
In the past couple of episodes, I can’t help but feel like Manta was on the verge of being pushed in the background. While he definitely has more screen time compared to Anna or Ryu, he was lacking those singular iconic moments that would make him stand out against the other side characters. Not to mention, he’s somewhat of a second lead to Yoh!
That’s why it was nice to see more backstory to his character this time with the introduction of his kooky and semi-scary family, including his equally smol sister, Mannoko Oyamada. I almost thought this was going to be a fully-fledged daddy-issues type of episode, but we surprisingly move on from the Oyamada family affairs and into another family—the Asakuras.
After losing to Faust, Yoh returns to his hometown of Izumo to get stronger and increase his furyoku capacity. In the Asakura estate, we meet one of the family’s apprentices and self-proclaimed guardian of Yoh, Tamao Tamamaura (voiced by Nana Mizuki).I almost thought this was going to be a fully-fledged daddy-issues type of episode, but we surprisingly move on from the Oyamada family affairs and into another family—the Asakuras.
After losing to Faust, Yoh returns to his hometown of Izumo to get stronger and increase his furyoku capacity. In the Asakura estate, we meet one of the family’s apprentices and self-proclaimed guardian of Yoh, Tamao Tamamura (voiced by Nana Mizuki).
The transition in story arcs—from Manta to Yoh—was quite jarring and didn’t feel flow smoothly (well, at least for me). The episode really kept jumping from one character to another. And the turbo pacing of the series may also be a factor to that, but again, it wasn’t as bad as last week’s episode. Plus, we got to meet Tamao’s hilarious guardian ghosts, Ponchi and Conchi, and their ehem phallic abilities. But hey, it’s all juvenile fun!
The episode ends yet again with Tao Ren, who is Yoh’s next opponent. We’re counting down the episodes before their reunion duel, especially since both shamans have leveled up their Over Soul—it’s gonna be one heck of a fight and let’s hope the series delivers as well.
Shaman King airs Thursdays at 17:55 JST.
Official Anime Website: shamanking-project.com
Official Anime Twitter: @SHAMANKING_PR
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