天下制覇

Bonus points if you get the reference.

Impressions:

Sort of a directionless episode that I really didn’t like all that much. I did think that Ayame finally showing that she’s got some sword skills was long overdue, even if it was just to coldcock the Ryouga knockoff. Bringing back the other one-shot villains just to be… one-shotted again also just reeked of shameless time filler. I think I would have been happier if they had spent more time on Ayame and Ibuki playing ping-pong than showing ninjas coming out of the woodwork just to be dismissed again in one attack. And once again, we’ve learned that adding sharks does not help. Honestly. When has fighting a shark ever not turned out horribly? The best you can hope for is that it turns out so badly that people will take pity on it and laugh out of sheer discomfort.

The rest of the episode was rather predictible, and most of it honestly really bored me. Yoichi figuring out that Sakyo was impersonating Ayame by breast size was about as stale a joke as they could have made, and topping it off with the big reveal that Ukyo and Ibuki had some kind of childhood promise that she’s forgotten just made that entire sequence cross the line from stomachable cliches to a choking hazard. And now Ukyo’s regressed Ibuki back to her childhood, likely to remember whatever it is she forgot, with the added bonus of copious amounts of childhood trauma and angst if the episode preview for next week is to be believed. Oh boy. Undirected chronic angst. *sigh*

After an arduous hike, the Scooby Gang reaches their illustrious accomodations. They’re wowed by the luxurious place, despite it being in the middle of nowhere. The girls go off to hit the hot springs. Chihaya invites Yoichi along, causing embarassing issues, but he runs off to get in touch with the wilderness before they can escalate to violence.

While flirting with a squirrel, Yoichi thinks about how long he’s been with the Ikarugas now and wonders if he’s become stronger.

The girls enjoy the hot springs and the general inn activities. Ayame and Ibuki play table tennis, and Ayame looks like she’s about to take the match when Ibuki busts out a wind technique to snatch victory away. Ayame gets a bit steamed and leaves, embarassing Ibuki.

In the men’s bath, Yoichi gets a visitor… Ukyo.

Yoichi can’t keep himself from talking about Ibuki and the others, which gets Ukyo a little riled up and he leaves Yoichi with a bit of a warning as he fades into the steam.

At dinner, the innkeeper tells them scary ghost stories about how all their guests have stopped coming because of some evil. Yoichi stays behind after and offers to go deal with it and Ibuki volunteers to go with him. Chihaya spies on the scene and then tells Ayame about the two of them going together.

She manages to goad Ayame into going out into the woods as well, saying that it’ll be her big chance with Yoichi. Ayame runs off to ‘buy juice.’ Chihaya giggles to herself, but falls unconscious as a strange smoke enters the room. Ukyo and the innkeeper open the door and the innkeeper reveals herself to be Sakyo. Everything’s going as planned.

At the CAVE OF EVIL, Yoichi and Ibuki prepare to enter when the floor gives way and they fall into a pit. Yoichi comes to and finds Ayame next to him.

She hugs him and tells him that she’s always wanted to be with him like this. She takes his hand and puts it on her chest to feel how hard her heart is beating, and then lifts her skirt to show her true feelings for him.

Ibuki wakes up with Ukyo next to her, but she has no idea who he is, nor does she have any idea what promise he’s talking about when he asks if she remembers. His perfect plan is foiled. However, he’s got something to show her anyway. He leads her to Ayame laying on top of Yoichi.

Ibuki’s not fooled for a second. She knows that Ayame’s not like that. Yoichi supports her by throwing ‘Ayame’ off of him and saying that it’s definitely not her, she’d never be that shameless. Also, Ayame’s breasts aren’t that big. As Ibuki closes in to punish Yoichi for talking about a girl in ways he shouldn’t, he tries to get praise for figuring out that it’s not the real Ayame.

Ukyo and Sakyo introduce themselves properly to the pair, stating their martial arts school et all. They release the knockout gas and Yoichi’s body becomes too heavy for him to move. Ukyo takes Ibuki and leaves, daring Yoichi to come after them. He takes Ibuki’s sword and uses it as a crutch to follow.

He goes first to Chihaya and Kagome, but they’re missing. Hinagata ambushes him, and Ukyo reveals that this whole thing is a trap and all his enemies are here.

Millions of ninjas pop out from everywhere and charge Yoichi, but he wind blasts everybody away at once. As he starts searching the inn, he’s suddenly attacked by a pair of sharks as the T&C Surf Ninjas make their reappearance. Yoichi manages to cling to a grate on the wall with his toes and hurricanes them as well.

Yoichi eventually comes to a bridge where he’s surrounded by yet more ninjas. This time, the Ryouga-knockoff shows up to battle Yoichi, but Ayame blindsides him with an attack to the back of the skull and squares off against the rest. He tells her that he can’t do it, but she yells back that he’s the one that taught her to never give up.

As Ayame gets ready to defend against the ninjas, a wind blast rips past her (through her legs actually) and scatters them.

Yoichi thanks her, but grabs her breast anyway to make sure that she’s the real one. After beating him for his stupidity, Ayame checks on Kagome and Chihaya. Both seem fine… relatively speaking. As HInagata climbs out of the river, Yoichi demands to know where Ibuki is.

They find Ibuki in the inn. She wakes up as they arrive, and asks them who they are.

Preview:

You can tell it’s serious because everything is at night.