Yozakura Quartet - Episode 4

Yozakura Quartet continues on its merry way, this time giving us a proper introduction to the villain of the piece - Enjin, a demon who has possessed the body of someone called Gin, an old friend of Hime and Akina's. In other words, the scene is set for a lot of emotional conflict and turmoil... After all, how do you fight an enemy who is also your friend?

With that in mind then, this episode gives us some flashbacks to the time before Gin was possessed and went AWOL, before having Enjin finally breach the town's barrier, no doubt with an eye towards wreaking havoc. Oh, and we also get introduced to a nun with two swords, which I suppose can never be labelled a bad thing per se.


The way that Yozakura Quartet handles its story remains quite an interesting affair - While this instalment gives us a fair amount of action in its latter half, it always tries to mix it in with plenty of conversations and interactions about every-day life in the town, from Hime's weight and preferences in food through to the broadcasting of a new town song. I still wager that were this series to forgo all that just to concentrate on the action, then it would end up as a far less enjoyable show in general, as to be honest it's those interactions between the main characters that really makes the series for me. Sure, it isn't a deep or thought-provoking study of equality or friendship, but it's nice to watch... The kind of anime that gives you a bit of a warm, fuzzy feeling every episode. That can never be a bad thing either in my book.