Ladies versus Butlers! - Episode 6

I have to confess that I still haven't quite forgiven Ladies versus Butlers! for throwing away a decent story concept last episode in the name of fan service - Can episode six of the series assuage my frustrations with an unlikely stroke of genius?

This time around, the show's focus is upon wannabe butler and room-mate of Hino, Daichi. Of course, we learned last episode that all is not as it seems with Daichi, as that good old fashioned anime concept of a girl pretending to be a guy raised its not quite so ugly head, and so it goes that this episode deals with poor old Daichi's attempts to hide her true form from all an sundry - Something that proves to be a problem in a series where being naked as much as possible seems to be the status quo.


On top of that, this episode sees the school's principle announcing a ball, in which the butlers will have to dress as maids and the maids as men, an announcement which churns up all kind of conflicted feelings for our heroine of this instalment - She went to this school to become a man, yet deep down she still wants to look beautiful and be noticed just like any other girl. Oh, what dilemma!

For a concept that is pretty standard fare in certain anime circles, it's not exactly a surprise that this particular episode of Ladies versus Butlers! is similarly run of the mill. Again, it wins some points from me for some of the decent moments of humour which it has managed to sprinkle throughout the series thus far, but aside from that everything was as predictable as you'd expect from the inevitable fan service onwards. Still, at least the breasts and nudity fitted into the wider plot more seamlessly this time around, which somehow allows me to at least give it a little grudging respect, and once again Hino's likeable character manages to give me some justification for feeling a little warmth towards this show that comes from my head and not any other region of my body.