Kamisama Dolls - Episode 7

In case you'd forgotten in its late blaze of bras and wet blouses, last week's episode of Kamisama Dolls ended with Hibino asking Kyohei to recount the story of what exactly happened between himself and Aki.  Cue this episode, which recounts the whole sordid tale for both Hibino and us, the viewer.

Thus, this episode takes us back into the past, and a time at Karakami village where Aki was no longer a Seki and bereft of a kakashi amidst concerns about his violent mental state - a decision which saw his Seki status passed on to his step-brother Atsushi.  As we join this story, the latter is all set to put some serious smack down on the former using his Seki, Kuramitsuha, only to be interrupted by first a newcomer to the village, and then Kyohei and his own kakashi at the time Kukuri.  The newcomer in question is Chihaya Senou, a new teacher in the village who soon proves popular with both the younger children while arousing more than just the interest of Kyohei in particular.

However, Senou's positive start in the village soon turns sour as Atsushi looks to have his way with her and finds himself rebuffed, leading to him unleashing a hate campaign that sees the villagers and children turn against their formerly beloved teacher.  As Atsushi tries his luck again in violent fashion, it's Aki who saves the day, leading to Senou sleeping with him and putting the final nail in the coffin of her employment.  Atsushi still hasn't finished his fun however, as he kidnaps Senou to lure Aki to him, before his attempt to kill his step-brother goes badly wrong, instead leaving Senou dead before a beserk Aki regains control of Kuramitsuha and goes on the killing spree which led to his discovery by Kyohei and later imprisonment.

So, there we have it - the back story to Kamisama Dolls has now well and truly been filled in. Although the whole story felt a little ropey in places (Senou's reasoning for sleeping with Aki in particularly felt a little "off"), it's a solid effort overall that benefited from its adult, pull no punches tone while filling in everything we needed to know about Aki, and perhaps less than we need to know about Kyohei.  Now, the real question is where the series goes from here - your guess is as good as mine on that front...