Moyashimon Returns - Episode 8

As the search for Hasegawa continues with Sawaki and company hot (well, lukewarm) on her trail, this week's episode of Moyashimon Returns sees our little jaunt in France take us to Burgundy.

As well as offering up a perfect opportunity to learn a little about the French wine industry and wine production in general courtesy of our tiny microbe friends, it also sees our trio of brave agriculture students out of water to run into a rather surprising individual - a stunning blonde French girl who happens to speak Japanese.  While this is great news for the broke students, being run over by her car is perhaps less so, but she does at least give them a lift, first to a nearby monastry as they search for possible locations where Haruka's wedding might be held before travelling onwards to a nearby vineyard.

Speaking of fortuitous circumstances and coincidences, said vineyard also happens to be playing host to a wine-taking banquet organised for a seemingly arrogant guest - you can probably guess where this is heading, and with Sawaki and company working as waiters in return for a roof over their heads they're reintroduced to a surprised Haruka just in time to ruin her prospective husband's meal before explaining why they're in France to a bemused and confused Hasegawa.  In the midst of all this Marie, the aforementioned blonde girl, reveals herself to be be more than a little similar to Sawaki in her place as the disgruntled heir to an alcohol production business.  This is just an aside to the shifting sands between Haruka and her prospective husband however...

Although the series decamping to France continues to be somewhat refreshing (and microbes saying "Bonjour" is strangely adorable), this episode was... well, pretty dull for the most part.  The introduction of Marie certain adds some, err, charms to the series, but there wasn't a whole lot for us to get our teeth into, with even the episode's drama feeling pretty flat - when the height of tension involves soy sauce, it's hard to find any fervour while watching a show.  Hopefully things will take a more interesting turn next week, as joking aside the relationship between Marie and Sawaki could head in some really interesting directions if allowed to continue, and Haruka's immediate plans could certainly see some much-needed sparks flying.