Bakumatsu Gijinden Roman - Episode 3 (Dropped)

He might be an arch thief, but Ishikawa Gojuemon's weakness towards women proves to be his undoing, as an encounter at a brothel leads to his demise when she takes control of Gojuemon by showing him the Boards of Canada album cover within her eyes.

Meanwhile, Roman and his group of helpers are investigating the case of a missing map - not just any old map either, but Japan's most detailed geographical record, a map which would be invaluable in the hands of an opponent looking to go to war with Japan...  Needless to say, recovering the map is a high priority (not least because it commands a handsome reward), and so off sets Roman on a train that leads him to... Ishikawa Gojuemon, of course.

Luckily this isn't where the trail runs entirely cold, as Roman's sister (and more importantly her dog) tracks down the map, allowing them to follow it to its new destination and a shocking truth - that it's about to fall into the hands of a foreign military force.  To try and prevent this, it's time for Roman to don his special armour and snatch the map back - the trouble is, he's reckoned without that aforementioned Boards of Canada album cover, a guest appearance from Catwoman, and a bunch of shit blowing up.

I really shouldn't so surprised at having to say this about a series born from a pachinko machine, but Bakumatsu Gijinden Roman is dumb with a capital 'M' - this week's episode sees it completely incapable of finding a good way of introducing a character other than having a policeman shout his name, alias and who he is to the audience, the action scenes are pretty ropey (and never mind the fact that Roman's armour is unexplained, this show has zombies in it so don't expect logical consistency here), and the shocking twists that should punctuate the climax of all that action is laughably stupid and contrived.  Having said I'd give this series more of a chance last week I've now come to my senses... watching clips on Bakumatsu Gijinden Roman might pass off as a "so bad it's good endeavour", but I don't have the patience nor the masochistic streak to sit through any more of the bullshit that it makes up as it goes along.  Did I mention how dumb this show is yet, by the way?