[Switchblade]

Well, this episode definitely solidified the idea that I'm in a different place mentally with this show than I was back when I first watched it. I have been low-key dreading this arc because I remember really actively hating Wataru randomly waking up one day possessed by his dad's ghost (as one so often does). I found it incredibly cringe-y at the time and I wasn't looking forward to seeing it again.

First of all, I clearly forgot some of the major details. The show actually did kind of justify it, so my big issue with the plot being completely random isn't really there. Not that this episode wasn't kind of random, but it's an Inoue comedy episode and those always have this kind of heightened reality around them to justify some of the more aggressive wackiness (side note: did that psychic die? Did Megumi and the others just leave his body there?). Second, the stuff with Koji Seto playing Otoya is mostly a lot of fun. I feel like the physical side of it is maybe a little exaggerated, but that may just be the difference in actors calling more attention to stuff that Kouhei Takeda makes look natural. Honestly, the only part of the episode that I still found kind of creepy was the maid cafe scene and that is 100% the fault of how fucking creepy Japanese fetish cafes are by nature.

The other part of the episode that stood out to me is something I had forgotten: Yuri and Megumi freezing up when they both finally get the chance to use Ixa. I can kind of rationalize it with Yuri: this is her mother's killer, she's fought him before and failed, and she was unconscious nearby both times he already proved capable of defeating Ixa. I can buy some "is this even going to work and what if it doesn't?" trepidation on her part.

Megumi is a harder sell for me. This isn't Rook or any other noteworthy Fangire, it's just some random Kabuto-ass nameless Fangire that appeared out of nowhere and has neither a human form nor personal story. And Megumi knows that Ixa works well enough that any unhinged, button-obsessed yahoo can use it to defeat a Fangire. This one definitely feels more like the show being unfair to the character.

Final comment: I will always enjoy how increasingly "Okay, I guess that kind of ties into the episode if you squint a lot" Kivat's opening trivia lines become over the course of the series.