While the last episode existed mainly to introduce Soul and Maka, this episode exists mainly to introduce two other characters, Black Star and Tsubaki. After the intro that I probably forgot to mention last time because I always skip past it, we meet Black Star and Tsubaki. They're crouching in the ductwork of some building, spying on the AlCapone gang. I'm not sure whether this is supposed to be the actual Al Capone or what. There are a few points when I'm a little confused about the time period this story is supposed to be set in. I'm just gonna go with 'alternate reality that doesn't have to make sense'. Anyway, the bad guys eat some human
Tsubaki, by the way, is some sort of odd weapon. They call her a scythe, but she's more like a scythe/nunchuk hybrid.
Seriously, what is that?
She's also got a couple of other forms, namely a giant throwing star and a smoke bomb. She appears to be one of very few weapons who have multiple forms. Don't worry, it's explained in another episode.
Anyway, Black Star and Tsubaki very nearly get shot to death. They escape. Black Star thinks it was a huge success because everyone noticed him. He doesn't understand the meaning of the word 'assassination'. Tsubaki reveals that Black Star hasn't gotten her a single Afreet egg yet. He's kind of a sucky meister. Tsubaki should've left him ages ago, really, but she either doesn't have a spine or feels bad for him. Or something something unrecognized potential blah blah blah. That too.
They go to look for another assignment and get called to see Death, the school's headmaster or whatever it's called in this school. Death sort of chews them out for being failures, but since he's a total derp/Albus Dumbledore in a funny outfit, he comes off as much nicer than that. Anyway, Death tells them that Capone is going after a witch, and they go to stop him and also to steal the witch's soul themselves. That plus the 99 souls of Al Capone and his men would give them all the souls needed to make a Death Scythe.
Tsubaki tries to talk Black Star out of it, because she isn't a moron, but Black Star doesn't listen to her, because he is one.
Anyway, Al Capone and his men go to the witch's castle. Outside, they meet a man with a sword who threatens them. He has a name, but I will call him Legolas. The scene cuts away before we can see what happens.
Black Star climbs up cliffs all determined, muttering to himself, and sees Tsubaki bathing. Yeah, it didn't make a ton of sense to me either? I think the animators just wanted to draw Tsubaki mostly naked because she's crazy hot.
See?
She stabs Black Star in the forehead and somehow doesn't kill him, and then they both laugh about it. They have a weird relationship.
The two of them finally meet Legolas, who is surrounded by the souls of the dead gangsters he killed offscreen. I doubt anybody is surprised by this. Well, other than Black Star. Black Star is angered at losing his kills, and so he decides to fight Legolas because he is not only a moron but an egotistical moron. They have a cool fight scene. Black Star gets his ass handed to him and Legolas chews him out for being stupid and incompetent and treating Tsubaki like crap even though she's the only reason he isn't dead by now.
The speech may be true, but it pisses off Black Star enough to let him beat Legolas. He's about to kill him, but some annoying kid flies in on a broom and tells him to stop. It turns out that the witch is just a little kid, which is why she needs a bodyguard. I think she's supposed to be cute, but she just grates on my nerves. She raises a lot of questions, though. I would have thought that witches were humans who chose to practice dark magic, but the existence of a child witch suggests that they're a species, or at least a race. The DMWA hunt down witches and kill them. They're basically committing genocide on a proud and ancient race of animal-themed women with superpowers. Our heroes, everybody.
Anyway, even though they've got a hundred Afreet souls and a helpless witch right there, Black Star just walks away, because he may be an idiot, but he's not an asshole. They give the Afreet souls to Death. I wonder how long the souls will just sit there. You'd think they'd, I dunno, vanish into the ether or something. Is there an expiration date on them? Do they need to be kept refridgerated?
Anyway, the episode ends with Black Star sneaking in to spy on Tsubaki bathing again. This time, there are lots of other half-naked girls there too. What a guy.
The first few episodes of this show are pretty blatantly just setting up for the rest of the series. This episode was an improvement on the last one in that there were less tedious infodumps, but it still wasn't great, especially not when compared with the awesome that the series becomes later. There were some exciting bits, and Black Star is pretty funny. Overall, it was worth watching, but not great.
Final grade: 5/10
Fortunately, there's only a couple more of these setting-up episodes, and the next one is pretty damn hilarious. Next time, on Filia Caniculae Watches the Animes: Meet Death the Kid!
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