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Episode 7: If You Suspect Hypocrisy
Air date: November 15th 2006
Channel: TV Tokyo
Length: 23 minutes
Summary
Chouno has been defeated and Tokiko survived - thanks to the arrival of her commander, Captain Bravo. He enlists Tokiko's and Kazuki's help in a new mission: to hunt down a certain organization of homunculi, and a traitor who is working with them.
Meanwhile, it turns out that Chouno survived and was taken in by his great-great-grandfather, who managed to turn himself into a homunculus and attain immortality 100 years ago. Now known as Dr. Butterfly, Chouno's ancestor is leading the very same organization that Captain Bravo has come to battle: LXE, the "league of extraordinary elects".
New main characters introduced:
Masashi Ebara as Captain Bravo
Katsumi Chou as Dr. Butterfly
Guest starring:
Tomokazu Seki as Moonface
Hiroshi Tsuchida as Homunculus Kinjou
Nobuhiro Watsuki as 'Buhiro Watsukino'
Compared to the manga...
This episode covers the beginning of the third volume, chapters 18-21.
My small complaint first: Kazuki's little TV interview at the beginning was left out, which was disappointing to me because I liked Kazuki's sad face. But I admit it probably was relatively unnecessary, at least in the big picture.
But what is in the episode is Nobuhiro Watsuki's cameo appearance. In the manga comments of Busou Renkin, Watsuki used to draw himself as a little pig, who also appeared within the pages of the manga in this one scene, with one single line. The fun part is that Watsuki lent his own voice for the anime adaptation!
Opinion
Directly after the end of the first arch, this episode's function is little more than a set-up for the next, bigger arch. Nevertheless, it's fun to watch, thanks to a couple of hilarious scenes, such as the infamous visit to the fastfood restaurant.
Captain Bravo appears for the first time, along with Moonface and Dr. Butterfly. I am still not a fan of Tomokazu Seki's voice for Moonface...
We see Papillon in his full costume for the first time, and get a first glimpse at the silhouettes of the LXE members, and of Victor.
The highlight is definitely Captain Bravo, who is simply a great addition to the story and quite perfectly portrayed in the anime.
(Written by Kaeli on November 16th)