The breakneck pacing continues, allowing the fourth episode to cover the 4th tankobon’s big bath scene by the end.
For better and for worse, the Triage X has been in near perfect lockstep with the manga so far. That’s a bit more on the worse end of the spectrum today as the Chikage / Doctor mini-arc has some of the most problematic and flawed writing in the manga. Which means the writing in this episode had holes Mikoto could ride her motorbike through.
Can’t say the action really impressed all that much either, and the art seemed to dip a bit (until the girls got naked, then it mysteriously got much better in a hurry). Good call there, Xebec.
The manga’s flaws have been the anime’s flaws, yet I want to praise this series for sticking to the script. Lately we’ve seen way too many ecchi anime based on good manga that botched things by going away from the original. Triage X will never be a masterpiece, but stick to the original and it will provide enough empty calories to satisfy.
Anyway, we get a decent amount of cheesecake during the action sequences:
One of the downsides about the fast pacing is that bad guys never seem to stick around for more than a few minutes. Why should we care if “The Doctor” is banging Chikage? He’s had a grand total of two minutes screen time at this point, and Chikage herself has only been around a couple episodes.
The answer is, of course we don’t care. And that’s okay. We’ll get a nice boob shot here on BD and a goofy euphemism to go with it.
Ah yes, beef injections. Hot beef injections.
The female detective sidekick, Konomi Suzue, has quite the rack, it’s even more impressive in the anime than it was in the manga. Her attire, massive jugs even the glasses she’s wearing, doesn’t it all just seem just a fit familiar?
Detective Suzue has yet to have a nude scene in the manga so far (though there is a random lookalike who does). Hopefully the OVA is anime original and they can work her into some big bath scene or something.
Speaking of which…
This next part caught my eye:
Is that an airbrushed, blurred out nipple or is it merely some shining rosy skin? Gotta say, the placement, shape, and color makes it look a lot like a big fat areola just sitting there.
That said, the manga version has a shiny spot there and the nipple is elsewhere, so it’s probably not a nipple here either. Sure looks like one though.
I’m not picky when it comes to boobs. Big or small, I like them all. But I have to say, I have an appreciation for a set that’s seen a few sunny afternoons and has just a few imperfections here and there. Just a touch of droopiness here, that’s all it takes to make Miki’s breasts feel unique and exciting in this shot. I appreciate the attention to detail Akio Takami has during shots like these.
My only complaint about this episode (other than the ridiculous plot holes in the first 15 minutes), was that they kind of rushed through the big volume four bath scene so that they could have another unnecessary scene with the series antagonists. This bath scene was massive in the manga, maybe the biggest of them all, and it was over in the anime in about a minute. They could have easily made it a 3-5 minute scene based how long it lasted in the manga.
As it is, they couldn’t even cram in every panel from volume four’s epic onsen scene. A few of them missed the cut, including a great shot of Oriha diving in for what is perhaps the sexiest hug ever. Note that the eyeglares you see in the panel below DID make it in the anime, maybe this will be a slightly extended scene on BD?
I guess we’ll just have to hope this onsen scene picks up again at the start of episode five, but I kinda doubt that happens.
Moving along, the episode ends with another behind the scenes peak at the series antagonists.
They really should have cut the little villain snippet out and added that time to the bath scene. I think Xebec forgot for a moment why people are watching this anime.
Oh well.
Overall, this episode really solidified things for me that Triage X is probably never going to be above average at any specific aspect other than boobage. And thus, this series needs to find ways to center around the nude scenes as much as possible. It really is a shame that the BDs apparently will not include mini-OVAs, because the lack of anime original nudity leaves some characters out in the cold a bit.
That’s not to say this anime is disappointing. Not at all, I think it’s actually very exciting that this anime has put itself in good position to cover every ecchi scene from the manga, and leave itself open for an anime original OVA that can get much more creative with the fanservice. All while staying as true as possible to the original manga, other than some character design differences.
At the current pacing I’m not expecting much in the way of service next episode, other than this little bit (which will probably be done redraw style ala Maken-Ki! Two ).
Just for fun, I figured I’d add some manga / anime comparisons so you can see just how closely the anime has been to the manga scenes:
Art style aside, it’s really cool how close the anime and manga have been.
