World Destruction 05: Bear Friends

IN THIS EPISODE: Morte and Kyrie get kidnapped and have to fight gladiator-like in a coliseum, while Toppi plays with himself. I mean, with the black version of himself. I mean -- oh, just watch the show!
Episode 05: There are Two Types of Men
More Screencaps from World Destruction 05
Our fave trio find themselves in a land where humans are abducted and forced to become gladiators in order to entertain the beastmen. Morte and Kyrie, being humans, end up in prison and forced to take part in the battlefights. Morte more than handles herself but Kyrie is another matter.

Meanwhile, Toppi is out looking for his missing friends when he finds himself rescuing a "damsel in distress" -- a cattlegirl who is not surprisingly named 'Mutton.' The incident catches the attention of one black bear, who turns out to be someone Toppi knows very well.
The black bear's name is Yappi and apparently, he and Toppi have sworn together to become heroes. Toppi, however, is completely unaware of Yappi's recent shenanigans. While the two talk about old times, a beastman arrives to tell Yappi about some recent developments. Yappi excuses himself and goes to meet the Roosterman, who congratulates him about his latest human find: Morte and Kyrie. Apparently, Morte's mad skillz in the battle arena has won her some fan favor and the Roosterman is pleased because more fanfare means more moolah for his racket.

Meanwhile, Toppi finds out where Morte and Kyrie are kept: in a cramped cell under the Coliseum. Toppi frees them but as they try to make a break, they stumble upon Yappi, who happens to be in the area because he himself is trying to flee after stealing gold from Roosterman's vault. When the guards arrive, Yappi hastily covers his own ass and orders the guards to capture the trio. Toppi is obviously devastated by Yappi's betrayal.
holy schmuck barbecue sauce with noodles!

The next morning, Morte, Kyrie and Toppi are brought to the arena in a novel attempt to let humans fight together with a beastman. The idea is Yappi's but Roosterman is having a hoot.

The first monster of the day is a huge sand-snake, which makes short work of Kyrie's ridiculous armor, and even deflects Morte's DEATHBLOW OF DOOM DOOM! In the end, Toppi defeats the sand-snake by throwing a spear right into its mouth, thereby killing it. But the fight is far from over.

From the sidelines, Yappi watches in dismay as Toppi continues to perform heroic acts. After some time, he starts to leave but is met along the way by Mutton, who asks him why he doesn't help his friend. Yappi has no coherent answer to give.
Ok, that name? It's bad.

Back in the arena, the trio have to fight a hammer-wielding minotaur. Kyrie acts like a total girl and runs around screaming. Then, like a total girl, he stumbles on a random rock and falls down. The minotaur bears down on him but just before he hits Kyrie with the Blow of Death Death Death!!! Toppi blocks the hammerblow. Some drama later, Toppi beats the crap out of the minotaur.
i can't take these guys seriously

The next contender is the group of bears that abducted Morte and Kyrie. Their leader? Yappi! Toppi is shocked beyond words. Morte and Kyrie are kind of expecting it. The crowd is going wild. Roosterman is surprised at first but realizes that everything is turning out better than even he expected.

During the fight, Toppi takes it all, giving Morte and Kyrie nothing else to do but watch.When it is time for Yappi to fight, he goes into a flashback about how he always wanted to be a hero but that because he accidentally killed a beastman, he was thrown into depression and lived an utterly hopeless life. That was about the time Roosterman came and gave him the task of abducting humans to be turned into sports for the beastmen.

With Yappi being in no mental condition to fight, Toppi promptly hands him his ass. But just before the winner is proclaimed, Roosterman discovers that his gold was stolen and immediately suspects Yappi of the act. Before he can openly accuse Yappi about it though, Toppi owns up to the act and announces that he is a member of the World Destruction Committee. At the mention of the notorious organization's name, the crowd goes even wilder -- but this time, not over the fight but over the prospect of getting the reward money for capturing the WDC members. Just before Toppi leaves, with his companions, he gives Yappi some awesome words of wisdom:
life lesson from the bear

COMMENTS:

This episode is all about Toppi. I totally love bears. I think they're the cutest things evarrr! So naturally, I love this episode, if only because it's filled with bears. The art has notably improved but still not up to par with the first episode.

It's beginning to look like this series is going to take on one country per episode without really telling us about the Destruct Code or why Morte wants to destroy the world so much. I mean, I can understand how a world where humans are enslaved is terrible but to the point of destroying it? There must be a more powerful reason that drives Morte to her goal. But in the meantime, the series is dilly-dallying and does not seem to be interested in pursuing the subject any time soon. I don't really mind pointless shows so long as the humor is there.

This episode isn't as humorous as the first but it's fine. One thing I noticed about World Destruction is the amazing voice cast. I love the seiyuu for Kyrie -- he sounds like a completely useless, lackasaidical coward person, exactly like how the character's make-up would sound. And Toppi's grave tone is appropriate to the character's personality though not to his appearance. He is such a hilarious character that I think that whoever created him has the spark of genius. Maaya Sakamoto, of course, is awesome as Morte -- commanding yet not without humor.

I guess the thing about slice of life anime is that it allows you to view the show not only through the narrow scope of its plot but to look at it overall and appreciate otherwise overlooked details, like voice work, music, sounds and animation.