English Dub Review: Miss Kuroitsu from the Monster Development Department “The Sheer Malevolence of the Denizens that Dwell in the Castle of the Dead Seeds Mutual Fear and Hostility Among Their Wicked Rank”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Magical Girls Pilia Magia infiltrate Agastia and end up in a showdown against Megistus. Meanwhile, Kuroitsu seeks a breakthrough in her battles against Blader.

Our Take:

After a good change of pace in last week’s episode, Miss Kuroitsu returns to the usual two-segment approach for its eighth chapter. I still have no grudge against this narrative, as it offered enough goofy moments to keep the show functional. However, I also find it a shame that it couldn’t keep the trend going. In this episode, we see one of the Agastia executives going toe-to-toe against the superhero duo. We also have another monster-of-the-week scenario by Kuroitsu and the Monster Development Department.

The first segment features another appearance of the Magical Girls Pilia Magia duo, which was last seen in episode three. Reo Shikishima and Yuto Higatani are sent on a mission to infiltrate Megistus’s recruitment drive. Unfortunately, things don’t go as planned when Megistus finds out about their plan. Plus, he refuses to hire underage recruits because of the company’s code of conduct.  

After making a suitable yet brief first impression in its third episode, the licensed superhero team has a chance to shine in their own mini-adventure. The result is a humorous one-off that sees the Sailor Moon pair failing to foil a villain’s plot again. The highlights for this one regarding the comedy were the girls’ reaction to the recruitment drive being a regular interview and Yuto’s concern over Reo answering the questions confidently.

The second segment shifts the episode back to Kuroitsu with another monster she created: a wolf-like creature known as Bandersnatch. However, on the verge of victory, it was quickly defeated by Blader’s second form, leaving Kuroitsu distraught at her enemy’s surprising upgrade. I like this segment a bit more than the first, mainly because of the touching moment between Megistus and Kuroitsu and Kenji’s development towards his superhero persona. Plus, Wolf Bete’s reaction to the astronomical costs of making a giant monster is one of the funniest visual gags I’ve seen in the series.

Overall, the eighth episode of Miss Kuroitsu has enough confidence to be another worthy recruit for Agastia. Granted, it’s not a miraculous upgrade from last week’s misadventure with the titular department. Still, it maintains the silliness of the work environment concept to keep this business functional. As long as it sustains that momentum going forward, I would reconsider its multi-segment structure in the remaining episodes.