Murenase! Seton Gakuen Episode 11 [Anime Review]

Welcome, one and all, to my continuing episode review series for the anime Murenase! Seton Gakuen, aka Seton Academy: Join The Pack. I have to say, episode 11 absolutely hit it out of the park for me. This was a wonderful balance of elements and felt like the best parts of the series mashed into one. Let’s talk about it.

The Festival vs. Extinct Species Alliance: Team Ex!

The opening scenes showing the festival were great. From Armadillos rolling on parasols to Chroe waiting for card challengers, there was plenty of fun to be had. I don’t know what made me laugh more, the Wack-A-Mole with real moles, or Miki’s reaction to the Holstein Cow milking stall.

But it didn’t stop there. The festival also saw some shenanigans with the rather useless members of Extinct Species Alliance: Team Ex. Washima seemed like he wanted to carry out his mission, but was being drawn into all the different stalls and games. Meanwhile, Ando had no idea what a human looked like and ended up threatening to bite Anamitsu is half and show no mercy, even if she is a female. Which led to Ferryl destroying him with one punch. And Yangyang? Well, she ate some poo and fainted.

The only member of that team – other than Anetani – that had any luck was Babari. He managed to catch Jin and was ready to execute him as revenge for humans wiping out Barbari Lions, but King Shishino made the save. A lion battle ensued and, after Babari attacked Shiho, Shishino powered up and grew his man back. The battle came to an end when Jin pointed out that Barbary lions aren’t actually extinct because, despite fears of this in 1922, more have been found.

Thinking on it though, can any of these animals claim to be extinct? I mean, there’s at least one of each of them. And it’s not like Seton Academ is preaching anything other than interspecies relations, so they don’t’ even have to die out. Anyway…I kinda like this team. They make me think of Team Rocket or Bulk and Skull, but with more malicious intent and even less capabilities for the most part. Villainous but comedic.

Fighting Over Hito-Me

There was kind of a theme of fighting over people this week. After Anetani kidnapped Hitomi, Jin managed to convince himself that the two girls must be fighting over him and stripping down to their underwear. I’m not actually bothered by that. Fan service for the sake of it? Sure. But at least it fits with Jin’s way of thinking.

Meanwhile, Anetani was super jealous of Yena putting his arm around Hitomi. We got a battle of ‘who is closer to her’ brewing until Ranka stepped in and forced them to shake hands. But that wasn’t going to last. Yena noticed something the moment he touched Anetani’s hand and followed along in secret as Anetani and Hitomi headed out for vegetables.

There was a brief moment of doubt for Anetani when Hitomi gave her a gift, but she ultimately decided that Hitomi only likes her because she thinks she’s human. So, she knocked her out and tried to carry her away, only for Yena to step in. Surprisingly, given how he’s been built up, Yena actually took a bit of a beating without laying a finger on Anetani here. For a moment, it looked like Anetani had managed to stab him in the face with her spear too! Yena was able to catch the spear with his mouth and break it but Ranka turned up before we could see what would happen if they fought without weapons.

Ranka wanted desperately to have faith in Anetani, because she could smell how sad she was and thinks she may have some doubts. But then Anetani’s boss showed up, looming over them all in the shadows.

The battle between Yena and Antenai seemed pretty intense, so it’s a shame most of it took place off-screen. There is definitely some doubt there though. Interestingly, it was outright confirmed that Anetani isn’t human too, which makes me wonder what she may be. I’m gonna guess Neanderthal, just because she has no animal ears or tail, and is using a spear like we often depict cavemen. We got a snippet of Hitomi not having friends before again too, which again, left me wondering what happened that she knew no humans at all. I can only assume that there maybe aren’t as many humans there as there are here.

Overall

That was easily one of the best episode yet in my eyes. The characters were on form, the fan service was unobtrusive and didn’t feel obtrusive, and the arc progressed nicely. The humour too landed for me. In particular, I loved that Jin was referring to every animal outside the cooking club as ‘stupid [insert species]’, even King Shishino when he saved him.

There will no doubt be some hefty battles to come which, judging by the preview, will take place in a boxing ring and feature both Hitomi and Anetani in…well…very little. Still, after this one, I have hope for a strong finale. Just no more upsetting Ranka, eh? The poor little thing has had a few sad moments of late.

So, those were my thoughts. But what about yourselves? Did you enjoy this episode? Do you agree or disagree with any of my observations? Let me know in the comments below.

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