Servant X Service ep7: the Tanakas are a fearsome clan! You cannot escape!

I love that this episode starts off with my favorite situation in the show. Megumi x Taishi x Toko! And here we see Megumi doing her best to squeeze more time into Taishi’s life by hanging out with, and manipulating his volatile little sister. Despite fair warnings, which also doubled as clever goading, Toko ends up playing a series of games that she gets punished for losing. The punishment? Every game lost equals another piece of a costume for magical girl cosplay that she has to wear. By the end, she’s a full fledged mahou shoujo! This is when Taishi shows up and Megumi makes it clear to him that she’s hanging with Toko because he’s not spending enough time with him. I wonder how long this dance will continue. Megumi very well could be playing with her sister-in-law… if Taishi doesn’t screw this all to hell.

The situation doesn’t really improve at work, as a series of misunderstandings leads to …uh, we’ll just call them problems. Megumi’s testy nature leads the chief to believe that her and Taishi don’t get along, so he conspires to improve their chemistry by putting them alone in the storage area for work. As usual, Taishi doesn’t understand the situation at all. While he recognizes what the chief is trying to do, he doesn’t realize how he should act when alone with Megumi. And this irks her, badly. Despite her going in for a hug with her cleavage out in a private spot, he still refers to her as “Chihaya-san”. This is when Lucy comes in and sees them. Thankfully for him, Megumi has a good head on her shoulders and plays the situation off perfectly.

As the work day comes to an end, Taishi makes an effort to spend time with Megumi by offering to do out and drink with her after work. Unfortunately, the chief asks him to stay late after work, and Taishi of course obliges. Megumi is around to see this, and is again “irked”. *shudder* She decides to bide her time hanging out with Toko at a clothing store in the mall. Toko just so happens to be there with her friend Kanon, who is I remind you the daughter of the chief.

Before Megumi shows up though, Toko has already talked to Kanon in length about how her brother loves to hang out with his friends despite having no girlfriend in sight. But Kanon can clearly tell from her story that the “friends” he’s hanging out with are actually just his girlfriend. And now Megumi shows up and she has no trouble putting two and two together. Though their meetings is a fortunate one. Through Kanon we get a better understanding of this three-way relationship. While Kanon is initially under the impression that Megumi is just manipulating Toko to spend more time with her brother, she learns that Megumi actually cares for both, and the secret relationship she has with Toko’s brother puts a strain on things. By the time Taishi gets around to pissing her off again, we have a good understanding of what a pickle Megumi is in right now. And you’re just left hoping Taishi figures this situation out soon.

The second half of the episode brings us back to a lingering plot thread from the previous episode. Saya’s stressful predicament with Ms. Tanaka bringing her married grandson by to date her. And also the mystery behind why Hasebe gets sick and pale whenever the situation is brought up.

Old Ms. Tanaka hasn’t shown up for awhile, and Saya is getting worried. As she tells this to Lucy, it’s then that a young man by the name of Mr. Tanaka shows up. It’s definitely her grandson, he definitely has some of the same tendencies. Though thankfully, he’s not there to sweep up Saya in his arms. More importantly, he freaks out when he sees Hasebe! Hopping over the desk and grabbing him! Gay lovers? Mmmm, probably not. Hasebe rejects him totally, and the ever responsible Tanaka has to return to his banker’s job before his lunch ends.

Weird. Just f*cking weird.

You’d think the situation would be over after that, but no. NO-NO-NO-NO NO! Ms. Tanaka was out because of a cold, but she returns at full power. Everyday. With her grandson. Everyday. And everyday Mr. Tanaka asks about Hasebe, despite Saya’s claims that he’s often out of the office. He’s not buying it anyway. After all, he can FEEL his presence…!

*facepalm*

In the end, we don’t really get to know what’s going on between the two. From Hasebe’s perspective, Tanaka seems to be the hardworking type that is jealous of Hasebe’s natural gifts and lazy demeanor. But from the view of the casual observer, the relationship seems more… salacious? I’ll just come out with it. Though I’m sure it’s not true, Mr. Tanaka seems to be gay!

End of episode.

I really, really enjoyed this episode! The first half was a treat because I just love the relationship between the Ichimiya siblings and Megumi. It combines some of the best parts of shipping with a very real relationship.  Some may find this relationship boring and stagnant, I find it intensely interesting and painfully real to life.  There’s still a bit of a high school element to it, mostly from Taishi’s perspective.  But there are grown men out there that are really that clueless.

Now the second half was something I found literally laugh out loud hilarious.  I never expected the younger Tanaka’s explosive reaction to Hasebe, nor the very cold rebuke of his presence.  Then there’s the fact that everyone’s starting to think there’s some sort of gay relationship being hinted at, and the awkwardness just rides a wave of more awkwardness for as long as the two are still part of an episode.

I couldn’t be happier with how these episodes are playing out.  And though this episode was a little short on Lucy sightings, she’s mostly just a clueless centerpiece for what can often be greater festivities around her.  Seriously, everything happens to or around her.  It’s rare that she initiates anything in the story.  And if she does, it usually involves her giant breasts causing some sort of disturbance.  OK, this conversation isn’t getting anymore positive.  I’ll just move on before I say something I regret.  See you guys for episode 8!

Further Reading:

• Episode 6