Occult Academy: Episode 3

This episode was alright. While I usually enjoy cute romances, this one was neither cute nor interesting. The episode basically had Fumiaki trying to hook up with a girl named Mikaze. Besides the fact that this relationship has nothing to do with Nostradamus's key, it's also a plot device that is very boring due to Mikaze having no interesting character traits what-so-ever!

Anyways, I have to say that despite the boring relationship, this episode was quite funny. The best gag had to be when Chihiro tried hooking up with Fumiaki, only to be rejected after Fumiaki sees what their future will be like when he uses his cell phone to see the future in 2012. Plus that creepy landlord was freakin' hilarious! This is a huge improvement from the previous episodes, which had jokes that were stereotypical, and only mildly amusing at best.

The romance aspect had to be the worst aspect of the whole episode though. I mean, Mikaze isn't an unlikable character, it's just that her personality is severely underwhelming compared to everyone else. It also seems that this whole relationship was created as a way to slow down the discovery of Nostradamus's key. Maya seems to be doing most of the work here, thus creating the potential threat that Fumiaki could become a real annoying character if he doesn't do something to move on the plot.

Hopefully the next episode will be better, plus I do hope that this relationship between Mikaze and Fumiaki will disappear, as I really find Mikaze to be quite a dull love interest, making her screen time quite tedious. Other than that problem, it was a fair episode.

Rating: Fair