The last major cast member of Moyashimon is introduced in episode 6, and a hot one at that! Voiced by Noto Mamiko to boot! This show just keeps getting better and better.

(Yes yes, I’m well aware of what happens in episode 8. I have to keep the spoilers to a minimum, however, since Guff has to wait for the subs, as do many of our readers.)

At any rate, I’m highly pleased with the grand debut of the lovely miss Mutou Aoi. She’s the perfect mix of genki and crazy to round out the already hilarious Moyashimon cast and create more of the unique wacky humor that has made this show fantastic.

I love her traveling outfit, as well as her wonderfully Engrish hitchhiking sign – “EAST anyhow”. Classic.

But jeez, ditching her at the airport was a bit harsh, even for Hasegawa.

I’ve got to say, I don’t think I could carry a backpack filled with horrifically odious fermented foodstuffs across the country. You’ve got to hand it to Mutou, she definitely has determination. Personally I would’ve just ditched the bag sooner than hoofing it across the continent reeking like a brewery all the while.

See, now this is exactly what I’d do for a Sawaki cosplay, if I had a bunch of little 1:1 scale Oryzae-tans that I could set on my shoulders to cruise around with me.

It’s terrible. These are the manifestations of some of the most horrible diseases around, the kind that you curse bitterly while leaning over the toilet bowl after having eaten that poorly cooked chicken.

But they’re so cute! I just can’t bring myself to hate them like I know I should. Gah…what is this show doing to me??

Well, that’s another check for cosplaying lab workers. I’m starting to suspect that fanservice may have been the cause for this change of attire, not that I’m complaining mind you. Thankfully it’s a little less intimidating than Hasegawa’s outfit. Seriously, how does she get away with wearing open toed shoes in a laboratory?

Ahhh…thank you. Disinfectant saves the day once again. Though I think the group may have gone just a tad overboard.

“A tad”?? She’s lying in a smoldering heap on the floor!

Let me try hitting you point blank with dual-wield Lysol spray cans sometime and see whether you think it’s “a tad overboard” then.

This brings up an interesting question as to whether or not a being that possesses no mind or complex organs can have some measure of intelligence. Personally, I think adaptation can appear as logic rather frequently because we utilize logic to make scientific observations. Nonetheless it shows how surprisingly resilient microscopic creatures can be.

Sorry for the tangent, but I thought this was pretty cool.

Alright let’s examine the situation here. We have an attractive female wearing a cheerleader outfit and a lab coat, who is a science expert and also the president of an extracurricular UFO club. Well anime, you’ve gone and torn the minds of otaku everywhere asunder yet again. I hope you’re happy.

I’m sure if everyone could see germs the way Sawaki can, most of us would have very different ideas about hygiene and sanitization. It’s one thing to “know” that germs spread when you don’t cover up that sneeze, or when you touch lots of things without washing, but it’s another thing entirely to see them swarming all over you!

On the other hand, the world has enough hypochondriacs as it is.

All right, did the UFO Society catch a case of Down Syndrome along with the flu? Seriously, you’re keeping chickens and pigs in a virus ridden room? No wonder the influenza microbes looked so gleeful, it’s practically a bacterial utopia!

Mutou’s hair-pulling exasperation was arguably her best facial expression yet.

And after seeing the ridiculous behavior of the rest of the UFO Research Club, I’m right there with on that reaction.

“Storm the Front!”

Thankfully, the cleaning crew at this university is pretty serious business. And considering the disastrous nature of the students around here they’d have to be, really.

And just how many of these “disinfection specialist teams” does the school have, anyway? And why haven’t they taken over the country yet?

I absolutely cracked up at this. Hasegawa explains that the mask won’t keep out influenza; the extra humidity created by it will only temporarily trap or slow down the virus.

Sawaki then lifts the mask to reveal all the chibi viruses, wiggling helpless and shouting “Oh no, I’m stuck!” and “Oh, the humidity is slowing me down!”

Why couldn’t school have ever been this fun? I probably would’ve remembered what they were trying to teach me a lot better, honestly.

“Hey baby, nice, uh…chickens ya got there.”

Yeah, I see what all those guys are staring at.

She can pour me a drink any day of the week, thank you very much.

In some ways this whole scene kind of reminded me of Bartender, which by the way is another often overlooked gem of an anime.

“Okashii na…”

The hilariously over-the-top narrative of Mutou’s back story just cements the ridiculous nature of her character.

For some reason it looks less like he’s smoking and more like he’s possessed by that inkstone mushi from episode 10 of Mushishi.

“Get drunk and have fun!”

Words of wisdom if ever I heard them.

You know you’ve found an exceptional establishment when the attending staff considers it a compliment for you to drink and be merry. What a great series.

Mmm, tasty…

Man, is it really bad or a really good thing when anime egives you sudden cravings to go drink alcohol?

It’s the Food Poisoning Microbe Sentai Team!!
Moy

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On the 10th day of Christmas my true love gave to me…

10 microbes brewing

9 Lucky ladies
8 Misa-Misa’s
7 bure bures
6 zawa zawas
5 GIGA DRILLS!
4 metatags
3 rain charms
2 Guchuko’s
And a cruise on a nice boat for free!

I wish the upcoming Oryzae-tan plushies would be released in time to make stocking stuffers out of them. Then I could cosplay as Sawaki by bleaching my hair and duct taping them to be hanging all over me.

I mean, how can you not love ‘em? They’re adorably cute and friendly, they have awesome dreads, and they make delicious alcoholic beverages for you! What’s not to like?

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You know, I’m growing to enjoy this show more and more as the emphasis towards alcohol continues. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not, but it’s certainly managed to increase my interest in this very unique series.

Episode 5’s Microbe Theatre was just exceptionally awesome, really. Deep down I’ve always been convinced that alcoholic beverages were produced by flurries of gleeful dancing bacteria that leapt about joyously as they guided the holy fermentation process. This was all the affirmation I needed, really.

And while the human characters are still great, the microbes always manage to steal the show without even trying.

Watching the show’s depiction of biodegradable plastics being devoured by tiny bacteria had me in such stitches that I kept rewinding to watch it again and again.

Kind of scary how casually Haruka can drop death threats, and with a completely straight face! Makes me wonder who’s more terrifying between the two Harukas of this season – Hasegawa Haruka of Moyashimon or Haruka-banchou of Minami-ke.

As they entered the store I couldn’t help but think, “Whoa, why is the sake outside?!” It was quite gratifying to see Kei have the same reaction.

Now, my knowledge of sake is pretty rudimentary, but my interest in it is rather is considerable. So even a baka gaijin like myself knows that you don’t leave good sake sitting out exposed to direct sunlight…this is madness!

Unquestionably, my favorite part of the episode was seeing the veritable swarm of microbes surrounding old man Kikuji. It reminded me somewhat of the boar-god from the opening scene of Mononoke Hime.

Often times meshing cel animation with CG can look sloppy (lol Dragonauts), but when it’s pulled off with this much panache it’s really a treat.

Kowai!

Interesting bit of a role reversal there between Sawaki and Haruka, as well. Funny, I never really noticed just how much taller she is until this scene.

Now that’s what I’m talking about!

Man, if I knew where to find a bar like this I’d be down there every night partying like it’s 1999 Tokyo! Mmm…just looking at that sake makes me want to go have a drink or two.

Mi-Mi-Mikuru Beamu!!

Well now I’ve really seen everything. I mean, I’ve seen shiny teeth, shiny glasses, even shiny foreheads…but shiny eyeballs?? That’s gotta be a first.

Never thought I’d be jealous of a melon before. Yet another first.

Whenever I see those Japanese melons with the split stem like that, I have this sudden urge to go “BA-LUM!!” And then I do a flutter kick jump.

I find it kind of funny how Moyashimon makes a big show of not letting the underage characters drink. Even in real life its not like anyone would care. But of course they have to keep things politically correct for television broadcast.

MmmmMmm…

Man, after this sequence…as over the top as it was, I really wanted to purchase some good sake. Thankfully, because it is true that the foreign consumer market is becoming more lucrative, you can actually get some pretty decent sake even here in the States.

I don’t really understand how it’s become passé to drink sake in Japan. I imagine it’s the same sort of xenophilic thing that makes deplorable American pop music popular in other countries. The only problem is, good sake is exceptionally delicious, whereas American pop is almost unequivocally abysmal.

You can tell they are gaijin because they have the huge nose, ha ha!

What old man Kikuji said it absolutely true, sadly – sake consumption in Japan has been dropping steadily year after year, and many breweries have been forced to close their doors. The only thing keeping the sake industry from suffering a major downsize is exports.

Consumption of sake outside of Japan has been growing significantly in the last few years, and with good reason. The modern brewing technology this show features is helping brewers to make better, purer, and even more delicious sake than ever before. It’s damn good stuff, really.

Unfortunately, the Japanese are more enamored with imported foreign imported wines and beers. It’s just the perception of foreign stuff being more “hip” and “exotic”, really. The Japanese pay big bucks to import fine Napa Valley wines. Meanwhile, folks here in California who live within driving distance of those wineries would rather have a bottle of sake and a sushi roll.

Enter Mutou…and to think, I thought only otaku had the power to clear a room with odor alone.

Ugh…I once had a similar experience involving spilt milk that had been spoiled for quite some time. OTL

I must say, regardless of what you do, that smell NEVER leaves your carpet. Really, the best option at that point is just to burn down your residence and stage it as an act of random arson.

Oh well, at least the bacteria are happy.

The closing scene kind of reminded me of Potemayo and Moriyama, what with the Oryzae-tan chillin’ in the front of Sawaki’s jacket. Man, I really want a plushie of one of those!

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Tiny microbe riding a giant face-worm?? The “WTF” factor in this show is just beyond compare. I mean, it’s worse than Ghost Hound, honestly! This scene kept me awake at night, staring at the ceiling, the image forever burned into my mind’s eye. O_O

That’s a rather eerily human face for an earthworm…but the microbe riding it like some kind of cowboy was pretty hysterical. It’s great how the bacteria manage to steal the show even without having any direct input in a given scene.

Like this, for example. I just crack up every time the bacteria are on the screen, I’d watch the show just for the microbe theatre personally.

Personally, I think planting rice could actually be a fun experience. Of course there is the heat, and the manual labor, and the mud underneath the toenails…gross. On second thought, I can understand why they make the freshmen do this. >_>

I love ramen noodles, but I was never personally a fan of menma. It’s not repulsive or anything it’s just not my cup of tea…erm…cup o’ noodles? Whatever.

Once again we have another brutal Hasegawa freak out moment. I can’t understand why she detests Misato and Kumahara so much. I mean, they’re pretty enthusiastic about research, you’d think they’d get along. Maybe if they wore more impractical leather.

Earthworms, check it!

Another reason why I love this show is all the horticultural remedies it mentions. It’s such an obscure topic but it’s delivered in such a hilarious and enjoyable fashion that you become kind of engrossed with it.

Excellent ninja running form.

Now they just need to be leaning forward at a 45 degree angle and they’ll have it mastered!

.

You know, you’d think that at an agricultural university they’d have some more degrading form of hazing than forcing freshmen to raid vegetable gardens. Speaking of which, did anyone else have Peter Rabbit flashbacks while watching this episode? Or if not Peter Rabbit, then how about the scene from Lord of the Rings where Pippin and Merry steal mushrooms?

I think even Pippin and Merry would’ve been screwed if they were caught by these guys, though…I mean both the kendo and karate clubs are represented, along with the football squad. Wait…why on earth would an agricultural university in Japan have an American football team? This place gets more and more bizarre with each episode.

The non-fossil fuel powered tractor debuts…and as with most new alternative sources of fuel it is immeasurably impractical and embarrassingly weak. I’m not saying we should clear cut the rainforests or anything, but it’d be nice to have alternative fuel that was legitimately an alternative, as opposed to another excuse for yuppies to feel philanthropic.

All right…I think I would’ve just faked a seizure or drank some ipecac syrup or…you know… committed suicide. Any of those would be preferable to reaching inside of a cow’s butt. The announcer doesn’t skip a beat either, he’s got quite the stomach.

Ah ha! Sawaki saves the day again with his ability! You know, picnics would be a really nerve racking experience if you could see bacteria. I mean, it’s just as much a buffet for the microbes as it is for the people, really.

Itsuki-sensei springs into action! Hilarious!

Along with face-earthworm, this was absolutely the funniest point of the episode. Itsuki-sensei is what science geeks all over the world wish they could be – scientific superheroes, leaping through the air with microscope in hand to save the day!

Crisis averted, well played Sawaki! This series continues to be excellent; I can’t wait until the group starts to brew some sake. Let’s just hope it doesn’t turn into some kind of Yakitate! Japan style “brew-off”.

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Haruka-neesan is amazing! Oops wait, wrong show…

But wow, Moyashimon’s Haruka couldn’t possibly be more different from the eldest of the three Minami sisters. Fortunately it still makes for great entertainment.

In episode 3 she goes into full femdom mode and lays the smack down on Misato and Kawahama.

Also, this week’s Moyashimon equation was partly inspired by Jesus159159159’s comment on our first Moyashimon post. Thanks!

Her comparison of Tadayasu to the school’s $3 million dollar electron microscope is underselling him rather a lot, I daresay. What electron microscope do you know that can identify microbes from several meters away, or isolate individual strains with a single, squishy pluck?

I instantly recognized this “dish”, the Honofe (not sure of the Korean name, I know hwae naeng myun is a marinated skate dish, but I think that’s something different), as I remembered seeing it on one of those random Japanese variety shows last year. It basically consisted of two Japanese guys traveling around the country with a little electronic “smell-o-meter”, trying to find the most pungent cuisine in all of Japan. The winner proved to be this fermented skate, a traditional Korean delicacy.

In the TV show, they filmed the chefs cracking open the fermenting jar, followed by all of the restaurant’s waitresses and patrons running out the door screaming, “OMG THE SMELL!!” (In Korean and Japanese, of course). These are Asians, mind you, who normally don’t so much as bat an eyelash at food that would cause the typical Westerner to go into seizures. If this stuff is potent enough to make them start running for the hills, I can’t imagine how horrible it must be.

Of course the guys on the TV show, being the intrepid culinary adventurers that they were, ate it and loudly declared it to be “UMAI!” (delicious), tasting nothing like the horrible smell that had driven away everyone within a 500 foot radius. I don’t know if they were serious or not, but if that was acting it was an Oscar worthy performance.

Meet Oikawa Hazuki. What a way to introduce a new character. >_>

I can’t imagine what sort of person would attend a school that required you to partake in preparing some obscenely pungent fermented fish as an academic prerequisite. In fact, one of the things that I’ve been wondering throughout this series is how on earth they get their funding. I mean the brewing of sake I can understand but fermented skate is a bit much, don’t you think?

I mean, the creature looks like it’s making a frowny face – that in and of itself is enough to make me cringe, but then tack on the abominable stench. I mean…just what is going on in Korea? I’ve had kimchi and rather enjoyed it for the most part but how do these sorts of things become delicacies? I think that’s actually the crux of it. The more unimaginably bizarre and repulsive a dish is, the more posh and elitist are the consumers of said dish.

The true identity of the Anti-Spiral is revealed!

Awww… T_T

OH NOES!! The poor microbes! What has science done??

This series really has a way of making you sympathize with…mold, of all things. I mean, granted they can spread disease and destroy foodstuffs, but they’re just so darn cute!

*gasp* “You soulless witch, how could you slaughter the poor Oryzae-tans like that?”

And then it dawned on me…

I’m shouting in indignation at a fictitious cartoon female character for destroying adorable dancing colonies of mold and bacteria. Congratulations anime, you’ve taken the last fragile shred of my sanity and hygiene. I hope you’re happy.

For once, a wardrobe change for Haruka!

What a great explanation! Not only did I learn a great deal about the sake brewing process, but it was actually entertaining! That’s gotta be a first.

Honestly, after seeing this I think every science curriculum needs to be updated to teach this way.

“We’re changing starch into sugar!”

“I ate the sugar and alcohol came out!”

I just can’t get over how hilarious and freakishly cute this is. They even chant what they’re doing while they work! Seriously, where was this stuff when I was in school??

I actually had no idea that traditional sake was prepared this way. Somehow I just can’t see this going over well on Martha Stewart – “Then just moisten the rice with your own saliva for seasoning…*spit*”

Hasegawa’s reaction was pretty hilarious, though.

Multikill with a wooden dipping ladle? That’s gotta be some kind of new record. I love the reactions of everyone in the background.

Honestly, I’m surprised Hazuki hasn’t taken off running after everything she’s been through today. Makes me wonder if maybe she’s hiding some kind of bizarre eccentricity herself.

And Professor Itsuki redeems the rather unfavorable reputation of the dubious duo.

Personally, I was happy to see things turn in this direction. I had thought the two might just be throw away comedic relief characters, but it appears as though they’ll have a more prominent role.

Things just keep getting more interesting and more strange, Moyashimon is definitely a winner.

This week’s Microbe Theater was also a winner.

Yes, they’re black microbes with dreads and deep voices, scientific name asperillus niger, or just A. Niger for short. No, I’m not going to make any jokes about it. >_>

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Moyashimon episode 2.

Thanks to Xerox for this week’s Moyashimon equation. It was inspired by her description of the bacteria:

“…aren’t they just adorable? They’re like tiny, tiny marshmallows, don’t you just feel their squishy plumpness when Sawaki plucks them out of the air?”

Yes, they are indeed adorable and plump. Adorable and plump bacteria. Yes.

Since Guff and I have been occupied with other endeavors over the last couple of weeks, we’re going to try and catch up this week with our episode reviews somewhat. Among other things, you can look forward to more Kaiji as well as our thoughts on Masamune Shirow’s Ghost Hound.

But before that, of course, Moyashimooooooon~!

The carefree way the bacteria frolic about just never fails to make me laugh. It’s such a bizarre concept to represent bacteria that way, but it works so well that I can’t help but smile whenever they’re on screen. Like Gurren without Lagann, this show just wouldn’t fly without the bacteria. Despite being tiny, they easily overshadow the human characters in terms of entertainment value.

This show continues to captivate me as well. The fact that it deals primarily with the brewing of sake is quite the incentive in and of itself, but then they combine that with painfully gleeful dancing bacteria! I mean, that’s just really not fair. How am I supposed to do anything else other than watch this show?

Hey, what do you think of my Hitler impression?

Now, I’ve allegedly done some pretty ridiculous things with school equipment in my day. In fact, I allegedly raced stand up pianos across the gym floor, and allegedly made questionable use of audio visual equipment for the purpose of Mario Kart during study hall. Allegedly, I tell you.

Unfortunately, however, I’ve never had the opportunity to use school premises and equipment for the purpose of brewing alcohol. But we can dream, can’t we?

While I’m not really a fan of this particular duo, you do have to give them credit for the sheer moxy of trying to start their own illicit brewery on a forgotten corner of the school campus.

I actually really enjoyed the introduction of the dubious duo Misato and Kawahama. I must admit I feel for their plight; I haven’t quite reached the point of using silkworms or cultivating penicillin to pay for school, but in view of my invertible debt as I approach grad school it might not be a bad idea.

I suppose their role in the show is a necessary one. Someone has to be the butt of all the jokes, the characters you love to hate.

Who the fuck do you think I am? I’m the femdom science queen, bitch!

Hasegawa is awesome as always. Like the bacteria, she helps add that extra element of over the top ridiculousness to the show.

On a slightly different note, I really like the way they transition between Sawaki’s view of the world, and how everyone else sees it. It’s always a challenge to portray these kind of situations, where different characters perceive the world in different ways – for example, Hobbes appearance from Calvin’s perspective vs everyone else’s.

The animation team for Moyashimon, however, has done an excellent job at helping the viewer see the world through Sawaki’s eyes while also avoiding a constant barrage of bacteria cluttering up every shot.

Ninja vanish!

While the bacteria may be the main act of the show, the humans can be pretty entertaining, too. Professor Itsuki in particular never fails to crack me up. He’s the quintessential harmless mad scientist. Well, harmless as long as you keep him away from any bird butts, anyway.

Korosu!

What with all the overbearing cuteness the show is positively dripping with, I’m glad to see they didn’t forget to throw in some good ol’ emo facial distortion.

Kei’s impersonation of a Sectoid isn’t half bad, and gives me high hopes that he’ll go into a loco fit and instigate some kind of wacky hijinks later in the series.

I loved the scene with Kei whispering “die” fiendishly as he spread ash on the hiochi bacteria. I’ve done the same thing with Lysol wipes around my bathroom, so I can relate.

If they actually made a Moyashimon TCG, I would go out and buy some in a heartbeat.

Interestingly, these cards are modeled after a popular real life trading card game / video game called Mushi King. Back when I was teaching in Japan, my grade school age Japanese students would often play this game at the arcades after class.

Basically the game is a glorified fighting game version of Rock Paper Scissors, thus the little “rock” and “paper” hand symbols on the Hiochi and Oryzae cards, respectively.

You know, if they made a Moyashimon card game it could serve as a legitimately enjoyable educational game. Other than killing scores of bears on Oregon Trail, and naming my characters ridiculous names (0rion: “YourMom has died of cholera”), I don’t think I ever enjoyed educational games growing up. However, a Moyashimon game might end up a good way to learn about organic chemistry, you never know.

In fact, education aside, I think the idea of playing one side harmful bacteria the other side helpful bacteria would be awesome. Think, you could go co-op and gain fermentation points with molds and the team with the best sake would win.

Oryzae-tan, I choose you!

A tasty beefcake shot for the ladies. Oh yeah.

More bacteria than you can shake a stick at!

Unfortunately, this is probably entirely too representative of what the average male residence would really look like if you could see all of the invisible crap floating around like this.

For some reason this scene just cracks me up to no end.

I imagine that this series is probably a lot of fun to animate, just because it’s so ridiculously cute and goofy.

Agreed, this part had me in stitches as well. Knowing some of my friends, it’s entirely possible that colonies of bacteria make a veritable Disneyland resort out of them…ughghgh… *shudder*

It’s interesting to see that not only can Sawaki see the bacteria, he can actually interact with them directly as well. This scene, in which he calls out to the different types of bacteria and they begin to glow, seems like it could be foreshadowing as yet unexplained aspects of his power.

It’ll be interesting to see whether they actually go anywhere with the development of his character, or whether the humans just end up serving as a foil for the comedic genius of the tiny squishy marshmallow bundles of win. Honestly, I think I’d be equally happy with either direction.

I must say, this week’s Microbe Theatre was very informative. I can no longer hold any contempt for mold considering they’re such cute lil’ fellers and all.

I love the statement the mold make as they all bask in their little environment, “Ah…what a great room!” It’s just hilarious. It practically makes you feel bad for using soap.

Speaking of which, I imagine in the microbe world most anime con-goers are pretty choice real estate. When you look at it that way their lack of hygiene seems almost philanthropic.

Ummm…no. I loves me some cute molds and all, but I draw the line at that.

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In a season overflowing with sequels and generic “been there, done that” plots, Moyashimon’s unique premise and unusual, lighthearted style is a breath of fresh air.

Basically it’s Mushishi, but instead of mysterious and sometimes sinister creatures that live in your eyeballs, it’s full of cute and harmless bacteria who appear as chibi critters with big heads and giant smiles. I swear they look like something straight out of LocoRoco. Even the music in the little ending skit totally reminded me of the game.

Moyashimon’s OP, “Curriculum”, sung by Ifu Sarasa as her debut piece.

If watching this doesn’t make you smile, then there’s something terribly wrong with you.

As soon as I saw that little yellow oryzae guy with the dreadlocks come out and start boppin’ to the music, I knew this show was gonna be epic.

The ending skit, which took the spot that would
normally feature an episode preview.

LOL, the sign says “Beware of animals!” Not exactly your everyday university campus.

Nice daikon!

Gondola livestock coming through! Hah, that one sheep seems almost as weirded out by them as they are by it.

This whole sequence served very nicely to illustrate that this is not your typical university.

The bacteria are definitely the highlight of the show. Just look at the cute smiles on their faces as they blissfully biff right into his face.

Sawaki’s power certainly seems pretty helpful, but obviously they had to make it rather selective. If he really could see all mushi bacteria manifested like that, he’d hardly be able to move or see, since in real life they’re absolutely everywhere. Including in your mouth and other places about your person.

A wild moleman Itsuki-sensei appears!

Do you:

A. Stand frozen in shock and terror

B. Pass out

C. Eat some bird butt

In animation, they have complete freedom to make it look however they want…so why the heck do they always just throw in craploads of absolutely horrible looking lens flare all over the place??!

Only cheap lenses with a five bladed aperture would produce that awful pentagonal shape, and only a completely crap $100 K-Mart lens would produce such huge ugly looking flare. Do they not realize that lens flare is bad, and that professional photographers pay thousands of dollars to get lenses that remove that kind of effect???

I understand it’s supposed to make it look cool and dramatic somehow, but as a photographer I die a little inside every time I see them do this.

*sigh* /rant

Anyway, Itsuki-sensei is simultaneously amazing and horrifying.

He’s got a cool sounding deep voice, scary shiny glasses, and great presence.

But on the other hand, he looks like some kind of horror movie reject and he eats bird butts.

I absolutely flipped out at this part. o_0

By the way, if you’re interested in learning what the heck this scene was all about, as well as excellent explanations of the various bacteria that appear in the show, be sure to check out this article. (Warning: Highly informative! Not recommended if you’re ADHD or have a low tl;dr threshold.)

In addition to the specific stuff TJ outlines, there are a number of other common terms that are used frequently in the show which are handy to know, especially since there’s no one subbing it right now. Here’s a few of the more common ones:

kin (菌) – bacteria, germs, the generic term for the little floaty chibi dudes.

kabi (黴) – mold; for example, penicillin (the little greenish-blue guy) is called aokabi in Japanese, literally “blue mold”.

kouji (麹) – Yeast; can also refer specifically to the kind of mold used to make sake, as mentioned in the show. Sometimes they also call it koujikabi (kouji mold).

kamosu (醸す) – Brewing or fermentation. Wow, lots of “K” terms.

GAH! THERE IT IS AGAIN!!!! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE!!!

The eyecatch is just win. I so want big versions of these for desktop wallpapers. n_n

Also, I just have to laugh at the one samurai lookin’ yogurt bacteria guy standing on the lower right near the logo. He just looks so serious business.

I also loved the way they smoothed out scene transitions and expositional sequences by cutting to a shot of the mushi bacteria just kind of chillin’.

Moyashimon’s poster boy, the oryzae, is definitely my favorite of the different bacteria we’ve seen. I really need to get a plushie of one of these guys. My Mokona needs a new friend.

And of course he’s able to tell the Japanese yogurt apart from the non-Japanese one because the bacteria are all “Japanese style”, bowing to each other and saying “~de gozaru.” Notice that they also have topknots instead of little dangly ahoge.

Once again, the little bacteria are really what carry the show and make the show so much fun, like in this scene where they stand around watching him draw, and then when they realize that it’s a picture of them they all jump up on the drawing pad and chatter excitedly.

Haha, even the bacteria are terrified of Hasegawa!

Hopefully in coming episodes we’ll get to learn all about all these different little guys!

“Hmm…I see the problem…you really need to change into something that makes you look more like a scientist and less like a hooker. Oh yeah, you should probably do something about that athlete’s foot, too.”

This little ending skit with all the oryzae and the penicillin was pretty entertaining, as well.

I honestly like this kind of thing much more than an episode preview, especially for a simple episodic show like this where it isn’t needed, since there really isn’t any big plot hook to show off.

Much like Mushishi, Moyashimon is a very different kind of a show, one that perhaps not everyone will appreciate. There’s no gun battles or moe fanservice here (unless cute bacteria is your thing, that is), and no grand overarching plot to draw you in. It’s just a nice simple story that features a great mix of humor, science, and surreal WTF moments.

In addition, production values in Moyashimon seem surprisingly high, and the overall animation quality is excellent. The soundtrack is also very appropriate for the show and lots of fun to listen to.

I think in the end, your overall opinion of Moyashimon will be based on your reaction to the mushi, sorry, bacteria themselves. If you really enjoy their cute appearances and silly antics, you’ll probably love the show. Likewise, if you watched the OP and were unimpressed (you soulless oni), there probably won’t be much to interest you in the rest of the anime, because it’s essentially just lots more of the same.

Of course, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

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