We get some extra development for Akira this episode, and the fake Shinsengumi actually get to show off their skills.
The episode starts, though, with the resolution of the fight the last one ended on. After Ichibanboshi interrupts, Sakuya manages to go into glowing sword mode and finish off his former mentor. He comes clean to Ichibanboshi that, yes, he did kill his own father. He refuses to elaborate, though, which puts even more of a rift between the rivals.
Based on some new intel regarding a threat to the Shogun, though, the team has a fresh mission: infiltrating a red-light district (per the episode title) and gathering information regarding the machinations of a Choshu lord. Akira and Ichibanboshi infiltrate the main building (the former disguised as a Geisha, which brings to her mind some dark memories of nearly being raped in the past) and the latter mingling with the other staff. The rest of the Shinsengumi are set to sweep the streets, but soon break off to do things their own way.
In this, Gyatarou (with Bou in tow) finds some old criminal friends who seem to know what’s up. Sogen (Suzuran in tow) discovers an ill prostitute and treats her in tacit exchange for information. And Sakuya (the only one to stick with Heisuke) finds they’re being watched and threatens/tortures the information out of the spy.
In the building, Akira is accosted by the mark himself, only to be shielded by one of the proper Geisha. He and his men spend some time drinking and talking things up, and then declare that it’s time to move, as they intend to kill everyone there on the suspicion that some of the workers are spies for the shogunate. Akira offers herself up hoping to spare any other bloodshed, but this turns out to be both rejected and ultimately unnecessary, as Ichibanboshi realized which way the wind was blowing and got all the staff to evacuate the building. Of course, he’s kind of an idiot still and forgot to bring his and Akira’s swords when going to meet up with her. Luckily, the geisha had a hidden blade and helps them fight back.
The situation is turned around when the others arrive, delivering the swords and adding their own muscle to the fight. Even Suzuran seems capable of fighting now, his broken sword worked into a sort of taser-staff thanks to Sogen’s mad science.
The fight ends up being very much in the Shinsengumi’s favor, with most of the thugs being cleaned up very quickly. The ringleader faces off against Akira, and she manages to cut him down, invoking her own glowing sword in the process. However, it seems the ringleader was not who anyone thought he was, and the helpful Geisha was in fact the real Choshu lord in a pretty good disguise, inclined to put a stop to people doing bad things in his name. Historically, the Choshu domain stood as an opponent of the shogunate, particularly during the Meiji Restoration, so it will be interesting to see where this character plays out against the pro-shogunate Shinsengumi and the fictional villainous cult.
All in all, the show seems to be stabilized at a rather solid, moderately predictable sort of level. I’m not one to drop Seasonal Selection series, since you never know when something is going to hit a major turn in its quality or content, but part of me feels that after three episodes, I kind of know where this show is going, and that it’s going to be very safe and overall harmless entertainment, easily watched but easily forgotten. Consider this my prediction, and we’ll see by the end of the season whether or not I was right.