When I first read the synopsis for this series, needless to say I was intrigued.  Half spirit-half human girls who fight out-of-control demons and spirits?  Yes please!

In the first episode, we meet Zakuro, the tsundere leader of our fearless fighters, flanked by Hozuki, Bonbori and Susukihotaru.  It opens with them fighting some unknown spirit with Zakuro at the helm.  It then changes to the side of town occupied by the humans, where we meet Amegaki and his co-workers.  They’re assigned to work along side Zakuro and Co. in the Spirit Assembly by someone who looks mysteriously like Hitler.  I’m not sure if that’s a coincidence or not, but whatever the reason, it made me lol.

Amegaki doesn’t look too thrilled with his new assignment, but quickly resigns himself to his fate.  Needless to say, once Zakuro finds out about her impeding house guests, she isn’t too thrilled about it either.  She continues to walk around, muttering about how stupid humans are and how they ruin everything.  Upon meeting the girls, Amegaki turns on his bishi charms in the hopes of keeping the girls – Zakuro in particular – at bay.  Fortunately for him, and unfortunately for Zakuro, his defense mechanism seems to work.  For now.

Night falls on the house and Amegaki is “nearing his limit,” so he puts on his uniform before sneaking around the house.  Everywhere he turns, he runs into one spirit after another, which only seems to make him more frazzled as his adventure continues.  He eventually bumps into Zakuro and begs her to accompany him to the outhouse.  Amegaki, it seems, is terrified of all spirits which automatically makes him a pansy in my books.  The next day, the girls and Amegaki’s group are informed that their only task for the day is to head to the petal viewing festivities.  In preparation, Susukihotaru bumps into Riken, whom she earlier referred to as “tall and scary.”  He assists her with her task before kneeling before her and asking if she still thought he was scary.  I thought it was adorable and quite possibly the cutest moment ever.

Upon arriving at the festival, Zakuro and Co. continue to get dirty looks and comments from bystanders.  Amegaki is visibly upset about the way they’re being treated, but Zakuro – who seems to not want his pity- informs him that they’re used to it.  Everyone notices that the sky is quickly darkening and Raiji, the lightning spirit appears.  At first, everyone seems happy to see him, but the girls realize that something is wrong.  Their familiars appear by their side and proceed to pull sakura branches out of their throats.  Wait, whut?  Apparently sakura branches turn into weapons in this universe.  So long as it works, I could care less.  I’ve seen worse. XD   Zakuro makes quick work of Raiji, who appears to return to his normal, well-behaved self and all is well with the world.  Zakuro mumbles something about the spirits seeming to be troubled and how she hopes it’s  not the cause of the new calender that the humans came up with.  Perhaps this is a first glimpse at what’s to come?

All in all, I thought this was a decent start to a show.  The animation was really nice and the battle scenes – however short they may be – were well rounded in terms of action and animation.  Plus the bit of gore at the beginning is always a plus.  Not a whole lot was delved into this episode aside from Amegaki’s fear of spirits and the fact that Zakuro and Co. are half human-half spirit entities.  However, the mystery aspect of what’s going on in the spirit realm as well as why the humans were assigned to working there in the first place are intriguing.

Overall score: B/A+