Funny / In the Heart of Kunoichi Tsubaki

As a Moments subpage, all spoilers are unmarked as per policy. You Have Been Warned.

Anime

Episode 1: Men are Dangerous

• During breakfast, Asagao asks Itadori for another helping of rice, to which the latter questions her eating ability as she tries to cram as much rice as she can into her bowl. The result is an pillar of rice no taller than half the latter's own height, which poor Itadori struggles to keep standing.
• During lessons, Hana reminds the class to focus their strength in their abdomen. Clearly, Tsubaki had something else on her mind:
  Tsubaki: *internally* Strength in my abdo-"men"!?
• Sazanka and Asagao perform an experiment where Tsubaki will try to evaporate a water puddle with Fire-style Jutsu, while the two of them whisper "men" in her ear. Sazanka wounds up taking advantage of the situation by jumping the latter and starts nibbling on her ear.
  • When trying a second time, Sazanka assures Tsubaki she'll take it seriously. The latter immediately distances herself from the former, clearly having trust issues.
  • Meanwhile, Housenka attempts a second time to confront Team Dog, only to come across Tsubaki blowing a large, smoldering hole in the ground. To say she wound up terrified would be an understatement.
• In a post-credits scene, a bunch of the girls approach Asagao and ask her to turn into a man. As she tries to do so, she accidentally transforms into a fish, while the others are reminded that her transformation skills suck.
  • As it turned out, Tsubaki witnessed the whole thing, wanting to see herself, and when it turned out to be a dud, she wounds up throwing a tantrum.

Episode 2: Effort and Giftedness | Escape Plan with Nee-sama

• Even though she only approached Team Dog to ask Tsubaki for a favor, Sazanka and Asagao both take poor Touwata hostage, just to be petty over being held hostages themselves the last time they and Team Sheep faced off.
  Tsubaki: They never got over being taken hostage.
  • And right when they run off with Touwata in hand, they're taken out of the fight again due to setting off a net trap. Mizubashou appears and apologizes, admitting she set the trap out of habit.
    Sazanka: Time to break a habit, then!
  • As Sazanka and Asagao are begging Tsubaki to let them out of their predicament, she sports an expression that shows how done she is with her teammates.
• When Sazanka proposes ditching class to Asagao to hang out with Tsubaki, we cut to a dream sequence of the former running into the latter's arms, complete with an art change reminiscent to that of a shoujo manga◊.
• Right before class starts, Asagao goes to use the bathroom, in which Sazanka uses to sneak out of the classroom. For Asagao, this means she has to remain in there until she comes back, resulting in Sazanka making up that she can't go alone. This in turn leads to... an unfortunate situation for Asagao.
  • This sucks even more for Housenka, who actually does need the bathroom. She resorts to pounding on the door constantly and yelling at poor Asagao over the time spent in there, to the amusement of the rest of the class and the latter's humiliation.
• With no dinner on the line, Asagao is hellbent on catching Sazanka for ditching. When she catches up, Sazanka bribes her with food if she lets her go. Enter Team Rat, who caught a wild boar for dinner, to which Asagao turns back to Sazanka with an absolutely nightmarish look on her face◊.

Episode 3: Friendly Showdown | Tag (The Man Is It)

• Benisumomo gets a bit overconfident during a game of tag because Hana's allowing the students to fight back against the one who's "It". When said person turns out to be Hana herself, Benisumomo's confidence immediately deflates.
  Benisumomo: If we think of whoever's it as male, we'll have no choice but to fight, if cornered. What do we do then?
  Hana: If your only remaining option is to fight? That's fine. Then you may fight.
  Benisumomo: Heck, that'll be easy—
  Hana: However... I'll play the part of the man.
  Benisumomo: ... no way...
• Asagao is lured by the scent of food yet again, only to be captured by Hana. While Tsubaki's calling out to her that it's a trap, Sazanka's face is screaming "Are you actually serious right now?".
  • Meanwhile, poor Asagao is just begging for a bite of said meat as she's restrained, and continuously tries to go for the meat.

Episode 4: Men and Women | Mokuren's Medical Jutsu

• The idea that the Akane and Aoi classes used to mingle together was enough to overwhelm Tsubaki, resulting in a visible mindblow.
• Now fully aware of the truth, Tsubaki ponders on the idea of love by herself... which leaves her even more confused, if anything.
  Tsubaki: But I've never even seen a man... so is it love?
• Poor Mokuren's day off turned out to be busy due to everyone asking for her help for one reason or another. When she finally gets some time to nap alone, she wounds up sleeping through half the entire day, basically wasting the day off she was excited for.
  • To top it all off, by the time Tsuwabuki and Housenka find her, it's already night and the latter accuses her of being lazy.
    Housenka: This is too lazy even for a day off, Mokuren.
    Tsuwabuki: Let's go home.
    Housenka: We looked all over for you.
    Mokuren:.... HUH?!
• In the post-credits scene, Tsubaki is flustered by her newfound knowledge. Mokuren interprets this as her being sick, so she decides to "cure" her with her healing abilities. The whine Tsubaki lets out in pain is worth a laugh.

Episode 5: A Fight Over Some Fruit | Independence and Indulgence

• During their cuteness contest, Tsubaki resorts to summoning five extra clones of herself to one-up Hinagiku. The latter calls Tsubaki out for cheating, despite the fact she and her teammates resorted to hypnotizing Sazanka and Asagao to win just moments ago.
  • When Tsubaki calls out Hinagiku for hypocrisy, Oniyuri actually sides with the former, saying she has a point.
  • Tsubaki's so embarrassed to call herself cute, that when she asks her clones to vote, they all fidget in hesitation before disappearing.
• Hinagiku wounds up throwing a tearful fit because she saw Tsubaki as cuter than she was. When Oniyuri explains that she won the vote, Tsubaki's left in utter confusion.
  Tsubaki: A-at what point did I win?
• While it initially starts serious, Ajisai and Sazanka's duel sinks to the level of two children name-calling and pulling each others' hair.
• During dinner, Suzuran tells Ajisai she removed the bones from her fish. Initially happy, Ajisai then channels her inner Paimon in response. Made even funnier considering who her voice actress is.
  Ajisai: Yaaaay! But why!? ^note This line when spoken in Japanese ("わーい! ... て何だよ!?") is similar to Paimon's famous "Ehe te nandayo!?" phrase ("｢えへっ｣て何だよ!?").
  • She even says this line similarly to Paimon!
• In the post-credits scene, Suzuran fashions Ajisai's hair into two cute little buns. Tsubaki sees Sazanka staring, so she fashions the latter's hair into two pigtails. While the two of them are being fawned upon by their respective teams, Hinagiku watches this happen, and her reaction upon returning to their team's dorm is to yet again bawl her eyes out.

Episode 6: The Transfer Student | Shy Around Strangers

• When Rindou first reveals herself, she accidentally refers to herself using the word "boku"^note A male equivalent to refer to oneself. This leads the Akane Class students to think she's a male, who resort to tying her to a tree in response.
  • When Tsubaki sees this happening, she frees Rindou and tells them that the latter is not a male. When they remain unconvinced and demand proof, they respond by making a run for it.
• To prove to the others she's a girl, Rindou drops her pants (while still wearing spats) while Tsubaki explains she doesn't have a man's... ding-a-ling. Yes, really.
  • Being a village of only women, this goes just as badly as you would expect, and everyone else bursts into hysterics and start chanting "Ding-a-ling!".
• As everyone crowds her with questions, Rindou gets overwhelmed and teleports away... while leaving her pants on the floor.
• During dinner, Rindou shows that she can remove the bottom part of her mask while eating. Tsubaki looks unamused.
• After the bath's heat gets to Sazanka, Rindou reveals she can summon people and summons Mokuren to heal the former. Poor Mokuren is left in complete confusion as to what just happened to her.
• It turns out Mokuren's healing ability doesn't have a name outside of "the 'whap' thing".

Episode 7: Rindou's Resolve | Late-Night Summons

• During the cold open, Rindou is practicing removing her mask in front of a Sazanka dummy. Upon her second attempt, she freaks out and accidentally drops her pants... again.
• The fact that Hinagiku's plan to capture Rindou and unmask her required an entire puppet show is worth a chuckle.
• Hinagiku reacting to Rindou removing her mask... goes as exactly as you expect.
  Hinagiku: *while bawling* You can just keep that mask on forever!
  Rindou: Eh?!
  • Meanwhile, Sazanka just tells a confused Rindou to ignore Hinagiku while she bawls her eyes out.
• Sazanka catches Tsubaki and Rindou sneaking out for their late-night summons, and she's pissed, not because they're sneaking out, but because Tsubaki's sneaking out with Rindou instead of her.
• While hiding from Sazanka, Rindou realizes that hiding with Tsubaki looks like they're eloping. Sazanka, overhearing, tries to prevent this, leading to this exchange:
  Sazanka: I won't let you elopement!
  Rindou: Sazanka, that's not how you use the word!
  Tsubaki: You don't need to tell her that!
• After catching up with Tsubaki, a drugged-out Sazanka falls into Tsubaki's arms and groggily says she won't let her and Rindou elope. Cue an epic freakout by Tsubaki.

Episode 8: The Strongest Team | Nee-sama

• Upon hearing Team Boar returned to the village with boar meat in tow, Asagao immediately hauls ass akin to Sonic The Hedgehog.
• When Asagao inadvertently calls Team Boar "stupid" in a positive way, they immediately chase after her, to which she has to stop and say she didn't say "stupid"... while doing the exact thing she said she didn't do... twice!
  • Meanwhile, as Tsubaki tries to defuse the situation, Sazanka simply opts to give them Asagao as a sacrifice.
• While waiting for Dokudami to arrive at the duel site, Tsubaki hears the sound of rustling leaves and thinks its her... only for Mokuren to pop her head out. Cue a Face Fault from everyone.
• Known for having No Sense of Direction, Dokudami boasts that Team Boar resolved this weakness of theirs with a special technique. Said technique turns out it's just following wherever Dokudami's club points towards after tossing it. This ends up making Dokudami and Tsubaki's duel entirely pointless due the latter getting lost again.
  • After hearing that, Rindou is left to wonder if Team Boar really is stupid. Everyone acknowledges in agreement.
• In a flashback to when the teams were formed, Tsubaki is on the search for Sazanka and laments that the ground is too slippery. Right when she says it, she immediately slips and slides down a rock face, complete with a Face Plant.
  Tsubaki: As soon as I said itttt~!
• Turns out Team Boar's lack of direction was a thing even as children. They were essentially grouped up together because they were the only three that didn't make it to the mountain cabin.
  • As Hana and Konoha wait for the three, it becomes night, and they still haven't arrived.

Episode 9: Of Snakes and Men | What Defines Results

• Team Tiger's complete and utter confusion seeing Rindou without her mask. It's not until they see it on the side of her head do they recognize her.
  • Later, when a snake lands on Itadori's head, she and Ume freak out and resort to clinging onto Fuki in fear.
    Fuki: I can't move. Calm down.
• As Tsubaki chastises Sazanka and Asagao for making light of men again, both the background score and her dialogue gradually get higher in pitch and speed up to the point where both become completely incomprehensible.
  • While this is all happening, the scene also cuts to Rindou watching a nearby butterfly cross the screen, clearly not paying attention to what's going on in front of her.
• Tsubaki was so traumatized the last time she heard the word "ding-a-ling", that when Rindou explains that snakes are something like a man's private parts, Tsubaki freezes in shock, looks towards the audience and utters a deflated "Huh?" in response.
  • This comes back to bite her when the snake Asagao and Sazanka are after, and her mind goes back and forth between interpreting the snake as a snake or said privates. This goes as well as you expect, resulting in Tsubaki blushing like mad.
  • To make it even worse, the aforementioned snake has the kanji for "MEAT" written on its head. Yeah, reaaaaal subtle.
• Rindou tries to intercept the snake Asagao and Sazanka are after, but she wounds up slamming into a tree branch.
  Rindou: I messed up before, but this time I'll—*WHAM*
  *Rindou faceplants into a tree branch and falls to the ground, with the snake slithering away*
  Rindou: *in pain* I tried... too hard...
  Asagao: Rindou, you dummy!!
  • Even funnier is that by the end of the first half of this episode, Rindou remains on the ground, having never gotten up from where she fell.
• Rindou's utter confusion upon seeing Azami and Tanpopo's true selves:
  Rindou: Say wha?
• The post-credits scene? Azami and Tanpopo by themselves ranting about Sumire and their training regiment for two whole minutes before just resorting to dancing by themselves in front of a campfire at night.

Episode 10: A Team Leader's Troubles | Favors and Debts

• Mokuren is yet again on the receiving end of Rindou's summoning, and just like before, the poor girl is left in confusion as to what just happened to her.
• After recovering the medicinal herbs, Tsubaki tells Asagao and Sazanka to thank Benisumomo for helping them. The two of them bluntly refuse.
• In the post-credit scene, Mokuren missing the point of Benisumomo's statement after Housenka and Tsuwabuki get into another fight and leave her alone to collect medicinal herbs:
  Benisumomo: Shouldn't you tell [Housenka and Tsuwabuki] off every now and then? Be stern! You're their leader!
  Mokuren: You're right. Fighting's not a good thing.
  Benisumomo: ... that wasn't my point.

Episode 11: Attractiveness Jutsu | I Want to Be Attractive

• Tsubaki's attempts at the Attractiveness Jutsu, both of which wound up making a fool out of herself. Needless to say, both are worth a laugh or two:
  • Her first attempt was to imitate a crane pose◊, which not only didn't look attractive, but rather ridiculous. All Tsubaki gained was laughter from her teammates.
  • Her second attempt mimicked a flower◊, but like before, it was met with laughter by both her teammates and classmates.
• The fact that Hana herself decided to troll around with the Attractiveness Jutsu, first on Suzushiro (while disguised on Tsubaki), and later on Tsubaki herself.
  • As one user on Crunchyroll put it:
    Attractiveness
    Sensei 2
    Students 0
  • Later while Asagao and Sazanka praise a dazed Tsubaki for her "performance" on Suzushiro, Rindou remarks to the audience that she obviously wasn't fooled:
    Rindou: *While looking at the audience* That had to be Sensei.
• In the post-credits scene, Mokuren tries out the Attractiveness Jutsu herself while alone in her room. Unfortunately for her, she left the door wide open for Tsubaki to see, and when she catches her in the act, Mokuren freaks out.

Episode 12: Rivals | Picture of a Man

• The fact that the Attractiveness Jutsu went from being seen as ninjutsu to more of a joke among the underclassmen at Hinagiku's expense is hilarious, all because no one actually knew how to use it.
• While drying Hinagiku's tears, Oniyuri and Kibushi wring out their towels, showing a comically large quantity of tears soaked up.
  • As one Reddit user commented, Hinagiku's "channeling that◊ useless Aqua energy".
• Kibushi going to Benisumomo to help get Hinagiku's spirits back up... goes as well as you would expect. For someone as snarky and smug as she is, Benisumomo wasted no time in taunting the hell out of her.
  • When Benisumomo uses the Attractiveness Jutsu in front of Hinagiku, Kibushi has a Face Fault that makes her look like someone drew her in MS Paint.
• Rindou claims to be good at art and offers to draw what a man looks like. The end result◊... looks absolutely horrible. She's completely unaware that her drawing looks like a giant ink blot while Tsubaki is left dumbfounded at what she's looking at. To top it all off, Rindou says she's proud of this work.
• To prevent Tsubaki from leaving without looking at the scroll labeled "MAN", Asagao and Sazanka start bragging about a new Jutsu they came up with. Meanwhile, Tsubaki ties the two up without them noticing and promptly leaves anyways.
• When Hana approaches Tsubaki for the scroll, she accidentally drops the scroll, only for its contents to reveal... a giant ink blot like Rindou's drawing. Tsubaki wounds up thinking that's actually what a man looks like.
  • Later when returning to Konoha with the scroll, Konoha of all people begins to pester Hana about it:
    Konoha: You took off suddenly. Was there something in storage you didn't want seen?
    Hana: It's nothing. Just something from the past.
    Konoha: Would you bother to go get something that's nothing? Is it embarrassing, perhaps?
    Hana: Embarrassing, huh? Sure, I'd say it's embarrassing.
    Konoha: Show it to me.
    Hana: Nope.
    Konoha: Oh, where's the harm?

Episode 13: Showdown! Akane Class vs. the Man!?

• Poor Tsubaki's having it rough being in charge as no one is listening to her. When Benisumomo points her to Itadori and Ume running around, she gives chase. After finally catching Itadori and Ume, she returns to their classroom, only to find absolute chaos, such as:
  • Asagao, Sazanka, and both Uikyou and Kikyou throwing papers at each other.
  • Touwata in a bridge pose, complete with five concrete blocks stacked on top of her.
  • Housenka and Ajisai swinging from a ceiling rope, before it snaps and sends them into a water jug.
• How does everyone react to Tsubaki's belief that a man was responsible for damaging their village? By collectively losing their shit.
• The girls' efforts to stop the man... go as well as you would expect from a group of trainees in their first battle:
  • Ajisai tries to lure the man, but freaks out when it starts running towards her. Poor girl gets slimed by a tentacle in the process.
  • Fuki, Itadori, and Ume combine into a large tiger, and get immediately trampled. In short, they formed a literal paper tiger^note A paper tiger is a person or thing that appears threatening but is ineffectual.
  • Rindou and Tachiaoi try to perform a pincer maneuver but get caught in Mizubashou's traps, all because she finally had the chance to use them.
    Rindou: What is this!?
    Mizubashou: Sorry, are you ok? I rarely get a chance like this, so I went overboard.
    Rindou: Mizubashouuu~!
  • Higuruma and Hagi running for dear life while Team Rabbit argues over who approaches the man first.
  • Hinagiku, Kibushi, and Oniyuri attempt to seduce the man with the Attractiveness Jutsu, only for Hinagiku to get sprayed in the face with ink.
    Hinagiku: What is this!? It's all sticky! And it sort of stinks!
    Kibushi: *while pinching her nose* You're cute even if you stink, Hinagiku.
    Hinagiku: Attractiveness Jutsu doesn't work on men at all!
  • Remember that technique Sazanka and Asagao were boasting about in the previous episode? Turns out it's putting Sazanka on Asagao's shoulders, but they play it off like they're a mecha-robot - complete with mouthing the sound effects!... though it quickly goes to shit after Sazanka hits her head on a tree branch while giving chase, sending them both into the water.
• That thing everyone believed was a man? Turns out it wasn't, but rather a monkey with an octopus on its head! Benisumomo and Tsubaki have the most glorious "what the fuck?" reactions upon seeing what they were fighting.
  • This is made even funnier, as it turns out that it actually was a man transformed into an animal!
• Tsubaki's concerns about Rindou's drawing of a man are alleviated when she shows that her drawing skills are even worse than she thought, and that everything she draws turns out to be a giant ink blot.

---