It may come as a surprise, but as much as I love watching anime, blogging about it is actually hard. That’s not to say writing isn’t fun and isn’t rewarding, but the time it’s taken for me to consistently cover the four or so shows I was covering the past few weeks was a bit too much for me. I guess I realized now that covering four shows at once with summaries and commentaries is too much. School’s starting for me again in less than two weeks and along with that comes daily homework, thus reducing anime viewing hours considerably. Once I resume work later in the fall, well, needless to say, I’ll loose more time. I’m getting busy already.
In light of these problems, this anime blog will be placed in Hiatus. Thus, I probably won’t be posting anything here for a while because I have no time. The blog may return in a few weeks at best and a few months at worst.
Have a good one.
Regretfully, Committed.
Updates
A week of school has passed already. It was weak, to say the least. Anyway, I foresee that the workload will be decent and livable. Thus, I probably will resume blogging again for the fall season. Until then, committed.
I’m late, I know. Amagami SS this week was wacky. The tone of this episode was set immediately to a different beat. The narrator first changed how to the episode worked. He introduced Junichi, making it feel like a completely different anime. Then, to take things even further, Junichi was subjected to an onslaught of ridicule and Junichi kindly asked the Narrator to stop, and of course, the Narrator completed the long tradition of breaking of the fourth wall in comedy.
'Yeah, but you said you touch her! You touch her! That's way more perverted...'
A Quick Summary
Actually, you know what? I’m lazy. You saw the episode right? If you didn’t the pictures below will summarize it for you. If you really want a summary, try reading Slugs or THAT.
A Long Time Ago… Somewhere far, far away…
She wants a turn with you too, Miya
Junichi, once told that her sister fondles her lovely young friend, imagines a very steamy situation in an after school classroom. You know, I must be missing something. How does Miya know Sae? If Sae moved into this school for the fall semester, and that’s where we basically start the arc (ending on Winter/Christmas), how many days have already passed? I doubt she had been to the Tachibana household at that point, but Miya makes it seem like she knows her better than she should. Maybe all that touching has communicated more than we expected.
But you had your hair in a ponytail / And it looked so good on you, it was criminal.
Right before Miya starts to act out having ponytails, Junichi was also doing it. There is no way any student in school would be caught dead doing that. No way.
You couldn't go one block over? And, what happened to the driver?
Sae is a scaredy cat. That is to say, she is so timid that she can’t deal with a puppy. It’s kind of sad too, because she was just standing there, alone, behind a pole. And of course our hero Junichi rescues her. One of the interest things about this anime is how we see the relationships building by coincidence and one off incidents. The purse incident and of course this setup the entire arc. If Junichi hadn’t bumped into Haruka at the beginning, this probably wouldn’t have happened in the way it has.
Whenever I bring a girl into my room, I always tell them it's 'training'!
Junichi x1 never got Haruka in his room. Junichi x2 managed to get Kaoru into his room in the fourth episode. And the incredible Junichi x3 got cute little Sae into his room on the first episode. It’s absolutely amazing. Although I think it has something to do with the fact he didn’t have to creep around Miya.
Further more, insisting on touching someone’s tummy for training is fun. Her face is a mix between shock and displeasure. And his face was ftw! So in anycase, score for Junichi x3! On the other hand, what will the kinky element be this time?
Sae looks at Miya: 'You have seen this before, right, Miya-chan?'
Isn’t the picture saying enough alone? Why was Junichi giving her a cup of hot coffee to begin with? Why even put something on the platter that could break. In fact, after the cup fell, in subsequent pans around the room, I didn’t see the cup. He probably rolled on it and addition to getting scaled with hot coffee, he has glass splinters. Someone failed, and it wasn’t Sae. And then – who would take their pants off with a girl they just met in their room? Really now? Maybe walking to the bathroom? Changing out in the hallway? Something? Anything. Please.
'This meat bun tastes so good! Nii-nii, what -----?'
Essentially, anyone could’ve walked in and made the same mistake. Miya ends up saying this too, of course, but Miya wanted to see it.
Finally
At the end of long day of training, I the three of the playing their piggyback game was fun.It was funny, but it was serious too. It showed how Sae had already loosened up. At the beginning of the episode, she wouldn’t really even speak much. Now, she’s in engaging in close physical contact. Progress.
The ED for this arc contained a chibi Sae which was incredibly cute. I like Sae overall, and I like how we get to see her develop. The only thing I have an issue with is her voice: it doesn’t fit her. Her voice actor is Hiromi Konno, the same person who did Akria Kogami who I hated in Lucky Star. No one. It’s cute, but not that cute.
Time will only tell how this arc develops, but so far, so good.
The first moments of this episode expanded the scope of this series. It portrayed the president and one of his military cabinet members discussing preemptive nuclear attacks on countries with nukes. That surely goes beyond the scope of high school but it was a good reminder, finally, in all of the fan service, that zombies have seriously desecrated the world.
Because Zombies set fire to the American capital!
I wonder though: is the United States capital better known that, say, the capital of Japan?
A Quick Summary
The episode, as mentioned above, starts with the United States president on Air Force One. After that scene ends, the teacher is driving the Hum-V across the river. Once on the other side, all the girls get out of the jeep to change cloths – and even feel a bit embarrassed. First, Takashi got a new gun, and then there were none of Them that anyone could see. Takagi’s house was near by so they planned to go there but they eventually ran across a wire gate in the road. Slamming the breaks propelled the stupid fools whom seated on top of the swiftly moving Hum-V, off the Hum-V and into a horde of zombies. Saeko, Hirano and Takashi fight off the zombies as best as they can, and they even try to lure them away by making noise away from the jeep, but to no avail it fails. Since Rei forgot how to stand up, it was lucky that Takagi’s mother came to the rescue with a bunch of high pressure burst fire hoses, saving everyone. That is, except Takashi and Saeko since they were already up a ledge at the time. The story is repeating itself.
The Fan Service this week was eaten by Zombies!
It might just be me, but after the overdose on fan service last week, there wasn’t much this week. I was so happy! Fan Service kills the mood of this show by far more than anything. Moving along.
Way too happy for this to take place in a zombie infested world.
Even if Hirano is an otaku, I don’t think he’d be enjoying this situation as much as he does. It was fun to start out the episode with a classic: row row row your boat. They were doing it of course because Alice is in second grade and knows English. It was my first time hearing it in Japanese. Same rhythm, different words.
It's the ED image of Angel Beats!
Marikawa said that she brought her friend’s supply of cloths. But when the girls walked out from behind the jeep, they looked totally the same. What are you talking about? How were Takashi and Hirano impressed?
Zombie, don't you dare come any closer...
When Rei was thrown on the ground, she was totally shocked when she saw Takashi jumping down beside her with a gun to save her. Why didn’t she get up? Was she wounded? I couldn’t tell. She wasn’t crying out in pain, bleeding or zombified. Something’s fishy.
So was her mother waiting for her? Would she have helped out if Takai wasn't with the group?
If I was writing a story, I don’t know if I’d conveniently have one of my main character’s mothers bail them out of the zombie apocalypse. Unless. Unless I’d set it up so that she was eaten very soon after that fateful reunion .
Finally
It’s interesting how they can spend twenty minutes shooting zombies instead of having someone suggest going over the fence with the girl on the group. It just doesn’t seem logical. And then, although it was hard to make out, did Saeko and Takashi need to really take a long way around to meet up with everyone else? I doubt it – there was plenty of space on the side of the street.
In any case, I’m glad we get to meet some new people who won’t be main cast members for long.
Essentially, there is no story and we all know that. So without any further ado. Actually – one moment. Mitsuba and Shino look a bit alike. I think they both have their qualities too (Mitsuba’s hair and Shino’s face). It was good to see that Shino actually had some conviction to perform well for once and not mess up by inappropriately touching her opponent.
Glorious victory!
A Quick Summary of no Story
We start off with the student council figuring out new events to introduce into the Sports Festival because the school is now co-ed. Of course, Shino and Aria produce ridiculous ideas that are unfit – I don’t even know. Another scene, Suzu goes to Tsuda’s house to pick up because he was late for the last tidy cloths day. His sister walks up and asks him if he’s a pedophile and of course, Suzu freaks out at her. A member of the morals committee visits the student council due to concerns with them sleeping in the same room on their vacation. He member that visits the room though is afraid of guys, so Tsuda scares her away. A button is loose on Tsuda’s pants, and Suzu offers to mend it, and of course, Aria misinterprets the situation and tells Shino strange things. Finally, the president offers to be a stand in when Mitsuba losses a member in her Judo team – and the president wins!
404 – No Story Found
Talking about overdoing it - you just did.
Is there a purpose for these rules? I’ve found that the rules describe exactly what the student council and Shino and Aria specifically do not adhere to. Although, bonus points for the Mitsuba cameo.
Priceless.
What? Are you, Taka-nii? The Suzu jokes normally stick to her height and it did this time too, but she actually looks like a child too. So that’s why it was more severe.
Tsuda is happy now - he can have more children like Suzu
The mini-anime embedded in this episode was about a guy who ran into a girl turning the corner. He saw her panties and then she beat him up. Later, a teacher introduces the guy into the class. Eventually, he confesses to her and then they get married and have a kid – there Japan’s population problem solved. Of course, Suzu was too short for this camera shot. It’s getting a bit overused.
'No bugs larger than 1cm!'
A fly got into the student council room. Shino was terrofied and Aria was useless. Suzu said she couldn’t deal with bugs larger than 1cm (another height joke). Shino thought she could open the window and let it fly out, but another one flew in. Tsuda walked in and slapped it. They were all glossy eyed after that, but Tsuda realized he hasn’t been praised before that and he’s been useless since.
No comment.
Finally
There isn’t much need for reflection. Suzu jokes are, I admit, getting old now. The president and Mitsuba scenery was good though.
This show came out of nowhere. I never heard about it until I saw it listed a few days ago. That said, I thought it was pretty good.
So I can’t remember either of the girl’s names. I thought, well, maybe I should go back and rewatch it a bit? No, I thought to myself, because that would be too much work when all I get from google is: Anime Network’s info page. Come on, list the character’s names please. Moving along.
Try hard enough? Oh, really? I'll try hard enough ... now.
A Short Summary
This show has too many lewd topics to be put into words, so, I’m not really going to summarize much.
Basically, Girl A and Girl B really like each other because they’ve been hanging out a lot. Girl A has a power to levitate things, and Girl B likes to study Girl A’s powers. So then they fall in love. And xxxxxxxxxxxxfffffffffffffxfxfxfxxooxoxo and so forth.
After making love a few times, Girl A forgets her cell phone by Girl B’s bed. So Girl A goes to get her phone and opens the lock of Girl B’s apartment. She walks in and discovers that Girl B, her love, is of course, being naughty with Girl B’s brother! Oh no.
Finally
Yeah, I skimped. I’ve never seen a Yuri anime before, but I must say, I like it. I’m glad there is blatant fan service like there is for High School of the Dead. The girls are cute, they have good voices. Of course, when they introduced the brother and then put the scene where Girl A breaks into her friends house for her cell phone instead of waiting for the next morning to get it, I totally saw it coming miles away. I wonder how the girls can reconcile with the tiny problem discovered at the end. I’m not talking about the incest! No, I’m talking about Girl A’s shoes – that she left behind. Ah, well, time will only tell. I hope they release one each week from here on until it’s just done, but if it’s an OVA it’ll take months. That’d be too bad.
The animation isn’t spectacular. If this is a short, one – or few time thing, well, I’d expect some more vibrancy. But maybe that’s just how this copy was when I saw it. I don’t know.
So this is an excellent anime so far. I don’t know how long it’ll be because nobody knows yet?
Okay, I admit it. Instead of writing a real post, I’m going to rant as a post. I don’t do it often, but there’s a first for everything.
That's how I felt watching You-kun!
Seriously, Usui x Misaki was going excellently and instead of going straight for the cake, we have to sidetrack to this You-kun guy to get there. Assuming, we do, in fact, get there. Okay fine.
Wimpy Summary
Not summarizing failure.
Sekia high school, some guy whose name I don’t know, nor care about right now. That’s right, he eats a lot and jumps from the top of the school building when the wind blows a bread crust away to catch it in his mouth. He’s crazy. He’s also obsessed with Misa, but not in the way the three idiots are. They’re cool about it, and Usui’s better. Moving along, Misaki realizes eventually that he is from her childhood when she was telling him to be careful while in a tree. He was reaching for some cherries but of course fell because he was chubby. And so, she was in the hospital with him, as a kid mind you, and giving him cake telling him to follow her from now on. Of course, this was probably inspired due to the cake. Sure.
Why are the guys so happy with him?
Incidentally, he was in a tree once more at the end of the episode. He was being disruptive so Misaki as the president had to stop him. He wouldn’t come down some she threatened him by possibly taking his food away. Fearful, he looses his balance. And equally fearful that a student is falling from a tree, Misaki shouts his old name, You-kun and he does a back flip, lands on her feet and jumps to hug her. The end.
Finally
Having a lame character like this guy, well, that’s just how anime are written, right? Usui obviously needed a rival in love and nobody else was delivering. Yukimura’s friend was noticing of course that Usui never proclaimed Misaki as his girlfriend, so now that he is too late due the appearance of a rival, what will happen?
Maybe there is more too him than what they’ve revealed. I hope so, maybe he’ll grow on me, I don’t know. I’m much more interested in Usui’s back story.
Comparing with Haruka’s arc, Kaoru’s arc felt different. It was laid back, it was casual, it was probably meant to happen. It wasn’t as if Junichi went out of his way to get Kaoru (until later), but that’s the idea. This episode was touching, to say the least. It was as awkward as Haruka’s confession at the end of her arc.
What were going to do with those in the first place?
A Quick Summary
A few days later, after searching Kaoru despairingly, Junichi’s friend and also Keiko make a plan to get hum to see Kaoru in the nurse’s office while she is in her work uniform. Of course, walking into the office expecting to get a bandage and walkout, Junichi was stunned. Of course, Kaoru didn’t make anything of it. Later in the day, they meet on the roof and Junichi asks if she has plans for Christmas. She says, Yes! and he is immediately depressed. But of course, Kaoru is joking, she has made plans for their date, together. Miya pokes fun at him later in the day for not doing anything with anyone on Christmas.
During the date, Junichi reminisces back to two years ago because Kaoru is a bit late. She takes him to the Port Tower. They walk on the port boardwalk for a while talking about the past and how they used to do this when they were younger and in middle school. Finally, it’s getting close to sunset and she takes Junichi up. He announces that he is afraid of heights, but to help him get over it, she takes his hands and holds them over a glass floor. It starts to snow and they confess to each other.
Finally, because Kaoru missed her bus and Junichi is too cheap to get her a taxi, he offers her to stay over at his house. She agrees and they get there. Junichi instructs Kaoru to take her shoes with her into his room when she gets there. She had never been in his room before and was exploring. She notices the Star Room that Junichi built for his alone time. Miya suddenly knocks on the door asking why he’s home – and also admitting she knows what’s going on – but really doesn’t. Kaoru ducked into the Star Room to hide, but eventually she gets sleepy and wants to sleep together with Junichi on his bed. So they do, and it’s awkward for him. She surprises him while pretending to be asleep wrestling with him until she’s on top. She starts to kiss him but falls asleep sitting on top of him.
The next school day, we see the two interacting closely. And that’s the end!
No Lighthouse Necessary – Land Ho!
Nothing from early on, there was just nothing going on and worth while.
'Spend time with meeeee! Niiii-niiiii~~'
So Miya is up to her tricks again. She says this like she wants her Nii-nii to stay home with her and attend her party. Or perhaps she is in fact having a party because there is no way to afford anything else. It isn’t realistic to say though that everything is double in price; it’s just another day.
Looking good, Haruka, but your Arc's looking for.
Haruka is looking excellent in her Santa outfit. Hibiki though is the voice of reason for Haruka. Otherwise, she would have gone with the Santa bikini.
Perfect.
This was an amazing scene. The lead up, the low intensity confessions of Junichi and Kaoru were aligned perfectly for a kiss on the peak of the Port Tower with snow framing it. The idea of, “Looking at snow fall from above. That’s pretty different, don’t you think?” That’s original and clever. She couldn’t have planned it better. I’ll remember that scene forever, certainly.
'You were -pretending, Nii-nii, to have a girl in your room because you're lonely. I'll be in my room if you want me...'
Miya came into Junichi’s room abruptly. I don’t know what she was talking about, maybe having Christmas with his friend from class as a cover. I don’t know. Anyway, she’s clever. She thought she heard talking from Junichi’s room, so she said she knew what was going on and he shouldn’t bother to hide it. Well, she didn’t really know. I do wonder though how she would’ve reacted to it though if she had seen Kaoru sitting there on the bed with him.
'I haven't used this in weeks... I used to hide in here... uh...'
Junichi’s star room, his home away from home, his place to be alone created after his first stand up two years ago still survives. Kaoru obviously has caused him to stop using it because he’s felt good about himself. It’s better than when he was starting with Haruka, because after the initial rejection, he crying.
Kaoru's Ultimate Attack: Sitting Kiss!
I didn’t have a good one for this picture. It was interesting how she faked her sleeping so that she could wrestle him around a bit. She managed to get on top, well, she’s the fighter after all. But she didn’t make much of a move. That’s good I think, otherwise it would’ve damaged the legitimacy of what they were feeling if they took it too far too fast.
And you know? It ended there. The was no ten year flash forward. I wanted one. In Haruka’s arc, it made sense to show that they were still kinky after ten years. It’s too bad, but it was different.
Finally
That’s the end of an excellent arc! The next arc is the red-head, Sae. I like how she looks, innocent, laid back, shy and so on. The problem is her voice. I cannot stand it! I seriously can’t! But we’ll see how it turns out.
