Soredemo Machi wa Mawatteiru – 10

Old men and aliens, but no maids.

Hello everyone, somehow I’ve screwed up my sleep cycle (again), probably because I took a 5 hour nap right after eating lunch today. And then I cooked dinner after waking up. In other news, I’m probably going to get fat from these stupid eating/sleeping habits, but whatever, I’ll work it off over the winter break… which is soon! Anyway, here I am in the early hours of the day (again) bringing you another episode of Soredemo.

So… you still interested in renting this place?

After a silly opening short where Sanada prays very articulately at a shrine to get closer to Hotori, we are introduced to the mystery of episode 10: holes. No, not those Holes. These aren’t your typical holes. The news station brings in an “expert on digging” (because apparently we need digging experts to figure this out) to discuss the unusual nature of these holes, during which he mentions their strangely precise dimensions. The destruction came basically in the form of perfectly spherical gaps that intersected with buildings, signs, etc. The digging expert comments on the necessity of complicated machinery to cause these holes, but please, don’t be ridiculous, this is anime.

No touching until the second date!

Hotori is unusually disinterested and depressed about the mystery of the holes, while Kon reveals her own obsession with the supernatural. Even at her persistence, Hotori refuses to go to the scene of the crime.

I… I… I need you, Kon-senpai!

After some touching words from Kon about friendship or whatever, Hotori finally gives in and tearfully confesses to Kon. No, we don’t need to add yuri to Soredemo’s genres (though I did get a great shot! *files it away*); she confesses that she is actually the culprit! Wait, what? How?

Somehow, Hotori managed to get a hold of some super extra dimensional ray gun that can vaporize huge areas with the command word “Bang!” Nice catch.

The black one is evil! Because it’s black!

Unfortunately, there’s someone else that would really like to get a hold of that gun. Actually, two people, which spells trouble for Hotori. But can I really call them people? They look like they’re in the wrong anime; they seem more like they’re in Captain’s domain or something.

I’m disinclined to acquiesce to your request.

Luckily for Hotori, one of them knows a very effective negotiation technique, so Hotori doesn’t have to go through the trouble of deciding which one to hand the gun over to. Anyway, the white thingamajig takes the gun and flies off, leaving us with a story that makes about as much sense as the prepositions I keep ending my sentences WITH.

Twice as effective as crazy glue, and only two hundred billion times more expensive. Get your magic acorn today!

Surprisingly enough, Kon believes Hotori’s wild story. I expected her to say something like, “You’re too stupid to come up with something that crazy,” but instead, Kon has a trick up her sleeve: she has an extra dimensional toy, too! But all it does is fix things. Booooring.

They wrap up this segment by revisiting the scene of the crime. For some reason, it is completely deserted, even though the incident was just on the friggin’ news. Kon takes the chance to play hero and patch things up as good as new.

Smile and walk away, smile and walk away…

She fixes everything.

Anyone remember what Sora no Otoshimono means?

As the next story begins, we see an old man who can’t be seen by humans. He was apparently left behind by heaven after he died, so he’s been wandering the town as a ghost for ten years. It’s actually… pretty sad.

Boom! Headshot!

He basically goes around doing what I expect ghosts would do in their free time: talking to people randomly, screwing around, etc. After ten years, I would think that he must have either developed a good sense of humor or become very, very bitter about the situation.

We soon learn that this isn’t any random old man – he’s actually Uki’s late husband. Who’s Uki, you ask? She’s the head maid of the Seaside Café. Yes, she actually has a name. Pause to let it sink in.

…

Anyway, this guy has apparently been watching over her for the last ten years, which is pretty sweet or creepy, depending on how much you like being stalked by ghosts.

I said no cream!

In the climax, the old man is served some coffee. At first, he thinks that Uki might finally be able to see him, but…

Shut up and sit down, you’re a ghost.

MORE PICS

Just focus my chakra into my hand, and…

Coolest animation yet.

Screw you-poko.

I like endcards.

END THOUGHTS

I liked this episode quite a bit. It was really unnatural and fantastic, but that’s just the way I like my anime. The first segment with the weird alien things was pretty messed up, but you know what the best part was? No, it wasn’t the sweet special effects and casual, haphazard destruction of property. The best part was definitely the stuff Kon did during this episode. She was so kind when she confronted Hotori about whatever was depressing her, and she was so cool when she fixed the mess that Hotori made, even after admitting that she was okay ending up as a side character in that adventure. It really is refreshing to watch a character who really acts like a true friend.

The second part was pretty touching, too. I’m usually pretty emotionless about most things, but I am affected by things involving death or the afterlife. It’s just sad on the old man’s part because who knows when he’ll get to finally rest? All he can do is watch the people in the town grow up and move on without him. Personally, after ten years of that, I probably would have gone crazy, but I guess he found some sort of contentment just watching each day pass quietly. It was also interesting to see Uki’s personal life for the first time. Sometimes it’s easy to forget that the elderly really have lived a long time – most of their loved ones are probably gone, and their own stories are quickly coming to an end, too. The only thing left is to hand the baton off to the next generations, however difficult that may be.

Anyway, I hope they do more episodes with wild and crazy stuff instead of boring topics like school and the maid café. I thought this series would be a mystery at first because the synopsis on most sites specifically mentioned that Hotori has a love for mysteries, but it turned out to focus more on comedy. I’m fine with comedy, but mystery and supernatural are higher on my list of preferred genres. The series is wrapping up, so here’s to hoping for a fantastic finale.

PREVIEW

The name for the next episode is Kon’s Summer of Tears or something like that, which sounds promising. I definitely like Kon a lot more after this episode, so it would be nice to see more of, say, her backstory.