Kamisama no Memo-chou – 03-08

The Fourth: A beautiful and HNNNG-worthy man. Rrrrawr.

So I’ve had the craziest past month ever. I had violent food poisoning on the trip back from Egypt followed by surgery and then I had to pack and get ready for college and classes started and my Chemistry professor is a nut who kicks textbooks across classrooms and now here I’m here in my dorm and trying to figure out this whole craziness. Thus, it’s only natural that I fell extremely behind with this show and for that I apologize. I’m also sorry that I deprived you all of your weekly dose of Zabo because lord knows what you’d all do without me. ;D Anyways, how does a recap of the past month or so of Kamisama no Memo-chou sound? Good? Good! Also, I am aware that Episode 9 is out. Bear with me here. xD

Episode 3 starts off as the men from the Kishida Group bust into Hanamaru, asking about Meo.  Afterwards, Min calls Narumi in to clean up and the two talk. It turns out that Hanamaru came into her possession after her father left her. Even though it wasn’t what she initially wanted, she’s grown to like the ramen shop and the NEET crew needs her anyways. The next day Meo runs away in an attempt to save her father on her own. Narumi finds her, but she’s already agreed to hand over the money.  The men arrive, cornering Meo and Narumi. Fortunately, the Fourth and his men arrive to kick and save ass. Later on, Narumi has a request for the Fourth to pledge an oath of brotherhood. The men are of course psyched and, later on, with Alice’s blessing, the ceremony is completed. Afterwards, Narumi comes up with a plan where, instead of returning the 200 million they hand over a bunch of bank statements to the Kishida Group. Narumi claims that they have put all the money in Kusakabe’s bank account and it will be transferred into the Kishida group’s account by the end of the day. Meo’s dad is brought to the bank to cancel the transfer and an all-out brawl ensues. Though Narumi is beaten up, it’s a mission successful as Meo and her father are reunited.

Episode 4 begins as Narumi is serving a ramen and is delivering an order to a customer who just leaves after just one spoonful. Apparently this isn’t the first time this has happened and Min takes it as a personal challenge, forcing poor Narumi to pull all-nighters to help her improve the soup. One such day in the shop, Narumi finds a burglar in the shop. He’s unable to catch the man but later on they find that Min’s sarashi (chest binding) was stolen! The rest of the NEET crew is outraged and they all go to Alice for help. Alice is pleased that Min has finally come to her but Min refuses to get help until Narumi suggests that the perpetrator may be sniffing them. God forbid! With the aid of a stun-grenade Narumi managed to catch the perpetrator. The thief turns out to be a crazy lingerie designer who’s devastated that Min doesn’t wear a proper bra as her bosom is apparently the perfect specimen of female boobage. Alice then reveals that there had been somebody else coming into the ramen shop, explaining why there was no evidence of lock picking. It turns out that Min’s father had been coming in to give her his ramen recipe.

Some men just take their boobage very seriously. Seriously.

So, after Min gains a sense of closure with her father, life goes on with the NEET crew. The Fourth in all his beautiful glory comes in with a request for the Gardening Club. He wants Narumi and Ayaka to promote a band which is simple enough but there’s something fishy about this deal – apparently there was an issue with another yakuza group. Narumi and Ayaka go scout for a good venue for the concert. At one such bar Narumi meets a guy named Hirasaka who’s about to get in a huge bar fight. He spills his drink on the man to save the other men (who were about to get their asses pounded). Narumi and Hirasaka Renji bond a bit as Narumi has to buy new clothing in exchange for the ruined shirt. Renji describes how he lost all his friends in Tokyo, stating that it’s impossible to recover what’s been broken beyond repair. Narumi disagrees.

Later on, Min sends Narumi to pick up her apron. At the sewing shop Narumi encounters none other than the Fourth, who is less than pleased to see him. The shop owner, Yoshiki-san, and the Fourth seem to be quite close. Narumi can’t stay long though as the Fourth received a call about an accident at a possible concert venue. It turns out it was done by some other who also stole t-shirts from the Fourth’s group. Back at Alice’s place, Narumi makes it clear to a disgruntled Alice that he cares about her, even if he’s not always around. She asks that he inform her of his whereabouts and, upon finding out that he’s going to Ueno the next day, requests that he take pictures of capybaras at the zoo. While at the zoo, Narumi runs into Renji and the two of them talk, eventually exchanging an oath of brotherhood. Afterwards, Narumi finds that there’s been a fire at the venue that he was to be working at. Alice comes to pick him up after thinking that he had been harmed.

The Fourth finds the man who stole the t-shirts from his group. They find out from the man that Hirasaka Renji is behind all of this. Turns out, in the past Renji and the Fourth formed their group together. They had a falling out though. Later on, Alice notes that Narumi has been acting off and he reveals to her that he knows Renji. He goes to meet the Fourth and begs him to ask Alice for help again. Later on, he goes to check out venues with Ayaka. Two men from the Hirasaka Group were sent to be their bodyguards but Narumi chooses to ditch them, which turns out to be a big mistake. A couple of Renji’s men attack them, but luckily Tetsu arrives to save the day! That night Renji calls Narumi and asks for his shirt back. Narumi consults with Alice, who knows how cruel Renji can be and doesn’t approve of Narumi seeing him. However, she understands and gives Narumi one of her plushies for good luck, allowing him to sleepover as well.

“Alice! I just had the most terrible dream! I got socked by Tetsu! WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?”

“I am a  NEET detective, a speaker for the dead. Not a dream reader. Shut up and go back to sleep.”

The next day, Narumi confronts Renji about the Fourth. It turns out that, in the past, Renji and the Fourth had a friend named Hison. They both had promised not to make a move on her and protect her but Renji claims that the Fourth used her as a shield and got her killed. As such, he wishes obtain revenge on the Fourth. Narumi makes a desperate call to the Fourth claiming that there must be some sort of misunderstanding. Finally, the Fourth makes a formal request to Alice for help. The NEET crew gets straight to work and Hiro hears from Hison’s past neighbor about the incident where Hison was stabbed. Apparently there was some other women there and the Fourth got hurt in the fight. Narumi attempt to confront the Fourth but to no avail. Later on, Alice reveals that the Gotouda Group’s leader got a divorce five years before and that it was probably his ex-wife who stabbed Hison (as she was the leader’s lover). She sends Narumi off to find Hirasaka Renji immediately but on his way he receives a phone call that the Fourth has been attacked!

See Narumi’s expression of pure joy and barely concealed lust? That’s my face whenever I see the Fourth.

Apparently the Fourth had been ganged up on when he was alone in his office. While he’s in a hospital bed in dire condition, his men are out for blood. They found Renji’s phone number and are ready to go kick some major ass when Narumi stops them. He yells at them for attempting to ruin the Fourth’s name and the concert that he worked so hard on. He tells them that Renji’s men have set a trap by making his number so easily accessible and that, seeing as he’s the Fourths sworn little brother, he’ll be taking charge of the group. Big words for such a small kiddo, yet they all take him seriously. The concert goes on as planned and, though Renji’s men sneak in, things run smoothly. Narumi lures in Renji by giving the lead singer of the band a shirt that looks exactly like his. Renji confronts Narumi but Alice steps in, revealing that Hison had been stabbed by the ex-wife of the Gotouda group and had lost her functions as a woman. The Fourth helped her assume a new identity as Yoshiki. He had apparently hidden the truth over his shame of not being able to protect Hison.

“Shut up and listen to me, bitches.”

The Fourth then staggers in, presumably having escaped from the hospital and pissed off at Alice for spilling the beans. With an exchange of blows, he and Renji settle the bad blood between the two of them. After the concert, things settle down and Narumi finds Renji’s sunglasses at Hanamaru. Alice informs him of which train Renji will be taking. He then tells her that he’ll do his best to stay by her side, even if he can only shoulder 5% of her burden. At this, Alice flips out, blushing and making it quite obvious as to what her feelings towards him actually are. Unfortunately, Narumi is a knucklehead. He then runs to see Renji off. Renji’s glad that somebody has come to say bye and, when Narumi returns the shirt, he’s touched when he finds that the embroidery on his shirt has been completed. And by the Fourth no less.

This is how real men talk it out. 

We end in tears. T_T

End Thoughts: 

When I first started watching this show I pointed out that it is difficult to balance one-shot type storylines with any sort of character depth or development. It’s easy to lose sight of the main characters and broader themes amidst the short story. Fortunately, Kamisama no Memo-chou has no issues in this respect. By switching between arbitrary whodunits and the inner turmoil and issues of the main cast we are given a deeper, more involved perspective as viewers. We have a hodgepodge group of NEETs, yakuza members, ramen chefs and Gardening Clubbers and they aren’t just your average clue finders. They’re all individuals with their own emotions, quirks, hobbies and personal trauma. The characters all connect and cooperate to find answers and it’s exciting to see what they’ll all come up with next.

What makes it all even better is that all these storylines connect and feed off of one another. For example, back in Episode 3, we had mention of Min’s father and sure enough, her issues with him were addressed (albeit a little too fast for my liking). Not only so, but also, the brotherhood between Narumi and the Fourth was forged from early on and proved to play a vital role in the later arc. Hopefully, going along these lines, Ayaka and her brother will be touched upon. Seeing as her elusive broski has been mentioned enough times to indicate importance (and make me extremely curious) I’m going to be disappointed if nothing comes of it.

I really enjoyed this last arc. It was obvious from the start that Yoshiki was Hison but this didn’t make the story any less intense. The fact that we were able to so easily figure it out lead to a sense of dramatic irony that actually made things more gripping. It’s almost frightening how a misunderstanding coupled with hardheadedness can cause so much trouble. The Fourth, in his guilt, refused to clear up the misconception that Renji was under. This resulted in jeopardizing a big project and landed him in the hospital. I don’t particularly respect how stubborn the Fourth was and how childish Renji behaved in retaliation but we’ll just chalk it up to an overabundance of testosterone and subsequent irrationality. Also, Hison is extremely important to the two. We all tend to go overboard when it comes to our loved ones. Either way, I really enjoyed watching Renji. He was a bamf and pretty damn hilarious at that. AND DAT HAIR! Hopefully, he’ll make another appearance sometime soon!

Narumi definitely stepped up to the plate this arc. He has had remarkable character growth. Seeing him take over a yakuza group after exploding on them was epic. He then proceeded to organize and head a concert. As I watched, I compared his newfound determination to his reluctance and skepticism of the earlier episodes. I was floored. He’s done a complete 180 degree turn around from his previous attitude. Though he butts into matters that may not always directly concern him, he’s always so proactive about everything. He’s found his niche and managed to influence and change those around him despite his klutziness and obliviousness. I can’t imagine the NEET crew without him. All the aforementioned pixels are coming together and creating quite the impressive display.

I’ll end with the relationship between Narumi and Alice. Dear lord. It’s hilarious and yet so, so awful. Poor Alice. She’s pretty much head over heels while Narumi has no clue what is going on. He looks up to her, viewing her as somebody professional that he’s obligated to while she cares, worries,  frets and throws temper tantrums (and Dokupe cans). It’s so sad. xD I’m hoping for some more development in this second-grade romance. As a side note, I’d like to say that Alice is my favorite tsundere ever. She pulls it off while being completely ADORABLE. Narumi, as much as I love you, you’re stupid.

Preview:

 I’m liking the cap Sou-kun. 

About Zabobinator

Doesn't get enough sleep. Dork with a rather eclectic taste in manga and anime. Adores Studio Ghibli films.