Meta Mash – 28
While Gundam Age gets released properly, we are back with a dose of funnies with Joshiraku, KoiChoco and poetry from Uta Koi.
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Joshiraku – 05
I DO THAT EVERY TIME! Yet another two brilliant episodes of Joshiraku! For a series I had no expectations for at the start of the season, it’s quickly become one of my favorites. The first two segments of episode five weren’t the strongest of the series, but they were in no way bad. What’s great about Joshiraku is that even if a skit has a slow start, you can be sure that the exaggerated conclusion will more than make up for it. The end of the Christmas segment for example was very funny as soon as the angels got involved. The final skin segment was hilarious, and what made it even better was the continuity that allowed episode six to be funnier than anything I’ve seen this season. For once, Marii got a small break and Gan-chan became the victim!
As I was saying, episode six was just … priceless, especially the first segment. I’m not exaggerating when I say I was in tears for a few seconds during one of those four panel comic strips. It wasn’t quite the same without Gan-chan, but the girls proved that even when one of them is missing their chats won’t lose the humor! The second segment was short and not exactly funny, but it was more of a segue into the final segment where Gan-chan made her role-reversing re-appearance. Aside from some wordplay I didn’t find too funny in episode five, these last two weeks have been amazing for Joshiraku!~
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Uta Koi – 07
She just wants you for your poems bro…I am happy to say that this isn’t the case for Uta Koi’s second dance. Both narratives are impactful and could suffice on their own. Together they effectively piece together a heart wrenching story that both depresses and uplifts. The placement of Yoshitaka and Michitaka in both sections is an important factor in achieving this result. Where Yukihara only had 10 minutes to create a foundation for himself, the Fujiwaras have the luxury of an entire twenty three minutes. It also help’s that the writing is a bit more nuanced this time around and the voice acting is spot on.
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KoiChoco – 05
Madoka Magica: Election edition!With the break over, KoiChoco got a back-to-back episode run that fit together so perfectly I would have thought it was planned. The festival arc came to its conclusion, tying in the results of the primaries as well as the Mifuyu arc. It’s clear to me now that when the show focuses on the election side of things I enjoy watching much more than the “harem” side. The interactions between the cast are as clever as always, and the Oojima-Chisato-Mifuyu dynamic is especially entertaining, but I can’t help wishing they’d put the high school romances aside and turn this into a purely political dramedy. Well, I can dream! The tension was on high, thanks to the awesomely dramatic soundtrack, but I still feel as though KoiChoco is verging on being overly predictable, not simply with the election either. The scenes involving Mifuyu played out in my head before they even happened, and that results in a lack of emotion on my end.
Now that the primaries are over and the candidates have been chosen I’m very eager to see what direction the show will take. Whether or not it will stick to its political guns or enter romcom territory is a question I’ve had on my mind for a while, and I could very well see KoiChoco reverting to beach episodes and cliche scenarios that are so persistent in similar adaptations. I’m sure they’d be funny in their own right, because the cast works so well as a unit, but once you tease me with dramatic speeches and backhanded political strategies I will never be satisfied with romcom antics! Anyway, until next time!~.
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About Tag Team
We live, laugh, enjoy and strictly believe on "more the merrier". When together, we usually come up with very chatty, conversation-based episodics and interesting posts.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
KoiSenkyo: I’m hoping to actually get to some more of those romantic antics. But the way the show depicted Mifuyu in these two episodes, especially #5, was pretty masterful as well. So far, they’ve handled all the romance parts tremendously well, although we haven’t seen a lot of actual romance. We’ve just got a lot of nice people who seem to be pretty comfortable with themselves. And we’ve got a lot of episodes to develop some of the romantic aspects, which I hope they do in a nice organic manner, the way they’ve done everything so far.
I am thinking that the romance and the election are very intertwined, and the way the election goes will depend a lot on how the romance goes. I can come up with win scenarios for all three of the candidates, and “win” scenarios for all 5 girls (assuming we finally get to see some of Michiru…). It’s kind of nice to have a show that’s an open-ended harem but not because the Male lead is a complete doofus.
POWUH: 700-799 and Horror Expert with 701 comments
I’m actually worried the romance aspect won’t go anywhere. I haven’t seen too many harem themed shows, but a lot of the times when there are so many possible heroines they leave us with no conclusion, and I hate that. I do agree that the open-ended feel is nice, but if they don’t wrap it up by the end it feels … empty. I really hope we do get some of that actual romance you mentioned!
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
This ‘harem’ style show feels quite a bit different. The girls aren’t openly vying for Oojima’s affections, so it’s not into any of that silly competition stuff. To me, it feels more like the kind of setup from Amagami SS (obviously without the multiple routes) where at the beginning of each setup there are a bunch of girls that Oojima knows, one who has a bit of a crush on him (Mifuyu / Rihoko), one who is a good friend (Chisato / Kaoru), one who is kind of out of his reach (Satsuki / Haruka), one about the same level below (Isara / Sae), and one enigma (Michiru / Ai). In each of the Amagami routes, the girl that’s being focused on is pretty much the only love interest (plus Rihoko’s crush), and the others are just friendly in the story. I could definitely see this show going that way, where the romance just really focuses on one girl.
The other way I could see it going is something like Hoshizora e Kakaru Hashi, where the Male Lead had his eyes on the Main Girl from start to finish, but wasn’t really chasing her. The other girls all took a turn at bat, but either struck out (Kazuku was always very nice and gentle about it, tho) or decided to never take a swing. So there were focus episodes on each girl, but they were more relaxed.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Sorry, it was “Kazuma” not Kazuku. 🙂
POWUH: Meta Resident and Werewolf Chaser with 1270 comments
1st Kyouka, now KoiChoco, the cosplay syndrome is spreading!!! Grab the cameras!!! 😛
POWUH: 700-799 and Horror Expert with 701 comments
I won’t be satisfied until a character cosplays as Kyubey. :<
POWUH: Meta Resident and Werewolf Chaser with 1270 comments
In-Madokaverse: Quitterie aka QB Cosplay Witch
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Koi to Senkyo to Chocolate – 05 & 06: Taking a break to have back to back episodes was a perfect way to sell the story concerning the votes. It would have been hard to follow otherwise. The series has a good balance between comedy, romance and politics which deserves to be appreciated.
I wonder what will happen now that Yuu has indirectly read Mifuyu’s love letter. Falling in love with someone only to try and send them to another person is unexpected. I really can’t believe Mifuyu would do that because she feels she owes Chisato for helping her fit in.
The primary election was well done. Even though it was obviously expected in the story for Yuu pass in the primaries, the tension made me feel he might not make it. Consequences of being too into it, maybe. I had to laugh at the victory celebration because of Michiru cheering off key. And that teacher needs to lay off that root beer machine. I’m sensing trouble if she continues.
Now the question is, who is this mystery candidate who suddenly appeared at the last minute. Whoever it is seems to have a bone to pick with the soon to be former president.
POWUH: 700-799 and Horror Expert with 701 comments
If I had to guess, I don’t think it will go anywhere after that! Oojima seems content with hiding the fact that he read the letter, as to not make Mifuyu uncomfortable. Until she gets the confidence to put her feelings into spoken words, it seems like it’ll be a “never happened” kind of thing. (I like to speculate. ><)
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Well, there’s the issue that Oojima doesn’t even know what he read. The part he read was ambiguous enough that it could have been a really oddly written speech, so it probably hasn’t dawned on him that it wasn’t the speech, and he was constantly being distracted by the other candidates.
I did like Hazuki-sensei hiding her beer mug behind her back when the camera came in. Nice touch, that.
I think Ayame (the mystery candidate) is out of the story now. She was likely just a spoiler for the anti-Mouri forces at this stage of the election, with either the purpose of pulling enough votes away from Oojima to keep him from qualifying, or having enough votes to split the protest vote in the final election. As close as both of them were to the 10% cutoff, either scenario was a possibility, but because she’s now disqualified from the finals, she’s a non-entity. Heck, we’ve never even seen her in the show, and it’s introduced us to seemingly dozens of people, so she can’t be that important.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
I’d say the distraction from the other candidates is half the blame. The fact he doesn’t realize that he was reading Mifuyu’s confession suggests he’s a bit dense. Just the way everything was being expressed in a romantic setting was a viable heads up. A political speech wouldn’t even begin like that. This anime makes drama out of this simplest things and they work out well.
I’ve noticed these past few episodes that Hazuki has been chugging down mug after mug of root beer. If that’s not the sign of an addict/alcoholic, then I don’t know what is. I think there was one time where she slept with mug tightly in her hand. That should be considered a flight risk.
I wonder if the current President has any ulterior motives for helping Oojima because you really can’t trust politicians at all. To me, he sees Oojima as a sort of investment and Ayame nearly being qualified posed a serious threat. Intense political tactics are played here. Not only were they wishing for their own success, they were hoping the other candidate fails! And a personal detail on Oojima? How realistic can this get?
PS: I’ve seen you’ve made the top 15 commentors. Welcome to the Blacklist, Highway!!!
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
It’s been a long hard road, but I think even the comments that Spammy eats (we’re together so often, I’ve named him) get counted.
I don’t know if it’s cute that you think that’s root beer, or you’re just being kind to their poor drunk teacher. 🙂
We know that President Mouri has at least one ulterior motive, which he’s openly stated: Keeping Finance and General Services out of the presidency slot will make it easier for Security to recapture it next year when they’re eligible again. I don’t think he needs any more motive than that. It’s political, it’s plausible, and it fits the help he’s given them. And given what happened to Mouri’s friend Kana Ogibashi in the very beginning of the show, I think the personal security detail is probably warranted. We don’t really know about it from the anime, since it hasn’t really gone back to her, but someone felt it appropriate to try to kill her with a car. What would they do to Yuuki?
Also, Not trying to pull traffic away from Metanorn, but I’m blogging this series at Sushigokart.net where I can write a lot more about it. But it’s fun to comment here also.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
My nemesis has struck again! Comment rescue from the spam filter, please! (and can delete this one after that)