Hypnotism 101

Well that certainly ended with a whimper instead of a bang. Despite the tone of the show, I always figured it would go for something with a little more impact for the finale. Like, maybe the Kanzaki step-siblings getting into a real hanky-panky situation. And I suppose technically there was a bit of an effort to head in this direction thanks to Neko hypnotizing Yuuya to be more “honest.” But in the end his confronting Mitsuki didn’t seem that big of a deal because he only got as far as grabbing her by the shoulders before the the usual bait-and-switch occurred. Heck, that one time when a Hiyori-possessed and semi-dazed Mitsuki mounted Yuuya had even more sexual tension than this finale. But anyway that’s not the point.

A bit of spiritual awareness goes a long way.

The whole exercise that Neko orchestrated was intended to reveal to all parties the true extent of the relationship between the step-siblings, not to outright get them in bed together. Though there’s no denying the possibility that Yuuya held such feelings of lust for Mitsuki, which it turns out he didn’t. And what we learn from all this is that 12 episodes of pseudo-flirting, playing family, and some perverted advances from a ghost is not enough to make step-siblings fall in love or engage in sexual activities. That’s disappointing for the people watching ImoCho precisely for the incest, I’m sure. But I feel that Mitsuki’s progression from distant step-sister to close family was a good enough ending for the two of them. I never got the feeling that she was so romantically attracted to him to justify any sort of incestuous end.

Goodbye Hiyori~

Moving on, there’s the final matter of Hiyori. That was pretty much the worst part of the episode. I’m not saying I was glad to see her go (temporarily), but that’s how it should have been and that’s how it should have stayed. She should have moved on and left the step-siblings to live their lives as a normal family. There was absolutely no need for her to return in the last minute for some horrible ass-pull, even if the intent was to keep open the possibility for some sort of continuation. Which, I wholeheartedly believe will not happen.

Sike!

Overall, ImoCho has been a semi-fun ride. It had its ups and its downs; perhaps more downs than ups. The concept in general was rather strange and I’m not sure if the show consistently knew what it was trying to accomplish, but in the end we were left with what I suppose to be a heart-warming tale about two step-siblings developing a mostly platonic relationship of mostly familial love with the “help” of some perverted and some deadpan supernatural intervention. So sorry, no sexy threesome time for those of you who were looking forward to that. In other words, ImoCho was an unusual but welcome departure from the generic incest show, curbed only by its indecision between being a trashy, fanservice-laden debacle and a slightly more meaningful work about sibling relationships.

5/10

Yup, it’s really over. Have a gif of big boob groping below.

There were these outfits, too

Ouka gets no love

The drawback of skimpy dresses

Christmas time (because a show like Sonico has to have a Christmas episode or two, even if it’s now late March), and the girls are all helping with the shopping district, which is now failing because of the giant department store that opened up nearby. So to fight back, they’re going to get Suzu to come up with some ideas, which end up being ‘pretty girls and handsome guys’. But when that’s countered by the big store, they need to come up with a better idea, and end up with getting an internationally accredited Santa Claus. It’s a stroke of luck that it happens to be Ayaka-chan’s father, who had promised her that Santa was real, but she was sure that her wish (that her father would come home) wouldn’t come true. This sets up another really heartwarming moment in this show, since they don’t just have him go home to his daughter, but instead have it be a present from Santa, changing clothes to surprise her. Seriously, how many times is this show going to make me cry happy tears?

Merry Christmas, from Sonico and friends 

Welcome back to the final episode of Maken-ki and what are we in for this time? Nothing much other than a flashback that followed the past lives of Aki, Minori, Gen and Tomika who were all the original members of the student council back in the day. So did anyone else think that it was strange to have a flashback this late in the series or did they finally run out of material to actually use? Whatever the case may I kind of enjoyed watching this episode! Why you might ask? Well the action bits at the end with Minori powering up was amazing! I swear why couldn’t the whole second season be like this all the time instead of To-Love-Ru antics getting in the damn way all the time?! It almost makes me wonder if the original creator even cares about his own series serious at all? So in the end would I recommend this series to fans of ecchi? NO WAY IN HELL! Seriously this is a series that just needs to go away just like Queens Blade; however mark my words there will be a third and a fourth season of this trashy anime because I bet someone is buying the uncensored blu-rays or volumes of the manga which I have no plans on ever reading.

3/10 – I would rather watch paint dry.

These three were way better than the main cast…

Dat_bunny_ass.jpg

Best moment of the entire second season~

Mitsuki-kaichou gets protective

Haruka gets groped

I think Sumisumi-kaichou has a hobby

Caught! By Mitsuki-kaichou, red-lipped. Well, we were wondering what would happen if Mitsuki found out, and it wasn’t good. She even asks if they’re in the kind of relationship where they say ‘suki’ to each other, when Haruka was just pressing Yuu about saying that exact thing (Yuu got as far as the “Ha” in Haruka before turning it into hayaku). Whether it was the quick shock of seeing someone kissing her beloved sister, or the worry about them both being girls, Mitsuki tells Haruka that she needs to ‘wake up’, and bans them from kissing each other. She even puts Kaede on the task of watching Haruka… without telling Kaede what to watch for. But that’s not the whole story, as Sumi, the incoming seitokaichou, has an opportunity to talk with her and ends up with Mitsuki reflecting on how she really wants Haruka to be her koibito, not Yuu’s.

Yuzu runs unwitting interference for Haruka and Yuu

There was a lot of Sumi this episode, and she’s a bit of an annoying character. A kind of squeaky voice, a verbal tic (saying ‘no ja’ after everything), and a habit of fondling boobs. She even compares Mitsuki’s boobs to Haruka’s after feeling both of them up. And of course, Yuu couldn’t let Sumi get away with that with Haruka without fighting back… by grabbing Haruka’s left side. So maybe that’s the most action that Haruka and Yuu have gotten into, but it’s really Haruka’s weak point, and she’s probably a bit self-conscious about them. I wonder if that’s why Yuu always rushes to say that Haruka’s a C-cup when everyone calls her a D-cup, to try to make Haruka feel better about it.

Tags: ImoCho, Maken_ki, sonico_a, 桜Trick

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