Jitsu wa Watashi wa – 02
Sometimes you gotta help your bro out
I wasn’t planning on covering this show much, but when I watch a show 4 times in two days, I think that indicates something.
A Happy Surprise
Hey! No Running in the Halls!
That happy surprise is my delight at this show. There’s just something about this kind of “it’s a harem show but there’s more going on than that” that story, especially if it’s handled well. The last one that really handled this kind of story this well was Rokujouma no Shinryakusha (6-Tatami Invaders), and that show was a lot of fun all the way through, and one I’d love to see more of. But this show doesn’t have any ghosts or Mahou Shoujos. Well, yet. This week, we got an introduction to another girl with a little secret, and of course, Asuhi is the one who finds out about it.
Someone’s thinking about love…
But before we got that happening, we got to learn a little bit more about Youko and the way vampires are in her world. The cute little misdirection that the show played it with, with Asuhi and Youko alone in the classroom as dusk falls, made you think that maybe they were doing something a little more… private with each other. Well, they were, but that’s because Youko feels uncomfortable eating lunch around other people because her fangs show. But that lead into a bit of Youko’s world, where she admits that sucking blood for her (and other vampires) is a very intimate act, with meanings of promises much like a kiss. Thankfully, she doesn’t blame Asuhi for not knowing this ‘common-sense’ stuff about vampires.
Aliens and Robots
Not above a little disruption herself
The meat of the episode focused on Nagisa Aizawa, the “Iron Lady” that we saw giving Asuhi the bad memory of being shot down even before he could confess to her. Based on her words, she’s happy that Asuhi has found someone new to focus on in Youko, but she starts worrying that maybe he wasn’t looking at her because he liked her. Because she’s got a secret she’s hiding as well, behind her opinionated exterior and willingness to bluntly dress anyone down, including their teacher. She also does get a little bit tunnel-vision and loses the big picture at times. And one of those times is when she happens to catch Asuhi and Youko, and Youko with her wings out. Then we find out her “big” secret: She’s actually a teeny little alien, who is incognito in a robot suit (well, as incognito as you can be with a philips-head screw hair accessory).
One secret down…
Two secrets down…
Things went a little haywire from there, as Nagisa decides she has to remove Asuhi’s memories using the tried-and-true method from manga of “hit you over the head with a hammer”. And even though he’s initially reluctant, Asuhi believes her enough that he’ll risk a concussion and blunt force trauma to forget about Youko’s secret, because he wants her to feel like she can trust him. But thankfully, Youko stops him, because he knows her secret. I said last week that I thought she felt freed, liberated by not having to keep it a secret, and also happy that she now has someone she can be natural and genuine with. You can tell that Nagisa is kinda falling for Asuhi, but that his vision is firmly fixed on Youko… even if she can’t read the atmosphere, pledging to help him get some success with Nagisa. But again, the way they wrap that up is really cute.
Youko saves Asuhi
I don’t know if we’ll ever get Asuhi’s confession to Youko, but it looks like everyone else will know about it. One of these days, an anime will have the other friends of the clueless girl actually tell her that “you know, he really likes you, and just can’t figure out how to say it”, but I’m sure not gonna hold my breath. But what we’re seeing is the start of a good friendship between Asuhi, Youko and Nagisa. While they’re brought together by their secrets and inability to keep them, it looks like they’ll be held together by the ability to finally let their guard down. There’s definitely more to come, tho. If there’s a vampire and an alien in the school, do you really think that there is no other person with a big secret?
About Highway
Proving that you don't have to be young to love anime, I enjoy all genres and styles of shows. If it's not hurting anyone else, you should never be ashamed of what you like!
POWUH: 400-499 with 462 comments
This episode was quite fun. Nagisa is actually pretty adorable once you break through her cold exterior.
It’s probably not a good thing that one of my first thoughts after watching this episode was “The love interests so far are a vampire and a 4-inch-tall alien in a robot suit. The doujins for this series are going to be… interesting.”
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
With Nagisa, I like how they worked that other personality foible in, where she takes everything a little too far and gets herself in trouble. I think it adds a significant amount of depth that we get to see her doubts and her realizations that she kinda blew it.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10997 comments
She really is a fan of the “petard, hoist thyself”.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10997 comments
Yep. Like you say, a great surprise. That has to do with how we tailor our expectations, which is a never ending battle, isn’t it?
This is a prime example of a storyteller taking tried and true, tested tropes, and completely avoiding cliche. And they gave them very recognizable foibles; that need to drop their guard.
…vampire, alien…with neither one being a LOLi…so, I’m just going to hazard a guess and say, faerie…a mean as hell faerie…
POWUH: 400-499 with 462 comments
You can see a little girl with horns in the OP, so… how about a demon?
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I’m a bit spoiled on the characters, so I won’t say, but as you might expect, it could turn out that everyone is hiding a secret.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1692 comments
I like the idea of a bad-tempered Loli faerie. Other possibilities are ghost, time-traveler or someone from another dimension. Sounds like the kind of school Haruhi Suzumiya would like. But those are a dime-a-dozen in anime.
This has been a real fun series so far, finding fresh life in some tired tropes due to superior execution. Which just shows there’s no such thing as an over-used genre as long as good writing finds a fresh take on it.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Jitsu wa Watashi wa’s setting is pretty much the reversal of Rosario + Vampire’s. In R + V, it’s in a school for monsters in another dimension and the lead male is the one who has to keep his secret of being human while acting like all the other students. The similarity between them is the lead steadily being surrounded by girls of various species. And of course, the girl he has his eyes on is a vampire.
POWUH: 600-699 and LN Enthusiast with 623 comments
With that huge bolt in her head, you’d think she’s a sort of Frankenstein’s monster so I didn’t expect an alien.
Though technically she’s using an artificially made body but there’s still a difference.
And while it’s obvious with Shiragami and Kuromine, it seems the kanji in Aizawa’s name has the color indigo. Not sure if it’ll play something in the plot later on or the author just likes to place colors in their names but it’s nice to know some small stuff like this.
POWUH: 400-499 with 462 comments
I was figuring a comedy-style robot, but the idea of it being a robot suit had not occurred to me.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10997 comments
…there is just something freaky weird awesome about it being a exo-suit. It’s like imagining a teeny Tony Stark in the Iron Man armor.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
It’s also pretty terrific character design the way they have the screw through a piece of hair so that it looks like it’s actually holding it on.
As for colors, all the girls have a color in their name. I doubt it has any meaning past that.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10997 comments
The first time I saw the screw I dismissed it as, “I guess hairdecs some in all shapes and sizes”. I think Inami from Working! just has me conditioned to accept all sorts of things like that?
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Asahi and Youko’s situation is what I’d call a “Shield and Sword” scenario. Asahi trying to get through with his confession but Youko being a little thick is blocking him.
The pacing really jumped in the episode’s second half. I didn’t know Nagisa was an alien.
All these reveals are just going to make it harder for Asahi and with his “Leaky Basket” status, it’s only a matter of time until Mikan is on his trail. That “S” class stalker doesn’t know when to quit.