Majimoji Rurumo – 05-06
It’s the show that needs more love
Magjimoji is a show that just chases down my heart. It’s a mild little romcom that doesn’t always go loud or overly dramatic, and maintains it’s own sense of charm all the way though. I hope you stick with me as I catch up on it.
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Rurumo’s Delivery Service
I became a tree…
I’m calling this the semipsuedoGhibliesque episode. You can to. If you want. If you do, then try to work it into everyday conversation. I don’t know if they had that in mind when making this episode, but if they did, they did it very well. It has many of those elements we should be familiar with. Our little witch meets familiar faces, all of them happy to see her in various respects, and more than happy to help in others. But in a typical Ghilbi production, your main character is just bubbling over with perkiness. Rurumo is still Rurumo. This leaves most of the people that she meets in her neighborhood carrying on most of the conversation. It’s the epitome of moeblob. They have to literally take her by hand and don’t mind at all that she just a cute person with little else going on
But the main aspect that I loved about this one was how they took a very easy plot point and made it work for them. This was their take on I can’t deliver this so I’ll give it to the person least likely to be able to do it. A directionally challenged person in this case. Now the the delivery in question is a wooden artisan cellphone case that Shibaki, out in corn country, wanted to have to look impressive and cool, and it had no consequence whatsoever to the characters or the plot. But that hardly matters as the charm of the affair is the most entertaining. And it does get them to the sweetest point in the show. Magical Tree Rurumo. I found that to be enchanting, not the magnificent sort I’ll grant, but just in line with what the show is about. Magical accident stuff happens, in this case her cloak and hat are interwoven with regenerative magic that attracts plant life. It took some effort but she did manage to not become plantborg and she does manage to deliver her package safely to Shibaki. Not that it really matters.
Don’t worry, she has this….
She got this too…
And Sometimes You Cry
...and you cannot get good cat crafted bespoke wands point from a vending machine…
If the last episode was the Majimoji take on one trope, this is another take on a time honored standard, character death. They delivered it with a great deal of substance. Typically you see some death flags early on, as we are so used to be suspicious of them, we think we see the signs. This one didn’t let us in with a flag. It just kinda happened. That way of telling the story is helped by the fact that the character in question was a kitten. Let’s face it, we don’t always know what is wrong with animals, and when Shibaki has to spend his time avoiding his Mom, who is not fond of animals, finding out about him keeping them,or finding them homes…some of the clues are going to get missed.
And then sometimes things turn for the worse, and very suddenly. We got a bit overloaded on how cute kittens are, why girls love them so much, and why we love it when girls love them. A feedback loop of cute! You would think with all the attention payed, something would have stood out about poor little Incident. We even got a bit distracted by Chiro’s backstory of being a poor lost familiar from a less prestigious familiar family, a natural pick for Rurumo’s in need of the best she can find, and feel lucky to get that. And even in a world of magic, there are some rules you cannot break. You can’t bring back the dead…or at least you shouldn’t. This might be a bit scary for the series as that unfired Chekov’s gun from back in episode four, Rurumo checking out medical texts for No Reason, and how Shibaki compares Incident to Rurumo when the former looks as clumsy as the latter.
Incident is very helpful…
I’m just going to go into a corner and cry quietly…don’t mind me
As I said in a recent Metaverse podcast, this show needs more love. I feel that the staff has done a great job of balancing out the ecchi vibes with good character development from week to week. They’ve shown they can take some rather stale and some rather time honored tropes and very much make them their own. And that is the best of good and honest storytelling. What did you folks think?
About skylion
All around nerd that enjoys just about any anime genre. I love history, politics, public policy, the sciences, literature, arts...pretty much anything can make me geeky...except sports. Follow me @theskylion
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
T_T
Poor Chiro too. Abandoned kitty as well.
Right now the series has found the right balance of ecchi and storytelling. Earlier eps were too concentrated on the perversity.
Right now… WAAAAAAAAAAA~~ T_T
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
…but they did perversity so well…
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I don’t think I’d ever describe this show as ‘quiet’, with Shibaki screaming all the time (one of the things that pulls down my opinion of the show).
The episode with Jiken was the most touching one they’ve had, probably the only one so far that I’ve outright liked. I also liked the fuukiin character, Inoue. But in general, any time it focuses on Rurumo I’m not that interested. I just don’t get much out of her constant struggles with herself, and her lack of self-improvement bothers me (not that she isn’t trying, just that she never gets better at anything).
In general, tho, the show just doesn’t resonate with me much.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
After watching two seasons of OreImo, and the Bakemonogatari franchise repeatedly…this show is quiet…(and I’m name two!)
As you can tell, I like it when people have to fill in for what they assume the space she is occupying. With that in mind, it hasn’t been the best of dialogue at time, but they make the attempt.
I’m cool if ain’t everyone’s horse…
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
Yosuga no Sora
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 167 comments
Dat feelz
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
….I swear it wasn’t me, I don’t even ride commuter trains…
POWUH: 900-999 with 915 comments
They just… Why? Why do they keep killings kittens this season? TT.TT Wasn’t the pseudo-death of Scarlet in Blade Dance enough? Just stop, please… Stop introducing kitties in an episode to kill them that same episode, it’s cheap, and it’s cruel.
(and the next episode they almost forgot about Jiken… Cruel people are cruel…)
But seriously, this show is amazing me more and more.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Yay! Glad you enjoy it JP.
Please think of the kitties, folks.