Mikagura Gakuen Kumikyouku 02 – 03
Now we see what kind of show this is
Hey there everyone, and welcome to the post for episodes 2 and 3! I’ve decided (for now) to alternate Mikagura with Nanoha ViVid weekly, so I hope people are still watching both shows.
Irrepressible
Remember, this is after Eruna *lost*
I think I used that adjective in the First Impression post, but it really is the perfect description of Eruna. To paraphrase (well, completely change around) a famous Dan Patrick saying, you can’t even hope to contain her. Her boundless self-confidence is probably her best feature, and it’s what got her where she is, for better or worse. And even if she can’t get what she wants out of Seisa, she’s going to keep trying to find what she’s looking for wherever she can. From her self-introduction as “The Last Great New Student” to her neverending positivity, you just can’t break her spirit. At least most of the other clubs are friendly enough to talk to her, even as she either misunderstands or completely undermines their own club activities (“I’ve been entrusted with the important role of “Tree” since kindergarten!” to describe her acting prowess, for instance).
Poor Himi has no luck
But that spirit gets put to the test in her first battle, against Himi-chan from the calligraphy club. I think it’s the first time that Eruna realizes she’s overmatched by quite a large amount. But even that doesn’t really get her down, she just keeps trying. She hasn’t even found the item that will activate her power that she doesn’t know she has, but she’s going to try anyway. And it takes about half the battle with Himi before she’s able to awaken her power as a “descendant of the chosen line.” Too bad for Himi that what she thought was going to be an easy win turns into a huge upset defeat, but you when you go against the protagonist, it’s not going to go well for you. The kicker is that Eruna is able to activate her power of “Toy Gun” without an item.
Invincible
Sparkly…
Unfortunately, Eruna lets her success go a little bit to her head, and ends up letting her mouth write checks her butt can’t cash. She understandably wants to share her triumph with Seisa, but goes overboard, partially from her natural hubris, and partially because she just doesn’t know Seisa, nearly as well as she wishes she did. Taken aback by Seisa’s criticisms of her fight with Himi, namely that Himi took Eruna lightly, she ends up challenging Seisa to a fight. Eruna can certainly see the benefits of winning, so she’s going to go for it, never mind the potential downsides of being stripped of her provisional Going-Home Club membership. That’s just the person she is.
But fruitless
Of course, Eruna’s not going to win. She’s not even going to break a single crystal of Seisa’s. During the remainder of the episode, I was kind of torn between believing that Eruna could meet Seisa’s condition, i.e. breaking a single crystal, and that Eruna would lose in a lopsided fight. It turned out that she lost in a really-lopsided fight, Seisa toying with her the whole time (considering she didn’t even move and fell asleep). Also lost is her chance to be in the Going Home club, but you can’t keep a good baka down. The real development in the aftermath of the fight is Eruna’s idea to start her own club, and get members interested through the Rookie Battle. And she might have another member interested just by the fact that she won’t stop trying to impress Seisa.
The parallels to a cute puppy abound
If you want non-stop positivity, I don’t know if you’re going to do any better than this show. Even after her loss, it didn’t look like Eruna was that far down that she needed to be picked up by Bimii and Kuzuryu. To me it just looked like she needed time to discover what she was going to do next. I also think that the dynamic they’re building between Seisa and Eruna is interesting, with Seisa’s loss of interest in anything being challenged by Eruna, this person who doesn’t recognize her space in the way that the others do. The OP is probably a little bit spoilery as far as what’s going to happen, but we’ll see how it works out with Eruna’s new club.
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
You have described Eruna magnificently. It took me looking up the original vocaloid music videos that this series came from for me to grasp just how significant Eruna’s irrepresible nature is. However, once I did watch them, and I saw how much of an effect her nature as an unstoppably cheerful nut has on some of these people around her (who are actually a lot more depressed and withdrawn than they might look), it really changed my view of her. I had been getting annoyed with her for being too much of a perv, and for letting her hubris get her in over her head, but now… This girl is gonna be good for these people. And the best part is she doesn’t have to do anything except be herself!
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Yes, I noticed during the research for the first impression post that apart from Eruna and Himi, there’s a very depressing undertone to all the character songs. And the show has not been bashful about showing the mental state of Seisa. They definitely need someone like Eruna to shake up their lives. Personally, I find these brutally positive characters interesting, and like shows with them (I was wondering if Eruna or Hajime from Gatchaman Crowds was more positive, but I think Eruna wins for being more manic).
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10997 comments
You could also use the word “callow”; as this show is really riding that definition quite hard. I might go so far as to call it the over-riding theme.
I wish I was better at looking up certain facets of the art and industry, so until I find a name, or until someone supplies it, I’ll just leave some hints of really well done sakuga work from the show.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Hmm, I don’t know if I’d really agree about callow. While it could be to the definition of it, I don’t think that’s actually a concern here. And when does a ‘callow’ personality shift to being ‘individuality’? It’s not that Eruna is childish, and you could call her unsophisticated, but I think that’s completely in character with someone who is 16 years old. But I think at best she’ll understand what ‘acting adult’ is, and then ignore it.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
I’ll put an emphasis on the mentioned “non-stop” part of your end thoughts. I can tell the series has a slim chance of faring well if its erratic pacing ever let up. Mikagura Gakuen Kumikyouku is the kind of show that has no choice but to keep moving at the current speed if it hopes to stay entertaining and retain viewers. That’s the impression left after watching the past three entries.
Pretty much a fool’s bet if anyone thought Eruna was going to win against Seisa who’s clearly the school’s top dog. Having a sudden awakened power got to head so she ignored to gauge Seisa’s abilities.
As a lead, Eruna isn’t so bad. A little irresponsible but her fantasies make good for a laugh. Should a comparison have to be made; she’s a more scatterbrained, airheaded version of Gatchaman Crowds’ Hajime Ichinose. Minus the Mary Stu aspect cleverly hidden beneath.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1557 comments
I recently got around to watching Mekakucity Actors, which is also based on Vocaloid songs, and I’ve been really enjoying the series (started yesterday, going to finish the last two today!) with the Shaft style and the interweaving and initially seemingly unconnected plotlines.
This one is starting to get backlogged, but the pacing sounds a lot different (i.e. much faster). I was intrigued with the first episode, do these two keep up the same feel?
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Yes, the episodes have all kept about the same feel, and they seem to me to get better as the audience has a chance to get up to Eruna’s speed. Because she’s certainly not slowing down.
I also think that ‘based on vocaloid songs’ isn’t really the description that I’d use for Mikagura. Certainly not like Mekakucity Actors, which really just seemed to expand on the songs to make a full-length anime. Mikagura School Suite is already an LN series, and it’s more that the songs are character songs, not really as much the source for the plot of the series.
I think that Mikagura, through 4 episodes, is better than Mekakucity Actors ever was. But I found it rather opaque, and at the same time felt that the songs were a little too straightforward (“then he woke up, and then he went out, and then he did this, and then he did that”). And I’ve said before that I’m pretty tired of Shinbou’s schtick with Shaft. So that added up to a not great rememberance on my part for the series.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1557 comments
Hmm. I’ve never been able to get into Vocaloid music. I tried listening to a song once, but it just sounded way too robotic for my liking.
I didn’t realize that Mekakucity Actors was more or less expanded from the songs. I thought they both were just inspired from the music videos and went from there in original material. So I guess you can’t really call Mikagura an original series then if there’s a LN series published. Hm Hm.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1557 comments
Hmm, finished Mekakucity, and I enjoyed it a lot more than I had expected to. The ending could have used a little more work, but overall I’m pretty happy (unlike Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso… I’m still bitter about that ending).
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
No, I don’t think anyone’s calling Mikagura an anime-only series. It’s definitely an adaptation of the LNs.
I haven’t really been a fan of vocaloid music either. There have been one or two that I’ve liked, but that’s it.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1557 comments
That was probably my confusion. I saw Vocaloid and automatically assumed anime-original, as LNs based on Vocaloid music never occurred to me.
I’m only up to episode 2 (as the group I’m following is only that far), but the series hasn’t rolled out the way I thought it would. It definitely isn’t as fun as Baka to Test, as it’s lacking the comedic aspects – the manzai act between Eruna and neko-sensei isn’t working very well for me.
So far I can’t really place the direction the series is going. Is it going to be darker, light-hearted, more drama, or easy on the plot with flashy battles? The first battle reminded me of hints of something out of Kyousogiga, minus the bright colors.
As for Eruna’s power, I felt that she still needed a catalyst to materialize her power, being her portable game console. Maybe it’s more evident later on, but it feels like she is activating her powers through the game console via her dream world (via games).
Eruna is just a huge bundle of boundless optimism, almost to the point of annoyance. So far it hasn’t crossed the line and maybe she’ll start to show her endearing side, but right now she’s probably at the upper limit of my tolerance levels. I consider myself pretty optimistic, but she’s just on a whole other level. Kinda like a student and master type gap.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I made it a couple episodes into Baka to Test a long time ago, and found the concept pretty dumb, so I quit watching it. I really don’t know if Mikagura is trying to be outright comedy or anything like that, but I think you’ll get a better feel for Eruna the more you watch. I’ve seen through episode 4, and she definitely doesn’t back down, but she also doesn’t get more annoying. It’s like you get a little more used to her, and then you appreciate what she is.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1557 comments
Spammy ate a comment from yesterday and was never rescued =(
POWUH: Lovely-pyon~ with 261 comments
That Poor Young Lady (Erina Ichinomiya) had no clue for she is doing, after she break someone seal…she may succeed in all (of course she may fail) but…
I was wondering if someone unveil the schools dark secrets and…hmph! let’s see that girl is what will feel about it. LOL >:)
OK…I may a weird pun for that…