Jitsu wa Watashi wa – 06
Punk or Wolfman?
Time for an osananajimi!
Wolf… Man?
Poor Asahi never had a chance
I like the choice of the show to pick up right where the last episode left off, with Asahi and Youko leaving the amusement park after talking about her childhood friend, the wolfman. And the last thing that Asahi expected was that he’d meet him right away. And quite the frightening sight it is, a yan-ki with spiky hair and a gruff attitude. But he’s not all bad, as he actually seems like he is planning to let Asahi and Youko get on with their ‘being a couple’, until Asahi steps forward to disavow that they have any relationship besides being ‘just friends’. The poor guy even friendzones himself, although Youko, when she finally catches up, gives him the knockout punch.
Shiho definitely knows how to make an entrance
But the best exchange of the scene is when Asahi realizes he’s gotta do something to convince Shirou that he doesn’t know Youko’s secret, even though he hasn’t been surprised by Shirou’s fangs. It really helps that Asahi is about 5 levels smarter than Shirou, who’s not the cleverest wolf…man. He manages to bluff Shirou into having enough doubt about whether Asahi is bluffing to stave off any decisive action about making Youko go home. But he’s afraid everything’s going to go bad when Shirou’s going to prove he’s a wolfman and sees the moon. But far from turning into an even more fearsome wolf, Shirou turns (back) into Shiho, the person who’s really Youko’s childhood friend.
Just because I really really liked this image, here’s a contemplative Nagisa.
A Wolf of a Different Sort
All that work Nagisa did for nothing
Shiho does seem like a good friend of Youko’s, although she’s a bit on the wild side for the delicate sensibilities of Youko and Asahi, to say nothing of the very straight-laced Nagisa. And if Youko’s not dating Asahi, then Shiho figures that’s “All Green” for her to get some action with a boy. As Youko bluntly puts it, Shiho’s a pervert (it’s a cute bit of wordplay in Japanese: “Shishidou Shiho no chijo.”). Shiho also explains how her two personalities work: Shiho is aware of what Shirou experiences, but Shirou is not aware of what happens when it’s Shiho. I’m going to say that this is going to make it convenient for the rest of the characters when they have to say something that they don’t want Shirou to hear… like the fact that people know Youko’s secret. Even though Shiho knows that’s Shirou’s promise to Youko’s father, she doesn’t care about it at all.
Youko can’t admit it, but she can’t just sit by and lose her boyfriend
And she’s got a perfect object to tease with Asahi, which gets even better when Shiho realizes that Youko, despite her vehement embarrassed protestations earlier, really does like Asahi, but can only obliquely show it. Trying to cuddle up close to Asahi, smacking Shiho with a slipper, trying any way she can to divert Shiho from taking Asahi away from her. But in the end, Youko’s just not bold enough with her own feelings to be strong with Shiho, who understands Youko’s feelings for Asahi, even if Youko herself doesn’t (just like Nagisa, who spends the whole episode going across town to Youko’s place, thinking of all the ways that Youko and Asahi are advancing their relationship).
I like Shiho a lot more than Shirou, who feels like a one-joke character. Luckily, it looks like Shiho is the one who will be around a lot more than Shirou, especially since she’s transferred into the same class with Asahi, Youko, and Nagisa. And even though Shiho hasn’t said, she’s bright enough to make sure it doesn’t take long before she’s sure that Asahi knows about Youko’s secret. She just doesn’t care about Shirou’s deal with Youko’s dad. All in all, this was another fun episode, and another fun character introduced. I’m kind of interested to see if next episode we bring Mikan back into the show, since she’s been missing for a couple episodes, now that they’re back at school, and there are more secrets to keep.
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: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
Neither. Dragonball Z instead. Its over 9000!!
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1692 comments
I’ve also been thinking it was time for Mikan to return. Especially now that we have “the mysterious transfer student” who knows Youko since childhood.
I thought throwing the stick to distract Shirou was a great bit. But I hope it doesn’t get overplayed in the future. It can work maybe two or three times, but not as a continuous joke, unless something more is added to the joke, like make him dive off a bridge into a river chasing the stick or jump in front of a truck.
I think Asahi had better start carrying a picture of the full Moon around with him all the time. Never know when it might come in handy around Shiho and Shirou!
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I think moving into the school setting, Shiho’s advances toward Asahi will take a different form and purpose. Especially now that she’s figured out Youko’s feelings for Asahi. Now they’ll be mainly for embarrassing Asahi and Nagisa and trying to get Youko to understand her feelings for him.
I doubt they’ll play the Shirou = doggy card much. It was a good shorthand example of his nature. But from what I hear, Shirou becomes a more and more minor character, in favor of keeping Shiho around more.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1692 comments
Not playing the Shirou=doggy card would be fine with me. I did say I hoped it wasn’t overused unless they could put a new twist on it each time.
I think you’re right about how Shiho will be used in the future and they just couldn’t do as much with Shirou.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
And I think that’s a good thing, since Shirou is supposed to be the ‘alternate’ personality. I think it will remain to be seen how much Shiho is used as a good character, or just as an embarrassing character.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Paging the Whenwolf…also, whywolf, whowolf, whatwolf, and howwolf…
So is Youko’s shyness the natural teen shy, or is it Vampire Among Humans shy…or both!?
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I would imagine that it’s a mixture of both. You can see that she loses her shyness around the people that she’s out to, and that kind of indicates to me that a lot of her hesitance is still due to what she said in the first episode: She tries to limit the chances for her fangs to be exposed, which means she has to keep a lid on her personality.
And then there’s her shyness around Asahi whenever the topic turns to her feelings. And that’s totally teen shyness.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Wow, that’s one hell of a condition the werewolf has. I think it’s a boon Shiho is a pervert because it’s hard to imagine someone of a sound mind coming to grips with such a disposition that can go on and off like a light switch.