Makeine: Too Many Losing Heroines! Discussion

The Very Hungry Caterpillar. heh. Go Dog Go is better though.

Those were some pretty in depth displays Komari wrote out. Seems like a lot to expect people to read at a festival. Makes sense for her to do, but someone should have pointed it out to her.

Why all the boys were staring at Karen while Lemon was running around in that outfit I have no idea.

Yeah that was very strange. It's not the first time the show has teased something but then not followed through on it; the first was Kaju's red bean rice balls at the end of the beach episode. Tsukinoki said she got them from a girl fitting Kaju's description, but we didn't see her spying on the group or anything. This show likes to leave little details & references dangling. It's frustrating in the sense that there are many Chekhov's Guns lying around not going off, but maybe the intention is to make the world feel more lived in? I think that may be too generous a spin, though, given the way good narratives are generally built.

Also a little strange that Nukumizu felt like he had to move that close to Anna to tell her they were being filmed. Which, I'm pretty sure, is straight up illegal for a teacher to do.

I think why Nukumizu's comment about the guy who likes her didn't faze her was because she's popular and used to being liked & confessed to. That was some pretty intense teasing aimed at him, in the same vein as the post-friendzone-on-rooftop conversation. I'm about ready for Anna to receive her comeuppance, as it were, whatever that looks like. The balance of power feels askew.

As Komari was speaking at the cafe it suddenly struck me there was no music or background sounds, only the actress speaking. It let her performance stand on its own.

An animation detail that leapt out at me was when Anna turned sideways as she left the room as the others showed up with the tatami mats. The animators didn't need to include that detail and yet they took that extra step.



With the way the teacher and nurse have been handled as well as the members of the student council it seems the author likes to introduce characters then come back to them as the story naturally flows. Honestly it feels more true to life, especially given the series is set in a school where the chances characters will randomly and repeatedly encounter one another are quite high.

Karen is another example. The whole first arc orbited around her impact as the "winner", and yet we only just now got to see her and have a first-hand experience with her character.



Given her tan lines and attitude it's likely Lemon regular shows off her abdomen to the point the guys are accustomed to it. Plus Karen is the "new" girl and so more of a "novelty". Then Lemon admitted to being naked under the costume and the level of interest instantly shifted. XD

That was a pretty calm and simple episode to conclude this arc: No obstacles, no struggles, just an indication that Komari could now manage to take over the club- with the support of Nukumizu-, and that she and her senpais got a closure regarding their romantic situation.

Nukumizu's road to solidifying his Male MC-ness has began though, with him finally having some development and struggles. One could only expect that the Nuk/Yanami arc is finally coming soon. Or at least I'M hoping that's the case because-- GIVE IT TO ME ALREADYYY!!! I don't always do this shipping stuff but, I sure as hell ship the heck out of these two! So, give it to me... NOW!!!
Shipper obsession aside, Nukumizu's disappointment towards Yanami's "Re-dying Ghost" scene with the blond dude does seem to imply something else. I smell in denial jealousy.

The student council setup are still very much not appealing to me. Not only are they very cliche gimmick characters- creepy cleavage girl, the not-so-being-forced "Nyaa" girl, and the cool yuri president-, but those characters intentionally taking the spotlight without anything interesting to show kinda make them just irritating than anything positive. Specially considering that even the other side-characters that actually played a part in the main story didn't beg for attention to make a mark and are still remembered for their limited screen time. Kaju, Koto, and Asagumo would be a good example of that, with them having their respective gimmicks and never having to force it, but still worked as running gags even with them having very little screen time to establish those.

Speaking of Kaju, I'm surprised they didn't have her do more stuff during this School Festival episode. I guess they really wanted to focus more on concluding Komari's arc for this episode, and only setup Nuk's stuff for later on-- she did seemingly take some pictures of him so, I guess that will be brought up sometime?

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EDIT: I just learned that Koto's VA is the same one that voiced Frieren... mindblown! °0°

I like how the BL album was talking about putting a ring on the other guy's finger. It was too big to fit in the hole. The guy even yelled out he was size 14.

I see. That's a helpful context. I admittedly misunderstood that part as Shikiya being the superior that gave the order, forgetting that Tiara is the VP. My bad on that one.
Although, even knowing the context, I'm still not a fan of their shtick-- they still feel out of place. But I wouldn't mind them if they get integrated into the story much better in future seasons. Their comical bits might start working properly if they start becoming involved with the MCs.

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EDIT: (Thoughts on English Dub)

I just randomly rewatched Makeine in English Dub. It's not bad. Yanami's VA works quite well. Lemon's too, though she's not a VA-driven character anyway so, she doesn't require much manner of speaking. Nukumizu's VA sound much more mature than the Japanese dub but, it does give him more of a MC vibe.
Although, I'm bummed to learn that American dubbing is still pretty much the same style as years ago where every character either sound the same, much more older than the characters being voiced, has the same manner of speaking/attitude for every character, or all of the above. Koto feels like just another mature female that's into BL unlike in JP dub where she really sounds like an eccentric person. Komari sounds like the usual cute and shy type character-- voice sounds similar to the JP dub though. But the one that hurt me... Kaju, There's almost no uniqueness or appeal to her English VA.
But overall, they did good with the MCs VAs so that's great. The dialogues aren't as strong (or meme-able) as when watching with subs though.

One of the better episodes, certainly the most poignant so far. Although, not sure why Komari thought Nukumizu had anything else other than the club, he seemed to be a full time member who was there all the time.

I see thematic parallels between Komari's attitude toward the club and her status as a losing heroine. Fear of being alone is a huge reason many seek out a romantic relationship. It's almost like if Komari's first rejection was by the club prez, then if she couldn't hack it as the new prez, she'd be rejected all over again by her friends. Nukumizu's "assistance," paradoxically, felt to her like he was catalyzing her impeding rejection. I think that's why she was so desperate to do it herself.

Not only that, but her entire social identity at school was bound up in the club and her writing. Nukumizu assuming the leadership role must've felt like he was appropriating a huge part of what gave her her sense of self. I think that's why his complimenting her writing made such a difference.

Also, as always, this show is just way, way better animated than it has to be.

I think you got this wrong. It wasn't that she thought she would be abandoned if she failed as president, it was that she thought she would be abandoned, period. She thought she needed to learn how to do everything herself because she expected that she would be the only one around to do them in the future. That everyone else would just end up being members in name only so she would be the only active member, leaving her to have to do everything. That was why she kept telling Nukumizu that she needed to learn how to do these things and that she would have to do it all herself the next year.

@zkeleton Hmm—I'm not sure that really changes my argument: Komari still should not have been obnoxious to Nukumizu for telling her the truth, she still misjudged the situation, and she still insulted her friends. And it's kind of difficult to separate the "If I don't succeed in this you'll leave" and "you all are going to leave so I have to succeed in this" mindsets in the actions they lead to.