Loved this episode. One of the better ones, with a further deepening of the characters of Kobayashi and Tooru together with their relationship with one another, more quality animation especially with facial reactions and some more unique gag shots, and the mid-show debut of apparently the waifu everyone was waiting for.
The show is at its best when it shows us who Kobayashi is and how Tooru interacts with Kobayashi's character and vice versa. A lot of shows of the same structure tend to either strip characters down merely to gags or overblow simple characterizations in the most melodramatic, unsubtle way as possible (which I feel is Urara Meirochou's problem). Here, all the characters are very lovable and fun-to-watch, however both Kobayashi and Tooru seem to have something special to them as characters. They both have a considerable amount of intrigue to them. Some bits and pieces about who they are slowly sprinkled onto us, letting us find out something new about them while still being something completely expected of them as characters. This is something that, although not necessary, I wish more shows of this genre did. Whenever some shows try to flesh out a character, sometimes they don't really ADD anything to the character. Sometimes, they just end up applying another variation to an already-established character trait, and while doing this is fine on its own, if the character only has one or two properly-established character components, well... you know where I'm going with this. I also love the way the show adds these character pieces in a way that it's completely expected of the character despite it not being required of the character. That felt kind of hard to say, so let me explain with the example from this episode that completely sparked this train of thought. When Kobayashi reveals to Tooru that she's never been as close to anyone before as she was with Tooru, never been wanted like Tooru does, nor had any close friends before, it all comes as a sort of surprise to the viewer. We didn't really know this about Kobayashi before. Yet, it doesn't REALLY surprise the viewer. It perfectly fits with who Kobayashi is and explains her past decisions and personality really well (like how Kobayashi had a fairly boring life before Tooru moved in). Kobayashi didn't necessarily have to have this sort of backstory. There are a million other ways one could become the way Kobayashi has become. Her character wouldn't necessarily have been any more shallow if they picked a different backstory, yet the one we were given this episode felt so natural to her character, and it feels like no other way could possibly fit her as well as this. This just shows how well the writer has imagined his main duo. Also, special props to how not overly-melodramatic they made this reveal. Shows of this genre have a massive tendency to do that.
I also love the reaction shots in this show. KyoAni, I guess. They're pretty good at what they do. Everything moves so fluidly, and all the facial reactions never seem to be used twice. (They might've, but it really doesn't feel like that's the case, and that's what matters). I'm always impressed with some of the reactions this show has. I don't think this show has any better storyboarding than other shows of this genre (tempted to say 'nichijou-kei' but I want to be safe), however they execute the shots they have with incredible energy and fluidity when other shows like this have neither. There is one shot that stuck out to me though, and that's the one where Lucoa's face envelops the screen when she lectures Tooru about lunchboxes. It just seemed pretty cool and badass and well-timed, and the way the large evil Lucoa contrasts the regular, sitting, pasted-smile Lucoa stuck out to me too.
Also, Elma. Like, she's pretty cute. I don't really have much to say about her than that. She is pretty t h i c c though. You could see that in the shot where she slowly walks out the door. It's really surprising how the creators of this show seem to really love the t h i c c when other shows prefer more slim and petite characters. Kind of refreshing, maybe, in a way.
Overall, show's my favorite this season. 9/10 cuz I like the main two characters a lot. |