| Episode 3 Right on cue, this episode is about Komari, the bookworm, who is in love with the literature club president Tamaki, and while rejection is probably coming, it hasn't happened yet. With Lemon and Anna joining the literature club, they go out to the beach to have a training camp seeing that their club is on the chopping block after Shikiya from the student council lets them know about it. And after a day at the beach, it's a BBQ dinner, and then fireworks as Lemon won a bag full of them in a contest and after Komari nearly injures herself with one of them (you are supposed to get as far away from it after lighting it, not looking at it when it looked like it's a dud), she confesses her love to Tamaki. What comes of it remains to be seen, but in any case it's great to see the club having a great time even under less-than-ideal situations. |
| First Episode impression: Looks like a lot of thought went into the presentation for this: The little details like the delivery of dialogues, the cuts, the reasonable amount and well utilized cartoonish expressions. The FMC's eccentricity is already fun to watch and, as always, I appreciate that the MMC isn't just a cardboard POV character for the harem and actually has an attitude on him. I like the 'Bento' bits with the debt counter for each food the FMC gives the MMC. I really hope that that quality remains til the end and not just a 3-episode thing. Really liked the 1st episode. |
   |
| This show is just so sharp. Everything is a cut above, from the animation to the music to the backgrounds to the writing to the voice acting. He named his piece of meat... That made me LOL. "The Slave Girl I Picked Up Was Actually an S-Rank Adventurer, so I Decided to Become a Freeloader." I'd read that. Nukumizu's imouto is spreading tales of her brother's "friendlessness," to the point where the shop owner's association is worried about him... Why was the scene with glimpses of the girls preparing 10X sexier than actually seeing them on the beach? I want an Anna-chan fist bump.  Finally: Question about tan lines. So, they're not my thing BUT Lemon's are such that she must spend a *lot* of time outside with just a sports bra and little athletic shorts on. Is that an outfit they'd let her wear at school? |
| Away from the things of man, my love, away from the things of man. |
boldulysses said: Nukumizu's imouto is spreading tales of her brother's "friendlessness," to the point where the shop owner's association is worried about him... His imouto is obviously at the same beach too, so I am guessing next episode they run into her, or she spies on him. boldulysses said: Is that an outfit they'd let her wear at school? I think that's fairly common women's track and field attire |
| My only quibble with this show is that I'm still not quite sure which meta level it's operating on. Is it just a straight rom-com? If so, it's a little weird to have Nukumizu be so self-aware. And the show doesn't really seem to be parodying the tropes (precocious imouto, locked in the shed, beach episode, etc) so much as just indulging in them with a little sprinkle of commentary. It feels like it's kind of sitting on the fence. HOOfan_1 said: I think that's fairly common women's track and field attire Oh for sure. But it still just seems a little too...exposed for a Japanese high school. Especially since we saw her in the shed last episode, and actually running on the track in the first episode, with a tshirt on. I dunno. |
| Away from the things of man, my love, away from the things of man. |
Reply to boldulysses
My only quibble with this show is that I'm still not quite sure which meta level it's operating on. Is it just a straight rom-com? If so, it's a little weird to have Nukumizu be so self-aware. And the show doesn't really seem to be parodying the tropes (precocious imouto, locked in the shed, beach episode, etc) so much as just indulging in them with a little sprinkle of commentary. It feels like it's kind of sitting on the fence.
Oh for sure. But it still just seems a little too...exposed for a Japanese high school. Especially since we saw her in the shed last episode, and actually running on the track in the first episode, with a tshirt on. I dunno.
HOOfan_1 said:
I think that's fairly common women's track and field attire
I think that's fairly common women's track and field attire
Oh for sure. But it still just seems a little too...exposed for a Japanese high school. Especially since we saw her in the shed last episode, and actually running on the track in the first episode, with a tshirt on. I dunno.
| @boldulysses Japanese High School Girl at a track meet (even has the stereotypical short haircut)  |
MenchiK1Jul 28, 2024 5:08 AM
| With the amount of rust on those faucets I have to question how healthy any of the water is... boldulysses said: Is it just a straight rom-com? For now I'm just thinking of it as a comedy. Will it become a rom? Or can guys and gals just be pals? (Admittedly most fiction would tell us "no" while reality tells us "yes".) On the animation I love the way the artists go off model while still keeping the characters recognizable. Not an easy thing. |
DomvinaJul 28, 2024 8:07 AM
| The tomatoes are coming! Arm the dicer! Prepare the olive oil! |
| Loved this episode. Lemon tossing Komari into the ocean was priceless, and probably just what Komari needed. And the hint that the MC's little sister is also at the beach will, I hope, play out in the next episode. And I too totally want The Slave Girl I Picked Up Was Actually an S-Rank Adventurer, so I Decided to Become a Freeloader. Crunchyroll needs to take that title and run with it. |
SparkyBobJul 28, 2024 2:26 PM
| The first ANN review is up, and they didn't even give the series to a reviewer who likes or even is really familiar with the nuances of the genre... It's a shame, but what else is new? |
| Away from the things of man, my love, away from the things of man. |
Reply to boldulysses
The first ANN review is up, and they didn't even give the series to a reviewer who likes or even is really familiar with the nuances of the genre... It's a shame, but what else is new?
| @boldulysses Sounds like the something some video game review websites do, give the review to someone who hates the genre. |
I have to admit, I found this visual so funny, I had to rewind several times to catch the dialogue because I couldn't focus on anything but their expressions. |
| Episode 4 Right on cue, Tamaki has rejected Komari, this time in favor for his childhood friend and club VP Koto, though with a twist as it turns out that last Christmas, Koto turned down Tamaki. With that, it's back to school as the mood got pretty sour there. Komari thinks that Anna dumped Kazuhiko and sends mixed messages. And then Anna confronts Sosuke with Kazuhiko as Sosuke totally misreads the situation and he thought that rejecting her was his way of making her happy seeing that he was committed to Karen all this time, but that had the opposite effect. But in the end, they were able to make things right, and Anna is ready to move on. So after all that, Anna and Kazuhiko become friends, though the whole three years from now part still needs to be ironed out. That was great stuff once again going to show that Kazuhiko is the right guy to turn to when romance goes wrong seeing that Kazuhiko has never fallen in love, and thus he has never been dumped. |
| I need to rewatch the confrontation between Nukumizu, Anna & Sosuke. There was a lot of emotional whiplash there. I'm actually glad she's not over Sosuke yet, especially 4 episodes in; it would've felt far too sudden. Good for Nukumizu for sticking up for her, even if it was misguided. Anna being the "mom" and making them apologize to each other was pretty good, too. I know I say this every week, but this show's direction, cinematography & background are so unbelievably good. And most shows start dropping off around this time. |
| Away from the things of man, my love, away from the things of man. |
| Yeah this one feels "real" for what it is, and so far I like everyone, even the side characters. Although I want to see that nurse some more. |
SparkyBob said: Yeah this one feels "real" for what it is, and so far I like everyone, even the side characters. Same. And I agree about it feeling real. Everyone seems to talk & relate to each other like normal human beings, which is a surprisingly tall order for anime. SparkyBob said: Although I want to see that nurse some more. We didn't see imouto at all this episode either... I was expecting her to make an appearance. So what's the over/under on whether Karen will move overseas and Sosuke will try to get Anna "back," forcing Nukumizu to confront his feelings for her? |
| Away from the things of man, my love, away from the things of man. |
boldulysses said: We didn't see imouto at all this episode either... I was expecting her to make an appearance. Yeah the red bean rice balls being given to them by a middle school girl was kind of a Chekov's Gun situation. |
HOOfan_1 said: Yeah the red bean rice balls being given to them by a middle school girl was kind of a Chekov's Gun situation. Agreed. I hope the show is cohesive enough to reference that in a future episode. We also haven't seen any more of white-haired spaced-out student council girl... Makes it feel like the adaptation is skipping some scenes from the LN, but it's so polished otherwise that I want to give it the benefit of the doubt. |
| Away from the things of man, my love, away from the things of man. |
MenchiK1 said: And damn poor Nukumizu no wonder he has zero self confidence she rejected him 3 times already without ever asking her out, jokingly at the beach, mistakenly on the roof (double yikes for being friend zoned while asking to be friend zoned) and then premptively if he ever asks her out in the future. Yeah. Except my takeaway from that (after years of anime) was: "Okay, it's definitely gonna be Anna." :-D |
MenchiK1 said: The fizziling out of the light from the fireworks as Komari's hopes of him accepting her died was a nice touch. It was. Hell, the hand-drawn sparks from the fireworks were just beautiful. So many shows use CGI, or don't show it, or just show a montage... BTW, speaking of fireworks, did anyone else catch the Harry Potter reference last episode? Makes sense from a lit club member.  |
| Away from the things of man, my love, away from the things of man. |
| I need to track down a translation of the OP. It's the only one I'm not skipping through this season. It gives me some Nichijou vibes, though not the straight pull like S2 of Dragon Maid which was intended as a tribute. |
| The tomatoes are coming! Arm the dicer! Prepare the olive oil! |
| I've been curious about that little Kanji character that rolls around for the last few shots of the OP... Also, do the Japanese have two separate words for "dumped" & "rejected?" They have different connotations in English ("rejected" is usually pre-relationship, and "dumped" is within the relationship). The sub seems to have kind of been using them interchangeably. Paging @marklebid... |
| Away from the things of man, my love, away from the things of man. |
Reply to boldulysses
HOOfan_1 said:
Yeah the red bean rice balls being given to them by a middle school girl was kind of a Chekov's Gun situation.
Yeah the red bean rice balls being given to them by a middle school girl was kind of a Chekov's Gun situation.
Agreed. I hope the show is cohesive enough to reference that in a future episode.
We also haven't seen any more of white-haired spaced-out student council girl... Makes it feel like the adaptation is skipping some scenes from the LN, but it's so polished otherwise that I want to give it the benefit of the doubt.
| I kind of like they didn't show us. I've been getting "stalker-y" vibes from the little sister since she was introduced. That they had the rice balls delivered through an intermediary carried through that idea in a nicely subtle yet quite clear way. ("You can't see me, but I'm watching.") Something I keep noticing is how on most of the exterior shots of the school there's rust and other signs of neglect. There's been quite a lot of talk about how grade schools in Japan are shuttering from a lack of students. Though this school seems to have its share, there's a nicely subdued vibe it's not as well-maintained as schools in other high school anime. And I think "subtle" and "subdued" are good ways to describe in part how the anime conveys its emotions. Hand gestures. Facial expressions. Framing. They do a lot of "show not tell" that I really appreciate. Not to get pun-y, but A-1 is bringing their A-game with this one. On the question of the number of bows on the girls' uniforms, I read an article the other day about the growing popularity of girly fashion that's less Lolita but still uses bows quite a bit. The uniform design may be a nod to that. Or the creator just likes bows. =P |
| The tomatoes are coming! Arm the dicer! Prepare the olive oil! |
Domvina said: And I think "subtle" and "subdued" are good ways to describe in part how the anime conveys its emotions. Hand gestures. Facial expressions. Framing. They do a lot of "show not tell" that I really appreciate. Not to get pun-y, but A-1 is bringing their A-game with this one. Very rarely, if ever, is character just shown static with their lips moving, expositing something. There's always a little eye movement or head tilt or some such that makes them seem like actual people acting out the scene... I think it's a big reason why the characters feel so fleshed out, just 4 episodes in Special shout-out to Komari's VA: She has such a wide range of cute non-verbal noises, and her character is simultaneously stuttery & assertive/decisive when she needs to be. Anna may be the main heroine, but Komari has a habit of stealing the scenes. Domvina said: On the question of the number of bows on the girls' uniforms, I read an article the other day about the growing popularity of girly fashion that's less Lolita but still uses bows quite a bit. The uniform design may be a nod to that. Or the creator just likes bows. =P A lot of people can't seem to get past the bows. For me, they were noteworthy for like the first 5 minutes of the show, then they just become normal. It's a little weird that the boys' uniforms are so normal by comparison though. |
| Away from the things of man, my love, away from the things of man. |
boldulysses said: I've been curious about that little Kanji character that rolls around for the last few shots of the OP... Do you mean "恋"? While looking for info on the OP I found a discussion and they said it means "koi" as in romantic love. |
| The tomatoes are coming! Arm the dicer! Prepare the olive oil! |
boldulysses said: A lot of people can't seem to get past the bows. For me, they were noteworthy for like the first 5 minutes of the show, then they just become normal. Same. Though I probably spent too long trying to figure out if there was some hidden code to the colour combinations. XD marklebid said: https://www.animesonglyrics.com/make-heroine-ga-oosugiru/tsuyogaru-girl#tab2 This English translation of the OP is pretty good. Thanks! |
| The tomatoes are coming! Arm the dicer! Prepare the olive oil! |
Domvina said: Though I probably spent too long trying to figure out if there was some hidden code to the colour combinations. XD I did too! Like maybe they were Star Trek uniforms or something. Red: command, gold: operations, blue: medical. Lol. |
| Away from the things of man, my love, away from the things of man. |
Reply to boldulysses
Domvina said:
Though I probably spent too long trying to figure out if there was some hidden code to the colour combinations. XD
Though I probably spent too long trying to figure out if there was some hidden code to the colour combinations. XD
I did too! Like maybe they were Star Trek uniforms or something. Red: command, gold: operations, blue: medical. Lol.
| @boldulysses Usually girls in different grades have different colored ties, accessories, etc. on their uniforms so you can tell who are your senpais ;) If that's the case I can't figure out the pattern  |
MenchiK1Aug 5, 2024 6:19 AM
| ^That's a great group picture of all the girls. MenchiK1 said: If that's the case I can't figure out the pattern I don't think there is a pattern. They just coordinate with the girls' natural coloring. It kind of makes sense that they would let them personalize it a bit if they're going to make them wear something so silly looking, haha. |
| Away from the things of man, my love, away from the things of man. |
boldulysses said: I don't think there is a pattern. They just coordinate with the girls' natural coloring. It kind of makes sense that they would let them personalize it a bit if they're going to make them wear something so silly looking, haha. Yeah I thought about he grade thing last night, but Lemon, Komari and Anna are all in the same grade. Lemon's ribbons match her hair ornament (lemon with a leaf) Anna's are yellow and her hair color Komari's are her hair color and orange...which kind of go together like autumn colors. Koto's are ...maybe the color of her eyes? and orange. The yandere student council member is obviously the color of her sweater |
| ^Yeah seems like the only requirements are: 1. Two alternating colors 2. Four total bows |
| Away from the things of man, my love, away from the things of man. |
Domvina said: I noticed that right away, but I don't think it's supposed to show neglect. I think it's there to make the world look lived in to add to the feeling of this being a real place with real people.Something I keep noticing is how on most of the exterior shots of the school there's rust and other signs of neglect. There's been quite a lot of talk about how grade schools in Japan are shuttering from a lack of students. Though this school seems to have its share, there's a nicely subdued vibe it's not as well-maintained as schools in other high school anime. boldulysses said: Yeah I looked her up because usually you here certain VA's doing certain types of characters, but her voice wasn't familiar to me. She only has a few recent credits so she must be new.Special shout-out to Komari's VA: She has such a wide range of cute non-verbal noises, and her character is simultaneously stuttery & assertive/decisive when she needs to be. Anna may be the main heroine, but Komari has a habit of stealing the scenes. |
| Cursive is the future. - Nate Bargatze |
| Holy crap ANN needs to get a different reviewer. That was THE most phoned-in review I've ever read, 3 full days after the episode aired. What a joke. Maybe I should stop rewarding it with a click, heh. |
| Away from the things of man, my love, away from the things of man. |
boldulysses said: I should stop rewarding it with a click, heh. The only time I use ANN is to try look at stuff like who is on the Production company and what the name of the OP and ED songs and the artists who perform them are. |
| As soon as you said "phoned-in" I knew who it was. But to give GJ some credit, it's one of his better, most enthusiastic reviews I've read in some time. Which admittedly is setting the bar pretty low, but I did get the impression he liked it. I'm sure ANN doesn't pay much, if at all, and he probably has a day job or two on his plate. It'd be nice if he waxed a little more eloquently on a show this surprisingly good, but what he wrote wasn't bad. I'm gonna go back and watch the Koto scene on the steps again. That was the most heartfelt "I've been waiting so long" confession reaction I'd ever seen. Sometimes the childhood friend gets to win one. |
SparkyBobAug 6, 2024 6:41 PM
SparkyBob said: I'm gonna go back and watch the Koto scene on the steps again. That was the most heartfelt "I've been waiting [i]so long[i]" confession reaction I'd ever seen. Sometimes the childhood friend gets to win one. The way she scooted over when he sat down was just *chef's kiss*. Perfection. |
| Away from the things of man, my love, away from the things of man. |
| Also (having rewatched it) a special shout-out to whoever animated Koto's eyes during that scene where she makes the awkward joke about being "just childhood friends." When he doesn't respond like she was hoping, her eyes go from surprised, to hurt, to angry - all without saying a word. And of COURSE Anna has to beat on our boy for no reason. That's what men are FOR. "So how are conversations like this supposed to end, anyway?" <-- LOL |
SparkyBob said: "So how are conversations like this supposed to end, anyway?" <-- LOL I absolutely loved that line! It's a perfect way to remind the audience these are teenagers with very little life experience. |
| The tomatoes are coming! Arm the dicer! Prepare the olive oil! |
| Episode 4: I return Anime isn't so bad this season. The problem remains the incentives, of course; that Makeine exists ought to shame most other anime into being less abysmal, but people don't actually want good anime. Further, even attempts at being good must be watered down; hence the creep nurse and student council officer cleavage-san. We didn't need Lemon to throw off her top in episode two; we were already going to get some far more natural Lemon fanservice in episode three. There are ways to do fanservice well, that don't detract from the sense of the thing. (Cleavage-san was kind of amusing, though; I could imagine a believable, or even satisfying, explanation, but I kind of doubt we'll get one.) This most recent episode did a lot; I don't think it's so obvious guy-who-Anna-liked was wrong to be concerned about her getting over him, nor do I think Anna is blameless in how she dealt with Nukumizu's worries about the gossip (which connects to a far deeper problem in romance anime that try to be more serious in their justifications, that men tend to be doormats corrected by the women). But people behaved seriously and with candor, and managed to deal with multiple problems. Komari manages to be shy without exaggerated debilitation, which is rare enough (get bent, Komi-san), but more than that her intelligence too is realistic. (I won't go into my rant about social epistemology, but TV and movies almost never get smart people right.) For Komari to confess to the guy she likes, turn around and reconcile with him and his new girlfriend after she got rejected, and then turn around again and say getting dumped serves Nukumizu right; this is an advanced character as far as anime goes. And yes, her VA makes Komari even better. Finally—episode 4 was the hurdle here: The first three episodes told us what Makeine was going to be like, but they didn't tell us how intelligent it'd be with where it went. If you're good enough with literature/hermeneutics you can tell if a show's smart, so I expected we'd get something good from episode 4, but this doesn't always happen: Undead Girl Murder Farce took its unique characters and flushed them down the mystery toilet. There were so many directions Makeine could have gone here given the choices other anime have made, and most such directions would have been bad. What we got was not bad. Thus: The three-episode rule is stupid. The most important rule of anime watching is the zero-episode rule: Most anime sucks, therefore you should just ignore most anime. My next rule is for the first episode: It should demonstrate there's something there that makes it not suck like everything else. One episode is almost always enough for me to decide if I want to watch an anime, which is why I almost never drop anime. Only rarely does it take me two episodes to decide there's something worth following there, and once I decide that I usually stick with a show for at least a few more episodes. Because it takes that long for the thing to develop. This is why, when I do drop an anime, it's usually around episode 5. Both Wotakoi and BOFURI I dropped at episode 5, because I realized they weren't going to live up to their potential, and they became exhausting. I'm pretty sure I dropped Komi-san Can't Communicate at episode 11; Komi herself was terrible, but I held out hope for Najimi. When that happens I often hate the thing, because it strung me along but ended up insisting on being stupid. Undead Girl Murder Farce did the same thing. And lol, I read that ANN review mentioned above. Mostly correct, and not bad given how rote I imagine these things can get, but it's pretty wooden, and the "straddles" and "minutia" things are embarrassing. |
| I love him who is ashamed when the dice fall in his favour and who then asks: Am I then a cheat? – for he wants to perish. |
| Welcome back! Kind of surprised you're watching this one; I thought you gravitated toward the trashier fare... auroraloose said: When that happens I often hate the thing, because it strung me along but ended up insisting on being stupid. That's how I felt about Kiznaiver. Spectacular first episode, premise loaded with possibilities that it....did absolutely nothing with for the next 11 episodes. I kept waiting and waiting for it to "shift up," as it were, and live up to its potential, but it just sputtered along. Not sure what your grading philosophy is, but I typically grade those lower than knowingly mediocre shows. And I hate them. |
| Away from the things of man, my love, away from the things of man. |
Reply to boldulysses
Welcome back! Kind of surprised you're watching this one; I thought you gravitated toward the trashier fare...
That's how I felt about Kiznaiver. Spectacular first episode, premise loaded with possibilities that it....did absolutely nothing with for the next 11 episodes. I kept waiting and waiting for it to "shift up," as it were, and live up to its potential, but it just sputtered along. Not sure what your grading philosophy is, but I typically grade those lower than knowingly mediocre shows. And I hate them.
auroraloose said:
When that happens I often hate the thing, because it strung me along but ended up insisting on being stupid.
When that happens I often hate the thing, because it strung me along but ended up insisting on being stupid.
That's how I felt about Kiznaiver. Spectacular first episode, premise loaded with possibilities that it....did absolutely nothing with for the next 11 episodes. I kept waiting and waiting for it to "shift up," as it were, and live up to its potential, but it just sputtered along. Not sure what your grading philosophy is, but I typically grade those lower than knowingly mediocre shows. And I hate them.
boldulysses said: Welcome back! Kind of surprised you're watching this one; I thought you gravitated toward the trashier fare... Lol—this is somewhat true; sometimes trash has interesting implications. (Love Flops was a gold mine.) But I heard somehow Makeine might actually be good, and when a show is actually good I'll watch. Also I'm in an anime-analyzing mood recently. Kiznaiver got a 7 from me, and I did watch the whole thing. I remember what you mean: It did indeed have potential, and I remember not being satisfied with the ending. I do seem to remember being pleased with what it did somewhere around episode 7 or 8, but I don't think it followed through. Also, wasn't there something about pain awakening the protagonist's childhood memories? |
| I love him who is ashamed when the dice fall in his favour and who then asks: Am I then a cheat? – for he wants to perish. |
| Episode 5 With school back from the summer, the club needs to report what they did during the break to the student council, and they decide to have Kazuhiko's manuscript to report in order to make it look like they were productive. After conversing with Komari about her new story, and Lemon who was changing in the club room, Kazuhiko sees Anna in a cafe, with the rail train moving at light speed according to his imagination, and Anna is blowing off steam. And then Chihaya comes in spying on the two, and they end up in Kazuhiko's room to let him know that Mitsuki is cheating on her. So Chihaya goes spying on Mitsuki while on a date with Lemon, and she gets spotted by him, and telling Kazuhiko to explain everything. Quite a mess Chihaya has found herself in, but by approaching Mitsuki in this manner, she's only making a fool of herself. Now, let's see how this turns out. |
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