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Feb 19, 2015 4:24 PM

Offline
Jan 2011
2268
I totally loved this Utaha-centric episode. Focused more on her relationship with Tomoya and how they met to begin with. I definitely like Utaha a lot more now, darn she was so great this episode. The fanservice/close-up shots were quite nice too. xD Utaha is so cheeky, love it! Although the scene after the ED song with Katou pouting was GREAT! :D
5/5
Feb 19, 2015 4:30 PM
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Nov 2010
619
Dat scream at the end....dat wallpaper....<3 I laughed so hard. =)
Feb 19, 2015 4:31 PM

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Mar 2010
66
Really loving this show so far
Feb 19, 2015 4:47 PM

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Dec 2014
428
If this episode isn't meant for us otaku beta male to self-insert into Tomoya during his scene with Utaha then this series would not be completed. The camera angle from our hero's prospective, the dialogues, those unnecessarily shots of Utaha's body and you know why they exist, and what he said pretty much sums up the point of the series. Fumiaki Maruto sure knows how to write a story cater to a specific demographic with his refined skills learned from all those years of writing VN. Yes, the director probably doesn't have much to do with how this episode is presented because if those fanservice wasn't in the script in the first place, there won't be any. It's not trying to be something, it's just the way it is, embracing its mediocrity cause it knows there'll always be a market for that.
raveninthemuddleFeb 19, 2015 4:58 PM
Feb 19, 2015 4:49 PM

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May 2012
1025
annnnndddd Utaha takes the lead of being the best girl!
Feb 19, 2015 5:03 PM

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Jan 2013
11047
I loved this episode.
The character interactions between Utaha and Aki were great.
And there was development.
Oh and Kato finally had some emotion.
Feb 19, 2015 5:10 PM

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Apr 2014
1651
Those fan-service :D
Mad Megumi is so kawaii!
And still waiting for Michiru to show up...
Feb 19, 2015 5:12 PM
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Nov 2013
1095
Maerow said:


Literally perfect.


Just when Utaha won me over and almost became best girl, Kato wins with that face
Feb 19, 2015 5:54 PM

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Oct 2007
2932
AaaaaaKun said:
If this episode isn't meant for us otaku beta male to self-insert into Tomoya during his scene with Utaha then this series would not be completed. The camera angle from our hero's prospective, the dialogues, those unnecessarily shots of Utaha's body and you know why they exist, and what he said pretty much sums up the point of the series. Fumiaki Maruto sure knows how to write a story cater to a specific demographic with his refined skills learned from all those years of writing VN. Yes, the director probably doesn't have much to do with how this episode is presented because if those fanservice wasn't in the script in the first place, there won't be any. It's not trying to be something, it's just the way it is, embracing its mediocrity cause it knows there'll always be a market for that.


Probably the fairest assessment I've seen of this show and the people behind it so far. Especially the part about the mediocrity. Its cool that it has its audience and what not, but recognizing anything here as particularly special, clever or smart makes the eyebrows rise a little.
Feb 19, 2015 5:57 PM

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Jan 2013
215
worst episode
Please check my music out on SoundCloud! There's something for everyone.

Feb 19, 2015 6:11 PM

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Dec 2013
14952
Surprised to see some actual fanservice! Gotta love Utaha :)

That face at the end was amazing!!!
Feb 19, 2015 7:01 PM

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Jun 2013
6123
Really good episode! Utaha isnt even my favorite girl(Kato is, of course) But she was really cute and they had really nice chemistry this episode :)
Feb 19, 2015 7:11 PM
Offline
Feb 2015
31
Utaha sure isn't standing by and letting the harem be one-sided.

b1GZZ said:
We also got the first pantyshot. Gogogogo look for it, you pervs.
It's the 2nd.
Feb 19, 2015 7:40 PM

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Oct 2014
11
Chelizzle said:
Kaioshin_Sama said:

This is so true.Couldn't have phrased it better.

Another cringeworthy,boring and unfunny episode for me.My inner masochist is satisfied so overall an episode that served its purpose,again.


Finally some people on this website with some common sense.

Am I the only one that felt sorry for Utaha? She's an up and coming new author who gets interested in this really eager fan and his suggestions. Right as she's about to publish her final book in the series she's feeling insecure and goes to bring the manuscript to him. He then refuses to help because of some backwards otaku logic. Then he comes back 6 months later and begs her to work on his idiotic game and after she agrees he skips multiple meetings to go off and play with Kato.

Aki is a goddamn monster but none of it ever comes back to bite him. He'll probably resolve this situation with Kato in half an episode without so much as a sincere apology. Such is the life of a third-rate harem protagonist.
Feb 19, 2015 7:44 PM

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Mar 2013
20064
spoiler alert: common sense isn't all that common.
Feb 19, 2015 7:48 PM
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Jul 2018
564534
fst said:
spoiler alert: common sense isn't all that common.
Feb 19, 2015 7:58 PM

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Oct 2014
11
fst said:
spoiler alert: common sense isn't all that common.


I suppose "any sense" is more appropriate then.
Feb 19, 2015 9:33 PM

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Jun 2013
1622
Quickly turning into one of my seasonal favorites. Also, Utaha-senpai <33333

Maerow said:


Literally perfect.

Is this what they call "gap moe"?
-Trippwire-Feb 19, 2015 9:40 PM
Feb 19, 2015 9:35 PM

Offline
Aug 2008
4594
Utaha vs Kato. Oh man..I don't know how to decide which is best girl.

LOL! at kato face expression at the end.
But it's important to remember that a movie review is subjective;it only gives you one person's opinion.

http://www.classzone.com/books/lnetwork_gr08/page_build.cfm?content=analyz_media&ch=30

It doesn't matter if you like LoGH,Monster etc.If you are a jobless or college/school dropout living in your mom basement, you are still an unintelligent loser. Taste in anime does not make you a better person.If elitist don't exist, casual pleb and shit taste also don't exist.
Feb 19, 2015 9:59 PM

Offline
Jul 2009
1565
This show... sometimes I want to drop it, and then the second half of this episode comes along.

I'll keep watching because of...... idfk
Don't forget.
Always, somewhere,
someone is fighting for you.
As long as you remember her,
you are not alone.
Feb 19, 2015 10:02 PM

Offline
Nov 2007
9157
This episode somehow reaffirmed that a Sketched Girl is still the Best Girl and better than any girl-in-a-bathrobe-just-after-a-shower-with-her-bosom-at-full-blossom-out-for-display-taking-selfie-with-a-semi-naked-guy-out-cold-on-a-hotel-bed.

Stay Home and Wash Your Hands.
Protect Yourself. Protect Your Loved Ones.
Protect Your Community and Help Defeat
Coronavirus.
Feb 19, 2015 10:04 PM

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Apr 2012
4697
Aki and Utaha in hotel room xD

Utaha turn into yandere mode xD

that photo hope it doesn't turn into scandal xD

Katou finally show his angry emotions :3

best episode so far

Feb 19, 2015 10:28 PM

Offline
Aug 2013
1400
Excellent episode, Utaha was the main character of this episode and the disagreement between her and Tomoya in the past was presented, now I know why the his nickname

I liked this drama shown in the episode, along with the comedy doses really hold the expectator, the bed scene shaking was quite cliche, but still became very good in the scene

Utaha stood out in this episode and won many points, but then at the end Katou appears again in a few seconds and steals all the attention, if it continues it will be the best girl of the season, their expressions were excellent, first time I see her stay shaken ..

Feb 19, 2015 10:44 PM

Offline
Jul 2014
3779
This show continues to be way too funny, have to watch every episode twice to get it out of my system. At this rate I'll have to drop one of the currently airing shows so I can continue to do so (probably Death Parade)

The impressive thing is that I usually hate sexual innuendo, and I can't identify why this show is different.

Also loving the elitists' tears over this anime, they are delicious and salty.

Once again, MAL shows that anything with ecchi and a harem in it is bound to pay the 'insecurity tax' on ratings and rants of bitter counter-culture moe haters and little boys afraid that their mom will walk in while they're watching, despite its grand quality.
Feb 19, 2015 11:42 PM

Offline
Aug 2013
2274
Utaha best girl.

I take back what I said before, Aki and Kato should ship together.

The worthless, dense motherfucker, and the borderline sociopath who has 2 seconds of cuteness and normality an episode. Yeah, they go great together.

Utaha shouldn't lower herself to someone of Aki's level. She could do better.

Skullcrusher said:
Tokoya said:
Utaha is love, Utaha is life. That is all that needs to be said about best girl and this beautiful episode


Amen. This is all I need to say.
Jonesy974Feb 19, 2015 11:45 PM
Feb 19, 2015 11:57 PM

Offline
Jul 2014
2806
pretty good ep but Kato still best girl! her HMPH face in the end made this ep good! Utaha's good too but still KATO! KATO KATO KATO! <3
Feb 20, 2015 12:11 AM
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Jul 2018
564534
Just when you think you know best girl, another episode premiers, and then you begin to think, "I don't even know what best girl is anymore."

After credits multiplied episode quality by x100000000.
Feb 20, 2015 1:02 AM

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Feb 2012
1041
ThatGuyEdd said:
Just when you think you know best girl, another episode premiers, and then you begin to think, "I don't even know what best girl is anymore."

After credits multiplied episode quality by x100000000.


True!! Previous episode, I was rooting for Kato, then this episode I'm for Utaha. Then after credits, Kato again. I dont even know if there's such a phase "best girl" anymore.

That morning photo of Utaha and Aki was pretty cute.... scandalous, but cute. lol
You can just be yourself. Do things your own way, one step at a time. You'll get there. Just be yourself, you'll be fine."
~Fruit Basket
Feb 20, 2015 1:36 AM

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Oct 2011
8876
Dat photo XD <3

Kato angry face <3
Feb 20, 2015 2:18 AM

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Dec 2011
554
"Ah, but it's all-ages, so it stops at kissing."
I don't know why, but that line really made me laugh.

Utaha episode this time, not bad. Kinda understand her attitude towards Aki now. And anyway, I think Aki just confirmed in this episode that basically he wants to flirt with Kato more often, right? XD

That morning photo though, I wonder what will Eriri and Kato said when they found out about it inevitably, lol.

And the post-credit scene.... enough for Kato to still hold her place as the best girl in the series! Even her pouting face is soooooo cute!
Aki is going to be in a lot of trouble... you don't want to upset a girl like Kato!
Feb 20, 2015 2:59 AM

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Jun 2013
1131
It's like best girl changes every week, Utaha currently taking lead for sure.

I knew it wasn't real but it was still so misleading hahaha. The bonding time they had was so great

Loved that picture she took at the end, I hope that comes back into play sometime later for a good laugh.
Feb 20, 2015 3:18 AM
Offline
Aug 2008
169
Kaioshin_Sama said:
So the producer is begging people to watch this specific episode of the show and the impression is it must be some major game changer episode that lifts it up out of pure mediocrity when really all it is just some dumb fanservice stuff. Why am I not even remotely surprised, it's always a lowest common denominator thing in these cases like every single time. Anime just has nothing this season, like absolutely nothing. Not even a mere hint of creativity or entertainment or something even remotely off the beaten path aside from some second halves of some things and carryovers from Fall. Really brutal.

Also voice acting now apparently means screaming absolutely every single dumb line (and this script is REALLY dumb) at your co-star like Matsuoka which is totally not annoying to listen to at all after a minute or so. I'm beginning to see why a lot of people don't like this guy much, he really doesn't have any range and is just starting to become annoying the same way Yuki Kaji is for very similar reasons of just being loud and annoying a lot of the time in his roles.

For every aspect of WA2 that felt so genuine when it came to the characters and their interactions and where so many anime that try to do romance anime fall incredibly short this is about as insincere as they come. What the fuck happened to this author that seemingly turned him into another dime a dozen LN author who just seems cynical and way to self-impressed with their own mental masturbation.

And honestly this shit that tries to be so bloody serious and self-important over discussing the merits and demerits of moe characters and otaku stuff all while fanservice stuff is happening on camera is just pathetic. Like every fiber of my being is screaming that these disparate elements should not be going together like they're trying to make them in these anime yet studios keep doing it and for some reason people actually seem to like it and think it's quality storytelling and character development and it just boggles the mind.


After watching around 200 anime or so, I think the most rational way of going into any given anime is to simply have no expectations. You can judge every anime on a preconceived notion at first glance merely by its title nowadays along with its source material genre, premise of the plot and studio combined.

When I read the title "Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend", what came into my mind was My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU, My Little Sister Can't Be This Cute and The World God Only Knows and related animes. The allure of such anime always boils down to the formulaic usage of sexual inneudos and archetypical ENFJ-based protagonists (except TWGOK which has an INTJ protagonist, albeit the tropes are still rehashed).

Leading -Extraverted Feeling - Connecting and considering others and the group
Supporting - Introverted iNtuiting - Foreseeing implications, transformations, and likely effects
Relief -Extraverted Sensing- Experiencing and acting in the immediate context.
Aspirational -Introverted Thinking -Analyzing, categorizing, and evaluating according to principles

I disdain these characters not solely because of their popularization but because they lack any meaningful depth beyond some immediate conception of "friends matter", "I got to act impulsively based on how I feel based on whatever preconception I ought to have based on some societal standard, illogical, irrational and do things all over the place while many subservient, effeminate women get attracted to me with no actualization of development of any substantial relationship that confers to some degree of meaningfulness beyond a superficial generic backstory".

As long as I burst into an emotional outbreak of intensive feelings, everything will be okay - the epitome of any generic male + female romantic-comedy/harem plot nowadays

As said before and many times by other posters everywhere ubiquitously, the authors take a keen predisposition to making these visual novels, animes, mangas and light novels as such in the hopes of appealing to a wide audience or demographic (13 - 25 male) who like having an impetus drive being fed with dopamine-inducing images of erotica and sub-second level sexual innuendo joke on joke with likable protagonist characters because it does pander to their inherent nature of being human after all.

For individuals like us, there really is no reason why we really should judge these animes for what they are, because the nature of these animes will be inherently definitive of what they are. It's like criticizing porn for having no plot, or an action movie for being so out-of-likelihood in the realm of probability or out of touch of reality. There's no meaning to it. You watch it for the guns, the large mammary glands and emotional shock that is sensationalized to the highest degree, without a care in the world, because it is the state of nature of human being to be as such. This [specific anime] is no different with respect to the aforementioned criterion.

Some individuals are just able to control that level of impulsivity and execute, arguably, some executive control level over their brain to see long-term, think on a meta-cognitive level and see things objectively, or externally from their own feelings. I might love it for what it is because I recognize it satisfies my needs as a human being of wanting another X character that likes Y me who has no distinctive personification of interest, but from a cognitive level, it leaves me dissatisfied and cringing at every second.

So while I think your efforts of critically judging the anime were agreeable, its efforts were ultimately futile as one's heuristics would be more than capable of filtering, and anticipating that nearly all anime made will not be on par of the level of quality that you consider to be top-notch or interesting, there might be some animes less mediocre than others, but when thinking in retrospect, animes will rarely ever be made on the level of significant depth of cognition because it doesn't sell, and this preponderance of such a recurring formula will only repeat in time until the demographics of anime viewers (buyers of Blue-Ray collections, etc) change to one that is more congruent with your own mind, which as statistics likely to show, is never (if we model a population's K quality with a standard population bell curve with [A,B] dimension in some abstract sense of some metric that you consider to be correlative of accurately judging an anime's quality). If you and me, or people related as such suddenly become the biggest consumers of anime, and generate the most revenue for these companies, then yes, anime directors and their related staff would have a vested incentive to make more intellectually stimulating, or better characterization or story development based anime like Ping Pong The Animation, LoGH, SSY, GTO, etc but these are far and few in between and are usually toned down for increased palatability (PP, DN, SdS).
NequamFeb 20, 2015 3:40 AM
Feb 20, 2015 3:24 AM

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Nov 2009
427
Utaha shined in this ep.
That scream before the ending, and the scene after it.. priceless. ^^
Feb 20, 2015 3:27 AM

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Apr 2012
34062
lots of Utaha service but i ain't complaining >.>

Kato with dat pouty face at the end <3

Feb 20, 2015 3:30 AM

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Apr 2014
57
Just writing here for those who don't fully get what's going on since a few more details were omitted (the details are taken from the manga also by Maruto, Koisuru Metrenome).

Basically Utaha wrote her character into the book as Sayuka. Sayuka's character is very attractive but dark and as a result, the 2nd heroine is actually a lot more popular amongst the fans. Tomoya is one of the first fan that she knows who actually loves the depth of Sayuka as a character (which is basically Utaha herself since that's who she identified herself as). As a result, she starts to develop feeling for Tomoya. She then later wants him to work with her on the ending that she wrote. Basically she wants to know "their" ending and what he feels. However, he does not get it at all and "rejects" her. It is what leads to her calling him Rinri-kun (Ethical-kun) since then. And every time he talks great about Katou, it's like a knife that drives her crazy because of the past events. But she treasures those past events (also pains by them) at the same time which is one reason why she was really upset when Tomoya sounds like he wants to throw it all away during this episode.

It's funny if you think about how she's such a great writer but at the same time, she communicates her feelings across in a very odd way and unfortunately Tomoya never really picked it up.

Anyway, all those Utaha-sempai moments is great!!
Feb 20, 2015 3:43 AM
Offline
Aug 2008
169
Enternal said:
Just writing here for those who don't fully get what's going on since a few more details were omitted (the details are taken from the manga also by Maruto, Koisuru Metrenome).

Basically Utaha wrote her character into the book as Sayuka. Sayuka's character is very attractive but dark and as a result, the 2nd heroine is actually a lot more popular amongst the fans. Tomoya is one of the first fan that she knows who actually loves the depth of Sayuka as a character (which is basically Utaha herself since that's who she identified herself as). As a result, she starts to develop feeling for Tomoya. She then later wants him to work with her on the ending that she wrote. Basically she wants to know "their" ending and what he feels. However, he does not get it at all and "rejects" her. It is what leads to her calling him Rinri-kun (Ethical-kun) since then. And every time he talks great about Katou, it's like a knife that drives her crazy because of the past events. But she treasures those past events (also pains by them) at the same time which is one reason why she was really upset when Tomoya sounds like he wants to throw it all away during this episode.

It's funny if you think about how she's such a great writer but at the same time, she communicates her feelings across in a very odd way and unfortunately Tomoya never really picked it up.

Anyway, all those Utaha-sempai moments is great!!


I saw this a few miles ahead, or kilometers (outside of US). I always found it funny how she would always react badly whenever he rejected her "writing", I guessed that she internalized her past, traumas and anything related to her history as related to her series/novel like how one would say "What were you to do if... you were a friend... and so and so.. happened?". Considering the statement "So what's wrong with having a character that is burdened by his/her past?" which is congruent with what you are saying. Utaha is certainly a likeable character though with respect to her quirks, kuudere nature and playful/teasing nature hinted near the end with a questionable selfie picture.

Actually I feel the most compelled and emotionally involved whenever I write something that is self-reflective about my values and my life history, and I could on some level empathize with what it is like to be negatively judged from an outsider's perspective. I usually don't share my feelings or personal thoughts from my first-person perspective, in a historical sense, so when I do, it would be quite intimate, albeit she does this as a novel under the pretext as such which sorts of dis-identifies her in some regards but nevertheless this feeling of disattachment, apathy and disdainment from the rejection of her character is something I can relate to (she also says something earlier about how she hates it when her nemesis critics make some blog posts about her novel in past episodes).
NequamFeb 20, 2015 3:50 AM
Feb 20, 2015 4:02 AM

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May 2014
478
5/5
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Feb 20, 2015 7:16 AM

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Feb 2014
3718
Kato's pouting face is yet another reason why she's the best character of this show. =3

Utaha was also great too. The sexual innuendos and context moments was funny, but her picture in bed with Tomoya, along with his screaming reaction, was pure gold! XD

Now with only 5 episodes left, when will the other 2 characters from the OP/ED show up? =/
Feb 20, 2015 8:07 AM

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Apr 2013
548
Utaha has been my favorite since day 1, and this episode certainly reconfirmed that for me. That ending (especially his scream) was killer.
Feb 20, 2015 8:23 AM
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Sep 2013
295
this is moe gap effect.
Feb 20, 2015 8:35 AM

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Oct 2013
1290
Heh, you can definitely see a bit of WA2 here, obviously not reaching the same heights in quality but I'm sure Maruto never intended that in the first place. The guy's probably wants to try his hand at another type of work but steadily.

The bit that I'm talking about is the MC's admiration towards an exceptionally talented yet not very sociable girl, a girl who has the hots of him yet he's unaware of. The similarities seem to end there though(besides the author's leg fetish :P). Also, Tomoya might be aware and just flat out reject that notion because he's content with being Utaha's devoted fan rather than a love interest, which wasn't the case with Haruki who besides admiring Kazusa, was also very much into her.
Feb 20, 2015 9:23 AM

Offline
Oct 2007
2932
Nequam said:
Kaioshin_Sama said:
So the producer is begging people to watch this specific episode of the show and the impression is it must be some major game changer episode that lifts it up out of pure mediocrity when really all it is just some dumb fanservice stuff. Why am I not even remotely surprised, it's always a lowest common denominator thing in these cases like every single time. Anime just has nothing this season, like absolutely nothing. Not even a mere hint of creativity or entertainment or something even remotely off the beaten path aside from some second halves of some things and carryovers from Fall. Really brutal.

Also voice acting now apparently means screaming absolutely every single dumb line (and this script is REALLY dumb) at your co-star like Matsuoka which is totally not annoying to listen to at all after a minute or so. I'm beginning to see why a lot of people don't like this guy much, he really doesn't have any range and is just starting to become annoying the same way Yuki Kaji is for very similar reasons of just being loud and annoying a lot of the time in his roles.

For every aspect of WA2 that felt so genuine when it came to the characters and their interactions and where so many anime that try to do romance anime fall incredibly short this is about as insincere as they come. What the fuck happened to this author that seemingly turned him into another dime a dozen LN author who just seems cynical and way to self-impressed with their own mental masturbation.

And honestly this shit that tries to be so bloody serious and self-important over discussing the merits and demerits of moe characters and otaku stuff all while fanservice stuff is happening on camera is just pathetic. Like every fiber of my being is screaming that these disparate elements should not be going together like they're trying to make them in these anime yet studios keep doing it and for some reason people actually seem to like it and think it's quality storytelling and character development and it just boggles the mind.


After watching around 200 anime or so, I think the most rational way of going into any given anime is to simply have no expectations. You can judge every anime on a preconceived notion at first glance merely by its title nowadays along with its source material genre, premise of the plot and studio combined.

When I read the title "Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend", what came into my mind was My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU, My Little Sister Can't Be This Cute and The World God Only Knows and related animes. The allure of such anime always boils down to the formulaic usage of sexual inneudos and archetypical ENFJ-based protagonists (except TWGOK which has an INTJ protagonist, albeit the tropes are still rehashed).

Leading -Extraverted Feeling - Connecting and considering others and the group
Supporting - Introverted iNtuiting - Foreseeing implications, transformations, and likely effects
Relief -Extraverted Sensing- Experiencing and acting in the immediate context.
Aspirational -Introverted Thinking -Analyzing, categorizing, and evaluating according to principles

I disdain these characters not solely because of their popularization but because they lack any meaningful depth beyond some immediate conception of "friends matter", "I got to act impulsively based on how I feel based on whatever preconception I ought to have based on some societal standard, illogical, irrational and do things all over the place while many subservient, effeminate women get attracted to me with no actualization of development of any substantial relationship that confers to some degree of meaningfulness beyond a superficial generic backstory".

As long as I burst into an emotional outbreak of intensive feelings, everything will be okay - the epitome of any generic male + female romantic-comedy/harem plot nowadays

As said before and many times by other posters everywhere ubiquitously, the authors take a keen predisposition to making these visual novels, animes, mangas and light novels as such in the hopes of appealing to a wide audience or demographic (13 - 25 male) who like having an impetus drive being fed with dopamine-inducing images of erotica and sub-second level sexual innuendo joke on joke with likable protagonist characters because it does pander to their inherent nature of being human after all.

For individuals like us, there really is no reason why we really should judge these animes for what they are, because the nature of these animes will be inherently definitive of what they are. It's like criticizing porn for having no plot, or an action movie for being so out-of-likelihood in the realm of probability or out of touch of reality. There's no meaning to it. You watch it for the guns, the large mammary glands and emotional shock that is sensationalized to the highest degree, without a care in the world, because it is the state of nature of human being to be as such. This [specific anime] is no different with respect to the aforementioned criterion.

Some individuals are just able to control that level of impulsivity and execute, arguably, some executive control level over their brain to see long-term, think on a meta-cognitive level and see things objectively, or externally from their own feelings. I might love it for what it is because I recognize it satisfies my needs as a human being of wanting another X character that likes Y me who has no distinctive personification of interest, but from a cognitive level, it leaves me dissatisfied and cringing at every second.

So while I think your efforts of critically judging the anime were agreeable, its efforts were ultimately futile as one's heuristics would be more than capable of filtering, and anticipating that nearly all anime made will not be on par of the level of quality that you consider to be top-notch or interesting, there might be some animes less mediocre than others, but when thinking in retrospect, animes will rarely ever be made on the level of significant depth of cognition because it doesn't sell, and this preponderance of such a recurring formula will only repeat in time until the demographics of anime viewers (buyers of Blue-Ray collections, etc) change to one that is more congruent with your own mind, which as statistics likely to show, is never (if we model a population's K quality with a standard population bell curve with [A,B] dimension in some abstract sense of some metric that you consider to be correlative of accurately judging an anime's quality). If you and me, or people related as such suddenly become the biggest consumers of anime, and generate the most revenue for these companies, then yes, anime directors and their related staff would have a vested incentive to make more intellectually stimulating, or better characterization or story development based anime like Ping Pong The Animation, LoGH, SSY, GTO, etc but these are far and few in between and are usually toned down for increased palatability (PP, DN, SdS).


I'm just glad there's somebody here thinking on a level beyond "OMG that's girl was hawt therefore masterpiece anime" for a change. Not that it's not okay to have fun once in a while, but I'd like to think it's okay once in a while to also take a step back and gain some perspective on what it is you're watching, why it's made the way it is and maybe trying to categorize some of those shows as well. Also I'd like to not dance in the palm of greedy corporations like the ones that make shows like this who clearly do not give a damn about anything other than cynically trying to make quick money off of otaku with insincere pandering schlock like this show. It scares me how many people buy so readily into it season after season.
PeacingOutFeb 20, 2015 9:28 AM
Feb 20, 2015 12:22 PM

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Mar 2008
3105
so much plot...
actually this was pretty hot lol
Feb 20, 2015 12:36 PM

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Jun 2014
1595
Best girl remains Kato
Feb 20, 2015 1:24 PM

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Apr 2014
57
Nequam said:
I saw this a few miles ahead, or kilometers (outside of US). I always found it funny how she would always react badly whenever he rejected her "writing", I guessed that she internalized her past, traumas and anything related to her history as related to her series/novel like how one would say "What were you to do if... you were a friend... and so and so.. happened?". Considering the statement "So what's wrong with having a character that is burdened by his/her past?" which is congruent with what you are saying. Utaha is certainly a likeable character though with respect to her quirks, kuudere nature and playful/teasing nature hinted near the end with a questionable selfie picture.

Actually I feel the most compelled and emotionally involved whenever I write something that is self-reflective about my values and my life history, and I could on some level empathize with what it is like to be negatively judged from an outsider's perspective. I usually don't share my feelings or personal thoughts from my first-person perspective, in a historical sense, so when I do, it would be quite intimate, albeit she does this as a novel under the pretext as such which sorts of dis-identifies her in some regards but nevertheless this feeling of disattachment, apathy and disdainment from the rejection of her character is something I can relate to (she also says something earlier about how she hates it when her nemesis critics make some blog posts about her novel in past episodes).

It makes sense though. When you put a lot of time, thinking, and emotional investment into something you create, there are ought to be things that you take very dearly because like it or not, that work will somewhat be a representative of you on some level. Obviously it's not an autobiography but what you thought and what you believe is there somewhere and in the case of Utaha, who she is and how she thinks is evident in Sayuka.

@Kaioshin_Sama
Equally with that reasoning, isn't it also completely possible for a show to panders AND offer something intellectual? Why can't a show for young people panders and also offer something intellectual? If you don't like the fanservice, it's perfectly fine but don't let that make you wear blinders and become blind to all the deeper meaning of the things that transpire in the story. I think that just as it's important to be able to step back and think about why you watch a show, it's also equally as important to step back and watch a show and see what it offers besides what you believed it to be. I know people who talked about how simple and 1D a character was even after they watched a recent episode that showed the complexity of that character but they refused to see it because of what they believed to show to be as. Don't be like that.

Although to be fair, I have more info about this show then most viewers so I know the depth that this show has to offer. However, it does not make my points any less valid because the reason why I got to this point in the first place is the very same reason I listed. There are many shows out there that have nothing to offer. But there are also many shows out there that offers something but you will need to look through it. Generalizing the show really quickly is a good way of choosing your anime to watch but the side effects are also equally as dangerous since it's a "lazy" way for you to not carefully analyze a show to see what it actually is and what it actually has rather than what you believe it is to be.
EnternalFeb 20, 2015 1:28 PM
Feb 20, 2015 1:26 PM

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Jul 2013
200
So hard to decide who best girl is...


Utaha seemed to take the lead but when you least expect it Kato comes right back with angry face...


At least I know one girl has no chance in the best girl race, sorry Eriri
Feb 20, 2015 1:38 PM

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Kaioshin_Sama said:
Chelizzle said:

This is so true.Couldn't have phrased it better.

Another cringeworthy,boring and unfunny episode for me.My inner masochist is satisfied so overall an episode that served its purpose,again.


Well this week the producer claimed this was a much watch pivotal episode that would be a game changer that viewers would never forget so I just had to see what he meant. Of course I figured it'd just be something loaded with fanservice and that's indeed what it pretty much was so no real shocker there. This is the level that a lot of anime producers are operating on these days (especially Aniplex's with their inflated sense of self-importance and creative drive that is in reality pretty much non-existent) and the best that they have to offer so if this is your kind of thing awesome, if not it's pretty damn worrisome that these people continue to think their putting on anything particularly special.

The producer? Where?
Feb 20, 2015 2:01 PM
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564534
Really was not getting this show, didn't understand what was going on, the message, or the character's rationale.
But this episodes really clears things up.
I feel as though it has been such a slow build up to get to this point and the rest of this series so far pales in comparison.
But i also feel as though this show is polarizing due to the sudden shifts in tone emphasized with the use of fan service.
It is threading that line between taking itself too seriously and laughing at themselves and anime/visual novel tropes.
The material has to be perfect in order to maintain balance between the two. However, at this point I don't think the show is at that level.
The mirroring of the Tomoya's game with the plot of the anime is still a little gimmicky and feels clunky, hopefully by the end of the series they will be make it work.
Feb 20, 2015 2:05 PM

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Apr 2014
57
seal308 said:
Really was not getting this show, didn't understand what was going on, the message, or the character's rationale.
But this episodes really clears things up.
I feel as though it has been such a slow build up to get to this point and the rest of this series so far pales in comparison.
But i also feel as though this show is polarizing due to the sudden shifts in tone emphasized with the use of fan service.
It is threading that line between taking itself too seriously and laughing at themselves and anime/visual novel tropes.
The material has to be perfect in order to maintain balance between the two. However, at this point I don't think the show is at that level.
The mirroring of the Tomoya's game with the plot of the anime is still a little gimmicky and feels clunky, hopefully by the end of the series they will be make it work.

Very true. That's the feeling I get for the most part as well. I know that Maruto is trying to deliver something but he has not strike a good balance for it with the jokes, the fanservice, and the actual content he wants delivered. I guess it's a bit new to him considering he did not have to worry as much when he wrote WA2 since that was generally serious. Some of the people I know who has read much further though did say that the balance becomes much better in later volumes (although because it became more serious) so let see how it plays out. On the other hand, there's still a lot of materials (7+ volumes) and the show is currently planned for only 12 episodes. Potential sales aren't looking great either although it isn't bad either but not enough yet to justify a second season. Although if it boosts his LN and manga sales significantly, they there might be a second season.
Feb 20, 2015 2:31 PM

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Jul 2014
231
No Eriri this episode other than the post-credit scene (which was stupid and unnecessary), so that's good.

Well, this show has been going downhill quick. It's nice that we get a betterr idea about Aki's relationship with Utaha, but this is coming way too late into the show. After an episode like last week's this one was just place so awkwardly it kills the pace. Also, It just aggravates me how Utaha has such conspicuous feelings for Aki, it's like they forfeited their effort on the writing beyond fan-service and comedy. Worse yet, I fret over the prospect of this show getting even worse when cousin-san enters the stage (whenever the hell that is).
Why do people have such bad taste? Anime isn't subjective anymore.
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