Sola 1- Noto Kawaii Noto now with a beret!

Why I like Mana: she has a harem, has her patented Loli-chop, and is willing to kill the doormat.

Ah this is the life. I got me a goth-loli and a twelve pack of beer. Life is good. Oh shit the Feds…

I have no idea what the heck this is about but the Engrishy title peaked my interest since I was hoping for some Zero Wing class dialog. Since Mamiko Noto was part of the cast and applying her voice to something more quirky and spunky than Hecate (almost as good as Hecate-tan though) I figured why not. Suffice to say I was drawn in. This will probably be a really crappy post since anger, outrage, and disdain are vital ingredients in my other writings, but thus far I feel more fuzzy and confused at the moment. So if you have had a bad day feel free to tear me a new one. I just found out how little I actually have to do to be able to make E-5 so right now: ain’t nothing gonna break’a my stride, Impz ain’t gonna slow me down. Oh no, I got to keep on writing…

So some dude named Yorito goes about his days leisurely taking pictures of the sky for Haruhi-sama knows why. One day he wakes up at roughly 0400 (earlier than me, orz) to take a picture of a sunrise (not the studio). He then notices a Noto character some chick a girl fighting against a vending machine for her drink. Sadly she was lacking her urban warfare kit and had neither a mallet, battering ram, or a crowbar to claim victory over the machine.

The Original Engrish

After a bit of flirting friendly banter she asks him why he is here. Yorito explains why he has a camera, however while he goes on and on about what he does the girl disappears and with her any chance of a dayto leaving him with a free drink (tomato juice?). Later he goes where every anime character has to go, the school roof top where he stares weak and weary while something rapped upon his chamber door at the sky. His friend that is a girl, Mana asks him why he stares at the sky. After boring me for a minute he remarks that he can see Mana’s pantsu though thankfully, by the grace of Haruhi-sama, I can’t.

After tarrying upon the school roof he goes to class to show off his gift for someone. Suffice to say the lad has a strange sense of what constitutes as cute though he gushes and hugs the object of cuteness much in the same way I would. Mana being my hero grabs his freak flag and waves it for the whole peanut gallery to see. All concur that it is a terrible gift and may as well get a pet rock instead. That way the gift receiver can have something to throw in his general direction without much hassle. Mana and Yorito then leave school together (kyaa…) and buy a cake.

Vending machine 1, creature of the night 0. This is why I never bought into vampires they are no match for cold steel. You need to rock the machine not kick it dear…

They then go to a hospital where a Mana’s imouto Koyori is taking care of Yorito’s imouto, Aono. Aono is a confined to her hospital bed and has an aversion to light. While peaking outside Yorito sees something that he must get on camera. So he takes his picture while ditching his sickly imouto onee-sama (EDIT, Thanks Skane, at least one of us has his head out of his ass) and failed to collectively eat cake with her. Back at the commune barracks the home of Mana and Yorito dinner is being prepared and with no ginger and nary a parent in sight Yorito is sent off on a quest to Angband to wrest the Silmarils Morgoth’s crown get ginger.

Cut to some well dressed homeless guy who is collecting cans; it suddenly begins to rain. Since Yorito will melt in water he takes refuge under some picnic overhead. And lo! He saw the same girl as before fighting the same vending machine. She then loses her umbrella, which has a sky pattern underneath, only for it to fall before Yorito. After Yorito lies to his wifey Mana and shuts off his cell phone he and this girl have another friendly banter about clouds. After drinking some crappy beer and sharing an indirect kissu the girl disappears and Yorito is left to find solace in a series of tubes. Fortunately the girl left her name, and adroitly not her number, with Yorito and more significantly I can now refer to her as Matsuri. Such was Matsuri’s ninja prowess that she leaves behind her umbrella and a picture of a sunset, for Yorito to sniff her sweet scent to keep as a memento.

I am the bone of my sword. I use cancer sticks and Fedex goth-lolis to this guy.

Cut to the same homeless guy we saw before he finds his loli under a bridge and we find out the guy is actually a troll. While Yorito is staring at the umbrella and Matsuri, Mana stoically does the right thing and keeps the sickly Aono company while asking for leniency for that cheater Yorito. We then go back to the loli and troll while they eat fois gras onigiri. Later that night Yorito has has some sort of vision and promptly heads to the local church after comparing Matsuri’s picture with one of his. Sadly because he is and infidel he does not go for mass.

We later learn that Matsuri is also destitute, lives in an abandoned church, and is soon visited by the troll who attacks her with light. However the troll is no match for Matsuri who dodges most of his attacks as she is the heir to Ecthelion of the Fountain. Soon she finds herself cornered when Yorito makes his entrance…

Digital camera, 250 dollars. Using Windows 98 on your new computer, zero dollars. Getting Mana to scowl, priceless. There are somethings money can’t buy, but for everything else there is moyism financial irresponsibility flexibility.

Impressions: Well it was a rather leisurely build up and it certainly captured my interest. I suppose that both Aono and Matsuri are both vampires of sorts since both hate the light and one seems to have a predisposition to red clothing and tomato juice. The loli and troll seem to be hunters of sorts though if they disappear I probably would not notice. I have not a clue on where this may be going and I honestly don’t care. I have taken a liking to Mana and Matsuri. Both have a certain charm about them that I can’t quite describe though I do want to cheer them onto the bitter end. Yorito hasn’t gotten on my nerves yet so he can banter all day about clouds if he so chooses. I also found out that the writer may be the the same guy who was the main writer for Kanon and if true can’t be that bad. This one looks to be a keeper, I just hope that it is not descended from an h-game.

It is a bit interesting to note that sola in Latin means roughly “only” or “just.” Perhaps this could indicate something more, or it could just be Engrish at is best.