Hi, I’m Troy McClure. You may remember me from such blog posts as…
After heckling everyone on this blog, among others, for so long, the green-haired trappy overlord of THAT has put his pump-wearing foot down. So, my penance begins with forcing myself to watch through a rather humdrum episode of Minami-ke Okaeri. Still, it’s better than listening to some of the tracks off that recent “Pun-Colle ~voice actresses’ legendary punk songs collection” CD that was recently released.
About the best thing that can be said for this episode is that it includes Hosaka. Lots of Hosaka at the end. Oh, and the characters in the background have faces. Otherwise, we have three unimpressive skits and a Hosaka fantasy at the end. It’s very much ‘more of the same’, and probably is inspiring similar entries from the other blogs covering the series. So, in honor of the same jokes being reused, we’ll be exploring the same screenshots everyone else has posted and using the same (tired) memes that everyone else is sick of.
Summary:
As usual, it seems any story involving Kana and food inevitably causes problems.
The first skit centers around Kana’s obsession with food – an old, recycled joke which gets milked once again. What was unusual was that the ‘damage’ splashed over onto Touma and Chiaki, who somehow end up getting upset with one another rather than turning their ire on the true cause of their misfortune.
If this was Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, these two would have been carried off to the temple for a wedding.
This leads to some tension the next day, with Touma and Chiaki at odds and exchanging harsh words the way they did early on in their relationship. For some reason, Uchida sees all this tension and decides to turn to one person in whose hands Chiaki’s and Touma’s future rests.
Uchida’s last, best hope for peace. FISSION MAILED.
“Makoto-kun! You’re my only hope!”
Maybe he really is smarter than Uchida…
Unfortunately, Makoto’s burst of common sense promptly burns out shortly after giving this response, and he lets himself be dragged into the situation. This is also the point where Uchida discovers more than she probably ever wanted to know about Makoto-kun and his hobbies. Also, unfortunately for the audience, this is also where the animation budget apparently starts to tank and we are treated to a minute of KWALITY faces.
Makoto decides to emulate Detective Conan
He’s on a roll…
… and promptly falls right off. Stupid is as stupid does.
So now Makoto-kun not only crossdresses, but he carries a makeup kit and spare skirt everywhere?
Even Uchida can’t believe how far he’s fallen.
Mako-chan and Uchida make their way back to the Minami household, only to discover the cause of the fight between Touma and Chiaki, who have since made up after realizing just how stupid the issue they were arguing about was,now the infection of Kana-derived idiocy has been fought off. It, however, continues to afflict Uchida and Mako-chan, who promptly draw Chiaki back into the middle of things.
Strike one!
Strike two!
Strike three! YERRRRRR OUT!
For those of you who were hoping for the old ‘Bible Black’ faces, as I was, this was as close as we got in the whole episode, even counting Haruka’s ‘banchou’ mode.
So close…
… and yet so far. No shadowing around the eyes, no dramatic lighting…
Part two is even more uninspiring, centering around Chiaki’s large stocking and what she wants for Christmas. Fujioka ultimately suggests mittens, and while Chiaki seems to like them she still seems a little lost in thought, or at least distant, throughout most of the episode.
Keep this image in mind for later. It’ll be important – I promise.
A Poorly ’shopped Kana wearing a stocking for Christmas. I’m sure Fujioka wishes he was there… and speaking of which, where’s the bear Fujioka? I thought she kept him close at all times.
Part three deals with Natsuki being his usual idiotic, insensitive self, and forgetting Touma’s Christmas present. One scolding by Haruka later (showing no emotional response all the while), he finally delivers the present… by leaving it on the table with a ‘don’t forget to give this to Touma’ note. On the living room table. After school. When he knows she’s on the way home. All so he can pound on Akira on a game console. She tries to let him off easy by lying about how she found it, but in the end Natsuki undoes the lie and earns himself a well-deserved shot to the head. Very boring, just like Natsuki when he’s not fainting and having nosebleeds over Haruka’s cleavage.
This is the only screencap you’re getting of Part Three. You do NOT want to mess up around her.
The last part returns to the glorious Hosaka, and his nefarious plans to BE FRIENDLY with Haruka. Remember that shot linked to earlier?
This is why I wanted you to remember that screencap.
Hosaka, stalking Haruka as he usually does, overhears the conversation Haruka and company are having regarding Chiaki’s Christmas present. And, as always, he completely misses the point and links it all back to his daydreamsdelusions about Haruka, and goes off to hunt for a suitable present for his dream woman. Approached by his minion, Natsuki, he bounces ideas off of Natsuki regarding having a Santa Hosaka deliver presents to the good girls at the main Minami (versus Other Minami) household. And, as always, his plan fails as Haruka’s already gotten a cake from elsewhere, and ends the show with an “ORE GA SANTA!” declaration before lapsing into mad, booming laughter.
Reactions:
Almost a complete waste of time, save for the very end whose saving grace was a full-blown Hosaka delusion, complete with mad laughter and someone pleading for him to stop molesting the cake. Despite the complaints that the previous episode was boring as hell (I’m looking at you, Aroduc), this one took the cake – literally. There were a few amusing parts in the first bit (thanks to Mako-chan and his amazing magical bag of accessories), but the middle half was about as boring as most of Okawari. All that saved this episode were Hosaka and his daydream version of Haruka. I actually kept an eye on the clock through the first viewing; that’s not a good sign when I’m measuring the time until the episode ends, so I can properly take screencaps.
And now, to save the best for last: the screendumps of the Hosaka Delusion:
!
You can tell it’s a delusion because he’s actually talking to Haruka
This is Fantasy…
… and this is reality.
And as Haruka walks away into the distance, we hear that mighty cry…
ORE WA GUNDAM!SANTA!
And to close things off…
“A girl should be elegant…”
One of these things is not like the others,
One of these things just doesn’t belong,
Can you tell which thing is not like the others
By the time I finish my song?
Here’s a hint: he kept Haruka’s dress, the one Chiaki claimed would shape the figure of the wearer to be more like Haruka’s.
25 Comments
whoa new writer, cool, welcome.
Welcome newbie~
Hosaka’s laughs felt forced, the last part was not as good as some of his previous appearances this season.
Wow, when did That turn into the whine blog?
The middle was ho hum, still that poor cake….
@Freedomice
Ever since Impz went on vacation. Ah to be a young misty eyed optimist, enjoy it before the reality of work kills it.
oh oh i know…. iknow which is not the same as the other…
MAKOCAKES IS HAVING CAEK!! AND SMILING WITH CHIAKI…. WHEN WILL THEY EVER DROP THE BRIDGET?
Souka! (Didn’t anyone else also notice that they already celebrated Christmas in a previous episode and the girls still have not graduated or moved up a grade?)
I noticed that Mako or Mako-cakes was wearing that dress given by Chiaki to improve his girlish figure. It suits him though, so I don’t mind. I’m amazed he developed a brain too since he knew not to intervene during the bakayaro fight.
The best part was definitely Hosaka. From trying to BE FRIENDLY and HoHoHoing as Santa. My other favorite part was the intense gaming. Gaming is serious business so I understood why he forgot about Touma’s present.
The mikan scene was funny, but Kana is the BOSS when it comes to delicious food. That big bulky stocking was kind of cute, but weird. If I was Kana, I would put the remaining oranges in it. Saves time and money. ^^
Panther: Of course they were forced – they didn’t give him more time for a monologue, so we could build up into the long, drawn-out laughter. Still, at least he’s doing it… which was still the best part of the episode, including the “ORE GA SANTA-DA!”
Freedomice: This was a whine? This was a fucking grumble, not a whine. A whine would be “OMG! NEEDS MORE HOSAKA! THIS SUCKS! I GO BACK TO NARUTO NAO”.
soyahoney: Congratulations on noticing which wasn’t like the other. And unfortunately for Mako-chan, his brain kinda ran on empty the moment he decided to ask Kana for help in figuring out why Touma and Chiaki were fighting… but at least he knew enough to stay out of the fight. And Kana wouldn’t give Chiaki more oranges, since that would mean less for her.
ooh, new writer. welcome!
agreed, new ep was meh, somewhat salvaged by the hosaka fantasy. i think they save those hosaka fantasies to boost the otherwise boring episodes. how clever of them
All I got from this was that you don’t like this show or the characters. For those of us that do, it was a great episode just like every other Minami-ke episode. If being great every week is repetitive to you, then I’m more than happy to see it.
Haesslich? Writing for THAT?!? WHAT IS THE WORLD COMING TO?!?
Karisu: I guess you haven’t read anything else I’ve written elsewhere, then. I’ve defended it at blog.seiha.org, and at Subculture Anime Blog, among others. I’ve even commented favorably on it here on this blog, but that doesn’t make me a Blind
ClannadMinami-ke Fanboy who feels compelled to gush about the show’s virtues in order to satisfy my ’street cred’ as a fan of the series. Episode 7 was entertaining, even if certain bloggers disliked it for being boring – but this episode lacked most of Episode 7’s virtues (the stories were tied together better, they didn’t depend on the EXACT same joke – which in this case was Natsuki’s idiocy and insensitivity) and had all of its vices (the occasionally very bad art, and skits which felt more like Okawari’s darkest days).Maybe I should point to both 21centurydigitalboy’s entry on fandom – and suggest that this episode fails to be even GOOD, much less likeable. Episode 7 may not have been ‘good’ to other people, but at least I could like the episode and find it entertaining. It doesn’t have to be ‘great’ each week – but I’d like to be able to watch it without thinking ‘gee, this part’s boring… I wonder how long the skit will be going on for?’. There’s a difference between being a fan of the show, and being obsessed with how ‘great’ it is, even to the point where one forces oneself to like the show because it has the name Minami-ke attached to it – otherwise Okawari would not be seeing the sort of hate it got for introducing the anime-original Fuyuki, and Asread would not have ended up getting staff from the first season onto Okaeri, nor would they have had to revamp the presentation and style the way they did for this season.
I liked earlier episodes; I don’t like this one, and I’ve explained why. Now if you can explain to me how watching Natsuki being an insensitive idiot towards Touma for the fifth time is ‘great’ (we’ve seen this previously when he ate her pudding, when he and the others ignored what Touma really wanted for Christmas in the first season), then I may reconsider this episodes ‘greatness’.
@Karisu
Haesslich loves this franchise if you only knew how broke he is…
@Myssa Rei
Haha my Shock and Awe tactic was Great Success!
It’s ok if you didn’t like it. But as a writer it’s your bloody obligation to make your post interesting. This episode was boring x 300… zzzzz a few bon mots here and there is required!
Freedomice: I’ll keep it in mind. Also note the part at the very top where I said that I was trotting out the old overused memes and screenshots to complement this episode’s similar lack of inspiration. Unless, of course, you’re wanting me to trot out the basketball metaphors…
Ok, I might concede that it wasn’t a “great” episode, but as far as I’m concerned it was still good. As far as Natsuki’s idiocy and being insensitive, that’s his personality, so it’s not something I expect to see change. So for me, that isn’t being repetitive, that’s being faithful to the character.
I will say, I have not read other pieces you’ve written (I only read this blog and Random Curiosity for anime) and I don’t tend to remember peoples names from comments, so if in general you like the show, then fine, I’ll take back my “you hate the show/characters” bit.
And for the record, I’m apparently one of the few people one the planet that really enjoyed Okawari. Yes it wasn’t as good as the first season, but I still enjoyed it. And I think this season is particularly good.
Do I think I’m a fanboy? No, I’m just a fan. Now, if you wanted to call me a fanboy of anything, yes, it would indeed be Clannad (which is the best anime in history). Only flaw Clannad has ever had was the ED at the end of episode 16.
Anyway, that was an overly long post for saying sorry I jumped the gun on how you feel about the show (in general). I’ll look forward to your next post.
OMG Haesslich leveled from commenter into poster!!!
@Haesslich
I recognized you already from mostly Gundam posts on THAT and I forgot you frequented SubCulture. It’s great you can add some real analysis this time on THAT. Also, thanks for giving me credit at finding what does not belong. ^^ It’s not that hard to miss a dress that provides some cleavage.
By that way, is the “Pun-Colle ~voice actresses’ legendary punk songs collection” CD really that bad? I think I might buy it just because I enjoy Tanaka Rie’s voice and maybe just because I like seiyuus in general.
Lastly, if Kana wouldn’t put oranges, then if they have any ringos still laying around (probably stinks by now XD), they can put them in the stocking. Rotten apples could be the new trend instead of coal.
Karisu: Okaeri, as a whole, is better than Okawari – the humor flows more naturally as they’ve stopped forcing everything into episode-wide storylines when the source material’s humor derived more from a mix of episodic and bite-sized bits with running jokes that tied into them (Mako-chan’s journey into crossdressing, Fujioka’s hopeless relationship with Kana-the-oblivious, Hosaka’s relationship with everything but Haruka). However, this episode easily ranks among the most boring of the ones so far – more so than even the first three episodes which were ‘okay’, but not ‘gut-bustingly funny’. The way the Natsuki joke played here (completely insensitive jerk stomps on his sister’s feelings) went almost exactly the same way it did during the pudding episode, and we had two skits of him being cold towards his own family there. The third time was not the charm here, and unlike Makoto or Fujioka his ’schtick’ doesn’t improve with familiarity.
As for the Santa-stocking skit, it was… okay. Not very funny, nor was it very ‘awwwwww’-style heartwarming in showing the sisters caring about one another. It came off very mundane, except for the fact that there was a huge stocking and that Chiaki was acting more ‘innocent’ than her usual world-weary manner. It came off very bland, especially compared to the last two episodes.
I’m hoping things pick up next episode – this is not the sort of episode I’d use to introduce people to the series.
soyahoney: The CD’s okay, but ‘moe’ and ‘punk rock’ don’t go well together. The “Anarchy in the UK” track by Tanaka Rie came off alright, as did “Call Me”, but anything Yuko Goto did for this CD turned out… badly.
Oh, so this is what you meant when dropped that comment on Anime History. I’ve felt for a while that THAT needed a new face to spice things up, and grumbling>whining>bitching>raging so good to see you aiming for the top Haesslich.
I have just one thing to say about this article. THIS is how you gripe and make it count. Haesslich setting the standard right here. I’m loving it and it’s not just because I share a similar pet peeve of jokes and memes being reused ad infinitum. If this is a sign of things to come from THAT then I’m going to have to start reading and commenting here again.
Hey Crusader, long time no see.
Kaioshin: Being a fan doesn’t mean being blind or uncritical – especially when you get a sub-par entry like this episode. Unfortunately, the Star Trek and Star Wars fandom have forgotten that… alas. Beyond that, someone has to make fun of the occasional bit of garbage. It’s still better than most of Okawari, which is somewhat like saying that death by arsenic poisoning is somewhat better than death by complications from hepatitis-C… in other words, it’s not much comfort.
Let’s just say that the Macross Frontier movie, should it go the route of the Gundam SEED compilations, will be seeing some… attention. Here’s hoping they don’t just recycle everything, especially given how there were some very slack parts in the middle which could stand some tightening up; they almost seemed to be there to act as filler, rather than progressing the story. I still loved the battles, but that panty-chase episode, or watching Ranka whine yet again when she wonders why Alto’s not even looking in her direction after she mopes around and doesn’t even bother calling him for gods know how many weeks to say ‘hi, things are busy here, how goes?’ Even Minmay gave Hikaru the occasional phone call to keep in touch, at least until her cousin showed up.
@Haesslich: Funny, I had heard that the Star Trek fandom was all up in arms about how the new Abrams movie was going to suck because the movie Enterprise had a slightly different shape on the saucer section then the TV series Enterprise. As for Star Wars, at this point I consider it a bonafide kid’s franchise so I really don’t know what to think about it anymore. I just stopped caring once I realized I was far too old for it. And that panty chase episode got me to drop Macross Frontier for almost a month, it sat that poorly with me.
Anyway, to me it’s definitely funner and funnier for everyone when the author chooses to make fun of mediocrity rather then to flat out hate it. To use an example, if MST3K had been an hour and a half of flat out rage from the cast instead of the witty and glib remarks they often made at the bad movies then it wouldn’t have been enjoyable at all. I think that’s what a lot of blogs are missing in trying to be funny by being angry.
Then again this is coming from somebody who appreciates John Stewart’s approach to comedy (taking pot shots from behind a desk) to say…..Adam Sandler flying off the handle in his movies for the 400th time. I like this approach though, I think it adds something to THAT which wasn’t there before, a moderate critical view. Keep up the good work.
Kaioshin: They’re not being uncritical – they’re just being whiny bitches, since Enterprise was awful, Voyager wasn’t all THAT great for most of its run, and DS9 took the original humanist premise and dragged it into a dark alley to give it a Frank Miller remake, and in doing so amped up the drama to provide what some would argue was among the best Trek stories as far as tension and its approach to some issues, versus the softer touch that TNG used most of the time (“Chain of Command” being one of the few times it didn’t). They haven’t stopped whining since Berman completely rewrote the Vulcans from the original material to be more ‘edgy’ (including a civil war, and Surak being scoffed at for centuries instead of venerated as the father of Vulcan’s modern philosophy)… not that I blame them in the case of Enterprise’s first season, or most of the Xindi arc (you’d think that something as big as that would still have been talked about a hundred years later, when Florida gets turned into a a smoking canyon, and the lack of defenses Earth had during the V’Ger or Probe or Borg attacks makes no sense in retrospect, after having seen the Xindi come in and blow up part of the planet).
Besides, it’s not like it’s hard to make fun of this episode – it really wasn’t very funny, and the rehashing of jokes in almost the exact same way was annoying. We don’t need to see Natsuki doing the exact same thing, then getting yelled at the exact same way by Haruka yet again; that’s part of what made Fuyuki so annoying in the second season.
Haesslich writing for THAT?! This could be interesting. I must say I have always enjoyed your “dicussions” with Myssa Rei on Derailed. I am looking forward to your future posts and wish you luck.
Well, there’s one chapter that’ll never get animated, even if they did 115 from the manga – Chapter 53. Hayami-senpai gets Chiaki drunk.