I smell an endorsement deal.
Sooo, yeah. Things progress pretty well with Junichi and Kaoru this week after Kaoru’s standing up for Keiko brings them together for a talk on the roof. Kaoru has fully realized her feelings, try as she might to dismiss them, and goes about trying to bring this to Junichi’s attention in classic tsundere manner. But then we have, at least in my opinion, a series of ups and downs in the story’s development. While it does have that certain something that the Haruka arc did, I’m not so sure it works quite as well in this one. But then at the end we have an unexpected development that may make things more interesting.
Hidamari Sketch xSS? Shuwa shuwa!
Zetsu…oh wait.
Kaoru lays down the law against those who would mock True Love and Friendship.
Ayatsuji “I am [final] boss” Tsukasa comes in to survey the situation and issue her summary judgement.
After Junichi steps into Kaoru’s fight and then Tsukasa officially ends it he follows Kaoru up to the roof where she’s cooling off. While their advice to Keiko failed, it did reveal what a jerk the guy she liked was. But it’s not long before Kaoru guides the conversation to the matter of what their relationship is, not too subtly trying to let Junichi know that she likes him. Unfortunately for her he’s still oblivious at this point, so she moves boldly into a pre-kissing hold on him, though it goes farther than planned and a loss of balance brings about that anime staple, the ‘accidental falling kiss.’ She’s very tsun tsun in trying to recover from the surprise, though not so much that she shuts down any future attempts to move their relationship out of the friend zone. And later on in the day Junichi, in a mix of the strategically incomprehensible but tactically brilliant moves, gets things in motion. He says that he wants ‘payback’ for Kaoru stealing his first kiss, something that seemed to come out of the blue. Meeting in the library stacks he first wavers about kissing her whether she likes it or not or getting her permission, and she plays around with him like he’s a puppet. But she is surprised when he pulls a page from Junichi mark I’s playbook and draws instant inspiration from the cover of an anatomy book. He decides that he’ll kiss her bellybutton. And my laughter did not abate for many minutes.
>Kaoru’s face when Junichi still wasn’t getting it. She’s actually had some pretty great reaction faces in this episode, though the queen of such expressions still resides in Occult Academy.
Once again Kaoru takes the initiative.
Kaoru’s been playing a pretty classic tsundere, especially in this scene. And by classic I mean the sort of original kinds of tsundere character before it became a hyper-defined character archetype that fluctuates wildly and violently in temperament.
You know she tease ‘em, punch ‘em, love ‘em, leave ‘em cause she don’t f—in’ need ‘em.
Don’t worry about me, I have my own arc Miya.
Excellent tactical creativity reminiscent of Junichi mark I, but rather unexpected given the ongoing development of his feelings for Kaoru at this point.
Amagami presents: fetish of the week! Also, I think Jinx said it best.
Caught in the act by the potentially yandere imouto! This has got to lead to something good, at the least some good blackmail.
After the library scene the two walk home and come upon two kids whose badmidden birdy is stuck in a tree. Kaoru volunteers to help, though she needs Junichi as a platform to reach it. The scene didn’t really contribute much to the episode though, other than letting Junichi have a quick moment of having his head between her thighs as she rode his shoulders. Junichi does have his final moment of realization of feelings for Kaoru, but still it could have been done in a scene that added more to the story. But at the end is the scene that caught my interest the most. Kaoru is on her way to work when she sees her mom off in the distance (though sadly we barely see her, which is a damn shame because Sexhair’s mom is likely hot as hell.) She’s about to run to her and calls out when a man she doesn’t recognize meets her mother, puts his arm around her, and walks off with her. Kaoru is obviously distressed, and seeing how this impacts her and plays out presents a very interesting potential for the next episode(s.)
As if there wasn’t enough innuendo.
These two realized it faster than Junichi mark II.
Dorama incoming!
Final Thoughts: - For how strongly Kaoru’s arc started last week and how well this episode went up until the end of the rooftop scene, I felt that the rest of this episode was fairly lacking. It was played well at first, but the way Junichi went for the bellybutton kiss didn’t really seem to have anything behind it since he was still conflicted about his feelings. Furthermore, Kaoru seemed awfully willing to go for it despite Junichi still seeming clueless. It was, as Shinn wrote, a brilliant example of Junichi’s environmental awareness and ability to improvise. But it didn’t have the personal or relationship context that the knee kiss in Haruka’s arc did. Haruka and Junichi mark I had already been past the point of confessions of feelings and were established as quite kinky individuals. Where this came from, other than a desire for creative fanservice, was rather lost on me.
- Which raises a concern I now have for the series. The kinkiness of the Haruka arc was central to how those two characters interacted. It was a part of their personalities. And because it was unconventional it grabbed viewers attention while making Junichi mark I and Haruka unique. But if kissing at some non-standard spot is a part of every arc it will lose these two kinds of effectiveness and feel repetitive. Perhaps it only has a prominent place in these two consecutive arcs, but as great as the kneepit kiss was, I don’t feel something similar should be in each arc.
- That is not to say that I felt the episode was terrible or anything, just a let down compared to last time. The arc can easily recover from this bump in the road, and the ending of the episode provided an interesting angle to work on. Kaoru and her relationship with her mother and whoever the unidentified man may be could provide some good drama and situations for Kaoru to deepen her relationship with Junichi. I’m looking forward to that development more than how the next fetish will be worked in when (at this point and with these characters so far anyway) it doesn’t really seem to mesh.
21 Comments
Ohh, finally, I’ve been waiting for this review from you, -EO-, haha! Anyway, from what I can see on this onwards to the next arc, more kisses would follow suit. I wonder where will Sae get a kiss..uhh..forehead? LOL!
Jeez..just the start of this episode gets me more excited for more. But hey, 2 down 2 to go for Kaoru and its bye-bye again. aww..good thing the manga kept me busy week after week waiting for each Amagami SS episodes.
And I thought Morishima-senpai will have more airtime again, from which I guess it will be pointless since hers was already been told, hehe. I want moar of Junichi x Haruka! LOL! At least, we’ve seen more of Tsukasa this time around.
oh yeah, more and more Rihoko too! 
Well, can’t wait for the 3rd episode of Kaoru’s arc. and I wonder what revelation will that episode unfold. haha!
PS: nice intro pic this time, ”Kaoru: Just Do It!” cool Nike reference, hahaha.
Ah yes, apologies for being a day later than usual, I was pretty dead after work on Friday and ended up falling asleep not long after I got home.
It is cool how the show still has parts for Haruka just like all the other girls do in each other’s arcs. Definitely more Tsukasa in the Kaoru arc than the first time around, which I’m happy about. I had my problems with some of this episode, but I am very glad that they seem to be steadily increasing the screentime for the other girls. Ai in particular since she barely had any moments in the Haruka arc. It’s a great way to get some character development done before a girl’s arc, and I salute the producers for coming up with the idea and continuing to use it effectively.
I enjoyed the episode, but yeah the belly button thing was a tad bit unnecessary, unnecessary but not that annoying either. I look forward to the next episode, hopefully we will have kyaarific moment between the two:P Oh, and do you think they will have a “happily ever after future” bit like they did for the first arc?
Yes! Having something kyaa-rific first and then moving onto the weird kissing would have made more sense. As for next episode, there are a lot of possibilities for how each of the two will react. It could be the classic scenario where Kaoru would get distressed by what her mother is doing and Junichi gets involved to help/comfort her. But the situation is open enough that it could go differently.
I’m hoping for a happily ever after scene following each arc (which could be done even with something less than a GOOD END, like a friendship end or something) since I do love when a show gives you some ‘what now?’ information. As for potential, the information at hand suggests that there will be. This is based off there being such a scene in the Haruka arc, as well as the Kaoru arc featuring many of the same traits as the previous one (infirmary scene, unusual first kiss, Christmas day scene, etc.) I would conclude with a moderate degree of confidence that there will be a denouement scene.
After her friend’s rejected confession, I was worried that Kaoru’s path would tread down the one similar to Kyou’s in Clannad, with her in a dilemma on whether or not to help the friend, should she suddenly like Junichi. Thankfully, I don’t think it’s heading there.
>Don’t worry about me, I have my own arc Miya.
But that’s mai waifu, Ai!
That scenario seems to have been avoided, but I could see how you could draw that comparison given how naturally Keiko and Junichi hit it off when he was trying to give her advice. While the connections are seeming increasingly thin since Amagami is concentrating on ‘straight line’ romances and creative kissing, KimiKiss: Pure Rouge did have a similar thing play out in one of its love triangles.
Just Ai reminding Miya that she’s a main character, hehe. And Ai is all yours, since Tsukasa won me over from episode 01. A toast to our summer 2010 waifu!
I don’t think that Miya has her own ark.
Miya looks very like her friend Ai (similar hair and height) but Miya has brown eyes while Ai has grey.
Ai is on the swim team (see opening) and will have an ark as will Miya’s other friend Sae (longer light brown hair).
Worth looking on Wikipedia where there is enough detail to inform without too many spoilers.
Just leading off of Ai’s words about not worrying about her. Miya won’t have her own arc (though I don’t know about an ark
) except potentially in a DVD/BD extra.
The wikipedia entry for Amagami is pretty good, I’ve consulted it a few times myself.
I miss kaoru with her waitress uniform, keep going AIC… personally i’m really2 GLAD if you put fetish scene in every girls arcs XD
Haha, the ‘fetish of the week/arc’ concept will undoubtedly have a lot of fans, and even if I couldn’t get aboard the bellybutton kiss in terms of its place in the romance, it was laugh-out-loud-while-facepalming funny. Mostly I think that if the fetish per arc concept is to continue being effective, it’s going to have to be something other than kissing a non-standard place. The cafeteria roleplay between Junichi mark I and Haruka being a great example.
The Amagami review is now one of my weekly highlights. Just thought I’d let you know.
I’m hoping this arc will get better in the next episode. This episode for me was kind of “ehhh”. Especially that bellybutton kiss, it came way out of left field and was painfully many more times LESS EPIC than the “knee pit” kiss.
I love how you slid in the Jay Z reference, too.
Thanks man, I’m glad you’re enjoying my coverage
And seeing Kaoru walk away while Junichi yelled about having his kiss stolen just caused the song to start playing in my head instantly. Hmm, now wouldn’t that be a concept? A sort of School Days with a female protagonist who has all the boys in her class at her every beck and call.
A bit of a miss with most of this episode, but not so bad and easily recoverable with the next episode. Kaoru and Junichi mark II are plenty playful enough already that they could work in another Amagami-style kink but with proper setup next time, or just end that phase of it here and move to a more emotions-focused romance story. And with that final scene with Kaoru’s mom I think they may have been planning to ‘get it out of the way’ with the non-standard kiss and move completely into the drama phase.
I was hoping they would play the whole S&M angle for the kink since Kaoru is so violent. I mean, after the first episode it seemed like it would go in that direction with the ear biting and punching. I felt like nibbling her muffin top or something would have been more fitting to her style. Here’s to hoping for the “omg how touching” moment in the next episode, because I haven’t fallen in love with this couple yet.
That makes me think, wouldn’t it be interesting in one of the arcs for the girl to make the first kinky move instead of Junichi? Given Kaoru’s personality you’d almost expect her to do so. Not sure if it will happen or not, but it would be fun to see.
Kaoru started off strong, but I agree, as a couple the two of them need a little work. But with two whole episodes to go and the kink already out of the way, they should have plenty of time to improve.
I’ve been following your blogs for Amagami SS ever since the first episode, and I would like to say you’re doing a very good job. It’s nice to see a different and still entertaining perspective on the storyline.
Actually I didn’t mind the belly button kiss scene very much, it was interesting in its own way, but then I’m quite easily entertained xD I can somehow relate to how Junichi came up with the idea; his friendship with Kaoru, although he said it was just the usual “good friends” kind, strikes me as being a bit deeper than that, though platonic and not romantic. And they seem like the kind of friends who mess around with each other all the time, so when Kaoru “ran away” with his first kiss, it would be a natural reaction for him to want “payback” for it. And as he thought regular tickling wasn’t enough, he decided to payback a kiss with a kiss, on a spot which is ticklish (is the belly button a very ticklish spot?) And Kaoru, with her feelings for Junichi as they were, naturally jumped at the chance to let him.
Overall, I already like the Kaoru arc a little more than the Haruka arc, if only because I find it easier to relate to the relationship between two long time friends. Can’t wait for Ai-chan’s arc to come around, and I’m curious as to how Rihoko’s arc will play out too. Keep up the good work!
As always, thanks for reading. I’m glad that you’re enjoying the posts, they’re a lot of fun to write (even if I didn’t realize until a day after that I had reverted to my standard post format instead of the new one for this arc I had started to use. Orz. That’s what severe fatigue will do to you, heh.)
The depth of their relationship definitely feels like it’s there, but I think the lack of elaboration on it might be an inherent weakness of the four episode arc format. The show is doing quite a lot using its format, but nothing’s perfect and for a couple with a lot of backstory it inevitably ends up having to cut something out.
I can see the playfulness being a natural part of their relationship, it’s just that the bellybutton kiss, as entertaining as it was, just felt like it was pushed a little too far in terms of what they’d be comfortable with. The ‘payback’ part makes sense, but that’s a rather revealing place for two friends playing around with each other to kiss, isn’t it?
Oh right, the length of each arc definitely limits the amount of elaboration that can be done on fleshing out the entire backgrounds of each character, but they’re really doing an excellent job so far. I’m not left with loads of questions in my head after watching.
Yes, the location he chose was kind of weird. I remember thinking ‘why would he choose the library out of all places for payback?’, especially since his original plan was to tickle her, knowing she would laugh out loud from it. And when he decided to change it to a kiss, wouldn’t he at least try to change the location a little? Even going back to the rooftop would have been a better choice for privacy. But with Junichi Mark II being as pervy (and thick) as he has been, he probably wouldn’t have gone as far as thinking that the bellybutton kiss was pushing it too far in the heat of the moment.
My guess on the next kiss-fetish: Using an inanimate object.
“Now kiss this doll where you want to kiss me, Junichi #”
Very much enjoying all of Kaoru’s reactions in this ep, instantly faved her once I saw the sex hair. Add my soft-spot for tsunderes (that are not KugiRie, as much as I love her voice acting) and she’s a TKO.
Kaoru is bringing back that original tsundere character type with her behavior, and I welcome this return to the more controlled, more realistic tsundere instead of the hair-trigger, super violent ones of late. While I liked Haruka’s arc a lot, I do prefer Kaoru’s personality on a purely character level. Though the arcs I’m most anticipating are the last two: Rihoko and especially Tsukasa. Not that the other two won’t be interesting, but those two characters really caught my interest from the beginning.
On the discussion boards I frequent, someone had a nice idea: there should have been actual tickling which would have escalated into the kiss. Let’s say he was really tickling her earlier and she dares him to give a “kiss that counts”, and/or this doesn’t satisfy him. He doesn’t have the guts to go for the mouth, but since his hands are on her sides already, he connects the dots and goes for her belly (not necessarily navel). Better than random Da Vinci.
Also, I don’t think he’s oblivious, just confused whether she reciprocates his feelings… He doesn’t have naughty thoughts and walk around redfaced and in a daze in episode 5 for nothing.
Other tweaks which would have added more depth would be: more close-ups of their faces during the rooftop scene, to illustrate the confusion they’re feeling, and brief scenes from the last of his fantasies in episode 5 (just her leaning in close for a kiss) running through his head while it looks like the fantasy is going to come true. Missed opportunity there, you can tell the kiss scene was done with budgeting in mind.
That scenario would have worked out much more naturally to lead to a kiss, and it would be more spur of the moment and thus believable in the context of their friendship/budding relationship. Though I still think of Junichi as mostly clueless since he might have had those infirmary fantasies but he’s convinced himself so thoroughly that it would be preposterous for Kaoru to like him and acts accordingly. But that’s just started to shift, and the incoming drama ought to bring them closer.
As for changes to the rooftop scene, I thought it was good enough for conveying the basics that it had to, but some more hints about the characters’ feelings (through closeup shots or other techniques) certainly would have given it more weight.