Hark! Children of the dating sim and followers of the adaptation,
to a story of the great trials and songworthy deeds.
To the legend of Sae the Meek and Junichi, third of his line,
so that you may remember their saga and heed the wisdom of their lessons.
Sing, o goddess, of the sorrow of Junichi the Third,
whose forebearers brought countless kink among the Haruka arc,
and endless leering to the zettai ryouiki of Kaoru,
stood up on a winter’s night and one year hence still bears the mark of his house.
And who in the receding heat of the death of summer set upon a new journey,
ordained by the Fates and delivered unto him by the voice of Nakata Jouji,
heavenly sire of his love to be.
.
And sing for history to hear of Sae the Meek,
endowed by her godly father with the Glamorous Body and moe moe kyun ED sequence,
appearing in song to all the world as a vision of Ranka.
From distant lands she traveled to the domain of windmills,
from her home among a respected house of many riches.
Befriending Miya the Nishishi, sister of Junichi III,
her one weakness being her timid voice and bearing.
Upon this fated autumn day Junichi III,
always of manly virtue in the service of his comrades,
journeyed boldly and well, spurred on by heavenly Nakata Jouji,
to enter the fray and claim the prize of lunch.
Through the stairwell lair of Haruka,
past the unmoving cafeteria lines he ventured, securing but meager supplies.
But hark! Destiny would guide him to Sae the Meek,
his most unmanly coin-purse by the hands of the gods to her,
so that she may meet her future husbando before Miya the Nishishi.
And with a shipper’s heart beating in her breast
the Nishishi began to execute the Fates’ designs,
sending the couple together to the Land of Crab Gratin,
where the fair and sex-haired Kaoru once more did the work of the gods.
With these words thus did the training begin,
Junichi III and Miya the Nishishi hammering her fortitude like Hephaestus at his forge,
attempting to instill in her the voice of mighty Zeus,
with silly roleplay and lecherous belly touch.
But the Fates are not without their mischievous impulses,
and Sae, in her womanly trepidation,
poured the coffee, hot as the waters of the dread River Styx, betwixt the thighs of lamentable Junichi.
And as Apollo drew his chariot to the Western horizon all was not well,
for the Nishishi saw the will of the gods draw the two together,
and harbored unnatural desires toward her kin.
This desire in her and base jealousy would grow,
as the trio set off to deliver virtuous Sae to her palace,
and engaged in the traditional combat that pits rock against scissors and paper versus all.
The Nishishi emerged victorious but it was the Onii-san who was the true victor,
his joy at bearing the glamorous body of Sae upon his shoulders,
a most joyous and pleasurable burden upon him.
And at this moment, the true jealousy of Miya the Nishishi awoke.
Commentary from Codicer ExecutiveOtaku, Imperial Librarium
- As you’ve probably noticed, this post format is the third in my continuing experiment with using a different style for each arc. Hope it’s entertaining and not kind of awkward, heh.
- I loved, loved the Nakata Jouji narration in this episode. May it continue on for the rest of the arc! The show seems to be taking a more comedic, self-aware direction for this arc, and thank god because I’m not sure how else I’d be able to bear Sae’s ridiculously shy and meek behavior. Though in her favor, her voice wasn’t nearly as annoying as I expected it to be.
- Unfortunately that new element has been accompanied by what appears to be some occasional budget cuts in animation, generally in the scenes where the characters are farther away from the ‘camera.’ For example, the scene where Junichi and Rihoko exit the stairwell onto the main floor of the school. But honestly it wasn’t too distracting, I just hope they don’t do it too often.
- The ED sequence was DDDDDDDAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWW from start to finish. Really, really cute. The music was well suited to it (though the VA’s singing voice was a little weak compared to the volume of the rest) and the animation was reminiscent of the Ranka version OP from Macross Frontier at times. Definitely my favorite so far, and it does make me like Sae a bit more than I expected. Probably because it shows her seemingly more outgoing and active, which is hopefully a good sign of how she will develop as a character during this arc.
- Junichi III is, um, looking rather feminine in that summer uniform and with that pink coin purse. But he hasn’t really annoyed me yet since he seems to have redoubled his efforts at being a bro to Umehara in place of pursuing romance, and also seems to be able to have fun with Miya instead of emo-ing out like Junichi mark I did. Though the training with the coffee, in a bedroom alone, either speaks to his naiveté or a hidden Junichi mark I skill for controlling the situation.
-Finally:
QUAD DDDDAAAAAWWWWWWW!
THE CUTE! IT’S TOO MUCH!
28 Comments
^AMEN!
subarashii EO-sama!!! XD
oohhh…when I was reading the post above that reminded me of a game that I play named BlazBlue, I mean, when some characters there chant their prayer. nah… nevermind… just an off-topic comment I guess.
anyway…
ack! I forgot that it was Joji Nakata that’s narrating! and here I am wondering that the voice sounded familiar! woohoo~ ~Well, well, well… Sae’s arc seems promising, and I just love her voice! Junichi III strikes back again, as promised by the producers, LOL! More airitme again by Rihoko huh? That gets me more excited again after that sloppy and ‘meh’ ending from the Kaoru arc. And I wonder if this would end up a happy ending just like Haruka’s? I guess it will be!
moe moe kyun~~~~ arghh… noo…. it should be… ~Glamorous Body!!!!!
PS: that scene above, the .gif image you made, one of the most epic win for this episode, LOL!
It’s too early for me to venture a guess about how the arc will end, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it has more of a typical rom-com type ending given how forward the show is being with the comedy this arc. The Nakata narrator, the breaking of the fourth wall, even the more lighthearted ending sequence gives this one a very different feel from the two that preceded it. All I know at this point is that I like it
(And more Rihoko is always good, she’s really grown on me through her sidelines appearances.)
Changed it, thanks. I guess I was so overwhelmed by the GORGEOUS DELICIOUS DECULTURE style of the ED sequence.
“That gets me more excited again after that sloppy and ‘meh’ ending from the Kaoru arc.”
Her ending was cut short for time and censorship reasons. Bloody unfair, and it took everyone by surprise. But I heard the real ending will be in the DVD version along with extended scenes.
Narrator: Superawesomehightension George Nakata…
Arc Heroine: Sae Nakata…
*sees the two names…*
WHAT IS THIS I DON’T EVEN
This is not merely Nakata Jouji as the narrator, this is the voice of her godly parent, watching over and guiding her from atop grand Olympus!
Where is the nude shot?
Psssh, go screencap it yourself
I try to have some class around here!
I was annoyed the entire episode. It almost seems like a different show.
The feel is very different, but I’m actually loving it. The way the creators are experimenting and trying different things in each arc, even expanding the arc structure to include more comedy in this arc, has really endeared itself to me. Granted, this style wouldn’t be appropriate for every arc, but I’m liking how it’s starting off here.
Well the entirely new format did come as a surprise for me. It did have a very different feel compared to the seriousness of the last two arcs. Took a little getting used to at first, but after watching through the episode, I think it was done well enough as Sae’s arc appears to be much more light hearted and humorous in tone. Probably a good thing as I can’t really imagine how the arc would start if they used the same format as the previous two, with Junichi meeting Sae right after being put up as it doesn’t seem very likely.
I noticed that this arc starts in the summer instead of taking place entirely through winter as in the last two. Gives me the impression that the narrator is probably there as kind of a prologue leading up to the main “current” story in winter. Hoping a little there won’t be narrations in the next episodes, though I can’t say I don’t like it either. The more serious “live” format of the last two arcs probably won’t work very well with Sae’s personality. She’s cute though
Starting off in summer is something that caught my attention too, which oddly enough gives this less serious (so far) arc a longer timeframe to develop in. Which is something you’d think they’d reserve for a heavy, serious drama arc instead of a rom-com style one. But I can’t complain, I love the approach and the change of pace. It’s really using the arc structure to its fullest with how they’re changing not only the circumstances of the characters in each arc, but also the tone and creative techniques used (such as the narrator and the whiteboard.)
I have to admit, despite disliking Sae strongly before this, she is gaining my favor pretty quickly. Especially from that ED sequence and song.
Give me a break, those lines don’t even scan! Oy gevalt.
Scan? Not sure what you mean.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_scansion
Seems Miya having fun with this ARC also junichi the third still perverted like his predecessors.
Miya has gotten a much more active part, and I’m really enjoying her greater screentime. For Junichi it would be weird, but from an objective viewpoint I think she’s fun and pretty cute. Still, I have to wonder about the whole imouto-oniisan thing given how jealous she got at the end (and in previous arcs.)
How is junichi mark 3 not depressed like in 1.
Now it seems the main stood up situation almost had no effect.
Mark 2 had a reason that he was consoled pretty fast by arc 2 girl.
I kinda liked different timelines and the things that are different that lead to different personalities.
I’m guessing that Junichi mark III got stood up but didn’t take it as hard, reprioritized in favor of hanging out with Umehara and Miya, or both. In keeping with the more lighthearted feel of this arc, it wouldn’t surprise me if this version of Junichi just took things more in stride and didn’t let being stood up get to him too much. Still, I hope we do get a bit of information as to the specifics of what led him to act the way he does, since as you say it is interesting to see how each version of Junichi comes to be the person that he is at the start of each arc.
You guys don’t know it yet, but you’re actually watching a 6-season, 4-episode long anime.
Also, were you going at some sort of Odyssey narration there? Cuz I swear, that’s the sort of poetry I read when I read the unabridged Odyssey.
Haha, I like that way of looking at the arc structure.
And yeah, I referred to my copies of The Iliad and The Aeneid as well as to The Remembrance (in-universe saga from Battletech) when brainstorming for the post. The second paragraph opens with a similar arrangement to the opening of The Iliad, while the format of the descriptions of the characters was something I took less directly from the start of The Aeneid.
Interesting posting style. I approve hearitly.
I did not like the narration. Mostly because the narrator sounds like he’s trying too hard. But if that’s the point, it flew way over my head.
I didn’t like the ep at first – the narration, the unmanly vests, the even unmanlier coin purse, Sae being even more shy than even Nodoka from Negima – but at the puppy part it got a lot better. You start to realize why Sae has such a hard time with our boy here – as Haruka says, he’s like a puppy, and as Sae is terrified of such horrible beasts, it only makes sense that she would be more than a little apprehensive around Junichi. It’s little touches like that – intentional or not – that make me like this show (also Kaoru).
I didn’t like the ED, for precisely the reasons you liked it. Though it does seem fitting for Sae – from last arc. Which she will probably build up to as the arc progresses – the next ep. preview gives me much anticipation.
I was more than a little worried that this arc would be bad, but almost all my doubts are gone.
Glad you liked the newest format experiment. I figured that if this arc is going to have a narrator, I may as well ham it up with the writeup too.
The puppy/Junichi thing didn’t even register to me, but I find it very funny now that you mention it. We seem to like and dislike some different elements, but both of us seem to have some to the same conclusion despite this. I went into the first episode of this arc thinking it would be a long, difficult slog through the arc of a character I had little enthusiasm for. But all together it’s shaping up to be a really fun four episodes.
Honestly I wasn’t expecting to like Nakata Sae’s arc all that much at all. All her previous appearances didn’t give her much depth at all, but just in one episode she’s starting to bloom. Rather interested in when and how the love is realized.
Same here, this episode really changed my outlook on the Sae arc. I’d probably have to force myself to watch if it were four episodes of heavy drama with a super shy girl speaking in such a voice. But now it’s the fun (almost) mid-point to the show that only takes itself seriously to a point. And that’s just what I needed to get over the worries I had going into this arc.
Yes! I was wondering how they would pull of this arc, given the quality of the previous two, I was expecting something good and I wasn’t disappointed. I am not even gonna talk about the episode itself, Sae is such a cu-tie pie.
Sae is much more likable than I expected her to be from her small interactions on the sidelines of the past two arcs. Especially if she becomes more forward like she seems to be in the ED sequence. Though I’m a little weirded out by the thought of her and the typical Junichi kissing experiments. She’s much more cute “DDDAAAAWWWW” to me than “OMG hot!” like the previous two girls were.
Yeah, I agree the previous two (especially the first one) were the hot kind, and even though Sai has a “glamorous body”, she is more of the cute type. As for her shyness, I think it is the right kind of shyness. When one thinks about shy anime girls, he concurs images of hasty getaways, beet root red faces, random fainting due to blushing, and in general total avoidance of anything important, Sae is a bit different. She has the mentality, “I’m shy, and my shyness might get in the way of doing somethings that I want to do, but it will never get in the way of doing something I have to do”. In my opinion her shyness had already gone down a bit by the end of the website, so your dream of an outgoing Sae is probable maybe even likely.
I agree with the kiss thing, having a kiss in a weird part would be way out of character. The funky kiss was out of Junichi Mk.2′s character, but it’s even further out of Mk.3′s character. Mk.3 to me, seems to be a very ordinary cool guy. He didn’t let a breakup almost 2 years back hold him down, and he has a good relationship, both with his best friend and his sister. Like most guys, Mk.3 is perverted, but also like most guys, he is good at hiding it, and doesn’t make it a big deal. Mk.3 is more relaxed, sure of himself, and knows how to behave. Someone like Mk.3 should not want a kiss in a weird place, and there is no way I can see Sae approving it either. They should have a simple kiss lip to lip, and if there is a precursor necessary, a kiss to Sae’s forehead should more than suffice. I can only hope the studio is thinking the same way I am.
Argh — I actually think of some things to say about the episode, and you’ve already said them.
Anyways, even though Nakata Jouji is the narrator, it sounds like he’s of questionable sexual orientation. Laying it on a tad to thick, methinks.
Oh, and I only cringed at Sae’s voice once during the episode. I must be building an immunity.
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[...] Actually, you know what? I’m lazy. You saw the episode right? If you didn’t the pictures below will summarize it for you. If you really want a summary, try reading Slugs or THAT. [...]
[...] looking forward to what kind of kissing fetish Sae’s gonna be subjected to more than anything.ExecutiveOtaku of THAT anime blog didn’t like Sae’s voice. At least that’s what we talked about for a bit on Twitter anyway. [...]