Recent events between schoolmates have produced a clear, but yet seemingly unlikely dynamic between J4 and Ai, with additionally unusual actions by both Tsukasa and Takahashi-sensei. Despite using all available information and applying both analytic techniques and the lessons of romance anime history, improbable events such as these still sometimes manage to occur. Currently the J4-Ai dynamic has evolved into one of deepening feelings on Ai’s part, because of (and we argue, in spite of) J4′s recent actions. This calls for a new framework for interpreting the mindset of the arc’s heroine.
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Recent Developments
- In response to news of a ‘Bungaku Shoujo’ beginning work in the library, J4 and his associates went to the library to investigate. While the viewer only obtained partial images and not enough to make an ID, this intelligence gathering mission initiated the first of three less than smooth encounters between J4 and Ai. However, as we shall see these seemed to produce the opposite of their logical effect.
She doesn’t have to be on-screen to steal the spotlight.
- After the library incident, it became known to Ai through Kaoru that Junichi is particularly adept at math. (Funny, I thought his best subject was anatomy. -Editor.) Ai then asked him to tutor her, which gave them more time together but also led to two significant events. Ayatsuji Tsukasa stopped by to say hello to J4, but then upon recognizing Ai gave her a meaningful and perhaps judging or disapproving look. Ai seemed to return this for a moment before Tsukasa returned to normal conversation. This was a very surprising visual exchange, given that there have been no indications that the two know each other. The second significant event was Ai telling J4 that he acts just like a little kid, before snapping out of her moment of candor. This second event has begun fitting into a newly developing pattern, discussed in the analysis section.
Image set to this audio.
- Upon being summoned to the teachers’ offices by Takahashi-sensei, J4 engaged in the first of two overenthusiastic outbursts. When asked why he’s been late to school so often lately, he launched into an obsessive speech about the manga series known as “Biibaa Sangokushi/Beaver Three Kingdoms“, a known favorite of both J4 and Miya. Takahashi-sensei was having none of it, and sent him packing, with a football coach-style slap for good measure.
- The second blunder by J4 which oddly led to deepening ties with Ai was when he met his sister, Ai, and Sae at lunch and through his lechery was drawn into a candid conversation about breast sizes. Understandably Ai was disgusted and left forcefully, making her displeasure clearly known. But for some reason this was later quickly resolved and she seemed to like J4 more afterwards.
Miya, however, was an eager participant in the conversation.
- The next incident involved J4 sneaking into the pool area during swim practice, combining his lechery with stealth and launching into another rant, this time about the virtues of Ai’s small (relative to Sae) breast. Despite this incredibly kimoi moment, neither team leader Hibiki nor Ai retaliated with anything other than a few surprised words. And yet again this seems to defy standard logic, as Ai reacted favorably to it later in the episode.
Not exactly a courtly ballad…
- The final event of significance was Ai and J4 meeting up after school, everything seeming better than ever between them despite recent actions. Sitting at the beach, Ai gave J4 a Grasshopper Mask transformation belt that her little brother didn’t want, seemingly insulting in that she implied that Junichi is a little kid, but received well by both sides. Some acting out of the transformation scene occurred, before giving away the belt to three appreciative children who happened by. This scene, lighthearted and fun, made much more sense in terms of being a genuine moment between the arc couple.
Nice, but not as good as Kamen Rider Ryuki’s Final Vent.
Analysis
So despite Junichi’s best efforts, he seems to have endeared himself more to Ai. First the minor library disturbance, and then escalating into the breast conversation and to its peak with sneaking into the swimming club practice and acting like a complete creep in front of the entire team. And yet, at the end of the episode we have Ai thinking to herself about how much she likes him. This seems to boil down to two elements, one in-story and one on the part of the writers. In the events of the show we had Ai, who at first seemed set to be a girl with fairly high standards and possibly a somewhat initially cold personality, show more and more signs of having some sort of older sister complex where she likes taking care of boys. While it’s normal to do so with her brother, it appears to have been internalized into something affecting her better judgement in relationships. Junichi has done plenty to drive away any sane girl, but yet here Ai’s desire to take care of a “helpless” guy like Junichi is at the center of the developing relationship.
Ai actually finding J4 attractive has left me in despair!!!
Junichi’s fourth iteration has done a few things to seem like a decent guy, tutoring Ai in math and generally being fun for her to talk and play with at the beach. But he’s done some tremendously stupid and creepy things otherwise, and the balance is well to the creep side. This seems to result from a meta, creator influence. Amagami SS, as fun as it can be, has for the most part not panned out to be a romance series like its spiritual predecessor KimiKiss: Pure Rouge. It’s not unfair to say that there is a good bit of fan pandering to it. And unfortunately it seems to have exceeded my limit for suspension of disbelief here. In an attempt to pander to fans that a girl like Ai would be attracted by the pathetic, creepy actions of someone like J4, this arc is going way beyond something I can just accept and watch without complaint. It’s some pretty clear otaku pandering, for in real life Junichi would be dead to Ai by this point.
Opinion (guidance for interpretation beyond our analysis)
I want a girl with a mind like a diamond. I want a girl who knows what’s best.
I want a girl with a gaze that cuts and eyes that burn like cigarettes.
I want a girl with the right allocations. Who’s fast and thorough
and slaps sharp as a tack.
She’s doesn’t need any jewelry, and has great hair
She’s leading the faculty and punishing those who slack.
I want a girl with a short skirt
and a daaaark jacket.
HHHNNNNNNNGGGGGGG.
22 Comments
Hello Mr. ExecutiveOtaku.
I’m totally puzzled by Ayatsuji’s behavior towards Ai, the preview indicates that this is not over yet and damn I am curious!!!
This was also the first time Junichi ogled his teacher, happened more in the mangas ha…
I am still hoping for some kinky action that happened in the manga… pretty please???
Thank you for your review.
That look that Tsukasa gave Ai was out of nowhere. I have two thoughts about it. Either Tsukasa is just that protective of her classmates that she was looking over Ai to try and get a read on her and see if she was ‘approved’ for Junichi to have an interest in her. The alternative explanation is that she and Ai have some sort of history to them, and Ai did seem to give a look back. Hard to say though.
More Takahashi-sensei would be welcome. I’d really really like a Takahashi Maya mini-arc to come out with the DVD/BD releases. Or at least a one episode sidestory or something. They’re giving Miya a mini-arc, so why not?
Thanks for reading
Yea, that Ayatsuji thing in the library was weird. Can’t wait to see what all that was about.
This Junichi is a creeper beyond measure. However, I think his charm lies in his honesty and clumsiness in trying to atone for his lechery. Clearly he has no clue, but there is some security in that. It’s scary when a guy is too smooth. That’s the story I’m sticking with.
Same here. I put my speculations in the response to the above comment, and either way I’m dying to know what’s behind it.
That’s the ticket! Seriously though, I’m not buying it. They’re honest and clumsy, and then there’s J4′s total lack of tack, self-control, or situational awareness. Ugh.
I LOL’d at all the Kamen Rider references in this episode. Decade’s belt, the classic henshin gestures, Faiz’s Smart Brain, Kabuto’s 1-2-3 and Change Hopper sound effects, Blade’s Thunder Kick, and finally Kuuga’s signature thumb-up pose. Not to mention IkaDevil from Sae’s arc. Is there any I missed?
And now that you’ve mentioned it, the otaku pandering is substantial in this arc so far, though I guess I was too distracted by the Kamen Rider references and HAAAAWT TEACHER to notice.
Your Kamen Rider-fu is strong. I’ve only watched AGITO, Kuuga, and Ryuuki so I wasn’t able to pick out any particular references there.
Yeah, it is quite a drag on this arc, though at least they’re giving us some Kamen Rider and Takahashi-sensei to try and make it a little easier to wash down. Still, it seems like the series is on a downward trajectory in this regard, though it was ok in the Sae arc since that was intentionally supposed to be more of a comedy and was self-aware about what it was doing.
I’ve unfortunately been a bit spoiled on Ayatsuji’s personality, but I’m glad to see it start to show even if it’s just foreshadowing at this point. (Man I can’t wait for her arc)
Glad to see I’m not the only one sharing J4′s hot for teacher feelings. Very nice making the lyrics fit the captions
I’m a bit disappointed. I don’t mind a bit of pandering, really, but this is crazy. I wasn’t really looking forward to Ai’s arc, but the first episode of it was encouraging and I <3 Yukana, so I was optimistic. But seriously, saying a girl's rack is lacking straight to her face? How tactless do you have to be? And then to make up for it… spying on her while she's at swimming practice and then making that embarrassing speech… Hibiki is such an enabler, she needs to be harder on this idiot. I don't have much hope for the rest of the arc, so I'm just going to sit back and get pandered to, enjoying Yukana's sultry voice and ignoring the rest~
Me too, man. She’s been my favorite from the start. Though I’m also hoping for something good from the Rihoko arc too.
Well, my favorite next to Takahashi-sensei anyway, hehe. Why do I always like the secondary characters more than the primaries?
Hibiki should have tied him up, thrown the rope over the high-dive board, and dunked him into the water as punishment, GTO-style!
Seriously, we need some Hibiki and Takahashi-sensei arcs :p
For me its more of how discombobulated Junichi’s personality is, I actually don’t think he’s much more perverted then say the average male around his age. It’s just when you combine that with his inexperience, awkward clumsiness, and straight-forward honesty. Then you get his random and often incoherent actions, based on these rather contradictory aspects of desire and regret, innocence and perversion. If I could make a distinctive category for it, then I’d say in this version he’s almost childish, with that naive curiosity and nervous confusion one experiences in their younger years just prior to puberty. In that sense his failures could prove endearing in that it makes a girl sympathetic while bringing out her nurturing qualities, simultaneously causing her to kind of disregard his antics because it becomes expected and the knowledge on her part that there’s was no real malice in his intent. As for the teacher, Eh, I’ll chalk it up to a pseudo-Oedipus complex at this point in my analysis. :p
I can see that line of thought (not so much in real life, but theoretically anyway), but I have a really tough time believing that Junichi is more ‘honest but confused’ than ‘creepy and tactless.’ I’m willing to extend the sympathy because of good intentions angle a fair bit more since this is anime and not real people, but even so I can only go so far. It’s just gotten to the point with J4 that I can no longer suspend disbelief, the pandering is just too great.
I think of a telling line I just read in the Amagami manga series that goes a long way in illustrating that point I’m trying to make, where Junichi is much more perverted I might add. While the girls, including Ai, acknowledged that although they know he’s a pervert they also believed he would never intentionally make them uncomfortable, i.e force them into compromising/lewd situations for his own benefit, going so far as to say they trusted him. This is where I come back with my viewing J4 in terms of a child, often an abrasive, rude brat who dives into things without thinking them through which causes him to blunder about in as you say a tactless manner, but once again more due to naivety then any malicious intent. Its creepy in terms of what one should expect of a levelheaded person his age, but in terms of viewing him with a more childish mentality I found it an apt way to assimilate the episode.
Loved the declaration about Ai’s explosive pecs. It reminded me of the 40 year old virgin: “You know how when you grab a woman’s breast… it feels like… a bag of sand. “
The 40 Year Old Virgin sounds like a more likely outcome than Junichi getting together with Ai this arc, given his recent actions.
Thank you for bringing up the Ironside theme; it was needed, I felt in such circumstances. Number fourteen is another episode that makes me love Ayatsuji even more. She’s turning into like a mini-Haruka; although it’s plain to see she’s running the entire show. Why else did she immediately appoint herself as class rep? Oh how I pine for her arc!
But Miya is like some sort of hypocrite now; poking at Nii-nii for oogling at other girls while she’s very happy to fondle Sae. There was definitely brocon from the very start, and it’ll stay until the very end.
However, Junichi v. Sensei was classic. Oh sure, like he wasn’t playing her! Despite what you may think, Junichi’s a smart ladies’ man.
Listen up Amagami writers: if you do the Tsukasa arc right then all will be forgiven!
Can’t wait for her arc myself either. She seems to have less screentime than others, but she’s always been interesting to have around. And whether she was sizing Ai up or has some history with her, Ironsides was the first thing that came to mind, hehe.
Junichi’s rant to Takahashi-sensei did feel like something he’d have to be comfortable enough with her to launch into, even if it went too far. Though I don’t share your optimism about his abilities in this incarnation. The first, third, and maybe second Junichis, sure, but not this one. At least not thus far. But I’d be happy to be proven wrong in the next two episodes.
Yeaaaaaaaaaah, I’m running into a time crunch this season, so I’m giving heavy consideration to dropping Amagami after this arc. I like Ai just fine and think she’s kind of cute, but that’s about the extent of the enjoyment I’m getting from this storyline. (Well, including the teacher, of course, but that’s a given.)
This arc isn’t going so well, but I’d say to at least drop by for the first episode of the last two arcs to see how they go. They seem to have the two most promising heroines post-Haruka, and I’m expecting that they’ll be on their A-game again for the Tsukasa arc at least since she’s supposed to be the ‘mascot character’ for the franchise. But yeah, I can’t really blame you for being demoralized after the first half of this arc. It’s definitely a low point for the show at the moment. What happened to the people who wrote the Haruka arc?!
If 4chan’s ever taught me anything, it’s that if you get a girl she’s really got you. And I think this is exactly where Ai and Junichi are at here. I mean, look at this and tell me she doesn’t have Junichi exactly where she wants him, and knows it? Ai seems almost a control freak, and Junichi has always been one willing to be lead around by the nose (and J4 especially) – probably because he knows he gets in trouble when he isn’t.
Then add on top of that J4′s childish nature, and Ai’s nature of mothering (forced on her by her parents at a young age), and you have one messed-up relationship – one that nonetheless leaves both partners happy. I really don’t think Ai would like Junichi nearly as much if he wasn’t so dorky. She doesn’t strike me as one terribly impressed with smooth operators. Plus, she’s a bit of a pervert herself, so she can’t be too mad at him for that when she encourages it.
And, you have to admire J4′s bravery. Shame was never something any Junichi had in any real amount, but Hibiki looked like she was going to castrate him right then and there. Even Haruka can’t get away with that crap, but she totally let J4 off the hook (plus, my yuri goggles show me that she can’t really blame him for wanting to see AI like that…). After the whole incident at lunch, the fact that he made such a public apology (if in the most clumsy way ever) had touch her at least a little.
And as far as otaku pandering….what did you expect? This is an anime based on a VN where all the girls have the various dating sim features, if not all in the traditional combinations. And even then, it’s not really bad at all on the pandering. It’s about as far away from the traditional otaku-pandering VN adaptations as you can get while still being a VN anime. At least what it does do is defensible, if not entirely realistic (remember, you ARE watching a cartoon).
Maybe I take my cartoons too seriously?
The arguments about Ai’s upbringing and her nature are good ones. But my problem with how it’s been going in this arc is that it’s been stretched beyond even a shred of believability. All those factors you mentioned would work ifJ4 didn’t come off as such a tactless creep. It’s more of a matter of intensity than of the traits J4 has. The traits on their own could produce a believable (by anime standards anyway) relationship out of it. But the extremes that J4 has played up those traits should have him striking out and firmly into BAD END territory. I’m really frustrated with how this arc is going thus far.
I did expect some otaku pandering, but this is to a level that doesn’t seem like it quite belongs in the same show even. Shows that have the same level of pandering as this arc are shows that get dropped by my on episode 1. Even the pandering elements in previous arcs either worked into the nature of the relationship (Haurka arc, debatable in the Kaoru arc) or were purposefully a comedic element (Sae arc.) Amagami isn’t the traditional dating sim adaptation, which is why I expect better of it.
I perscribe thee a season full of Kuragehime to heal you of this silly dating sim nonsense!
Oddly, while I thought the cafeteria conversation was in rather bad taste, the incident at the swimming people sort of redeemed him.
He was there peeping on the swimming team specifically for the purpose of being caught, not merely to be a creepy stalker. I don’t even remember half the speech it ran past so fast, but again the purpose of being caught was to be able to say it in front of witnesses.
He screwed up in the cafeteria, and knew it. A private apology would mean very little, as he’d insulted her in front of her classmates. How could she accept an apology in private, and treat him well after, when she had been embarrassed in front of her friends that way? Therefore the apology had to be just as public, possibly more so. It’s a combination of the various public face/private face elements that come together. Saying he loved her privately while publicly ridiculing her wouldn’t fly.
While you seem to find the pool speech creepy, I took it as meaning that he was willing to accept the scorn of all the other girls there for his actions, while at the same time able to declare in a very public manner that he felt Ai was truly beautiful (practically Shakespearean in its vivid, indirect way) despite his earlier flub regarding breast size. Hibiki clearly recognized the intent, which is why she let it go.
This isn’t to say I particularly like this arc. It’s still kind of ‘meh’. But I don’t agree with your negative view of it.
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