My fellow Anime-ians, our long Amagami nightmare is over. Our arc makes sense again; our great Amagami is a show of light romance and comedy and not of incoherent plot. Here the fun and coherency rules. And there is a higher purpose for this show, whatever we may imagine it as, that ordains not only dating sim adaptation but decent story, not only kink but DDDAAAAWWWW. As we bind up the internal wounds of the Ai Arc, more painful and more WTF than those of manga spoilers, let us rejoice in the restoration of enjoyment and decent writing, and let the lovely Rihoko purge our hearts of suspicion and hate.
In the spirit of our delightfully chubby heroine’s arc (chubby =/= fat) and her skill at cooking and consuming food, the episode summary portion will now be in the form of a recipe, followed by selected commentary.
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Recipe: Episode 17 – Memories
- One childhood friend character.
- One Junichi (make sure to choose one low in stupid content.)
- 3 pre-packaged pan and 3 homemade cupcakes.
- 6-10 pictures of childhood memories.
- 2 flashbacks.
- 1 Kanae.
- A dash of nishishi.
Take your childhood friend character and pin the childhood pictures to the wall in her bedroom to instantly establish the childhood connection. Insert flashback scene at the start and middle of the episode for further depth, making sure to make use of first person narration at the start. Over the course of several years give the pan and cupcakes to the childhood friend until just chubby enough for her to consider a diet but not so much that she stops being adorable. Add Kanae-chan and set the timer to ‘present day’ (present time AHAHAHAHA!.) Add your Junichi at this time, having now been marinated by the years of memories, just as the Rihoko is stuck under the school fence. After the Junichi helps free Rihoko she should be good and ready to start indirectly conveying her attraction to Junichi to Kanae. At this point you should add your second flashback, making sure the childhood friend relationship is firmly in place. Add nishishi to taste. If you picked a good Junichi, by this point he’ll be secretly helping Rihoko with the fence and acting generally caring. Stew for four episodes and serve with adequate denouement (Haruka-arc style ‘afterstory’ is best, but if you’re in a hurry then a definitive Kaoru ending should be acceptable.)
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Taste Test and Review
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My Childhood Friend Can’t Be This Adorable!
HHHNNNNGGGGG
While I find the childhood friend archetype pretty unrealistic, at the same time I can’t help but generally find such characters to be really sweet and adorable. And thus far Rihoko looks to be a fun variation on the character type in a few different ways. For one, she doesn’t have the usual flawless bishoujo looks, even if she’s far from fat. If anything it just makes her look cuter, as well as differentiating her somewhat. She’s also the childhood friend in the rare position of actually having a shot at the male lead thanks to the arc format. It seems like in the majority of shows I’ve seen that the childhood connection is the mark of death for a girl’s romantic prospects.
Such is the pitiable fate that most childhood friends are consigned to…
But unlike Kannagi’s Tsugumi, who even spoke out loud that “I guess I’m just the childhood friend”, Rihoko in her arc has an immediate connection to Junichi’s Christmas night incident by being there to help him out beforehand. While it’s kind of sad to see her asked out to pick out a gift for someone else, it’s a nice start to an arc that seems to have her as the pursuer instead of Junichi. Having Junichi helping her out in secret by widening the hole in the fence was a nice reversal too, keeping his kindness for her in the background while she works as the more active one. May Artemis guide her in her hunt, so that she may claim the hand of Junichi for childhood friend characters everywhere!
Afterschool Tea Time
I hope Takahashi-sensei is a disciple of Sawa-chan-sensei and dresses them up…
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The propensity of the tea club to sit around drinking tea and eating pastries instead of practicing their trade is not the only small K-ON similarity one can see. While Rihoko is a bit airheaded about announcing her plans to diet, afterwards her senpai get to the discussion of what will become of the club after they graduate. With only Rihoko left, they’re faced with the same problems pondered by their light music counterparts. The other is Rihoko’s K-ON style teeth, which just make her extra moe moe cute. Definitely channeling some Yui and Ritsu at times.
The Skinship of Umehara Masayoshi
“Ayatsuji’s going to find our porn! Hold me Junichiiii!”
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Miya Confirmed for BMW
The wisdom of Keima: Blood (relation), Memories, and WOONICHAN MOE.
During the second flashback where Rihoko and Junichi remembered differently their times at the local playground we have the proof showing that Miya meets Keima’s high standards for an imouto character. The World God Only Knows put forth this standard, and here it is with Miya: Blood relation is a given. And now there’s visual proof of memories from growing up together, and the oniichan moe goes without saying. Miya: The Ultimate Imouto Machine.
Awkward…
Priceless MiyaFace.
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DDAAAAWWWWWs of the Week
32 Comments
The words of the Great Keima have been spoken.
BTW, is anyone gonna blog The World God Only Knows?
No plans to blog that series, at least that anyone has announced. I’m two episodes behind, but it’s a pretty fun show thus far.
fun, fun, fun arc indeed! I love this arc! no more Haruka Morishima for me! I know something was reserved when we always see Rihoko interacting that much w/ Jun’ichi in the previous arcs! Something was in-stored and this is it! best ever! But of course, not until we see the final arc, w/c is the Tsukasa Ayatsuji stories. I just love that smile of Rihoko, super kawaii-ness! Cool blog-post, btw.
Rihoko has definitely had the strongest start since Haruka, and I’m very, very happy to see things take a turn for the better after last arc. Tsukasa is the Final Boss, so who knows what’s in store for that arc, but all I know at this moment is that the Rihoko arc is off to an amazing start.
Thanks as always for reading, man.
Rihoko swaying her hips in the ED was hypnotic. I demand more chubby girls in anime.
Also, FUCK YEAH! Derrick comedy! Bro rape is a pretty serious issue. It’s nearly as devastating as the sudden rise in sandpaper blowjobs…
Amagami has certainly been good with their ED visuals, and the Rihoko arc is continuing in this tradition. One more thing to love about it so far.
It’s always a good day when I can reference Bro Rape.
Rihoko Arc BANZAIIII…. Long live Chubby Osananajimi, Finally Junichi less Annoying, Kanae Indeed Beautiful, and Chibi Miya looks Soo Cute lol.
Banzai!!! Banzai!!! And thank god Junichi is finally back to being a decent character. You can’t expect too much of a dating sim lead (in most cases, KimiKiss: Pure Rouge being a major exception), but here and in the Haruka arc he actually has a distinct personality. Which is marked contrast to how dull he was last time.
Finally, Ai back to being the barely memorable wallflower!
Indeed. While I’ve heard that her original game material has some decent material, that arc was just horrid. Good riddance.
I think you’re right. Having Rihoko as the main protagonist here ought to make it interesting; I personally think that if Junichi was the main in this arc, the whole arc would be over in a flash.
Ah well, at least Miya won’t turn all psycho when Rihoko steals her beloved Junichi (in time…); it’s obvious that the three have some serious history.
Rihoko as the lead character is a lot more fun, both for variation and because she’s a better narrator for the personal history between them.
The Miya angle might produce some additional DDAAAWWW. Once they’re a couple, Miya will almost be like their daughter, heh.
I’ll be honest, this is the arc I’ve been waiting for since episode 1. I just really took a liking to Rihoko from the beginning, and now that we are in her arc, it so far hasn’t disappointed. Having Rihoko as the main character also makes for a nice change-up from the other arcs so far.
With you on those expectations, Rihoko was in my three top prospects at the start of the show (along with Kaoru, whose arc unfortunately underwhelmed somewhat, and Tsukasa.) And things have started off better than I could have expected. So much better. I haven’t been as excited about an arc since the surprise depth of the Haruka arc.
I think you just made me realize I didn’t watch the ED. Or were those from the OP?
Rihoko is pretty cute. I’m kinda hoping we don’t really get much of Junichi being a ‘coach’ or whatever to help her diet, but rather that she does it herself in order to appeal to Junichi. And I hope we’ll see more Nishishi-ing from Miya, seeing as Rihoko goes back with Miya as well as Junichi.
The latter two pictures were from the ED, yep.
I, too, feared the coaching angle, but with how prominent it was in the Sae arc I think we’ll dodge that bullet. Having Rihoko start the attraction first is quite fun, and I like how this new Junichi is actually considerate and kind towards her in a very casual manner befitting an old friend.
I’m glad that Rihoko is an actual childhood friend, in the truest sense of the term. None of this “friends/played together/neighbors while kids, but then separated for years until being reunited at some point in the future as near strangers” stuff, but an actual constant friendship since being kids. Also, the “friend” part isn’t “mom/maid” nor “girl who beats him up/bullys him but really cares/constantly making fun of him” stuff that the typical childhood friend is, but and actual friend. I think this is a very strong indicator of how much a friend she really is to Junichi, despite her romantic interest in him.
Also, notice how he took Rihoko to help him choose a gift for his girl, not Miya or Kaoru (or his mom, or whatever). Considering how close he is to both of them, it’s telling how trusting of Rihoko if he chose her over them.
It’s rather interesting that we find out right at the beginning about Rihoko’s feelings right from the get-go. Even with Sai there was a period where the girl had to find out she liked our MC. Not here.
Not that it would really work to much this time anyways, because Rihoko is the MC. Which leads me to believe that this arc will be much like the Kaoru arc, but with Junichi taking Kaoru’s place. He’s the one that’s going to have to get over the “but we’re friends” thing. And from everything I’ve seen, it’s going to be even harder for him here than it was for Kaoru; to him, Rihoko is like family. The way he treats her – the public rudeness, his frankness, the whole panties -> pancakes thing, but secretly being nice, the obvious closeness but still separate people thing – it’s like she’s a close cousin, or perhaps even a sister that doesn’t live with you; certainly he doesn’t view her at all as a potential romantic interest.
Going back to how RIhoko is the protagonist – I think this is perhaps another place where the Ai arc fell a bit flat. In the previous arcs, Junichi was the clear protagonist. While Kaoru had a lot of screentime to herself, it was clear that it was still Junichi’s show: when Kaoru went missing that one day, we didn’t see her once until Junichi found her, except in his own flashbacks. In Ai’s arc it wasn’t entirely clear just who the MC was. But in this arc. it’s been explicitly stated twice that Rihoko is MC.
Meh, Rihoko isn’t even chubby. She does have fat on her body, it is true, unlike pretty much every “not fat” anime girl out there that doesn’t have any fat except on the chest (though Rihoko certainly isn’t lacking in that area – she puts Sae to shame!). But she’s not even Rubenesque. And it seems all her fatness is concentrated in her butt. She’s got serious back.
I must applaud both Rihoko and Junichi in not getting dirty even while playing in the dirt. Junichi especially, since even the littlest bit of dirt would show horribly on that dark suit.
I had to laugh at the library art book. Good times. Not that I ever did any of that stuff, no sir. I didn’t take those sorts of things home. They were only for enjoyment in the library, heh.
Good point about Junichi’s choice of help in picking out the gift in the beginning. Kaoru has a bit of the friend-into-lover angle, but thankfully there’s been a real effort to avoid overlap. Often the childhood friend element is just stated instead of shown, but it’s great to see it done with detail, showing rather than telling.
I hope there aren’t too many more fat jokes. They’re already tired lol.
Yeah, I’ve gotten tired of them already too. Which is why I had that chubby =/= fat statement near the start of the post. Just felt I’d state that now so it’s clear that I’m not on the not-100%-ideal freakout train, heh.
Holy Rihoko’s buns! I missed Mr. ExecutiveOtaku’s carnival of responses.
Chubby Rihoko is here and blow me down! it was better than I expected (never expected anything haha).
Remember anime anatomy is not accurate, in real life Rihoko would still be classified as “chubby”, maybe even more then she looks in the anime.
This time it is Rihoko trying to win Junichi, makes me sad for her the past 4 arcs and the next one so… Shine now my lovely meat bun!
Her ending has quite a beat but “Kitto Ashita Wa…” is still the best one for me.
Thanks for the review.
Don’t worry, the carnival continues!
Assuming Rihoko has that long time crush on Junichi in the other arcs would be a sad scenario for her. But now she has the spotlight to herself, and this arc’s going better than anything before it.
Fine post as always. I’ve always wanted the recipe for a good “childhood-friend” arc beginning. I hate anything stupid=cute, but I’ll gladly live with it as a trade off for plot continuity. But like everyone else it seems I did really like the change-up of having a girl that already knows her feelings. I will disclaimer my casual dislike for this girl by saying that I will LOVE this arc if we get a desperate confession from Rihoko after Junichi attracts interest from another girl. If Junichi realised his own feelings due to that, I’d be sooooo happy. However, I’m pretty sure it won’t happen that dramatically. My “I can see the ending” powers are pretty sure it’ll just be some kind of “whoops I just totally confessed my undying love” moment. I really really hope that’s wrong though, I’d rather not half-heartedly slog through another arc while waiting for the Ayatsuji arc that I’m sure I’ve anticipated up to the point that it cannot possibly satisfy. Thank god we’re at least finally free of the last arc though right?
Thank you. And I’m also glad that the show has toned down the clumsy/stupid=cute thing, which was rather hard to take seriously in earlier arcs (especially Rihoko’s out of nowhere sudden slip and fall in the first OP.) In either case you outlined I’d probably still be happy, but it would be more fun to see some sort of love triangle were Junichi to start becoming interested in another girl. Amagami doesn’t have the episode count per arc to really do a full love triangle, but I do think they could do a ‘light’ version of one. Maybe have Junichi be noticed by another girl for about two episodes and then have Rihoko jump into the fray and confess.
Tsukasa’s arc has a lot of anticipation from me as well, since she was the one who most interested me at the start. Who know how it’ll go, but I’m expecting good things for the final arc and the flagship character. Hopefully the improvements in the Rihoko arc will carry over to the next one.
It’s nice to see Rihoko as a childhood friend who (hopefully) isn’t tsundere. Kaoru was definitely the tsundere friend which was fine but Rihoko is in fact the opposite. Maybe in most anime the nice childhood friend who isn’t full of angst or violent tendencies all the time doesn’t serve as interesting material for an overall series (slow pacing and little action). But in this 4 episode arc and the promise of a resolution, it serves as a developing ‘mini series.’ 4 episodes are enough to form a relationship from this kind of friendship I think.
Like TheRoyalFamily, I also enjoy the fact that this is told from Rihoko’s perspective which is different from the other arcs. To be honest, her arc was one that I was looking forward to the least since I really didn’t see much appeal to her. However perhaps it was due to previously disappointing arcs, but I was pleasantly surprised at how the episode turned out. Mainly because Rihoko doesn’t seem like the brightest crayon from the box, but she still has goals in mind. And maybe she seems the most realistic of them all.
LOL And I totally agree with the Yui and Ritsu Combo reference. The likeness is ridiculous. Aren’t they in a tea club? Rihoko is going to bust out her castanets any minute now.
Perhaps it’s the types of series that I watch, but the tsundere childhood friend isn’t a character type that I’ve seen too often. To me it seems like a lot of tsundere are the ‘new girl’ that enters a romance polygon, while the childhood friend tends to be more of the responsible one that takes care of/looks out for the male lead. Or if the childhood friend is intended to win out in the romance polygon, she might be more of the ‘genki girl’ who won’t leave the male lead alone. Taiga in Toradora and Nagi from Hayate no Gotoku being examples of the first case, and Mihoshi from Sora no Manimani an example of the latter.
(Though I see do see your point in some series. Kana in Nyan Koi is a childhood friend and a tsundere.)
I liked this episode! Rihoko is as cute and charming as I thought she’d be. I’m so glad that I wasn’t disappointed. Let’s keep this up!
BTW, am I the only one that thinks that Junichi was a complete jerk when referencing her weight? “Are you sure it wasn’t your belly?” Seriously? He redeemed himself slightly with the fence thing but still. I think we should all aspire to attain Rihoko’s even temper, because I would have given him a verbal lashing that would have snapped his neck.
Teasing her about it a little, since he knows she cares about it, is fine between long-time friends like them, but yeah, asking if it was her belly that was stuck was out of bounds and into faceslap territory. Still, that aside, Junichi mark V is one of the best so far. At least as good as Junichi mark I so far.
Teasing her “a little” is fine. Saying something like “You should probably lay off the pastries” or something while pulling her out of the fence warrants a giggle and possibly a little reflection. Saying her belly was stuck, that she eats too much, and that she’s a dieting failure is moving past the “hahaha” territory and a little too close to abuse. While I do like this Junichi for the most part and can reasonably assume he didn’t do it with malice (since Rihoko seems slow to offend and is very close to him), I’ve got to call out a jerk moment when I recognize one.
I’ll be honest that Rihoko’s voice kinda bugged me in the previous arcs. But it didn’t turn out to be half as annoying as I thought it would be in this episode.
If we all could get through an entire arc of Sae’s voice, we can survive anything!
whats the matter with this guy i realy don’t under stand why only hey i’m gonna take you off your pants?
WHATS THE MATHER WITH YOU!!!