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It is almost hard to believe, coming on the heels of the disastrous Ai arc, the things are going so exceptionally well in the Rihoko arc. But they are! Rihoko continues to act as the central character, or at least as a co-protagonist with Junichi mark V to great results. In a way, it’s almost like all the solo time given to Haruka in the first arc as she sought Hibiki’s advice. And now the secondary characters are coming into their own, with Kanae continuing to play a significant role and the Tea Ceremony Club members enacting their plan to Shanghai, errr, ‘recruit’ Junichi and thus save the club from dissolution next year. And better yet, in a twist on the usual structure the Founder’s Festival has already passed. This gives a whole two episodes, half an arc, to produce further development between the characters! In the past the Founder’s Festival and Christmas have been the beginning of the end. We are not there this time, but this is perhaps the end of the beginning.
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Recipe: Episode 18 – Assistance
1 emerging DDDAAAAWWWW-tastic couple.
2 Tea Ceremony Club senpai
1 pair hand-knitted gloves.
2-3cm of ice over a large, flat surface.
Dash of snow.
2 proactive wingmen.
2 sidestories, obscured.
Enough kimono for the entire Tea Ceremony Club.
Add couple and wingmen to iced surface to create opportunity for accidental groping and possible beta-couple development. Bring the main couple’s potential to romance to a simmer and then add the club members. At this point the mixture should begin plotting the Tea Ceremony Club’s future; feel free to add an encounter or two between the senpai and half of the couple so as to increase the pressure. (As a perfect accompaniment, make a quick side dish of Ayatsuji Tsukasa overworking herself.) Sprinkle hints of some sort of dance competition and a beauty pageant throughout the episode. Begin the Founder’s Festival by adding kimono to the club members. Prepare the hand-knitted gloves, turning over until blue. Once you’ve completed the Founder’s Festival step, bring the main couple to a park bench and add snow. Leave them there long enough to trigger a flashback, then add the gloves to the scene. Some unintentionally romantic face-holding should ensue. Crucial to Childhood Friend-style cooking, a lovely promise by the male lead should result. The episode is now ready to be served.
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Taste Test and Review
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Recruiting Junichi
Leave the gun, take the cannoli. We’ll have it during afternoon tea.
With only one member eligible to continue on for next year (and apparently no option to run it with just one person like Ciel did), the upperclassmen are left with a problem. They don’t like problems. So Ruriko decides to employ the tactics of the underworld to get Junichi to join. And fall for Rihoko as a bonus. She stages a classic incident where she blackmails Junichi over his meat bun groping, then offers some bait by saying how Rihoko told them about him, and finally guilts him into helping them. And several times throughout the episode she tries to get him to join.
Subtle as cement shoes.
But she doesn’t stop there. She even uses sex to try and recruit Junichi into taking over The Business, up front pointing out that he’d be the only guy in the club if he were to join. Then she gets Rihoko to make it her mission to get him to join, part of a campaign of attrition to get him to give in and continue the club. And to top it all off, she has everyone dress in traditional clothes to entice Junichi. Note that they’re the only club wearing anything other than school uniforms.
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Beta Couples GO!
Like proud parents.
I always find secondary couples to be as cute or sometimes cuter than the main couples in anime, and I’m really hoping for one between Masayoshi and Kanae. They seem like a good one, with almost a (non-violent) sort of Shouko X Yuuji dynamic going on as Kanae seems the type to drag Masayoshi along in things. May they have more time to bond as they watch over their friends, and may there be secondary OTP GET by the end of the arc.
It’ll be the most yurilicious tea party since K-ON.
Oh, but they’re just friends you say? But why go to the festival together, with no other friends? When every other pair that goes is going as a couple? There’s been a considerable amount of touchy feely going on between them at school too. They even have that bit of height difference like most couples, and we already know how Miya feels about Sae’s ‘meat buns.’ Think about it.
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Ayatsuji is Boss
File requests LIKE A BOSS!
Fall asleep LIKE A BOSS!
Overtime LIKE A BOSS! 
Leading up to Ayatsuji ‘Final Boss’ Tsukasa’s own arc, we’re getting to see more and more of how much she’s working to make everything run smoothly. And with this, there are more signs of how she’s seemingly working herself too hard, without anyone else to help out with the myriad tasks. While her work ethic is certainly commendable, it’s making her into a very pitiable individual, working for everyone but seemingly apart from them all save a few moments with Takahashi-sensei.
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The Unsung Wars
I hope this involves super robots and hot-blooded yelling…
Mrs. Claus, superhero version?
Going on somewhere behind the scenes are Masayoshi and Kanae’s own struggles. The former mentioned something about a folk dance performance of which we’ve seen nothing, the latter appears in the festival beauty pageant but we get no clue as to the outcome (or even that she was planning on participating.) Masayoshi’s has grabbed the larger share of my interest, especially with the parting shot of him walking along the road in the hills above the downtown area where Junichi and Kaoru had their date back in the second arc. I’m hoping we get to see more of what was going on, and with two episodes left there ought to be time for it. Just reiterating a larger point, but having so much already happen in this arc and leaving two more episodes for the rest is really nice. The time management in this arc is just superb.
Shounen yo! Tabi ni deta nara, ame mo furu kao wo agete!
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DAT SCENE
Skipping through most of the Founder’s Festival? I’m ok with this.
With the exception of Junichi’s buxom snowman during the flashback, this was a scene I’d associate more with something like Kimi ni Todoke than Amagami. It was cute and had Rihoko earnestly trying her best to get Junichi’s attention and then had him respond in an equally cute way, whether that was the intent or not. I’m thinking that his response and only mild embarrassment means that things are coming along nicely on his side of things, just that he was maybe a bit surprised at how naturally he let himself act towards Rihoko when he held her face. The hand-made gloves are a pretty common winter gift in romance shows (Kimi ni Todoke, for one, did a similar thing, though not everything went according to keikaku), but that doesn’t make them any less cute or heartfelt on the part of Rihoko. She also reminded me of a character during this scene. Maybe it was the coat she was wearing, or the angle of some of the shots, but visually she reminded me a bit of Minori from Toradora. Which is never a bad thing (I bear Taiga no ill will, and I knew it was inevitable, but Ryuuji X Minori was still my OTP.)
DDAAAAWWWWWW.
I want a rebirth of glory! A renaissance of power! Errr, wait, maybe just a date?
21 Comments
Could this arc get any better? This pairing is way too cute and I’ve almost gotten over the jerk Junichi from last episode. Rihoko is winning my heart. I didn’t think it was possible, but this looks as if it could beat Haruka’s arc for my favorite. When this arc is over I think I’ll have to watch Haruka’s arc again to be sure.
Loving Kanae and the Tea Club Seniors, too. The side characters in this series are fantastic.
This arc is just doing everything right so far. I’m with you on the potential for this arc, and I’m hoping that it can equal or exceed the already expertly done Haruka arc. The side characters are even getting their due, and contributing quite meaningfully to the story. Just so much to be happy about this time around.
There needs to be an extra where Ayatsuji goes and bomb the Russians.
I demand fanart of her riding a nuclear bomb like in Dr. Strangelove. Get on it, Pixiv!
Couldn’t believe how fluffy this episode was. As soon as I saw Rihoko’s tight grip on the wall at the skating rink I instantly thought, “awwww….” Helpless girl who needs help paves the way for, “CHANSU!” in Kanae and Masayoshi’s books.
More and more do I find Ayatsuji an intriguing corrector. I really would have wanted to see how the exchange between her and Rihoko panned out regarding the club next year. But alas, Rihoko is the protagonist.
It sort of surprised me that Junichi suddenly embraced Rihoko’s face in the way he did. I guess he’s pretty comfortable with her and it was the only bare spot on her. I’m pleasantly surprised at how this arc is progressing. EO, thanks for the update. I liked the insert of the tea club president’s mission to secure the longevity of her club.
I’m convinced that Kanae and Masayoshi chose ice skating precisely because it would be the most likely group activity to trip some flags. Mission accomplished.
After the Ai arc, I’m also surprised by how good this arc has been, and in such a short amount of time too. I guess it’s always darkest before dawn or whatever those motivational posters say. Thanks for reading and commenting
I like that Junichi is moving to warmer objects — meat buns are better than snow boobies.
Miya’s been telling him that for years.
I Really love to see development junichiXrihoko this week and expect for epilogue in this arc just like haruka arc. I still curious with ayatsuji real personality in this anime because in amagami precious diaries ayatsuji has yandere side lol.
My dream ending would be an entire final episode of the arc dedicated to an epilogue. It could be set in the near future, or maybe farther out like the Haruka denouement. There seems to be enough time for it to be done, though I’m not expecting the last arc to be solely dedicated to it, just a part of it.
Tsukasa having a tough or angry edge to her wouldn’t surprise me. She probably keeps herself to pretty strict standards and might snap back at someone who got close to her but didn’t adhere to them. Or god help any girl who tries to be her rival!
Thank the lord for the return of time mangagement and proper character development. I no longer care if there is no DORAMA later in this plotline, I like this arc. During this episode I found myself just sitting back, relaxing and enjoying watching; rather than wondering why the disorganised hell that was occuring on screen was happening. For a show like this, this is the mark for me to tell if we’re getting effective storytelling. I also liked that this episode’s Rihoko seemed realistically airheaded rather than a girl with a crayon lodged in her brain who is a potential danger to herself and others. In the first episode she seemed like the kind of person who’d make a “supercleaner” out of bleach and ammonia, thereby gassing herself and maybe a few classmates as well…But, that’s not a problem anymore.
P.S. Thank you for bringing “like a boss” into this discussion.
It is nice to just be able to watch Amagami again instead of waiting for the screwup you know was just around the corner in the last one. Good point about Rihoko’s airheadedness, it is a much more natural way to approach those character traits than most series present them.
Obviously The Boss was back in the Amagami offices for this arc. Must have been on vacation for the Ai arc.
TIME MANAGEMENT! LIKE A BOSS!
I don’t know how to feel about this arc. Not sure if Rihoko is well liked because of herself as a character, or because of all the characters around her. Sure Rihoko is the main lead, but the supporting female cast does their job so well.
The supporting cast is definitely helping make this arc move slowly, but as for myself I absolutely love Rihoko on her own merits. It’s so nice, and cute, to see a childhood friend character played this straight without some sort of tsundere or hyperactive character traits. Her character and the way she feels about Junichi just exudes earnestness and warmth.
I do not like this because it is not Ai’s arc! *waaac waaac*
(8) What are you doing?
What are you looking at?
Yes, that was my arc.
It wasn’t that… great (8)
The Tea Club is in a pinch and they’ll use whatever methods they see fit to keep it working.
-As you can see, we have no guys in the club… capisci?
-You do not want to be part of the club? That’s sad… very sad indeed…
Ruriko and Manaka = Win for me.
Rihoko is having it hard, two episodes and Junichi is not that interested in her (just her breasts).
Thanks for the review it was… illuminating.
Poor Ai, it sounded like she had some great material in the game and manga, only to have her story ruined in the anime adaptation. But the past is past, and right now the Rihoko arc is going great.
Actually, I think Junichi is becoming aware of his feelings for Rihoko, it’s just that it’s coming along so naturally that he’s not even noticing it. The way he held her face after accepting the gloves would be the evidence I’d argue upon. It’s kind of like how Kaoru started falling for Junichi before she knew it. I just have to say it again, but it’s a wonderful thing to have two whole episodes left in this arc.
Commenting on the gloves on Rihoko’s face. If Junichi wanted to show how warm the gloves were, what could he had done differently? Aside of just saying they were warm. I think her face was just the only bare part of her exposed to even get an idea of how warm they really were. I guess he could have traded gloves… Or maybe it was a smart idea on the writer’s part. Just wondering.
Watching this episode has made a fan of Ruriko. I love the subtle hints she gives to Junichi to convince him to join the Tea Club.
Somewhere out there, a doujin writer is thinking…..Junichi…..
with Rihoko, Ruriko and Manaka. All three in their kimonos.
Alone.
At the Tea Club.
On a snowy Christmas.
Doing this….and that…..andddddd……..
… I’m, ah, just going to go back to my tent for a moment. Excuse me.
The doujin just writes itself.
Observe the lusty, suggestive look she’s giving Our Hero there.
If this arc keeps on going like it’s been going, it will be my favorite. No way Rihoko will take Kaoru’s place in my…well, wherever it is you keep your favorite anime girls, but Rihoko has a very excellent supporting cast, which Kaoru didn’t have (also, doesn’t look like there will be any DRAMA this time).
I wonder where this arc is going. Every other arc the POINT was the Christmas Eve Date, and we just flew past that, halfway through, no date or anything. WHAT’S GOING TO HAPPEN!? Well, I have a pretty durn good idea about exactly how it will end, but how will that come? Very interesting. Because even at this point, Junichi has no idea about Rihoko’s feelings, nor has any of his own. He just discovered she’s a girl with bewbs, after all. Even in Kaoru’s arc Junichi saw the girl as attractive from the start, or before, and fantasized about her in a sexual manner (among others…).
I am just happy that this episode wasn’t all about Rihoko being fat. (Okay, we get it!) That is what adds to her charm.
I think it’s great that they broke out of the normal format of ending the arc on Christmas Eve. It keeps us interested and it was a nice little surprise. Falling into a pattern can get somewhat boring and predictable. I too loved the secondary couples in this episode. You can’t help but cheer them on as well!
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