Kimi wa dare to kissu wo suru? I expect this to be the next Sea Slugs poll.
Having accomplished so much in the first two episodes, this time the Rihoko arc took it easy and wrapped up almost all the sidestories going on and got everything ready for the conclusion next week. There was also a bit of movement on the main relationship front, nudging it slowly forward in preparation for the finale. While not as eventful as last week, if this is the low point of the arc then things are in great shape. With the Founders‘ Festival over, everyone has received their supply of ketracel white begun to clean up and prepare for the new year, including the tea ceremony club as it plans for ways to recruit new members. New Year celebrations are also in order, giving Rihoko a perfect chance to redeem Junichi’s promise of a present. All in all good, if fairly low-key, setup. Though the show being a bit heavy (pun intended) on the eating and weight jokes regarding Rihoko did bring the episode down a bit.
.
Recipe: Episode 19 – Succession
1 promise of “anything” as a belated Christmas present
Far too many eating/weight jokes
3 resolutions or near-resolutions to sidestories
4 servings of hot drinks with snacks
1 box childhood-friend-can-cook
1 two-person unexpected song and dance routine
2 hints about future developments (1 within arc, one outside)
1 moment of mild jealousy
brief Miyaservice and manservice to taste
Introduce the sidestory resolutions throughout the episode, being sure to include nearly all the other main arc characters. Each of these should be accompanied by food or the recipes thereof. Stir in a moment about Ayatsuji Tsukasa to prepare for later. Add far too many eating and weight jokes throughout, so as to drag down the episode a bit. Continue on and make the best of it by redeeming Junichi’s promise of anything as a gift at an appropriate time, just after the Kaoru jealousy moment begins to boil. Set aside for a few hours. Once cooled, add the reveal of a childhood friend being a good cook, for a classic taste. At this point add the last hot beverages and snacks and simmer until midnight approaches. This will be when to watch the unexpected song and dance (eyeball it, we couldn’t give you an exact recipe if its supposed to be out of nowhere), proceed to DDDAAAAWWW. Just as this begins to melt into the plot, add the second hint of future developments on top. The dish should begin to have elements of a possible timeskip IDOL END to it. Serve on a bed of shrine visit and fortunes.
.
Taste Test and Review
.
Sidestories
The torch now passes to a new head of the School of the Undefeated Oden of the East.
Haruka! How dare you walk in on their impending yuri moment? “Senpai!” “Ai-chan!” “Senpai!”
Throughout the episode there are little moments that bring to an end some of the sidestories that have been going on in this arc (and even on the sidelines of other arcs for some.) Ai is entrusted by Hibiki with the secret book of oden recipes now that she’s proven herself a worth heir to the secret techniques. And they had what my yuri-goggles could only interpret as an intimate moment before Haruka burst into the locker room since she can’t be left out of anything. Even so, this may be the first arc where Haruka hasn’t upstaged the main girl in her own arc. There’s also a little cake and tea party with Miya, Sae, and Ai. Not so much a resolution, per se, but it does give a sense of “and life went on” for their shared friendship. Tsukasa and Takahashi-sensei even get a bit part, reinforcing people’s perceptions of the former being a perfect and organized leader, no doubt to set up that outside facade for whatever may be going on beneath the surface next arc. (So, should we start taking bets? Is she going to be a cutthroat perfectionist like Miyazawa Yukino? Secretly cutting and sharp-tongued with herself and those close to her? Or perhaps overprotective and possessive like we had possible hints of in the Ai arc? Perfectionist, bitchy, or borderline-yandere? Place your bets now!) Finally, the tea ceremony club’s conditioning is starting to get to Junichi. They’ve always given him tea or snacks or encouragement when talking about joining the club, and now he’s even learning how to make tea like a pro at home. On his own time. Have a chocolate.
Hey look, it’s my two favorite people!
The cute couple sits down for a pleasant holiday meal. Totally a Sae X Hiro relationship, just with a less serious short haircut character.
.
Good and Poor Choices
Perhaps not triangular, but the hint of it was nice.
I suppose the arc format doesn’t permit a love triangle due to the time constraints, at least unless the triangle were to be introduced right at the start of the first episode. But here at least there’s a moment of jealousy from Rihoko when Junichi is chatting so casually with Kaoru. Call it the Battle of the Friends, between childhood friend and female bro. Actually, that’s the sort of love triangle I’d love to see if there were more episodes per arc, or perhaps in another series. Shortlived as it was, it still helped push things forward and gave Rihoko another form of motivation, even if Kaoru may not develop feelings for Junichi in this arc. Rihoko invited Junichi to the restaurant and then didn’t order anything, only to be tempted by Junichi into having some cake. This running bit was a problem this episode, as we already get that Rihoko is concerned about her weight but get beaten over the head with the idea anyway. It was a glaring mistake in this episode, as at least in previous ones it was kept in check to the point where it didn’t really come off as mean towards her. I’ll be glad to be rid of it, as the finale next time ought not to have time for such pointless (not to mention not funny) jabs.
This is about as kinky as this arc should get. Hopefully this was the ‘unconventional kiss’ moment.
As implausible as it was, it would have been cute if not for the “heavy” comment by Junichi.
At least she’s trying.
.
Miyaservice, manservice, and ‘my dating sim male lead can’t be this reasonable.’
That is the correct answer!
Definitely some Miyaservice for the 2444 fans (credit to Nazarielle for that number pun), as well as momentary manservice as Junichi walked out into the hallway in naught but a towel, which proceeded to fall off in front of Miya and Rihoko. Their reactions were great, though Junichi must be really comfortable around Rihoko to not even flinch walking out in front of her like that until the towel fell. There’s also the phone conversation with Umehara during this scene, with the most believable older brother response seen in some time. No stuttering, no embarrassment, just straight shutting down of Umehara.
…and pimping my DVD/BD arc! (Though as much fun as a Miya arc will be, I’d rather a Takahashi-sensei one :3 )
Apparently Umehara only approves of taking 2D girls out on dates.
Two great reactions for the price of one (fallen towel.)
.
Listen to our song!
I demand a Kannagi-style karaoke episode!
Having Rihoko, Junichi, and Miya sit around before their plans to go to the shrine at midnight on New Year’s Eve wouldn’t sound all that interesting, but after the two girls watched TV and started lalala-ing the second OP song and doing a coordinated dance, it became great fun. The coordination and the fun they were obviously having were impressive, and I think the writers might have planted the seed of some sort of IDOL END for Rihoko. Which could make sense, especially in a not-so-ugly duckling sort of way where she exceeds everyone’s expectations in both looks and her humble demeanor. But even if that bit of speculation goes nowhere, it was at least a lot of fun to watch.
People say she’s a bit thickheaded, but she already knows better than Minmay did. Starting along an idol’s career before a relationship is secured will only lead to isolation, anguish, and a place for someone like Misa, blessed be her name, to come in and take Junichi from her.
17 Comments
I am going to disagree that they did too much on the fat jokes, and it was more controlled in previous episodes, almost coming out mean here. I would say that Junichi -and the show in general – came off a lot meaner in the first ep of this arc – that’s why she started the diet in the first place; and almost every scene with Junichi and Rihoko interacting – almost every line of dialog – was about her being fat, or how she couldn’t stay on a diet, or something along those lines. After all that setup, it was all but forgotten last episode, until the very end where we see that, yes, her stretching at least has improved. Then this ep we see how that, yes, indeed she is on a diet, which one would expect would come up when all they are doing is snacking the entire episode. In fact, the only real fat joke at Rihoko’s expense was the “heavy” thing when she fell on Junichi – the rest was just diet stuff.
And as far as Rihoko actually being fat, I think we can put that to rest: as one can plainly see, Rihoko isn’t really any wider than Miya once you take into account just how much bigger she is than Miya in the first place (if in doubt, look where the hands are, as they are in the same place on their respective bodies).
Not only did Haruka ruin the Hibiki/Ai moment, but she asserted her rightful place at Hibiki’s side. Though with all the attention Haruka’s put on Ai through the whole series, and as odd as she is, I don’t think she would at all think three’s a crowd if Ai was the third.
And of course Miya and Sae had their private party. Just the two of them. It was their special night. (Christmas Eve, marking the night before the celebration of the birth of Our Lord, is a natural night for lovers. Naturally.). If there wasn’t something there, I think they would have straight-out canceled, instead of eat two huge meals in a row (Sae counts calories, you know). That’s what I observed anyways.
On a completely different note, the singles for the various OP and ED are pretty good. I don’t have Rihoko’s yet, but all the rest are a huge improvement on the TV versions. I mention this because that’s not always the case (the whole version of the Last Exile OP is horrendous). Just thought y’all’d like to know. (And they all happen to be good candidates for the whole “bass boost+lower pitch a note” thing in Audacity, if you’re into that – it really helps Sae’s song in particular.)
On the fat jokes and insinuations, I felt that this episode had the highest amount not just in verbal jokes. There was the “heavy” response to Rihoko falling and the dieting stuff, but there was a lot of minor things that just seemed unnecessary. Like the camera moving over all the pictures Rihoko has tacked to her bulletin board. In there were ones of Junichi just standing while Rihoko ate a chicken drumstick, etc. It just felt like a higher volume of fat jokes and jabs than before.
Hooray for believability. This episode was fantastic as we once again were treated to an entertaining developing relationship between two people complete with plausible human reactions to events and statements…Except for the towel scene; I feel that was complete BS and completely unnecessary; I’ve worn my towel like that and walked around every day for years and never had any exposure issues. ever. I usually enjoy cheesy, tropey goodness, but I’m tired of this one unless it actually advances the plot somewhere or provides a modicum of actual comedy. I completely agree with you though on most points so I won’t write an essay. I also loved the Umehara phone call reaction from J5, fantastic realism, and at this point am also glad they didn’t throw in any kind of rushed overly-complicated (for how far along we are) Triangular.
As for placing my bets (hopes) for Ayatsuji’s true nature. I’d be most satisfied if her inner-self is a slightly possessive, manipulative, cynical girl who suffers due to her self-imposed isolation. I say self-imposed as I feel it’d be a fun plot point if she’s grown to feel that “people just use each other anyway” since that seems to be all that happens to her. Although well-liked and respected, her only friend seems to be a teacher, and no one really seems to ever offer to help her (per her appearance in arc 1). I could see that kind of life leading to an interestingly jaded ego for J6 to have to break down. But maybe that’s a bit heavy…? Anyway, that’s what I hope for/bet on. How about others?
Interesting thoughts on Tsukasa. I could see the manipulative and cynical parts if she’s been working as an unappreciated student representative long enough, maybe an “ends justify the means” sort of manipulation if that’s what it takes to make things happen for the school. Though I’m thinking that Tsukasa being that far gone might be heavier than Amagami will take things. But who knows? I’m eager to find out.
I wonder if Ai made the competition cut in this universe – if not, at least being Keeper of the Book of Secret Recipes is surely a great consolation.
re: bets on Tsukasa, I’m guessing that she’s the girl who stood Junichi up two years ago – based on the Christmassy snow flakes spinning around her in OP2 and the various awkward moments btw her and the main girls from the earlier arcs.
That could be, but you’d have to wonder why Junichi and Tsukasa hadn’t shown any outward signs of awkwardness over it. Junichi mark I was definitely the most sensitive to being stood up, retreating into his planetarium closet and all, but yet didn’t seem bothered while in Tsukasa’s presence. Of course, maybe he’s just really good at keeping his game face on in public. And Tsukasa would obviously be the sort to be able to do this. The mystery of who stood Junichi up would be cool to see revealed, and if anyone would fit the likely (though admittedly vague) description then it would be Tsukasa.
I would have to disagree. The first episode was definitely the worst on the fat and food jokes. My feelings were hurt for her after the first episode. I will agree on the notion that this episode could have done without most of the diet, food, and fat jokes/moments since the first episode did such a fabulous job of being such a huge ass about it. Pun not really intended.
I’m kind of disappointed that this episode was so slow, but I’m happy to see Rihoko being absolutely beautiful in both body and spirit. I do really like this arc, but I think it comes in as only second best because of the extreme focus on her weight and airheadedness. At every turn we are bombarded with the idea that she’s either fat or stupid or too fat AND stupid to remember/stick to her diet. I would be very happy if in the next episode Junichi says he thinks she’s sexy just the way she is and we find out that she’s good at something other than making desserts.
See my reply to TheRoyalFamily on why I saw more fat jokes this time, but I’ll agree that the first episode was more blatant about it (vs more indirect this time around.)
Yeah, it wasn’t the best episode of the arc, but not bad all around. Definitely better than anything in the last arc in my opinion. It would be nice to see Junichi tell her that she’s fine as she is and to cut out the dieting obsession, which might be the prelude to the IDOL END hypothesis I laid out.
I died of boredom. Without humor or echi this show falls flat for me. They are doing very little even with the premise that each junichi mark could be a different version depending on the route.
I’m enjoying this arc more than any other (and it’s tied with the Haruka arc so far), and the more genuinely romantic angle is something I prefer over other arcs. But I also realize that I’m probably in the minority of viewers in that I got into watching and blogging Amagami expecting more romance than kink, heh.
But opinion aside, you are on the mark about Junichi. There have been some variations, but for the most part each mark of Junichi has been pretty similar. I’d say Junichi mark I and mark V probably stand out more than the others, with the former having his angst angle and the latter being a bit more laid back. But even with that, they’ve only been slight variations on the main character. Not that I expect each version to be radically different, he is still the same person, but I’d have liked to see more differences between each iteration.
Well for me there is always the sister arc to look forward to.
Nishi shi shi
I’m a bit concerned about how they plan to make Junichi realize his feelings for Rihoko. It still seems one sided at this point. The actions Junichi has done still seem friendly and not really interpretted as flirting but he is giving her a lot more attention than before. Idol Rihoko was great. It really shows that she likes things simple. I could see an ending where they are married living a peaceful life and perhaps the whole arc was merely fond memories they both looked back on. Well…maybe…
Still looking forward to how this arc will finish. Also the other thing is, Wikipedia says the series has 25 episodes. Is the extra episode an OVA? Or will one arc get an extra episode? o.o
For Junichi mark V, I think the attraction is a gradual movement that even he hasn’t quite realized yet. This would be keeping in line with the casual, comfortable nature of the relationship in this arc. Though I wouldn’t mind a stronger hint on Junichi’s part anyway.
Not sure what the 25th episode will be, so your guess is as good as mine. I know that there are bonus BD/DVD eps for Miya, but I haven’t heard anything about this extra broadcast episode.
Slow on the romantic side but I actually liked this episode, would call it “waste” on other girl but works for Rihoko.
Tea Club recruitment done, great job brainwashing there Ruriko and Manaka!
Pretty fun episode but the next one should be huge on the romantic side!
Because everything has been introduced and developed so well and so efficiently thus far, a slower episode like this is fine. It ties up a lot of the secondary loose strings to make sure the stage is clear for the Rihoko X Junichi main plot to finish up next time. And it was pretty cute for what it was.
So many hinted yuri pairings, so much wasted potential plot.
Maybe that’s being saved for the ‘secret 25th episode!’
One Trackback
[...] flustered reaction with Junichi’s nonplussed reaction to wet and towel-clad-only Miya in the latest episode of Amagami SS. Really looking forward to seeing how far this series will push in this [...]