For once, I disagree.
There was so much unexpected WIN in this epi I’m not sure I know where to begin. When I heard the Amazoness was back and the driving force for most of this epi, my heart sank a little. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the way Ric and Nino ended up drinking milk together on a couch at the end of that epi, however there wasn’t a massive amount of plot development to say the least, nor was the Ric x Nino development all that significantly advanced, aside from the insight we got into Nino’s feelings and DAT PUNCH OF LOVE. Saying all that, though, in terms of comedy, this has got to be one of the best epis so far. And, yeah, the fan service helped.
Episode Summary:
Famous last words.
It’s some-kind-of-summer-festival-time in Arakawa-land. Cue some very fetching kimonos, as the gang go about enjoying the festivities. Except for the Amazoness, who is back and still has eyes only for Ric-sensei, and soon teams up with Hoshi to split-up our favourite couple. However, things are looking decidedly strange as the Amazoness, realising that Ric + Nino = 4eva, soon transfers her emotions onto Hoshi. Oblivious to her change of heart, Hoshi (with a little help from a certain highly intuitive Venusian woman) is soon tricked into saving Amazoness from almost drowning, before he accepts Amazoness’ confession. Sort of.
Thoughts:
I’m sure you weren’t the only one, Hoshi.
As I said in the intro., this was one of the better epis in the series. Which might not be saying much given the mixed reaction it’s received, but seriously, this one was just one LOL moment after another, with some surprisingly tender and dramatic moments mixed in, plus some rather glorious fan service.
Glorious.
Unsurprisingly, the Amazoness and Hoshi soon kick off the up-to-no-good-ness, with Ric as the subject of their attentions, for different reasons, of course. What is surprising, though, is the transference of the Amazoness’ affections from Ric to Hoshi (um, yeah, don’t even think of asking me why) and the empathy she yanks out of us as she goes about, firstly, trying in vain to get Ric’s attention away from Nino and onto herself and, secondly, then trying to win Hoshi’s affections instead. I guess no matter how much of a cutie-pie or a strong(wo)man you may be, sometimes such admirable qualities are not enough when faced with that familiar, hey-it-happens-to-the-best-of-us realisation that the object of your unrequited affection is in fact utterly besotted with someone better.
Oh, the dorama!
Of course, it wouldn’t feel like so much dorama if there wasn’t so much random comedy gold perfectly sandwiched in between. In particular, Nino’s perfect timing and capture of Ric’s attention, Hoshi’s craptastic dancing, the Mayor’s singing and bongo-drumming, Hoshi’s disturbing attempt to strip Ric in order to embarrass him, Nino’s intuition (or should that be Nintuition) and her flirting techniques; and Sister’s attempt to join ‘the girls’ as they frolic on their newly discovered private beach…
…Okay, so I shuddered as much as I laughed at the last one, but I thought it was a perfect example of the mildly disturbing but awesome humour that this show is capable of.
Moving on.
As unfathomable as it was for me to witness the Amazoness shifting her love radar onto Hoshi, I found it equally baffling watching Hoshi respond to her declaration and even declare that he would ‘come back for [her]’, if they ever end up going to Venus. Whatever, it made for great dorama I suppose, and it was strangely satisfying seeing Hoshi (realising he doesn’t have a hope in hell with Nino, but might be happy with the Amazoness) Man-Up in such a way. I’m sure ‘Aniki’ would be proud.
Finally, time for more countdowns and predictions, I guess. Firstly, um, THERE’S ONLY TWO EPIS LEFT. :s Secondly, did I see a rocket revealed there as the ‘treasure’ that the Amazoness has hitherto been guarding?! In which case, I’m guessing that we might very well see these guys trying to board it pretty soon, which could in turn leave us with a cliffie for a season finale… Not quite sure how I’d feel about this, unless I knew that there was a far more consistent set of episodes lines up for a possible season three, but I guess there’s no point speculating about that right now… One last prediction, though: the Amazoness was shown to be reporting to a ‘boss’ in epi 2 as she and her tengu minions speedboated away. Now, at the time, I’d assumed it was the Evil Daddy on the other end of the phone, using her to keep an eye on Junior, which would also explain why she had Ric’s mobile number in epi 8. However, if she’s guarding the rocket that is to eventually take everyone to Venus, then this would suggest that she’s on the side of Nino’s parents… Unless that rocket is stolen goods of course…
Once again, we’ll see, eh!
More Pics:
Daww.
The Amazoness on Tough Women vs. Cutie-Pies. (Note: these definitions seem highly variable.)
Well, that’s one word for it.
Loving the singing, Mayor!
Daww (nuff said)/ Aww (how it feels to be the third wheel – don’t worry, Amazoness, we’ve all been there).
Dontchya just hate it when guys say stuff like this without thinking first?
Uh-oh.
WTF?!
Pwned.
Yuck.
Well, you know what they say about hate and…
Nintuition at work.
That’s an insult to radishes, pickled or otherwise. And did I hear Ric use ‘tsundere’ here?
Well done, Nino. Facial wipes are expensive when you’re homeless.
WOW (didn’t see that coming).
Well, I guess when you’re Nino, good flirting skills are kinda unecessary.
Perv.
What’s with YOU, more like – try less fags, more protein!
The ‘treasure’ revealed!
Well, they say love is blind.
Now, who’d've thought this guy could be so smooth…
…I guess not these two.
One of the more unusual, but very pretty ones this week. I particularly like the eyes. Don’t they just look like a shy High School couple? Daww.
14 Comments
One thing I noticed when Nino and Riku were dancing was that their hand formations were reversed. That is, Nino was in the man’s position and Riku was in the woman’s. Freudian slip? Careless error? Or subtle hint?
I’d say its clasic shaft
Not sure mate, except for the fact that you are very observant! Doesn’t surprise me though, given that Nino was the one to intitiate their first kissu etc. Either way, that scene was seriously cute!
most likely a subtle poke at the fact that ric has always been the girly one and nino the manlier one in the relationship. look at ric in hotpants for christ’s sake.
I still think that the Amazoness and Nino are kinda alike, physically… mmm
They’re both certainly tough women!
Loving it…
Can’t wait for the Venus Voyage.
Agreed!
I’d say that the last pic reminds me of John Lennon and Yoko Ono…that’s what I think
Ooh, interesting…
It’s about time the Amazoness’ was connected to that rocket again. She was standing next to it in her very brief cameo at the end of season one, so I was wondering when they’d finally start getting around to explaining the connection. Took them long enough… grumble…
But yeah, after 3 crap/average eps at least this was top quality. Yay! More evidence that Hoshi isn’t a complete dick and that the amazoness is in fact (pretty! ;P) awesome. I’m ready to ditch Tsukimi and Kuranosuke, and proclaim Hoshness/Amazoshi as my most wanted power couple of the season. Being the third wheel is in no way fun and I think the two have quite a sweet chemistry. Surely I can’t be the only one!… (silence)
…well the hell with it, I’m sticking with this one!
About time indeed! LOL at ‘Hoshness/Amazoshi’, doens’t quite have the same ring as ‘Kimi-Kura’ (or whatever it’s ‘sposed to be) , but at least this one seems more likely to actually happen.
Though, yeah, you’re probably the only one…
one thing i am constantly baffled with by your episode writeups is… why are you treating the whole rocket to venus story like it’s important? apart from ric and nino’s relationship, just how many things does this anime take seriously? expecting this show to place significance in the general plot is like thinking stella was modeled after a real life human. really.
expecting this show to place significance in the general plot is like thinking stella was modeled after a real life human. really.
Not quite. No matter how surreal the characters, you still need an overall plot/ narrative frame, otherwise there is simply no storytelling going on. However, I agree with your suggestion that a gag-manga based show such as this can afford to focus on the comedy rather than having an intricate plot. Yet, it’s precisely because the show has done all that and successfully wrapped the story of Ric’s development around everything in the previous series so well, that is why the revelations about Nino’s past and the rocket to Venus threads really needed to be knitted together far better than they have been so far, otherwise you’re just left with a feeling of being trolled. In short, solid overall plot and character development (and comedy in this case) should go hand in hand. Unless it’s porn, of course.