Amagami SS / First Impressions

「中多紗江編 最終章 コイビト」 (Nakata Sae-hen Saishuushou – Koibito)
“Nakata Sae Final Chapter – Lovers”

Sae may have looked really innocent in the wedding dress she sewed and wore for the Best Couple Contest, but the black one with frills, a choker, full-length gloves, and stockings that Miya picked out for her date with Junichi totally trumped it. I just wish they showed her taking off her pink coat to reveal that outfit underneath for even more impact. In retrospect, it was probably better they didn’t, because Sae looked unbelievably cute already and the sight her giving a semi-undressing tease would’ve tipped the scale into lustful territory (…for me anyway). However, her zettai ryouiki from behind did provide more sex appeal than I was expecting, so my thoughts had already drifted that way, much like Junichi’s. It’s just too bad Sae didn’t wear that outfit to the competition. If she did, I don’t think Hibiki and Haruka would have taken first place from her and Junichi. You can’t fight the glamorous body this time around Haruka! Your arc is over!

In comparison, the rest of the episode leading up to their second place finish in the competition was actually pretty innocent. The stopover at the Tyrolean cafe where Sae wanted to eat a ridiculous-sized banana parfait with Junichi provided the more lighthearted side of things, during which our deceivingly reliable protagonist was surprisingly respectful for a change. The fact that his traumatic heart-broken past was brought up once more helped in that regard, since Junichi finally admitted that he’s starting to think of Sae as something more than a junior. While his questionable training methods were still full of “glamorous body” intent as far as I’m concerned, mention of his trauma and fear of rejection did make it apparent that he didn’t see Sae as a potential girlfriend before. As such, it I think it’s safe to say that Sae fell for her useless senior first, even though he did man up and confess to her first in their private box at the movie theater. Their first kiss together after Sae wept a tear of joy seemed like a nice way to wrap up that scene; however, her “I’m so happy” line that made Junichi’s heart explode proved to be even better. what a knockout!

I probably could have done without Umehara’s somewhat sad behavior with his oversized inflatable tuna Toroko, though I did enjoy seeing Kaoru and Keiko laughing their asses off. The addition of the English-speaking director who motivated Junichi was notable too, but only in the sense that he was played by Michael Rivas of Angel Beats-fame. I honestly thought “TK?” when he spoke, so that probably marked the first time I’ve ever recognized an English voice actor by ear in anime. In any case, despite the time skip between their amusement park date to the founder’s festival and Christmas, I felt this arc wrapped up almost as nicely as Kaoru’s one. The air of innocence was what really added to the sweetness of it all, which was appropriately followed up by Junichi’s promotion from instructor to cameraman/director. (“Appropriately” considering the direction of this arc.) Oddly enough, I was actually happy to see Sae in a full-size penguin suit rather than a scantily clad one, just to differentiate herself from Haruka’s kinky roleplay. Incidentally, Junichi did say that Sae’s cuter than Haruka, which is the first time one of the girls has been directly compared to another in terms of attractiveness.

Next time, it’s the start of Nanasaki Ai’s arc and the one I’ve been waiting for the most. There’s just something about her practical attitude that I love. This of course includes how she wears her swimsuit underneath her school uniform and teases Junichi with it. An ending theme sung by Yukana should be good too.

 

Preview

82 Comments

    1. Lol,some complained that Sae’s voice was ear cancer before but now look at all the praises she’s getting at her arcs conclusion.

      Anyway,all of Ai’s fans are rejoicing for what’s coming next episode.Huzzah!

      btw,since all of the girl’s arcs have EDs sung by their seiyuus,I think I saw somewhere that Ai’s ED is entitled Koi wa Mizu-iro.

      fluidity
      Reply

      2. If you wanna check out (in my opinion) the best Amagami song released so far, search for “Stay This Way, Forever” on YouTube. It’s the ending theme of the PS2 game, and it’s sung by Kaori Nazuka, who voices Tsukasa Ayatsuji.

        Guest
        Reply

    3. Finally actually watched the episode this morning and Divines arc, I just wanted to get first in happiness lol. Lol, there was definitely some TK in that. Biggest of all, Death by Moe was the funniest concept I’ve seen in a while. But yes, rejoice Ai fans, the time has come as our Ai arc is finally here.

      Btw… with Miya as a cat and Sae as a penguin, I wonder what Ai would have worn if you through her into the mix. Oh cuteness.

      Sora no Kaze
      Reply

  5. That black dress and accompanying accesories was stunning. BTW, did anyone else get “omg pr0n director” vibes with Junichi’s video camera? I’ve got a feeling his perv ways are gonna get Sae into some…stuff.

    Oh and I can’t wait for the Ai arc either.

    Kyuusei
    Reply

  8. What still bugs me is that there was no kinky kiss in this arc. I mean, Kaoru got the belly and Haruka got the… back of the knee… >.>

    I was sure Sae would’ve at least gotten an accidental one in like… a toe or something.

    TehJawknee
    Reply

      1. Well considering the sounds she made, I have to agree. LOL
        Hell, I was starting to feel dirty just listening to her and turned the volume down a bit since there was family in the other room.

        TehJawknee
        Reply

      2. at least you had the luxury of turning your volume down, i was wearing headphones when it happened and i was like “WTF!?”

        good thing i watched it in a study room instead of the public area of the library >.>

        Xziled
        Reply

    1. She’s actually the friend of the protagonist’s sister (Miya – Nishishi) and friend of Sae. She is also part of the swimming club and is the underclassmen of Hibiki (Haruka’s – or hotcrazy girl’s friend who participated with her in the Best Couple contest).

      Daniel
      Reply

  15. It’s funny… Sae’s arc was the one with the most awkward moments, yet her ending is just “Cute”. I loved it.

    Haruka, stop stealing the spotlight!!!

    Ai’s arc is going to be fun, she is my 3rd pick; out of the 6 girls she is the most distant to Junichi(Haruka is the easy-going school idol, Kaoru is the middle school friend, Sae is the shy best friend of his little sister, Rihoko is the childhood friend, Ayatsuji is the class rep)and I wonder how is he going to meet her, she is kinda cold.

    Ayatsuji was… cute! I loved her outfit.

    Lectro Volpi
    Reply

  16. I don’t know about you guys but the emcee totally got my attention during the contest. (Tsukasa through and through!)

    Sae’s finale was a lot better than I thought, judging by the previous episodes and Junichi’s inappropriate instructor role, the conclusion still brought a smile in my face. Probably because it was about time Junichi started seeing Sae than just some junior he can’t leave alone and finally as a girlfriend.

    Not my favorite arc but so far one of the cuter girls (right behind Haruka). Can’t wait for the new arc, Ai should be interesting to watch especially since she has this cold, leave-me-alone aura surrounding her.

    Jaden
    Reply

  19. Well that went better then i thought it would. I admit that during the first three episodes of this arch, Junichi really annoyed the crap out of me. Do to his cocky attitude and perverted ‘training’ methods. How ever after watching this last episode, the old boy redeemed himself.

    Though on an unrelated note, i found it a bit odd that they went with an anime original ending in this arch. Rather then go with the ‘best end’ that game had.

    if you want to be spoiled
    Show Spoiler ▼

    Snicket
    Reply

    2. maybe they chose to make an anime original ending to maintain the innocence of sae’s character unlike going to the pregnancy ending where it would be inconsistent to her character portrayed throughout the whole arc.

      mat
      Reply

  23. Hmm interesting. Having played the actual game itself, I can say that Sae’s ending turned out to be quite different from the source material. Same for Kaoru also (but to a lesser degree), while Haruka’s ending has the greatest degree of similarity. Maybe it has something to do with time constraints? :/

    salty
    Reply

  24. I wonder, do you guys think we get all happy endings? Imo it would be just fair to get the Best Endings of all the girls, but somehow I think, the company may get the idea of it “being boring” so they will go for at least one bad ending. I don’t hope so tho’

    virox
    Reply

  25. Narrator: “The painful Christmas of two years ago have made him afraid to fall in love. Young man, all it takes is a little confidence and courage!”

    Me: “No it doesn’t. He needs to have the fear of Araya Souren in his life! Use that voice! Nakata Jouji!”

    WerX
    Reply

  26. I guess morisima senpai’s fans made morisima senpai win.
    i wish i could eat the banana parfait for a cheap price.
    Moe of death – thats new. making a person faint because overflow level of moe
    Hearing TK’s voice(Michael Rivas) makes me want to watch angel beat again
    i guess swimsuit arc is next
    My question. What is the next girl’s name?

    Croosboy
    Reply

  28. omg, the arc I’ve been waiting for all this time is FINALLY COMING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    That said, Haruka can beat any glamorous body ANYDAY.

    What I’m curious as to is the class pres, since the description of her from the game was something like “sweet and kind on the outside but calculating and manipulative inside”.

    The Amagami manga seems to take place a year before the anime, when Miya was still in middle school. We even met Morishima-senpai coming to comfort Junichi for getting dumped (or so it was recalled in the anime as his reason for being there), when the truth is that he was simply down because he got carried away and harassed class prez too much and got a kick in the crouch.

    thenewhorde
    Reply

    1. Well, actually there are already two Amagami manga out there. One is about Nanasaki Ai and the other about Tsukasa. So I expect that these two arcs will already somehow spoiled for me.

      The one about Tsukasa is titled Amagami – Precious Diary. If you want to know her arc in advance, you can search it out.

      orinetz
      Reply

  30. They didn’t use the “best” ending from the game… matter of fact, they didn’t use ANY ending from the game! The hell, the “best” ending for Sae is awesome! Show Spoiler ▼

    After the first two, I was hoping the “best” ending was gonna be the way things went for all…

    Anyways, great episode otherwise! The Couple Contest was nice, and the Director’s English was even good! Loved the “Death by Moe” thing too! Surprised it took them this long to break out a joke like that, but with Sae in that outfit, there really was no escaping the moe. This arc felt the most balanced and smooth without too many points that felt like leaps in the relationship, Junichi was nice and reliable (if a little perverted) and Sae’s cuteness is rivaled by none. Now on to Ai!!

    Aex
    Reply

  31. Damn I thought we were going to get a wedding end when I first saw the screenshots before I watched it but I guess it was still a nice ending for Sae. Though I was going WTF when I saw her in the penguin suit. It’s a pity that Show Spoiler ▼

    *for Miya fans who haven’t heard her character song yet, try listening to this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1YdRj2uCWo&NR=1
    like many others it really made me go HNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH

    Maybe someone could sync this song with some of her appearances in the anime like when she had the cat suit on 🙂

    Robz
    Reply

  34. I just died happy, Sae’s arc was so darned cute and is that kind of girl I’d totally date if she was real har har har. Makes me wish Sae’s was the final one because I wanted it to end just like that and then go to the new seasons. Ah well still love this show but MAN did she look attractive twice! Wedding dress + black dress = best mind blower ever.

    Jason Isenberg
    Reply

    1. Actually, you’re not the only one. Find Hibiki interesting enough I’d wish they put more screen time on her.
      I had a mental image of Miya and Azusa doing the “Nyan” scene together but you know, my brain would explode from the overdose of moe-ness. Would be nice to have a Miya-centric episode.
      The episode was really sweet and nothing like the others which is a welcomed change in pace. I didn’t really like Sae’s arc at the beginning but the more I listen and see her on screen, she got me on the cuteness level. The penguin outfit made me LOL…But damn, that blue long shirt/dress of hers is really sweet.
      Can’t wait to see Ai’s arc. I have a real soft spot for sporty, short hair and tough facade (ala Dobashi/Hatsukoi) girls.

      Shinjiro
      Reply

    2. “I had a mental image of Miya and Azusa doing the “Nyan” scene together but you know, my brain would explode from the overdose of moe-ness.”

      Considering the “Death by Moe” scene in this episode, I can’t help but imagine being the victim in a crime scene where something like that happened… (Miya and Azu-nyan doing the “Nyan” scene together causing one victim’s head to asplode, another vic dying of moe poisoning via Mio and Hinagiku doing “Moe Moe Kyun” together, the many HNNNNNGGGGGGGHHHHH-related deaths, or…you know what, there may be other ways to die by moe…)

      And then, Horatio Caine comes along to investigate, delivers a moe-related oneliner, and followed by the infamous “YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!” That would be an awesome way to go…

      Incognito
      Reply

  39. i thought that director’s english was surprisingly good… turns out he’s american. XD it didn’t click that he was TK since TK’s lines were more engrish-y (“get chance and luck”).

    diet otaku
    Reply

  40. So, the “Best Ending” that I was expecting was… “tweaked,” eh? Tch…meddling moral guardians…

    Okay, enough of that. Amagami SS is supposed to be a wholesome romance anime after all. (And what those moral guardians block, the Rule 34 people provide… :D)

    Besides keeping the show wholesome despite the “quirks” of each girl, the reasoning behind the changes to some scenes can be understood… If they followed the Best End routes too faithfully, it would be too predictable and boring. Either that or they’re saving the original Best Ends for the extended edition DVD/Blu-Ray. (Right.)

    Between the Umehara x Toroko cargo ship (LOL), Hibiki pulling a bifauxnen, the surprisingly good English from the movie director and (LMFAO) “Death by Moe,” I guess Sae’s arc wrapped up okay. Some compromising between the Best End and Good End, but it still works.

    At the start of this arc, I mentioned that this route is what would happen if Riku Aoba chose to go with Mina Yayoi. What I really should have said is one-half of Mina Yayoi (the quiet, twin-tailed, shrinking violet kohai half), as the other half (the swimming athlete kohai half) happens to be expied by Ai Nanasaki. That aside, I can’t help but wonder how Ai’s arc will compare and what her personality/quirks are like. The agony of a week-long wait comes first though… *sigh*

    Anyway, I was also scouting the Amagami SS forum on TV Tropes as I made this comment and found this stitch-pic of Sae in her gothic lolita dress. Lethal!

    Disclaimer: Show Spoiler ▼

    Incognito
    Reply

  41. I have to agree that Sae is cuter than Haruka.
    but i feel that Haruka is hotter.

    though the black outfit Sae wore during the date did almost make her win.
    I was like wtf? at the end with Junichi looking like he was making cat and penguin suit porn.

    karnos
    Reply

  44. Well, the Penguin end kind of disturbed me. But oh well, it did maintain the cuteness factor I guess. It was good to see Death by Moe: always a good way to go.

    Thankyou for pointing out the stitched picture, Incognito. Saved as ‘dangerous-sae-chan’ lol. Good to see a fellow troper also (though I didn’t make the image or the Amagami post).

    eharper256
    Reply

    1. “Good to see a fellow troper also.”

      I’m just a frequent visitor to TV Tropes, though I don’t mind becoming an actual troper if given the chance. (It doesn’t help that I already have a handful of online names in various forums. Might as well use a single handle for the forums I wanna join next.)

      Incognito
      Reply

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