I have to admit, Chikage was the character that appealed the least to me so far… I was never into the whole meganekko thing, and while the bipolar thing was funny the first time I saw it, Akira and Runa pull it off so much more fantastically. Chikage isn’t even that cute.

Episode 8, please give me reason to change my mind!

Today, Suzu and Ikuto are headed to Chikage’s place, this old Victorian-styled mansion that sits atop a hill. Nice digs. Panako, a pink elephant with strength control issues and a dorky looking arpon answers the door, and for the first time Ikuto gets a nosebleed due to injury and not of ecchi origins.

After sitting around chatting with Panako for a bit, Chikage steps in…decked out in the proverbial “Hadaka apron” – one of those great inventions of Japan involving a curvy chick wearing nothing but an apron. It’s so legendary because its one of the male uberfantasies – loosely covers the exclusively body while exposing a gratuitous amount of skin in just the right places, not to mention easily removable with a light tug of the knot at the back. The apron is also a sign of the woman willingly accepting her role as “house”wife; the naked part means she also accepts her role as house”wife.” I ask again, do girls watch this show? lol

Anyways, Chikage shows off the fruits of her research in modern Japanese society by dressing up in various cosplay mania getups, eventually going with the short skirt x long socks maid costume. I like.

She brings them downstairs to Keroro’s room sex dungeon oyashiro-sama’s shrine her basement and shows off her collection of all the stuff that’s washed up on the island. She’s got quite a collection, including a rice cooker, microwave, triple-compartment fridge, and what seems like every previous generation of Ikuto’s PSPDS. Shame, none of them work cuz they got no power. Next…

I think at this point Chikage is still trying to bait Ikuto into becoming her test subject, so she stops them from leaving by offering them food. Hell, works for me. Of course, Suzu goes all plate-eyed when the words “mame daifuku” are uttered. So what’s for dinner?

– Tofu burger, where the patties are the buns and the tofu is the meat. It’s weird, but in all seriousness, it doesn’t seem like that bad of an idea. I got some spare tofu in the fridge…maybe I’ll whip some up tonight.
– Ramen…it looks nice but there’s some weird ingredient I can’t understand. For now, let’s just say she used some flat 7-up for the soup…maybe.
– Takoyaki, one the size of a basketball. Normally this would be pretty freakin sweet, but this one is still alive. Octoball sprouts legs and runs away, with a drooling Suzu chasing after it with chopsticks.
– By now Ikuto is pretty pissed off that this hottie in a maid outfit is completely useless as a cook. “There better be some CURRY up in this b*tch,” he grunts as he puts his foot down. “Get in the kitchen NOW.” Fish curry, turns out to be good. Too bad Suzu isn’t good with spicy food.
– At this point I’m starting to wonder what other kinds of moe tendencies Suzu has. She’s a sweets fiend, terrified of ghosts, can’t handle spicy foods…watch as she busts out with more uguu variations when they go watch a scary movie or something…

Bathtime. After the first round of nosebleeds, Ikuto decides to go in after the girls have gotten out. Chikage wants a closer look as to what makes this guy a man, so she dons her underwater ninja garb and sneaks in as well. Yea… those rippling muscles, that brawny frame, it’s so manly! Chikage the scientist turns into Chikage the horny stalker, but it’s all good. Panako walks in and asks Ikuto if she can scrub his back, which he politely agrees to, since animals don’t get horny and all.

Afterwards, Suzu puts on her pouty face and says Ikuto is a jerk for letting Panako bathe with him and not her. Shouldn’t matter that she’s an elephant, she’s still a girl! Blah blah blah blah. Women…

Thoughts:
That was pretty nice. Chikage is much more likeable to me now, although Machi still wins by a long shot. Panako is really annoying. I gotta say tho, as entertaining as this show was in the first few eps, it seems to have lost all of its “freshness,” relegating itself to a consistently “heh…meh” level every week. Luckily this level is still higher than some other train wrecks this season, and god knows that at least there still is Machi… I’m just hoping something is gonna pop out of nowhere and inject some more life back into what should be an enjoyable series.

-jaalin

26 Comments

  1. Thanks for the summary – though I don’t favor this type of animation.

    I was wondering – if you can soon change the layout of this site. It’s not bad, but we’ve seen it for a very long time. Something more aesthetically-pleasing and neat shall be nice. Thanks

    Jo
  2. OK one thing i keep wondering about Chikage. WHERE THEY HELL DID SHE GET PRESCRIPTION GLASSES FROM!? I mean aren’t they supposed to be on an island out in the middle of nowhere that noone knows about!? how would she get them delivered? because the last time i looked there wasn’t a optometrist’s office on the island!

    Hudson
  3. @Hudson. It’s quite possible for her to have corrective lenses. They’ve been documented to have been used at least since the 13th century (9th century Spain had a cruder form of corrective lenses and going futher back to Emporer Nero supposedly used and even cruder form), and bifocals were invented by Benjamin Frankin in 1784 and the first lenses for astigmatism were made in 1827. The island’s population were from a group of international knowledge seekers from the Meiji Era, which began in 1868, which was an iconic trait of the era. It’s very possible that one of the people learned the optometry of the time since all the major types of corrective lenses were made before the Meiji era. Additionally, the manga noted that many Europeans were on the boat too, though they have apparently died off before the start of the manga (the granny generally appears to be the only remaining person from the initial shipwreck still alive anyway so it’s reasonable) so through one of them is also a means of gaining access to the glasses.

    ItsaMe

Leave a Reply to NeoniGeass Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *