First Impressions / Minami-ke


Skit 1: Lies, Deceit, and Utter Defeat

Writing about this scene totally defeats the purpose of it – but I’ll try anyways. Kana gets her test back – a 65! Not a bad performance. What did her friend get?

…hyakuten. (100 points)

Well, that much is hopeless. What did her eternal rival, Fujioka get? In order to make her position stronger, she puts a diagonal line through the 5, essentially turning it into a lopsided 8, making her new score 68 (lol). Fujioka? 69.

OTL

“That makes us even, I now have one victory and one defeat from you!” Kana screams, referring to their prior “pivot foot” matchup. “This battle isn’t over!” as they agree the loser has to pretend to be a dog in front of the victor. The exchange of Kana’s score, her friend’s 100, Kana’s edited score, and Fujioka’s subsequent victory by mere points continues across the board in every class.

A complete defeat. “Hai, shake hands,” starts Fujioka – only to get a soon-to-be-patented high kick from Kana.

Poor Fuji


Skit 2: Futile perseverance

A quick sketch about Kana’s stubbornness and subsequently disastrous cooking results. Winner, still undefeated in countless matchups: Haruka!


Skit 3: A visit by the enemy

Chiaki arrives home after a long day – only to find Fujioka sitting at the dining room table! Who is THAT, she cringes. That’s him! It’s bancho! (their nickname for him, lol)

The excuse Kana gives for inviting him? They made too much curry the night before and needed someone to finish it off, so there he is. Undoubtedly, Fujioka has idea what’s happening and is just happy to be there. Soon after, Haruka comes back and the four have their dinner of curry rice around the table, and all is well.

After dinner, Haruka and Chiaki are washing the dishes as Haruka makes a comment that Fujioka has the same kind of personality as their dad. Chiaki takes this to heart – she walks up to him at the table, saying “hey, that’s my seat,” but instead of kicking him out, she huddles up right in his lap! The look on her face has her looking like she’s trying hard to take in every little bit of this otousan experience she never had.

Naturally, Chiaki thinks that her two sisters have been turned against her by this monster Fujioka, so she kicks him out -_-

Preview:


Thoughts

lol. Some scenes in this ep had me grasping at my side harder than Kana after drinking a liter of milk. And that look on Chiaki’s face as she was getting cozy with “dad”? Priceless. Somehow, I was reminded of Azumanga and Chiyo’s own “dad,” that crazy pancake cat-like thing, the figment of their imagination but hilarious nonetheless. The score editing? I’m sure many of us have thought of doing it at one time or another, but never had the gall or suspension of morality necessary to be able to pull it off. Kana, not so much.

Which is ultimately what is so astounding to me about this show – it’s genuinely funny without much need for gimmicks or gags. It’s less subtle than Ichigo Mashimaro (and less loli, which I believe to be the main reason IchiMashi never really caught on with the English crowd) and not anywhere near as crazy as Seto no Hanayome, more in-your-face than Lucky Star and more polite than the brashness of Muteki Kanban Musume. And less ecchi (so many chances for pantsu shots and yet, nothing) than Kyou no 5-2.

I’d say Minami-ke has found a nice little unique niche in the pantheon of comedy shows!

Captions up

26 Comments

  6. Just watched RAW now need to wait for subs….xd One thing i don’t really get is why kana got angry in the end. Jealous or does she think soccer boy is going to steal her sisters or something stupid like that? By the way, i really like how you added comments for screen shots now. Keep it up 😀

    Bleach123
    Reply

  14. There are actually a lot of good comedy shows this season IMO. Bamboo Blade fixes a perpetual smile on my face, Sketchbook has a lot of cute and funny moments and Minami-ke obviously. Kodomo no Jikan had a School Days-esque darkness in the first ep, but it can get funnier.

    Shippoyasha
    Reply

  20. Haha, Fujioka sure seems to get the short end of the stick. Even though he is straightforward in wooing Kana, Chiaki seems to always somehow manage to twist his advances into something else >_

    Halcyon
    Reply

  23. God, I love this show. Character designs are attractive, if a bit odd at points; secondary characters are fairly well-rounded for their screentime; the show’s not drop-jaw funny, but it has it’s moments; and Kana is pure win in an awesome wrapper. She’s like the unholy spawn of Onimaru Miki and Suzumiya Haruhi, only with somewhat human levels of genki. Add in the smartmouthed imouto and the hot onee-san, and you’ve got a winning combination. I especially get a kick out of the “dramatic closeup” style shifts. Other series have done this for successful comedic effect (Muteki Kanban Musume comes to mind) but this show has it down to a science. If it had more fanservice it’d be perfect.

    3rd best new series of the season so far, after Ninomiya-kun and Moyashimon (both of which are far more solid than they have any right to be), in a season that looks like it’s going to have a big gulf between its good shows and crappy shows. Clannad should pick it up, but it’s kinda slow now, Myself Yourself will plummet once Aoi-chan officially leaves the race (not in the ED equals not in the running), and Gundam 00 is looking like it could go either way. YUA:FT is okay so far, but Dragonaut may have lost me when they brought in the “dragomons”…

    quigonkenny
    Reply

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