「MFCの華麗なる陰謀」 (MFC no Karei naru Inbō)
“MFC’s Elegant Conspiracy”

And it finally arrives! Mio’s first true love development episode has come, and did I ever love the fuck out of it. While Yuuno is sweet and elegant, she lacks the “tsun” to go along with her “dere”, and Mio brings it in droves. As regular readers know, I’ve been pining for a Mio centric love development episode ever since Yuuno first had her own with Tarou, and while the date in episode 4 was development to a certain degree, as in the friendzone level, it didn’t come off as being truly romantic. However, this episode was exactly what I was waiting for, concrete proof that Mio has at least some feelings for Tarou. I have to wonder why it took this long to reach this point, especially since it seemed as if Taoru and Mio’s relationship would be the focal point of the series in the first episode, but I’m not complaining that it finally came. I guess the reason why I’m so excited is because I’ve always felt like the development between Yuuno and Tarou was something of a red herring, distracting us from the real couple of the series, Mio and Tarou. Frankly, the development between Yuuno and Tarou has been concentrated on far too blatantly to feel like the real focus of the series, especially in comparison to the focus Mio’s character has gotten thus far. Not only that, Yuuno has always felt like somewhat of a clinging puppy who needs Tarou to survive, whereas Mio’s character is independent and can take care of herself and what she wants. In romances that I’ve read and watched, it’s usually the latter archetype that ends up with the lead guy. Perhaps it’s just my tendency to naturally think that the truth behind a plot device in a story is the opposite of what is going on, but I have a good feeling that in this case it’s completely true.

Leaving the shipping for another day, this episode was a great outlet for Mio shots, with her making at least 100 different adorable expressions. If nothing else, Mio certainly has a more animated repertoire of facial expressions than Yuuno, who in hindsight is very bland in comparison to Mio. While it’s a bit biploar, I love how Mio goes from kicking Tarou a bit playfully one second to having him buy her a crepe the next, and then even insisting on eating the one he got for himself. It’s just so cute I can’t stand it. While Yuuno has her own charms in the way of cuteness, I much prefer Mio’s style. it’s no wonder she has her own crazy fan club that’s completely dedicated to her. Also, while I did think her little fear of cats was a bit exaggerated and cheesy, the expression she made while “telling” Tarou he could hold her hand was just irresistible. I don’t mind cheesy plot devices if it means we can see Mio act more like that.

Still, even though I’m fawning over the first bit of Mio centralism we’ve gotten in quite a while, I’m disappointed that we were still not shown any of her past. The closest we got was that Mio won her school’s beauty pageant the previous year and, instead of going with a boy for her hot springs trip, went with Michiru instead. What’s interesting is that it sounds like there’s more to this story, judging from Mio’s tone of voice while telling Tarou she could go with whomever she wanted, so I’m hoping that it gets expanded on before the end of this season. While I don’t expect anything to be resolved in this anime as it’s an adaptation from a light novel which has yet to complete its run, I do hope that what’s been presented to us so far about Mio at least gets further explanation.

 

Preview

29 Comments

  1. man… FFF is fearsome no matter which universe it is in… oh wait… it is called MFC this time…
    Mio’s character is a bit more interesting than Yuno, though I can’t say the same for her physical appearance…

    jrj
  2. I have to agree with you suzuku, we hardly know anything about mio apart from the fact she didnt get any chances to play with her age kids and that bit you metioned. I do hope they can shed some light.

    Dragonite88
  3. Finally, the girls are beginning to stake their claim on Taro.

    I can’t get enough of “Tatsumi Antoinette the 16th” and the incest-driven mother/daughter combo’s antics whenever they get some screentime.

    fluidity
    1. yeah I felt like there was a dramatic drop in animation quality. Just take a look at the first screenshot, inchou-san looks like she was drawn in 3 minutes. Lots of the other stuff like them walking was animated really awkwardly too

      sunsona
  4. Does no one else really see the comparison between MM! and Toradora? I know its not exactly the same, and i loved Toradora and still enjoy watching this but the characters are definitely pretty similar. Even in this post, Suzuku mentions that the “original” love story is just thrown their for plot purposes, kind of like how it was used in Toradora.

    Taiga
  5. Mio was way too cute this episode! I love when she pulled her coin purse out and didn’t have enough for a crepe and demanded Tarou buy one for her. XD
    And seeing Tarou’s mom enter the beauty pageant made me laugh.
    This episode was all around pretty funny

    Trystinia
  6. Ruri from MSNadesico sighted! (Suzuku I love the screens, specially the Index ones XD). I’m more of a YuunoxTarou shipper myself, though Mio is definitely cute this episode. Tatsukuchi is also the ultimate trap created… and Tarou’s family never fails to entertain. 🙂 Though I also have this gut feeling nothing will be resolved this season, being a romantic comedy and all.

    Kyzel
  7. I watched this right after Oreimo, and I’ve got to say, Ayana Taketasu is so much a better tsundere as Mio than as Kirino. Even while kicking Tarou around you can feel the love much more. ^^

    xcswmboy
  8. It figures the one time those two get close, Yuuno waltzes into the scene and sees them holding hands. I’m more for Tarou being with Yuuno, but Mio is a more interesting character than Yuuno (who is just an average girl who happens to be afraid of boys). So an episode of Mio antics is always welcome~

  9. Lol I don’t see the Black Rock Shooter but I saw the black hair miku after the OP when they were showing the pink maid outfits etc. There was also someone with a star over his head, possibly Hoshi from Arakawa under the bridge? Big yellow rodent thing could also be a parody of Pikachu?

    Also – does anyone know if MFC exists in the novels? If not, could possibly be a parody of another MFC featuring a completely different Mio who is friends with someone who goes nya~ instead of “waaaa” when around cats. K-ON! anyone? XD

    Taiakun

Leave a Reply to HalfDemonInuyasha Cancel reply

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