First Impressions / Soredemo Machi wa Mawatteiru

「激突！大人買い計画」 (Gekitotsu! Otonanagai Keikaku)
“Clash of the Buyitans!”

I can confidently say that this week’s Sore Machi was not as funny as the past few have been. Especially with no Futaba to brighten up my day, I started to wonder what would make this episode worth watching. Of course as I’m just coming off of a Futaba “high” from last week, it’s allowed me to start focusing on some of the other characters in this show. First off – some of the designs on these characters are downright hilarious. I don’t know if the source material was like this, but most of the minor characters look ridiculous. Besides the funny character designs this week’s episode focuses a lot on Shizuka, the lady who runs the “antique” store.

From a hilarious battle between a husband and wife who are fighting over a vase to her fruitless search for some mystical rainbow colored snacks, I never thought an episode revolving around her could be so funny. While the whole husband and wife selling and buying the same vase over and over made me chuckle, I thought it was downright evil when Shizuka decided to count each time the couple slammed the vase was on the counter, counting it as a sale. Coming out to an astronomical price of 270,000 yen (3266 usd), I’m curious if the husband really paid the bill to get the vase back. On the other hand, the mystical snack arc really struck home with me. After Shizuka eats something called “rainbow delight” (kind of looks like a rainbow senbei snack), she goes crazy over trying to find it. I don’t blame her either, especially when it makes her drool like that when she thinks about it. Going off the fact that a “random stranger” handed it to her grandfather, she starts busting out maps and begins driving all around Japan to find it. The sad part is I probably know exactly how she feels. After a friend of mine gave me this bag of Takis, a refreshingly spicy chip which makes Hot Cheetos look plain by comparison, I nearly went mad trying to find it myself. Just like Shizuka I sometimes even had dreams about trying to find those mysterious chips. What totally blew my mind away was after Shizuka gave up trying to find the mysterious snack, she turns to Hotori and Tatsuno to try to make the snack from the ingredients listed on the packaging. After who knows how many failed batches they go through, Hotori suggests that the snack might be from the future and is impossible to make without special “future” technology. All of that could have been a normal day at Seaside, Hotori’s airheaded-ness and all, except for a sudden the shift back to that “random stranger” who is actually from the FUTURE. I don’t know what I should be more baffled about. Hotori actually being partially right with that random deduction of hers, or the fact that time travelers actually exist in this show.

Besides the whole “time traveler” thing, this week’s episode finally made another of my wishes come true – a real ping pong match! Ever since I saw Haribara smack that ping pong ball in the opening sequence, I’ve been dying to see a real ping pong match animated. The thing is, the actual ping pong match this week didn’t catch my attention. I don’t know about you, but I tend to watch the ball or the paddles of the players who are playing, not their chest. With all of those close-up shots at Tatsuno’s chest, I almost forgot that I was watching ping pong and not boob pong. Of course, I wasn’t the only one who caught all of the action. After catching Sanada’s blank expression while Tatusno was playing, I had a good feeling I knew exactly what he was focusing on. After another one of his inner-monologues, my suspicions were confirmed. You sly dog Sanada! Keep going around like that and Hotori is going to call you Eroyuki forever! Besides all the boob action, there were still some pretty cool shots of Haribara and Tatsuno all fired up as they were playing. Too bad most of the people who watch this show will probably miss it :p.

 

Preview

25 Comments

  1. I’m wondering if the husband and wife are the time travellers or simply ancestors of the time travelling guy. At least we have another reason to add to the “why Kon is the best SoreMachi character” list. She’s the frikkin’ Darth Vader of ping pong.

    Lurker
    Reply

  2. Tatsuno had black hair in middle school. /gasp Little Kon airtime /sadpanda! Hotori was still cute this episode. And OPPAI PONG! Gym teacher needs more shots with Moriaka too! I haven’t seen him in ages!

    Kyzel
    Reply

  6. Haven’t they done that before? where a short skit after the main animation proves Hotori right even though her explanations are ridiculous? I could completely relate to Tatsuno today today. Her conversation with Hotori near the end struck home

    kwantum0
    Reply

  8. I thought this episode was great. Years ago I managed a huge gas station/store and one day a couple came in and had that kind of argument at the counter in my store. So that 1st part really hit home for me. The whole episode was full of win.

    Karmafan
    Reply

  14. Wow, I knew it wasn’t a mistake making Kon my favorite character in this show. She makes a badass maid and is apparently a super evil ping pong player. Maybe she uses the force to curve the ball some more.

    The whole time travel bit reminded me of another SHAFT production: Natsu no Arashi

    unlisted
    Reply

  17. OHmyf’ingGAWD~! this show is hilarious. x’D

    I nearly bust a nut when Hotori got hit with that ball. xD Funniest slow-mo I’ve ever scene since Kung Pow! LOL I think I’m in love.. Hotori’s the cutest, by far. And she doesn’t even need to blush! (Oh gawd. If she goes moe, I’m ddead. With two d’s. D:)

    Yo, this has GOT to be the craziest game face ever.

    Oh and lovely screenshots. You have my gratitude. I enjoyed them as much as the next guy. 😛

    Shirt
    Reply

  21. When you mentioned doing things like the characters, searching for snacks and the like, it reminds me that no matter how crazy the characters act it’s all relatable to the “3d” world we live in. They do a really good job with this material and making it seem as though you might be living it or somehow know a similar friend or friends doing these kinds of funny things. That really helps when you’re enjoying comedy i find. That it can remind you of good times and add to the skit you’re seeing. Well done!

    Breedo
    Reply

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