「スランプの理由」 (Suranp no Wake)
“Cause of the Slump”

Ah, the Takanashi women. I still remember how they were first introduced in episode four of season one and could’ve easily turned the show into a household sitcom. However, things turned out even better when Souta’s elementary school sister Nazuna (Saitou Momoka) started volunteering at Wagnaria and misunderstood her brother’s relationship with Mahiru. The natural extension of that seems to be passing on a different misunderstanding to the always lethargic Izumi (Hikasa Youko), who just for the record, is amazingly cute when she’s dressed in white.

I’ve heard Youko in a fair amount of roles since the first season aired in spring 2010, so I couldn’t shake the feeling that she voiced Izumi a little different than before. It could’ve simply been the amount of focus on Izumi this episode, but she seemed to have a lot more expression in her voice than I remember. In any case, she was a lot of fun to watch after she mistook Popura as Souta’s girlfriend and thought her brother’s as a pedophile. It was fun seeing a very different side to her, much like it was with Kazue (Shiraishi Ryouko) when she failed to hide her concern about Izumi running away from home. In Izumi’s case, it doesn’t look like anyone’s going to clear up her confusion anytime soon either, seeing as Nazuna still thinks Souta’s in a masochistic relationship with Mahiru, so I’m really looking forward to the moment she steps into Wagnaria and misunderstands everything first-hand. I really hope that’s in store this season, because I already got a good laugh from her conversation with Kozue (Itou Shizuka).

As for Aoi, her misery almost always results in my enjoyment, so when she complains about how she still has to wear an “in training” badge when Nazuna doesn’t, you can be sure that I’m reveling in every minute of it. Aoi’s great for comedic relief when someone gets the better of her and there was plenty of that to go around this episode. Both her and Popura are so simple-minded that’s it’s not only funny but cute to watch. It’s kind of crazy how Nazuna’s more perceptive to people’s feelings than even Souta, who will be forever blinded by his traumatically-induced mini complex. Because of her perfect ways, I definitely want to see her make more appearances at the restaurant, as I do with all of Souta’s sisters. Judging from the preview, the next episode looks like it’ll have some Jun x Yachiyo moments, plus a chance encounter with Otoo-san’s wife, which I’m all for as well.

* Full-length images: 11, 16, 18, 31.

 

Preview

26 Comments

  1. Yes Takanashi sisters, there is something wrong with your brother´s brain but at least he is not a pedophile, he´s just a guy with a very bizare liking for cute and small things, including a girl who is actually older than him. Yes, that sounds better.

    haseo0408
  2. Oh, Working’!!’s still getting coverage? Way cool.

    Anyways, I’m super super happy that the Takanashi household got another episode. They’re so hilarious that they deserve a series of their very own.

    Click
      1. Ah, sounds pretty sick either way. But if you do have time for another show, WORKING’!! may actually be a better choice than C³, since the former already has at least 3 posts under it rather than just a Series Introduction.

        Anyways, that’s just my 2 cents as a reader I guess. It wouldn’t even bother me if both shows went uncovered, since neither of which were going to be covered after their first posts.

        Click
      2. C3 is a pretty interesting show. The first 2 episodes were mostly your typical happy-go-lucky romantic comedy fare, that is until all hell broke loose, shifting things from carefree to somber in an instant. Probably one of the more innovative romantic comedies this season, with the use of two drastically different atmospheres, and a tormented heroine with two different personalities parallel to each atmosphere…hmm, reminds me of Blood-C…apples and oranges, I know, but they both use contrasting atmospheres and protean personalities…

        Zen
      3. @Divine
        Tough choice between Working’!! and C3 ^^;

        This is just my opinion… While I do like Working’!! ALOT, everybody knows it’s a good show already from it’s past record as well as popular response. C3 on the other hand is a new show with good potential that not many people would give it a try after it’s misleading first episode.

        P.S- btw you haven’t uploaded C3’s ED yet ^^;

        Chaos2Frozen
      4. At first I thought C3 was just another fanservicey loli anime, then the plot of the second part of episode 2 took a sudden turn towards the dark side with some epic action to complement it.

        While it’s not quite the “Tomoe Mami gets her head bitten off” moment, this series might still be worthy of a coverage ONLY if you have time, Divine.

        Kinny Riddle
      5. C³ reminds me of Yumekui Merry on steroids – both in the drama and in the
        quiet/playful parts. It’s caught my interest, but I’m holding off on judgement.

        Oops! This isn’t the C³ fourm?! … You sure? I hate it when that happens –>

        I thought Working’s jokes would become a re-hash from its 1st season. I’m happy
        that the writers are working hard against that. The voices and their timing are there, too.
        I’m wondering if his remaining 2 sisters will think he has a relationship with different
        girls at the restaurant… Will he be paired with the manager?

        Nazuna is definitely a surprise – a polar opposite manipulator of Hiroomi – I
        wonder if there’ll be a show about those – not in a romantic way, though, kinda
        like each trying to out manoeuvre the other. But maybe Nazuna’s too sweet for that…?

        mac65
  3. The sisters were a much needed breath of fresh air after after x episodes of constant reimplemented running jokes. Here is a comedy show that does what it does quite well, but is risk-averse, tending to stick to what it knows instead of mixing up the gags, and therefore lacks the randomness factor that is present in some other comedies like Nichijou and Ika-musume. So a shifting some focus onto other characters was a good way to break up the routine and introduce some much-needed variety.

    Zen
    1. >Anyone here thinks Nazuna may be more than meets the eye?

      That’s precisely what she’s like: at the very least, Nazuna rivals Souma in terms of manipulative capability ^^

      @Divine
      The relative silence about Working’!! this week may be because most people haven’t actually gotten a chance to watch it yet. Seems like there was a delay at CR for some reason or other…

      karice67
  4. This was a great episode.

    Now in addition to yamada and Poplar, i have to add Izumi to the list of wonderfully funny characters in the series. Her lack of physical strength and stamina, in addition to her habits like crawling around, is so ridiculous that i see a lot more jokes coming from that.

    Zaku Fan
  5. lol im kind of rooting for popura and satou because its always so amusing when he bullies her plus he looks like he has alot of fun doing it lol. The chemistry is so funny. This show is a breath of freshair and i embrace every minute of it ^_^

    liz
  6. Just got to love the sisters, and how they each bring a different type of comedy to the show. I cant even choose which one i like more. Hope they show more of them in the episodes to come.

    darkloco
  7. Without a decently subbed episode, your review makes me hope that one will turn up soon because I’m missing out. I’m glad that brought back Souta’s sisters because they add more entertainment to the bunch.

    LC
    1. According to CR, there’s been a “production delay” for episode 3, so they won’t simulcast it until next week. I presume no group was planning to sub it because it’s simulcast on the first day it airs.

      Availability for Wagnaria!! 2: There has been a production delay in Japan and episode 3 has been postponed till next week. We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience. We will be working hard to release the video ASAP next week.

      That’s odd though, because the episode did air.

      1. Only Working 3 subs out are from a newer group and their subs are so awful (prolly used google or bing) I need a subbed version of the subs that they did just to understand the episode.

        Karmafan

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