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「先輩が言っちゃう…」 (Senpai ga Icchau…)
“Sempai Said It…”
Ano Natsu de Matteru is getting really dangerous — dangerously close to becoming one of my all-time favorite romantic comedies that is if things keep going the way they are. That may not mean much since I don’t keep a running tally on what my favorites are, but it does imply that it would be somewhere among the top five if I did. The series doesn’t even have to bank on the nostalgia factor anymore, as it’s really coming into its own with its perfect blend of romance and comedy that always seems to be on cue. From the characters’ wild fantasies with hilarious scenarios to Remon mischievously calculating how to get the most personal amusement out of everyone’s unrequited loves, the witty dialogue just came in droves. All the while, the romance remained the driving factor behind it all, and picked up right where things left off with Kaito trying to confess to Ichika. The “anime result” if you will, is something pleasantly similar to what I’m seeing in both Aquarion EVOL and Rinne no Lagrange, except Ano Natsu is a sheer unadulterated romantic comedy at its core (even if you count the alien spin on things). I have no idea how I gave the other writers first pick on shows this season and wound up with all three of these shows to myself, but I’m not complaining when it feels like I’m getting away with highway robbery blogging-wise.
Thus far, I’m really taken in by how the series didn’t hesitate to build up the romance element all fronts, as those subtle looks of concern and attempts to confess are already commonplace. What’s more, the extremely one-sided love pentagon that spans almost the entire cast — Mio –> Tetsurou –> Kanna –> Kaito –> Ichika — has been more or less confirmed and is so “painfully good” to watch that I find myself reading heavily into just about every character interaction, right down to subtle changes in their facial expression. It’s almost as if I’m watching a really addicting live-action drama that I can’t turn my eyes away from, whether it’s because of the embarrassing moments that I can’t get enough of or the deadpan humor care of Remon. Ano Natsu’s formula just works as a believable high school romance — and one that’s spiced up by someone who’s well beyond her years. I’ve taken an immediate liking to all the characters for being very perceptive of everyone else’s feelings. The show isn’t beating around the bush by making the realization the hard part, and is instead giving us very interesting looks into how Kaito and the others deal with having their feelings known. (E.g. Running the hell away.)
To that end, words can’t describe how glad I am that they only teased us with some confusion over Ichika’s secret and Kaito’s feelings for her instead of dragging out the misunderstanding and stalling any further development. The way Ichika quickly figured out that Kaito likes her pretty much sealed the deal on a series that I was already pretty sold on. The cast also continues to impress, particularly newcomer Shimazaki Nobunaga as Kaito and Tomatsu Haruka as Ichika, the latter of whom continues to show that she can play all types of roles. Then there’s Ishihara Kaori whom I’ve said more than enough about, plus Asumi Kana in a very timid role as Mio. Even the lesser known Ogihara Hideki’s caught my attention, thanks to how Tetsurou continues to put Kanna’s feelings before his own. And yes, there are veteran seiyuu Tamura Yukari (ufufufu) and Hisakawa Aya to take into account, even though Kaito’s sister didn’t make an appearance here. Bottom line with Ano Natsu de Matteru: I like what I see and I can’t wait to see more of it.
* Possible taglines for Kanna’s picture are: “The wonderful world of alcohol” and “Want to join the Jersey Club?”
* Men in Black jokes too? There’s no going back now!
* Snaaaaake!
ED1.5 Sequence
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ED: 「ビードロ模様」 (Vidro Moyou) by やなぎなぎ (Yanagi Nagi)
Watch the ED!: Streaming ▼
Preview
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Divine, I’m right there with you 100%. I’m loving the direction that this series is heading!
No Agent J? Blasphemy!
2 Agent K, or Agent J uses the same drug as Michael J to change his skin color 😛
I think this why there is only 1 agent
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ut2QXQc7Fac
Tommy Lee Jones is like 10 times more popular than Will Smith in Japan. At least that’s what I think judging from his Suntory “Alien Jones” commercials.
I think this is going to be a contender for one of the best romcom’s (in my book) of all time. With quite a few good hits this season and upcoming seasons, I think this year will be the ultimate battle of what anime will take the top seed for “Best of 2012.”
The anime playoffs await us.
Love the developments this episode. I love how the misunderstanding was dealt with immediately after they realized it. I love how Kaito inadvertently confessed at the end.
This series really pulls itself away from its OnegaiTeacher origins/setting. I also feel that the alien factor is toned down more (ie. no convenient teleport) this time, so the characters can shine in their own right. Well, Kaito still needs the occasional alien tech treatment, but that’s more of a relationship acceleration factor.
@Divine: Do you mean: “live-action drama that I can’t turn my eyes away from”?
Isn’t that what I said? /confused
Edit: Never mind, verdant fixed it for me.
“My God” was epic.
Did anyone catch the Metal Gear Solid reference?
I did, but I wasn’t sure if I should add it directly in my post.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulEisLcFEl4
Edit: This scene.
Remon: Sa ikuwayo, Sneku.
Tetsurou: Dare?
I had to scan the entire episode to find that reference. I easily missed it just by blinking and sneezing for 1 second.
another long week to wait, damn! i love almost all the series this season! superb!
How would Ichika respond to indirect confession of Kaito? or Kaito will brush it off out of embarrassment? mou!!~~
Well, the love pentagon of extremely awkward teens is self-propelling hilarity machine…
…and Lemon just adds oil to the flames – or rather high-octane gasoline – plus adding some of her own like failed stealth and snake references… can’t she get a cardboard box?
It felt great to finally hear more of the ending theme song as half of it was obscured by dialogue in the previous episodes. I can’t wait to have the full version in my iphone once the single is released.
That ‘confession’ left me grinning like an idiot all throughout the ED.
Remon really is an usefull character, without her I’m pretty sure things wouldn’t had move this fast.
And it’s nice to see that everybody is partialy aware of each others feelings (except the guys)
The protagonist’s “delusions” are getting really dangerous – dangerously close to being repetitive and ruining a decent (but not spectacular) romantic comedy.
Why wasn’t Will Smith in this episode?
Was hoping seeing him, maybe next episode.
I don’t know what it is, but I can’t help by laugh whenever Rinon does pretty much anything. All its strange movements are just so fluidly animated.
Naaaah, Naaaaah, Nuaaaah, N-naah
I could be wrong but, wasn’t that the same outdoor mall shown in episode 9 of Onegai Twins?
I just checked, it indeed appears to be the same place “Church Street”. You can see the signs at 17:33 in this episode and 3:53 in ep 9 of Onegai twins. Having gone through both episodes slowly to find the signs it became obvious that it was the same place.
After having seen so many stills in my hunt I have to say that the art in this series is just gorgeous.
I had hopes that this series was a continuation of the same universe. So far it looks like it is. *happy*
To be honest I am thoroughly enjoying this anime, and the third episode just clinched it for me.
Lemon is by far my favorite character of the winter season, discounting the imoutou from Nisemonogatari.
Since I hadn’t seen the previous work, I’m going in fairly nostalgia-free or cynically disdainful so that may be a factor of my satisfaction level.
hi5 comrade!
How boring, we totally agree. This show is gold, Jerry – gold!
George is gettin’ excited! about this show, of course
I thought that they would drag out the misunderstanding for a couple of episodes, but I’m really pleased it was resolved. That last bit at the end was really cute.
I’m really surprised by this Winter season. Seeing the Winter preview, nothing really grabbed my interest, but there are a surprisingly good amount of shows this season, and this is one of them.
The opening of this show is basically a copy and paste of the Onegai Twin’s opening… And that’s not a bad thing.
I’m so pleased to hear you feel that way, Divine, because I haven’t seen Onegai Teacher (by which I mean no nostalgia on my end) and I am loving this anime! So far, every episode has hit all the right notes for me. I don’t need much originality, just quality, in terms of the animation, the seiyuu cast, the execution, etc, and this anime has plenty of it. Can’t wait for the next episode~
Agreeing. This series is lovely.
Why can’t more romacoms be this way? It saddens me, the trend of all the shallow ecchi stuff that dominates almost every season. Not that I don’t have an inner Type B myself, but this show has just, well, shown that you can have a nice, fun romantic comedy without resorting to fanservice, or at least not all the time. Still though, the visuals are still quite appealing regardless of that. Ichika, Kanna and Lemon’s looks have been burned into my memory, and they’re lovely.
<3 Tomatsu Haruka, all the way since my first watching of GA: Geijutsuka Art Design Class.
Love this episode. And that cheap shot by the show in the end, shit! Total classic.
But I’d like to make a bet: This show ain’t gonna end without someone crying.
Well with 2 guys + 3 girls + 1 mischievous sempai, if the math stays as it is without an additional male member to the group we will be seeing plenty of waterworks.
Well,
we already have some right? (Kanna’s embaressed crying tsundere face[i believe she is a tsundere])
Though i guess it doesn’t really count for drama,
it definetly counts for hilarity and cuteness, LOL!
btw what the heck is LINK (its right next to REPLY)
DAT ENDING OMG!!! Love this show, an endless string of misunderstandings, bad fantasies, and love triangles, that finaly gets us back on the right track what more do you want.
The end was funny. When she asked if she was the MC’s object of affection I thought “BOOM! Headshot!”. Then she went “Eh… eh?” right before the ED song.
I foresee many tears to come not just from the character but from me too, it’ll be another ano hana like crying session i can just feel it.
same
Yup maybe,the hint is from the tittle itself. So, maybe Ichika must return to her home planet, but she will come back someday on summer? 🙂
Ｉ ｒｅａｌｌｙ ｌｉｋｅ ｔｈｅ ｅｎｄｉｎｇ song. Is it usual for the opening/ ending song of anime is specially created for the story line/theme of the anime?
I picked this up expecting nothing but mediocrity. How foolish, I was.
this series is quickly going up my “top shows of all time” quite fast though its hard for it to beat the 2 that sits in the top position
i pretty much deteched the love polygon as well divine… gosh…. wonder if my high school life was like that as well. had a feeling it was
and nagi yanagi…. she’s just oh so awesome
I enlarge an image and then keep trying to find the button to move to the next one………
Who’s the girl with the red nail polish in the preview…?
The ED is so good
Karuizawa has always been a popular getaway mountain resort town for tourists from Tokyo and beyond, now there’s another reason for us to visit that town.
Gotta lol at everyone’s outrageous imaginations, and Ichika unwittingly stepping on the “who do you like” landmine she originally intended for Kaito was just hilarious.
Man, animation-wise, why does this show look so good? I can’t believe JC staff is in charge.
JC Staff can make very nicely animated shows every once in a while. See also Toradora, To Aru Kagaku no Railgun, and Hayate no Gotoku!!
And it is no coincidence that the director for this series Nagai Tatsuyuki also directed Toradora and Railgun for JC Staff, as well as AnoHana for A-1 Pictures..
Not every once in while, but almost always… Just to name some more recent JC Staff productions that look good: Kami-sama no Memo-chou, Kimi to Boku, Bakuman, Otome Youkai Zakuro, Kaichou wa Maid-sama!, Ookami-san & Her Seven Companions.
JC staff is redeeming itself this season (and Shana III’s good too).
Is it just me, or does Remon resemble Mizuho Kazami from Onegai Twins. They both have a similar character design (i.e. hair color, height) and characteristics such as following the main cast with cameras and kicking up dirt on them as well as the exact same laugh! Not that I’ve really seen Onegai Twins or Teacher, but I have a very, very strong feeling that cameos from both shows are abound!!
It’s just you. Remon bears no resemblance to Mizuho.
However, Ichika DOES resemble Kazami Mizuho and Remon is practically a clone of another Please Teacher/Twins character named Morino Ichigo.
Even the seiyuu it’s the same: Morino/Remon it’s Yukari Tamura…and the same “fufufu” xD
I dunno…Remon leaves her age unspecified and when Ichika asks why she is wearing a different uniform (the same seen in Onegai Twins) all she does is fufufufu….
man this show is GOLD!!
While I’m not going to jump the gun and declare this an all-time, or even this year’s, best yet, this episode was a high point for this season in terms of writing/dialogue. In fact, I’d argue that Ano Natsu is better now than Onegai Teacher was at this point in the show. Onegai Teacher took a while to warm up, in my opinion, but Ano Natsu is getting straight to the point and does it with elegance and wit. Yousuke Kuroda seems to have improved over the years!
THat “huh” was priceless! nice execution!
When I saw this, I thought this
Another epic episode AND a longer version of Vidro Moyou – what more can I ask for?
This, PapaKiki, Aquarion EVOL, and Brave10 are my favorites this season. But sure, I was expecting a lot from this series given how some staff from AnoHana are doing this one too, but damn, I never thought I’d be addicted to it in just 3 episodes.
And boy am I glad to hear Yanagi Nagi’s voice again! Supercell and Ryo should have sticked with her as their vocalist
Chelly’s kinda close to Nagi’s voice, but the new GC OP is MEH so… :/
And of course we all know Yanagi Nagi is a goddess. :3
Really hoping they don’t use that whole weird alien infection thing as too much of a crutch in the future. It served a purpose as a catalyst, but this episode showed there’s lots of natural tension amongst the characters to explore. Plus I would like to see this story continue to excel on its own merits and not fall back to copying the original plotline too closely.
/me brofist Divine.
You understand me. :3
Chrysler!
I feel like a complete fool…
For some friggin reason i thought that Tetsurou was a homosexual
(Tetsurou–> Kirishima) But i finally realize after this ep that
he had his eye on Kanna; I mean its a romcom right? almost any love
is possible.
From that POV i was sayin’, “Oh, the fangirls are gonna love this.”
“DAT Yaoi!”; seems to be a false alarm… FML
Glad they answered my question from last week right from the beginning. About the confession he was going to make.
Golden ending for this episode!
And golden beginning. Not to mention the middle. Quite refreshing!
I loved it when she wip’d out that huge camera!
I think it’s great that the two main characters both have silly/dark fantasies about each other…
This series is instantly addictive! I didn’t expect this. I like how we learn a little more
about her in each episode – what was she running from, etc.
When does this show play in comparison to Onegai Teacher? How many years later?
Wouldn’t surprise me if a certain alien/human pair turned out to be her parents.
Maybe they decided to move to space and Ichika is now looking for the place her parents have a fond memory of. 😉
Maybe I am the only one, but to be honest, I still have to get used to Tomatsu Haruka voicing that kind of calm character.
I liked the first 3 eps., though the series has yet to really blow me away. I especially enjoyed the cliffhangers of both ep. 2 and 3, so for those alone I continue watching.
The pacing, mood, and emotions to this show are just godly. Rom-com at it’s finest.
Tora Dora level of Brilliance.
Should I go on?
It´s been a while sice I´ve been this exited about a romance series, all the characters are hallarious and the progression of the story feels good wiout running into cliches used so much this days. I can´t for the next episode and see things turn out from here on.
I don’t get it. Obviously people like this show… a lot. But I don’t see why.
The protagonist pushes the envelope for being weak-willed and spineless. Even for anime protagonists. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a male hero who couldn’t get out of bed before (… well any hero, actually). And for three episodes now, I don’t recall him doing anything of his own accord. I’m surprised that he hasn’t starved to death yet. Other than Kanna, the rest of the humans aren’t any more impressive.
The unrequited love daisy-chain is tedious. Saving grace is that this isn’t a Negima-sized cast.
Lemon is too much of a cheap gimmick to take seriously. Her laugh doesn’t help. But unless she is secretly part of the daisy chain, she’s just a side show character.
The show is full of cheap plot devices, e.g. the misunderstandings, the growling stomach stopping their conversation. The only redemption was that Ichika, who has her charms, in a typical fit of cluelessness, extracted the truth from our iron-willed hero, who couldn’t bring himself to state the truth, but nor could he stop himself from answering her.
I’ll watch a couple more episodes to see how they deal with these issues but I can’t say that I’m expecting too much.
Dude even if aliens exist in this show, don’t forget that this is a slice of life show. Your average boy meets the supernatural. This show isn’t really about some “hero” like you claim it to be. This is about how a normal boy deals with all the new experiences he encounter along with falling in love with a girl for the first time.
Aside from Ichika being an alien, everything’s pretty realistic including their personalities, no matter how you look at it including the misunderstanding. Heck, even I thought that Ichika knew that Kaito was going to confess to her at the end of episode 2 by the way it went but it turns out to be wrong. Well, I’d give you a point for pointing out the overused plot device of stomach growling which is pretty unrealistic.
f life shows tend t
Slice oo take the slow pace and focus on character development. If you were expecting it to be an upbeat series, then I’m sorry but I guess this isn’t the show for you.
I don’t know what happened but it seems like my last sentence got all messed up or something.
Slice of life shows tend to take the slow pace and focus on character development. If you were expecting it to be an upbeat series, then I’m sorry but I guess this isn’t the show for you.
Sorry, when I say ‘hero’, I really mean protagonist. But believe me when I say that I’m not expecting much heroism from Kaito. He’s too weak-willed to be called average, btw. And I’m fine with slice of life as well as alien romance. It’s not the style of the show that irks me, nor even the pacing, but rather the thin story, weak characters, and poor execution. I don’t really feel that the characters are realistic yet. And while for most of them, it could be just that they haven’t had enough screen time yet, they aren’t doing much in the limited time they do have. But other than Kanna, none of the secondary characters seem interesting enough to warrant getting more screen time.
I’ve seen several comments comparing this show to Toradora. I did enjoy that show. I don’t really see the similarities between them though, other than in the most basic sense, e.g. they’re both school romances.
Perhaps you’re right about this show not being for me. I’ll give it a couple more episodes and judge it again.
Side note: I may have been wrong about Lemon as it’s possible that she interrupted Kanna on purpose. So while her laugh is still cheap.
Even though this is based on last weeks episode, but I marathoned it so bear with me but no one else thinks Kaito started liking her a tad too fast? I’m not sure why he likes her other than the things at face value (like her face). Wait is this 1 cour or 2 cours?
How old is Remon, I heard she said she was 20 anyone confirm that?
She said the script she wrote took five years to think up and twenty to write or something. So either she’s joking or she’s an unageing alien. I’m guessing the latter.
I love it. I think I like it more than Toradora! I like it enough to have watched each episode more than twice. Wow. The story is great so far with the character development. It doesn’t hurt that I think the OP and ED have the catchiest tunes I’ve heard so far. The synth in the OP really makes it unique and the ED is catchy. I can’t wait till the next episode. For some reason I’m thinking that this season has a lot of great shows.
Possible taglines for Kanna’s photo: “Meow!” and “You look tasty!”
Why are they always so cruel to the childhood friend?
Just once I want to see an anime where the MC comes to realize he’s actually in love the average looking childhood friend that’s been with him all along instead of the (usually foreign) beauty.
Amen, sir.
Sadly, that’s how the real world works as well especially on childhood friends. You get too used to them at an early stage and you know them well. New persons you meet in adolescence though give you new experiences – in a stage where you start to develop feelings like love for the opposite sex.
But yeah, I’ve yet to watch/see a show where childhood friends end up together. Well, not that I’ve watched many series 😛