Amagami SS / First Impressions

「桜井梨穂子 後編 フウリン」 (Sakurai Rihoko Kouhen – Fuurin)
“Sakurai Rihoko, Second Chapter – Wind Chime”

Forget “check my soul”, someone needs to “check my pulse” to see if I’m still alive after this episode. With the way things were progressing, I had all but given up hope that the long-awaited moment would come and save Rihoko from her cruel fate in the first season. As the remaining minutes ticked away, that moment finally came — and in the very last minute no less. At that point, I was filled with both a sense of relief and disappointment, as I was happy to see that Junichi took the initiative and Rihoko reciprocated, but clamoring over how a kiss is all we got. When someone’s been as patient as Rihoko has, she deserves so more than that to make up for for lost time.

While I can completely appreciate the depiction of how being forward with one’s feelings is a lot more difficult when it comes to childhood friends, and the believability behind how Junichi didn’t see her as anything more until Makabe came along (and simply backed off like I anticipated), I still can’t overlook how agonizing it is from an outside perspective to see the likes of Miya just totally killing the mood. Yes, it’s just like high school all over again where there’s some mutual interest among friends and some people are trying to help while others are unknowingly getting in the way, but that doesn’t make it any less irksome to watch. It’s an all-too-real scenario that’s in desperate need of a character like Remon in Ano Natsu de Matteru who’s well beyond her years and knows how to force the “issue”, but Amagami SS chose not to go that route with Kanae, Ruriko, and Manaka taking a hands-off approach.

The end result is a conclusion to Rihoko’s follow-up arc that’s fairly sweet but lacking intensity. It only makes sense that Rihoko wouldn’t hit it off with Junichi as passionately as the other girls — or they’d be dating already — but it does leave me wondering why things didn’t develop to this point in the first season so that this second season could expand on it. If I were to compare Tsukasa’s plus arc to Rihoko’s (since that’s all I have to go on at the moment), it’s easy to see that the former had the luxury of reiterating the heroine’s appeal while the latter was only starting to show some of it. Rihoko really could’ve benefiting from being put into more scenarios that highlight her childhood friend charm, some of which we saw here when she was genuinely happy to hear Junichi praise/thank her for her cooking — helping paint a rosy picture of the ideal future wife — and showed just how close they already are by borrowing some of his clothes to sleep in. (The latter was very alluring in its own way, but it would’ve been even better if she borrowed a dress shirt.) As such, I’m just going to chalk this up to Amagami SS’ way of illustrating how the childhood friend doesn’t always have it easy in anime, and just be grateful that it didn’t make an example of Rihoko completely like the original season. (Thank goodness for that.)

Next up is my favorite heroine in the series, Nanasaki Ai, so you can be rest assured that I’m excited to see what other bold moves the cool swimmer pulls off. It’s not every day we get to hear the sultry Yukana in a high school romance role, so that’s another huge plus about Ai’s character.

* Full-length images: 09, 14, 15, 21, 28.

 

Preview

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62 Comments

  3. Wow, this was good and bad, just like Divine said. But we all now wait for the most anticipated! Ai! I am super excited about it. Though, will they do a ten years later for the arcs that didn’t do it in the last season? We all know Rihoko’s was gonna end somewhat like this, but with Ai’s and the others, they might just pull a ten years later on all of them? Maybe?

    Missingnomer
    Reply

    1. I like Sae. Its all good actually as we get to see many different girls and different scenarios. If every girl was the same and had the same storyline the series would be boring. Be happy that we get 6 different girls.

      Karmafan
      Reply

      4. Rihoko does deserve a happier ending. While they did get together I couldn’t help but feel like it was tacked on in the end. It was sweet but could have been so much more. They should have spent less time first season on the tea club activities and more on developing a romantic relationship. Where they ended here is where they should have ended last season. And I love Miya but she was probably too prominent in this episode.

        The reason why I’m looking to forward to Haruka the most besides her being my favourite heroine is because she probably got the most conclusive ending with the time skip to them being married. I’m very curious if they’re going to play on the time skip or whether it’ll revert right back after they got together.

        lushcka
        Reply

  15. I’m only happy because it’s Ai next episode! not saying that I don’t like Rihoko, I DON’T LIKE how the writers treat her 🙁

    Anyway, what’s up with those who thumbs-down almost all the comments (even neutral ones) on this review?

    nagi
    Reply

    1. It’s not only this review. I see people thumbing down even for neutral points in a lot of other posts/shows too. Easily offended? I don’t know. I like to balance it out by thumbing them back up though because I am petty like that.

      ritsuka
      Reply

  16. That was a dull arc finale. Much like last episode it was mostly ship tease and awkward and it just felt like padding. It was especially annoying when Miya unintentonally killed the romantic mood. Junichi does get points for taking the initative and the mood for the confession scene in nighttime was great. But then just when they finally confess and kiss and it looks like more will happen the episode ENDS! It was really underwhelming.

    fragb85
    Reply

  18. we should all be happy that she got her guy, no? I can picture you all raging if not.
    i bet she couldn’t be happier if she tried.
    i expected “friend zone” again, yet i was pleasantly proven wrong.
    Rihoko’s SS was pretty much like this since first season (least romantic of all arcs)
    and the fact that the romance is a lot more subtle and sober adds an interesting mix to the variety.
    oh and btw: STOP COMPLAINING.

    Helvetica Standard
    Reply

    1. But we want more. Like how the other girls get.

      She get’s Junichi, they have sex, she get’s pregnant and we get a future shot of her with her own kid, happily married with Junichi.

      Or at least a shot of her in a wedding dress.

      At least show us more that she did earn her happy ending.

      The Moondoggie
      Reply

  19. close enough.png good job rihoko for making my blood pressure shoot up the roof! and junichi, finally, youve finally seen whats in front of you ALL this time.

    now, if only we can have a nice manga adaptation like tsukasa’s and kaoru’s…

    GX-9901
    Reply

  20. I liked it =/. A slow, steady, comfortable romance, the polar opposite of the firebrand/impulsive type. It’s a bit slow, but it is sweet in its own slow and steady way. It’s also sorta awkward in it’s own way, not in the typical sense. I found it fairly refreshing. I think the rage from the last season is still driving people crazy. With these two eps it feels like her arc is finally done. If you look at it from that point of view I suppose they cheated you out of the extra 2 eps, but I think it was rather well executed if you take it in all at once. Not a lot of people seem to like this style, find it underwhelming. I enjoyed it though.

    Delwack
    Reply

  23. I can actually buy this relationship, unlike basically all the others in the series. I get why Rihoko and Junichi would be in love.

    That being said, its not particularly interesting and they are both completely lame. So…eh, whatever.

    The 5 second cameo of the best couple of the franchise (Haruka and Hibiki) was the best part of the episode.

    Fencedude
    Reply

  26. Welp that was boring. The last minute was pretty good because even though I think she’s a boring character, Rihoko still deserves a conclusive ending like the others. But I’m betting this will be end up being the least interesting arc of the season, just like in season 1. Luckily Ai is up next and she is my third favorite girl so there’s that to look forward to. Now if only <3 Haruka's <3 episodes would hurry up and get here.

    Beckett
    Reply

  27. Wow!

    Thank you for the write-up Divine. Rihoko’s arc is heartfelt as always. I really thought they got over the “friendzone” last season.

    Ai’s arc is awesome. I loved her from the first season and frankly she’s my most favorite among Junichi’s harem. She does things a bit unexpected and puts your heart into a badum-badum moment as always. Expecting something ordinary from Ai is not gonna happen anytime soon! Let’s see what she has in store for us next week.

    I can’t wait!!

    Hegent
    Reply

  28. Miya the …blocker!
    But the kiss was alright, if not a moment too soon…
    Rihoko earned her happy end.
    Next up, my fave, Ai! (I got something of a swimming girl fetish, totally unrelated to swimsuits… in fact just like certain swimmer prodigy from Umisho I prefer them skinny-dipping)

    ewok40k
    Reply

  29. I feel bad that they’ve taken too much time recapping what happened last episode (The beginning and tea club senpais). Those three minutes would have been better if used to show the game’s BEST ending. (We get to see a different Rihoko too!)

    mafias
    Reply

  30. I’m….I’m crying. T_T

    Finally, after getting “Friendzoned” in the 1st season, i thought it was going to happen again. But thankfully at the last minutes, they finally confess their love for each other! Kyahhh!!!!!! ^v^ ^v^

    I’m proud of you Rihoko. You finally got the boy you loved. I’m so happy crying right now. I feel like a parent seeing their daughter finally getting the person who truly loves her.

    Excuse me, i going to go cry together with the Rihoko fans.

    MrTerrorist
    Reply

  32. I think one of the main factors which made this arc not so satisfying was the way they let both Junichi and Rihoko’s indecisiveness takes its full course as well as like how Divine mentioned; where the supporting characters were not made to directly force the issue.

    Besides that, I think that some of the flashbacks used throughout the arc were well implemented. But it’s a shame that they weren’t used effectively enough to reinforce with the eventual confession.

    Also, I felt that the confession itself came off a bit unnaturally as if there were some missing parts/dialogue in between.

    Overall, the arc was successful in providing a unity. Just not a very heartwarmingly solid one.

    jackxu
    Reply

  33. As much as I like a lot of kinky episode in Amagami, I found this episode very pleasing. This episode stands out as being really different from the other because it’s just simple, pure and pretty sweet. For some unknown reason I really have a soft spot for Rihoko. I just find something about her very appealing.

    And I agree with you Divine, maybe if they have this in their dinner, things will go much more naughty. ><

    Jhacks
    Reply

  37. Rihoko is my favorite since the start…(Hibiki didn’t get a route!?) I feel like they wrote this arc for me, it was perfectly teased out and the little moments where Junichi looks at her almost like he imagines her the wife continued. I think when he was looking at her in the kitchen cooking it occured to him again how nice it would be to have this everyday. I can see how it isn’t the perfect path to take for a Haruka or a Kaoru but we all know those girls wouldn’t wait for Junichi. This is the Junichi we get when he doesn’t have a sempai advantage and a relationship of comfort and respect that creates a ..veil i guess. I think this is probably one of the most realistic arcs of all of them and while it isn’t high drama it’s really how it happens alot of times. That sudden realization of why not. I think it has it’s own excitement. For her i felt the scene with Makabe was also necessary to push her to think “I can say it to him why can’t i to Junichi?” This was my kind of arc and keeping with the Amagami tradition of something different for each girl.

    Breedo
    Reply

  38. Detective Miya, I found some evidence that the two break the friend zone barrier beyond the normal. Since both of them shy away like that, it appears Junichi and Rihoko committed something more than kiss.

    pedobearmatt
    Reply

  44. Yes! What hasn’t been said already over here? Rihoko finally gets her happy ending. Even if I don’t see visually what happens to them after, just seeing that they both finally confessed is good enough. I chuckled and wondered a little after Makabe tried to hit on Haruka. Do Haruka and Hibiki really have such intimidating presences that he’d be so terrified and run away?

    Zhinvu
    Reply

  46. Personally, I think Rihoko deserves someone better than Junichi. If this romance continues, Junichi is waiting to be killed by his girlfriend who is ten times smarter than him. But I guess a galgame character can always somehow get away with it.

    Matroid
    Reply

  47. Ai.. Ai… Oh how I love that girl. And yet again I’m always cheering on the side of Junichi. Either way, Rihoko finally got what she wanted and that’s a romance with Junichi. They really did fix it up, even though I was expecting them to do this much much sooner rather then later.

    For next week, Nanasaki Ai!!!! Oh how great this next 2 weeks is going to be… as long as that girl who shall not be name finds out that (She hates me comparing her to Nanasaki Ai lol).

    Sora no Kaze
    Reply

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