「棚町薫 後編 ミチヅレ」 (Tanamachi Kaoru Kouhen – Michizure)
“Tanamachi Kaoru, Second Chapter – Companion”

Regardless of whatever arguments Junichi may have with Kaoru, it seems like he always has his mind in the “right place” to ensure that their relationship can overcome anything. I didn’t have any real idea about what we’d be in store for in this episode, so it actually proved to be a pleasant surprise in more ways than one. The highlight was undoubtedly a scared tsundere Kaoru, who gave us lots of interesting looks when nature forced her to be one with it and go braless, but I was most surprised by how their argument spiraled down to a seemingly unrecoverable path for a mere episode and somehow rebounded without feeling incredibly forced (albeit with a lot of force).

From that, I could get a real sense of what the writers were thinking with Kaoru’s follow-up arc: Emphasize that they’re inseparable “bad company” and show how that can actually be a great thing in a relationship. The initially creepy yet clearly hospitable inn helped reiterate that notion too, making the eventual scene at the beach that much better. While it may pale in comparison to how these two lovebird hit it off in the original season, the end result was still awfully sweet. Kaoru’s drawing was the perfect conclusion to it as well (even though I suspect Junichi will be called out for having someone else do his homework for him.)

If I were to nitpick about something, it would be the Japanese timidness that continues to be prevalent in anime, which doesn’t always seem to fit in the context of what’s going on. That of course is in reference to Junichi and Kaoru sharing a room together, even though they’re already going out. The immediate thought that they’d have to get intimate just because their futons were touching is getting a bit old, much like indirect kisses through sharing a drink. I figured Kaoru was beyond these “cultural conventions” given what happened last episode, so I was a bit disappointed that she got rattled at all by sharing a room. This is coming from the same girl who invited Junichi to join her in the hot spring as him after all, and I’d imagine that sleeping in a room alone is scarier than taking a short bath alone. In any case, Kaoru’s outgoing personality and playfulness still makes her one of my favorite heroines. Now let’s see what Sae and the kinkiness she’s willing to endure will bring us next.

* Full-length images: 03, 20.

 

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28 Comments

  1. Welcome back Divine and thanks for the post!

    Bit sad Kaoru’s arc finished; everything leading up to the beach scene was just perfect. Farewell, idiot couple~

    Watching this episode did make me think of how they’re going to tackle Haruka’s two episodes. Also, I was looking at the Spring 2012 anime list, and it shows two amagami ss+ ovas. Anybody know if it will be another series of amagami shorts or if it will be character-centric? I’m still hoping for my Tsukahara-senpai episode 🙁

    Beedle
  2. And so Sex Hair’s arc ends with this episode. Out of all the arcs so far, I think this one was closest to what happens with IRL couples: argue, argue some more, reconcile, and end up a stronger couple. I’m sure we’ve all seen that.

    Umehara continues to be an awesome bro as he saves Kaoru and Junichi via his “nice (sushi) boat” coming in at the right place at the right time. Why can’t this guy get some love in the Amagami SS universe?

    Lastly, that hotsprings monkey, who stole and kept Kaoru’s pure-white bra. All of my jelly. ALL OF MY JELLY! XD

    The_Magus_Killer
    1. I dunno about RL. Not all couple bicker like that.

      All of my jelly. ALL OF MY JELLY! XD

      Give away more of that jelly and you’ll strain yourself you won’t be able to produce some anymore. ;/

      The Moondoggie
  3. Sexhair’s after story arc gave me the warm fuzzies multiple times, but the biggest one was at the end – Kaoru: “It’s nothing to worry about. This is how you and I are.” *takes a breath* DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAW!!

    Stilts
  4. This is probably most realistic depiction of a relationship, people argue, make up, and make out eventually… The “Oyasumi” is great example of warm, gentle feeling that you have when you are with someone you truly love.

    ewok40k
  5. Couples argue all the time over every little thing, in some ways it’s a sign of how close your relationship is if you can argue with someone without fear.

    But the most important thing is to make up, and make out, after that 🙂

    So in the sense, Junichi and Kaoru are the most ‘informal’ couples so far.

    Chaos2Frozen
  6. Its nice to finally have an arc that is entertaining and not boring. Mostly because Junichi and Kaoru have an interesting chemistry together. Despite all the cliche happenings its nice to see that they aren’t trying to shove some forced drama like before. Its just two people acting like they’ve known each other for a long while.

    Also Umehara is still bro.

    fragb85
    1. The impression I got from Negima was that there were three major “Arcs” and each was distinctively different from each other…and unfortunately not very cohesive. The initial slice of school like with various battles, incidents mixed in was VERY well done, very creative, culminating with Chao’s battle as the height of the manga. The foray into the magic world had nice character development…but plot was a bit lacking. The final battle arc with fate…was rather lacking and I think Negima turned into a completely different manga. Not sure if you get this analogy but Negima basically suffered a “Bleach”.

      stuff
  7. And so went my top girl arc. I will never have Kaoru drawing for me.

    Just love Kaoru, she has a strong personality and like Tsukasa will not be manhandled into submission by Junichi like the rest of the girls. I can respect that.

    I think I can be objective saying this was the best arc so far, from start to end. Never got bored (I was feeling bad as Amagami always delivered entertainment to me) and did a great job executing it. Drawing scene, working scene, soda scene, bus scene, stranded scene, truck driver scene, all of the inn scenes and the innkeeper, fight scene, seaside scene and ending. Now I wonder if Haruka will take the cake like last time.

    My relationship to Kaoru after all? There’s no love lost, that’s for sure.

    Lectro Volpi
  8. I like Kaoru, her personality, her funny attitude and this whole arc but for some reason I just can’t get into her arc like nanasaki, maybe I just can’t stand curly hair, some ppl call it sexy but it totally is a turn off for me women with curly hair, remind me too much of a poodle XD, don’t know why but I just feel that way. I like Kaoru but that curly hair really bother me.

    mike
  9. Watched this right after Another ep 8. I was already in the whole horror frame of mind, so having them troll with the scary hotel seemed pretty funny. I kept wondering which of them was going to die a horrific death and how.

    baltar
  10. Kaoru is by far my favourite girl since her story by far seemms to be the most realistic in terms of progression and dynamics.

    Doesn’t hurt that she has that signature sexhair either, of course. Hot damn.

    Stranger

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