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「五家の崩壊」 (Shugogo no Houkai)
“Destruction of the Five Houses”
The friendzone. ‘Tis a painful place to be.
I quite like the romantic developments in Hiiro no Kakera, and it uses a subtle approach that I wish more shows would utilize – more than the overt, grand gestures of romance, the sort of slow-building, little touches in HnK is what makes the romance more believable, especially since it also illustrates the progress of the relationship over a period of time. Affections accumulate overtime, so the portrayal of Tamaki’s interactions with the guys is something that seems and feels natural and quite sweet. Her actions are instinctive rather than calculated, coming and going so naturally that it might be easy to miss. It says a lot more about where her feelings stand because actions do speak louder than words – in the way she grips onto Takuma’s shirt and worries about him are clearer signs of how she feels towards him than any verbal indication. At this point, it simply becomes a matter of both parties consciously recognizing what their feelings are.
The subtle way to go about the romance is also the safest way to protect themselves from any potential backlash if Studio DEEN decides not to push through with any definite pairing. Meshing everyone’s routes together is bad, but clearly promoting one pairing and then chickening out at the last second with a harem ending is arguably worse. Not only is it poor directing, it displays a severe lack of confidence in the producers’ ability to stick with their own material.
Props have to be given for Mahiro though… he’s one true bro. His character is a loud one with undercurrents of maturity that gives him extra depth, and of the cast, he’s arguably the most nuanced one. Facets of his personality are shown through some of the most organic ways I’ve seen, where everything about him is purely shown rather than told. It’s a storytelling technique that surprisingly doesn’t get used so often, and even the most popular of shows often utterly fail when it comes to hitting that prefect note with character exposition. This is the primary reason why I value Hiiro no Kakera so much – the premise is nothing new and easily dismissible; its production values are also questionable at best. But the writing is just precious and its understated way of developing the characters is reminiscent of Kuroko no Basuke, the other recent series that I thought handled its cast exceptionally well. Both series have really stretched its characters and managed to build some very solid personalities during their run, and although Hiiro no Kakera’s efforts don’t quite reach the heights of KnB, the results are still leagues above many other currently airing shows.
The only problem I have with the writing is when plot has to be entered into the equation – within the primary cast members, things are resolved swiftly. But when it comes to advancing the grand plot, so much of the conflict hinges on one major person – I’m looking at you, Grandma – withholding information that the credibility of the conflicts become paper thin. It’s not so much a problem inherent with the production staff as it’s a problem rooted with the source material, so it would be slightly unfair to berate the adaptation for trying to work off what the original had. Condensing the show to thirteen episodes would make the plot progress much faster, but that would come at the price of sacrificing the character development, which is a highly unwise decision since it would essentially bereave Hiiro no Kakera of its greatest strength. So as slow as the main storyline is, I would still take a dragged out conflict over an empty shell with no positive points to speak of. Hiiro no Kakera does what it does very well, and it’s looking to be the legacy that’ll distinguish it from the rest of its brethren.
Full-length images: 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 16, 21, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 32, 33, 35, 36, Preview 01.
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Yes you say it BAKAMOCHI, action speaks louder than words. No more argue, Tamaki loves Takuma. Now Im just waiting for a kiss scene, which will probably happen in the very last episode
Uugh.. The grandma is so annoying give them some answers already!
i love this episode for all the Takuma x Tamaki moments. at least i had been rooting for this pair from the beginning. please end up together eventually.
Mitsuri and Shinji. that’s the other couple i’m rooting for!
Yuushh!
Tamaki x Takuma! Ever since the first episode, I thought they’d make a good couple, and I’ve been crossing my fingers, hoping that they’d become one eventually! They’re so cute ^^
It looked as if they were about to kiss in this episode, but.. I guess not =/
Other than that, it was a good episode!
P.S, I’m starting to get the feeling that Mahiro likes Tamaki..
When Tamaki and Takuma were standing together on the path, I actually said: “NOW KISS” out loud. Haha, it was seriously one of those perfect kissing moments. And you’re absolutely right about how actions speak louder than words, Bakamochi! It’s one of my favorite things about this show. The character development is something you can see instead of just something you are told. I also have to make a shout out to Kuroko no Basuke because that show was a character development genius ^^
However, I also have to mention that even though I’m TakumaxTamaki all the way, I really felt for Mahiro in this episode. He’s really looking out for Tamaki and he just wants her to be happy even if that means he has to be Takuma’s secret cheerleader lol. I was really proud of him. On the other hand, I’m about ready to jump into this show and attack Tamaki’s grandmother! What is she even doing these days?! When she was sitting there writing something, I was like: hopefully those are instructions on how to win because I won’t accept anything else at this point! I don’t even understand why they go see her anymore when all she says is: “Tamaki has to figure it out by herself… good luck with that!”
As always, I’m looking forward to the next episode!
I have to watch this show to see what happens next. I have no idea why. Maybe because I’ve spent so much time on it already, or maybe because the writer of the source material knows how to throw nuggets out. But I gotta say, I’m not really enjoying it. The first season explicitly emphasizes in every episode how weak they are until she gets overpowered at the end – ah but the power goes away at the beginning of the 2nd season. Now it seems to me to be the same formula with betrayals happening – something which I loathe. But it irks me how everyone wants to forgive the betrayals. She says that Ohmi wouldn’t betray them without a reason so he isn’t betraying them. BUT there is a reason, Grandma I’m looking at you. She is the ultimate evil in this show. So many of the problems that have occurred in this shows are directly laid at her feet. The youngests betrayals, because she had them throw him out. The oldests betrayal, because she states that she will sacrifice the other girls. The protagonist not having any power, because she will not explain (&^&(^(^&(&*^&*(^%^%%&*$^*%%)&*(_ ANYTHING!. The Antagonist isn’t the girl but the grandma. If she isn’t evil, I can only assume that this is some sort of elaborate scheme she has devised to push the protagonist into raising her power. If not, I’m just gonna say she is a bitch.
The previews are always such a tease~
I hope there will be a better explanation for the Artifacts other than that they make the Tamayori Princess stronger.
https://randomc.net/image/Hiiro%20no%20Kakera/Hiiro%20no%20Kakera%20Dai%20Ni%20Shou%20-%2004%20-%20Large%2023.jpg
NSFW?
Loving this show, and I can’t wait to see how they handle the whole Shinji and Mitsuru thing…
Awesome episode, can’t wait for more mitsuru story. They been building her and shinji up or so long. I need answers. Great start so far for this season.
Damn you grandma for being so cryptic.