Final Impressions / First Impressions / Ore no Kanojo to Osananajimi ga Shuraba Sugiru

「戦略の結末は修羅場」 (Senryaku no Ketsumatsu wa Shuraba)
“The Result Following A Scheme Is A Battlefield”

Eita…your nice guy persona will be the end of you, I swear. I’ll grant you that it is unnecessary and downright cruel for you to make enemies out of your friends, but come on man, you’ve made them all love you even more. I’ll have to disagree with Saeko-san on this one, partially. You have gotten yourself in a full-out battlefield alright, but at the same time you’ve gotten yourself a de facto HAREM! When you decide to passionately hug your former lover, accidentally seal the deal on a shady marriage contract, and kiss both your “girlfriend” and your osananajimi all in the same episode, how can you not expect the most volatile harem to arise! I feel jealous, disappointed, ashamed, and strangely proud all at the same time and I’m sure Saeko-san feels the same.

Let’s face it, the overarching plot here means little compared to the episode to episode interactions between the characters. Let’s also face that Eita is probably in love with all of the characters for different reasons, though one can argue that such love is in varying degrees. Since he interacts with each girl in such a personalized way, it’s hard to make clear-cut comparisons easily, but sure as hell we can try to. Hence, let us look at each character and see just how well they’ve fought in this battlefield.

Himeka “Himekashizuka Heaven’s Rain, Burning Princess Saint Dragon Lady of Dawn, Burning Pudding Princess” Akishino

Show Spoiler ▼

The Master of Love: Ai Fuyuumi

On a legally binding scope (a sketchy one at that), A-chan has already won the battle. With a marriage contract in hand, it’s only a matter of graduation until she’s got Eita in the bag. Putting that aside though, A-chan has put the most effort of all the characters into winning Eita’s heart. Saeko-san wasn’t lying when Ai scored first on the love index–although her tsun may get in the way, the dere is strong in this one. She’s been the most enjoyable character to watch through the series, as it seems her energy seems never ending each episode. She will get in everyone’s way when she gets the chance and disagree with anything she finds disapproving, and she will make it known to everyone around her. “AI-CHAN WINS!” rings through what seems like every episode since her arrival, and for the most part it’s true. The transformation from her tsundere nature to just plain dere with a dash of tsun has been a pleasure to watch, especially in the exaggerated form that she presents it as. She may run away in disappointment at times, but there are equally as many times that she’ll run away, unable to handle the excitement within her.

If you look at it closely though, of all the girls, Ai-chan may have gained the least ground in terms of Eita’s affections. Her chances to express her affection in the last episode were limited due to her disqualification, and although she tries so hard, and although the audience is rooting for her so hard as seen in the comments, she’s rarely been able to garner Eita’s affections apart from her arc. Most of the time Eita deflects her advances for being too strong, which is made even worse due to Eita’s awareness for her feelings. I have no doubt that the love she has for Eita is ridiculously strong, but in terms of reciprocation, Ai-chan may have the lowest ratio of affection returned back. You’ve got to admit, with Eita having no recollection of their childhood, the fact that she held onto that contract for ten years takes serious dedication–that dedication is a bit unsettling, but you’ve got to give props to her for making it happen.

The True Osananajimi: Harusaki Chiwa

There have been some complaints that Chihuahua hasn’t been trying as hard as the other characters in getting ahead of the game, but this latest episode has tipped the tables. Like Akishino, Chiwa’s shining moments come few and far in-between, but when they do come, it’s hard not to give her a chance. Eita hit all the right buttons in dedicating his career to Chiwa in her time of need, but due to years of the status quo and being completely comfortable around Eita, Chiwa didn’t know how to express her true feelings to that gesture. Her competitors only grew in number and intensity as she hesitated–by viewing all of her clubmates as obstacles and enemies, it took an emotional toll on her that depressed her for some time. She wasn’t tall enough, not sexy enough, not the first osananajimi, not Eita’s girlfriend, not Eita’s chuunibyou partner…and the list grew longer and longer. Enter Eita though to point out the one strength she had–he knew Eita the longest, and no one could take that away from her.

From then on out, she’s become more accepting of Eita’s other love interests–she still views them as rivals, but also as good friends who have supported each other. Her confidence grew and her openness to expressing her true feelings climaxed this episode. Make sure you listen this time…Ei-kun, I love you. Chiwa reigns in being able to understand her feelings for Eita the best, in being completely aware of why she loves Eita and having the justification to prove it. Despite the girlfriend blocking her way, despite the disadvantages stacked against her, she finally reached out and claimed what she’s wanted this entire time. Is it moral to not let anyone get in the way of love? Debatable, but this show definitely seeks to challenge that notion, all starting with the osananajimi who’s so close, oh so very close, but so far. From the final episode it’s clear she’s moved towards the front of the battle after being in the shadows of her competitors for the entire series.

The Self-Proclaimed Bitch Queen: Natsukawa Masuzu

Masuzu has always been a curious character, but recently her actions have become more unpredictable. The loathing that Masuzu holds is now limited to herself, thanks to the pure hearts of her fellow maidens. To be frank, I still don’t get Masuzu or the relationship she shares with Eita. They obviously do have affection for one another, but it is a very unorthodox and weird way of expressing it. Does Eita truly love Masuzu enough to be her boyfriend, or does he do so out of the status quo? It looks like they truly are in love with each other, but at the same time they look lost and impulsive with their actions. Masuzu continues to distinguish herself from the other characters as an unpredictable character–one moment she’ll be head over heels with Eita, but a few moments later will revert back to a surface personality without much warning.

But this unpredictability is what defines Masuzu, where Eita is the sole source of stability in Masuzu’s life. Presumably in fear of her household back home and the personality that it left her with, Masuzu harbored jealousy for those happier than her. As she admits in her stage dialogue, she hated Eita so much for having such a happy life and being such a nice guy, but became sad when he was the real deal through the trials she put him through. For that, she’s head over heels for Eita, and it seems Eita has done the same, though his reasons for being with Masuzu still have not crystallized. It’d be easy to blame it on bad writing, but let’s give hope that the reasons for Masuzu’s personality conflicts and Eita’s fall for Masuzu are reasons worth sympathizing with. Mana hinted at such reasons with the small appearance she made last episode–here’s to hoping those reasons reveal themselves in the light novel soon enough.

Overall…

Oreshura, of all the shows I’ve watched this season, arguably has seen the best improvement from beginning to end. At first I lamented this series for all the awkward moments that it portrayed, for all the cringing events that made it almost unbearable to watch. However, things got better as the characters bonded with one another and began to be more open about their feelings. This last episode is a stellar example of that, as everyone lays out on the table what they feel, making it impossible for Eita to misinterpret or be thickheaded about. My predictions were correct in that more characters would make the experience a pleasure to watch. When the battle was a simple love triangle, it felt terrible seeing their interactions be one-sided and heavily antagonistic, with Eita rarely acting of his own accord or Chiwa getting any slack from anyone. With the introduction of the new characters though, the show became a guilty pleasure to watch as the harsh and awkward connections between the characters transformed into a bunch of rivals having fun while trying to win. Though they all love Eita in their own way, they find themselves unable to hate on anyone else–everyone in the group has a sympathetic story to share where no one has done any wrong, creating a scenario where a battlefield can reign during the time of a shaky harem. With such equal footing for all of the characters, it’s no doubt that flames would heat in the audience, so much so that a spin-off manga focusing on Ai’s successes is currently ongoing.

Now, I’m not claiming that Oreshura is a great romantic comedy, but it definitely approaches the harem in a fairly uncommon way. The show managed to draw a variety of reactions from myself throughout the season, and in retrospect I am glad it did so, for better or worse. Some may disagree with how “deserving” or likable the characters are, but just like how the title misleads no one with its “battlefield” statement, the opinions on this show and the characters definitely are just as polarized and heated, as illustrated by the comments. Thank you all for following this show to the end, and thank you for putting up with my sometimes biased attitudes. It’s been a treat blogging this show for you guys, and if this gets a second season, know that I’ll be one of the first to jump on the train.


68 Comments

  1. The ending refueled the fire amongst the girls, but this time, Masuzu have the definite lead. Would like to see a possible second season, or maybe I’ll just pick up the manga.

    P.S. Love the soft color palette they used for this series.

    TSouL
    Reply

  7. It’s harem route or bust, Eita. Whatever one might think of you, no one can begrudge you for trying. -Salute-

    That aside, I find myself pleasantly surprised with how OreShura wrapped itself up. Though admittedly nothing extraordinary, its charming approach and modest depth of characters has left me with an urge to see this story through to its conclusion.

    Interestingly enough however, even now I find myself not leaning towards any heroine in particular; quite a strange twist for someone like me who, admittedly, almost never has that happen.

    Pondering the reason why, I suddenly came to the realization that… ultimately, not a single one of our heroines approaches their romance in the same way; yet they never truly despise or hate each other. Indeed, they seem to share an almost unspoken sense of respect for one another whilst persisting in their tenacity.

    And so I can’t help but wonder if I’ve come to respect these characters a bit myself.

    Ryan Ashlight
    Reply

  8. I liked the ending, however I think the anime could have gone a bit better in some aspects. They cut out of lot stuff that developed Masuzu and Hime in all honesty, which are some of my more favorite parts, but that’s just bias. Just a problem with adaptions I guess, can’t have everything.

    red
    Reply

  10. Wow….this episode truly made me understand how much chiwa really loves Eita; she didnt say “daisuki”…she said “aisheteru”…IT’S ON!!!. Seriously though, was it just me, or did this finale pretty much say “Hey guys, Hime and Ai are just second fiddle so dont expect much from them, the truly battle is between Masuzu and Chiwa”. Seriously, i was expecting heartfelt reconciliation between all the girls but Hime and Ai’s moment with Eita was more comical than it was heartfelt so i could not take their scenes seriously. Im pretty sure that’s a huge hint to the audience that in the grand scheme of things, they arent the main focus of this series (hence why they arent referred to in the title; osanajimi=Chiwa, kanojo=Masuzu). I found chiwa’s final scene with Eita to be so endearing; she realizes how inferior she may be physically to the competition, but she holds hope that she may become more attractive as the years go by, and as such, she noticed that she got a little taller; that was such a subtle way to inject hope for chiwa by the writers. And what’s more, we see Eita hold Chiwa’s side tightly before Masuzu comes in to interrupt. Who knows what could have been had that scene gone on longer without her interruption.

    sonicsenryaku
    Reply

  12. AI: “Ai-chan, Epic Win!”

    wow Ai’s dere side is sooo sweet xD

    imma try to find a animated gif of her “victory dance” (omg those eyes!)

    Eita: “Second one: Epic Fail” …lol’d so hard

    PS: mebe is because it been a while since I saw katanatagari.. but Mazusu reminds me somewhat of Togame (maybe is the hair .. or all the self lying they do) .. dunno

    PS2: omg lol I just saw an episode 1 of katanatagari.. they are the same VA! ofcourse I was getting those vibes!

    Inanis
    Reply

  14. Nice analysis. Rather well thought-out and balanced.

    The only gripe I had with the episode was how abruptly it seemed to have ended with the faceoff from Chiwa and Masuzu. Other than that I’d have to say it’s been pretty fun. Strong moments including the public reconciliation (Eita does it again) as well as Chiwa’s scene. It’s getting real hard to hate any of the girls at all, since all of them have their merits and love Eita in their own ways. As a viewer, I’d really love to have watched more of the backstories for each individual girl, especially Masuzu since her character and relationship with Eita has been far more complicated.

    Just curious…Can there actually be a Shuraba Harem route somehow? :p

    Owaranai
    Reply

  16. Masuzu totally won the first round… and now we enter the second phase of capturing Eita tournament! joke aside, this is both good and bad that the anime ended right here at the end of vol.4 story (as far as the LN is concerned)… it is good in the sense that the story kind of wrapped up to some degree, but it is bad since there is no definite ending to this (no, I don’t want an harem ending, although I might be asking too much…). well, having said that, it might be good place to end for some fans given what happened in later volumes… Show Spoiler ▼

    overall, I liked the anime adaptation, it was a fun watch, though I encourage people to read the LN if able, they definitely makes the characters (yes, all of them) stands out even more!

    and of course, thanks for the coverage as always, Zanibas and others! you guys are great! xD

    jrj
    Reply

  17. I can’t recall a pretty decent harem since OreImo in 2010. I’m no fan of harems, but this was, a little bit different despite the plot going nowhere. I particularly like how it deviates from the standard harems where the MC will always favor the childhood friend. Somehow, even though Eita picks identity-confused Masuzu, we’re back at the harem route again. Obvious season 2 is obvious.

    The Ultimate Ending That Will Satisfy Us All: Masuzu x Eita x Chiwa. Ai and Himeka can be the mistresses.

    UJelly
    Reply

    2. May I ask what anime you watch where the childhood friend is favored? I can’t recall any, and they almost never win. Hell, Japan hates childhood friends-turned-lovers so much, they turned Ranka Lee into Alto’s childhood friend in the movies just so they could make her lose to Sheryl.

      Koji
      Reply

  18. Cool thing they did with the ending credits. I thought of skipping it since it was just past scenes but lo and behold they’re past scenes with character roles reversed. Clearly I don’t recall Chiwa being the one to slam Masuzu’s face on the table.

    Zhinvu
    Reply

  19. I have posted this in another comment box in another site, but i wanna share my thoughts 🙂

    I’m gonna miss OreShura.. anyway. After watching this, the rankings are: (1=highest)
    1. Masuzu
    2. Chiwa
    3. Ai
    4. Hime

    – obviously Masuzu won if OreShura ends here. even if you fake it, you won’t actually stand up for a girl you don’t have strong feelings for in front of a crowd while also ignoring the calls of her friends, let alone kiss her on the lips and not regret it afterwards. the bed scene was just icing on the cake. even though he didn’t confess to Masuzu that what he said in the stage was true, the context tells me that it was true enough for me to believe. his denials and the way he said ‘i hate you’ obviously wasn’t what he really felt. good job, Eita.. Bury Bury Bury Bury Bury Buryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy~~~

    — as for chiwa, the proof i can see here is that after they kissed, eita was going to either hug her back or kiss her which is unlikely, but yeah, he was gonna do something after that. and as one of the main female heroines, i figured this much was gonna happen. lesson : don’t settle for the friendzone if you see a chance?

    — Ai and Hime are awesome in their own ways, but still, Masuzu is queen of the hill. They’ve put up a good fight, though. I nearly shipped Ai because of her tsundere-ity; I have a knack for tsunderes…

    well, i’m still hoping for another season..

    OreShura Fan
    Reply

    1. Read the LN and see that Eita doesn’t have romantic feelings for CShow Spoiler ▼

      and he was not about to kiss her.

      I will never get why they cut out so much of Masuzu in this adaption. She is the main heroine and she is by far the most interesting character in this story.

      glafus
      Reply

  20. As a regular viewer:

    Masuzu’s TRUE deredere side briefly showing itself at the end was adorable! (When she’s nuzzling Eita and all.)

    Of course, Ai continues here bipolar tsundereness too, lol. And not only was it a signed contract, but IN BLOOD. That’s like one of the furthest you can go. XD

    Himeka somehow finding “Villager A” to be just as good, lol.

    From a more objective point-of-view:

    Sadly, I feel it was a bit rushed and a little bit of a cop out with how it ended.

    I still never got any actual feelings of mutual affection between Eita and any of the girls. As I mentioned back in episode 10, a lot of it was still primarily from the girls’ side (with Eita just being dragged along). This episode really showed it too. They muster up the courage to just throw the dice and put their feelings out there, not just to Eita, but in front of an entire crowd no less, (and putting Eita right on the spot) yet Eita doesn’t seem to react any differently from other times, just blushing a little out of embarrassment.

    But then Masuzu comes up and it felt like everything the others said was all but forgotten. I’d have to say that it did feel more like Eita was just filing the status quo than actual affection, and it also just felt a bit insensitive to the others. I mean, if I were to be a girl in that sort of situation, and the guy I just professed my wholehearted feelings to just seems to all but ignore them, then trample on them, and goes up to a “rival” spouting out how, because of how that girl is, he’s the only one who can be with her, then just kisses in front of everyone like that, I can’t imagine just how broken I’d feel after.

    I mean, if they went on further after the competition was over and have Eita talk to them and get to an understanding (rather than the whole “make them hate you” bit), it would’ve felt a lot better.

    But, of course, they just couldn’t end it with an actual “decision”, so they just went and had total line of convenient misunderstandings to reignite the competition. I mean, I could understand if the others simply didn’t want to give up and wait for their chance, but the misunderstandings went beyond that and just gave a total feeling of false hope to the others. Like Eita’s kiss to Chiwa just felt like a pity kiss to me.

    Of course, I get that the LN isn’t finished or anything, but with what we’ve gotten so far…eh…

    HalfDemonInuyasha
    Reply

  21. The problem I have had with Masuzu has been the lack of a backstory. Why is she the way she is? With these last episodes we’ve started to see what has made her what she is. The discussion Eita had with her sister gave me enough information to finally understand her. Eita has obviously grown to love her, but also realizes that she can’t accept that yet, so he plays along. Her cynical armor which has kept her going is starting to break as she falls in love with Eita and as she sees the girls desire to be her friend withstand her attempts to give them cause to hate her. The phone charm was just about the last draw. Her self loathing has started to overwhelm her. Calling herself a fake has allowed her to tell Eita how she feels but always gives her an out because she can just declare it’s a lie. I didn’t care to see Masuzu win till now, but once she drops the facade I think she’s the obvious winner.

    Bear
    Reply

  23. A nicely done final episode I’d say.Coupled with the the previous one,12 and 13 are easily the best episodes of the series.Oh and it goes withouth saying that a 2nd season is in demand.

    I don’t even recall any previous season that had 2 good harem animes(obviously Haganai & OreShura)in it & not just the usual “decent time killer ones” and I can’t help but grin when I think that maybe,just MAYBE part of the harem shows are changing for the better.At any rate,I’d personally prefer that instead of let’s say 50% bad harems and 50% mediocre ones we’d get something like 80% bad and 20% good.There might be seasons completely devoit of any worth watching that way but the ones that are worth the time won’t be forgotten such as the 2 mentioned earlier.

    MgMaster
    Reply

  24. So in a way, Chiwa’s ravenous appetite for Meat Kashiwazaki_Sena was actually a big hint of her wanting to grow more developed breasts, butt, and height to make sure Kidou-kun notices her as a viable love interest? Hmmm, interesting. I wonder what Freud would say had he been alive to watch this anime?

    foureyeszerosoul
    Reply

  25. Fairly decent. I’ll confess that I watched this mainly for Tamura Yukari’s voice, though.

    And I still can’t really get the like for Ai. She’s competent and observant, definitely – but if you gave her a more screwed up home life she’d probably be a dead ringer for Gasai Yuno. (Seriously, think about it. See the similarities.) And I don’t think Eita’s quite got the latent psycho in him like Yukiteru to able to deal with a Yuno.

    Corin
    Reply

  26. I simply liked this show. The protag is actually aware of the feelings of the harem and hides in the “fake” relationship as to not deal with it, but ends up falling for the “fake”. Yes, yes, I like this twist and I enjoyed this season. 😀 Seconds please?

    cyprinious
    Reply

  27. OreShura definitely makes my list for top Winter show. I enjoyed everything from the typical anime archetypes (childhood friend, childhood friend with promise, chuunibyou, tsundere, etc) to the “Ah, I know what you did there” moments. For example, the four girls’ last names conveniently contain the four seasons (Eita points that out in episode 10) or when the girls insult each other with the literal English translation of their names (Natsukawa = Summer River, Chiwa = Thousand Japan, Ai = Love Cloth).

    In any case, shows like OreShura and Sakurasou restore my faith in J.C. Staff. As many RandomC writers have pointed out, romantic comedies are really where J.C. Staff shine. With that, another series is added to my list of “waiting for continuation.”

    Thanks Zanibas, I enjoyed your coverage of this show the entire season!

    Aoihoshikage
    Reply

  29. So much for avoiding Harem and Battlefield route.
    Ai-chan need to get the real papers, not gonna work with that handwritten paper there.
    If Eita break to Hime that he is in fact not burning fighting fighter, but a dog. I wonder how Hime will response?

    Tingster013
    Reply

  30. The lack of Kaoru left me in despair.
    All that Hime love brings me hope.

    In the end it was a mediocre show and a mediocre adaptation as well. It got better midway when Ai showed up but that simply made it less terrible.

    Ananas
    Reply

  32. One of the best constructed shows in this season. The whole show confirms the virtuosity of director Kanta Kamei and of the main writer Tatsuhiko Urahata (especially the former). OP and ED are excellent, too. It’s so touching how Chiwa has managed to declare her love for Eita. Just compare her “I love you” in episode 1 and 13 … But it’s interesting to see Eita doesn’t love any girl of the four yet: he still hates romance after all and gives himself up to playing a roll of Masuzu’s “accomplice”. Masuzu must start loving Eita and, just as ED says, she is scared by something starting but cannot help going on, which will be a potential season 2 about. BTW, I think the most impressive pic is missing: Chiwawa’s feet.

    Serge
    Reply

  33. well look eita you’re enlisted to harem battlefield you got 4 targets that will get ya good luck you’re going to need it.

    give main still is troll-suzu vs chiwa.

    COBRA!!!
    Reply

  34. Chiwa just gained my respect there with that final conversation and sneaky kiss! Though I want to see Masuzu really win,the story isn’t over yet and I guess the next season if there is one will be an exciting one.

    Though the other 2 girls tried their best, one sided love Hime and childish Ai chan just won’t take the lead after this I guess.

    Hmm, I wonder what Chiwa meant by come back in 9 years…

    mianghuei
    Reply

  35. zanibas i like the poll you posted at the end of your blog, now it really shows
    i hope there is a second season, and by the way i leave you with these words from the oreshura author:
    “In many locations, the characters moved for the sake of “Love”. “For who’s sake”, “For what sake”, they brandished love, got themselves tired, giving their all, dying and living for it. On the other side, Natsukawa Masuzu moved for “the sake of Running Away from Love”. At the very least, she believed that. However, she couldn’t escape it by herself, and as such, got Kidou Eita, a man with the same value system as her, involved, and continued running away from love. It was not an “Escape of Love”, but an “Escape from Love”. Where can these two run to? And what will they go through when love catches up to them? I’ll be happy if you can continue following it to the end.”
    —–read between the line folks…. masuzu all the way 🙂

    gajeell
    Reply

  36. Animes are slowing but steadily evolving, and I’m pleased about that.

    A general discussion is beyond my capabilities and would be off topic, but I’d like to talk about harems with this one in mind in particular. The way this genre is approached recently was unthinkable until not too many years ago, when most of the shows sported the indecisive male protagonist, dense as a neutron star, often a weakling with no features to be remembered and a shallow personality, surrounded by a bunch of stereotypical girls being nothing more than the exact expression of their stereotypes, falling in love with the male lead for no reason as he deserved no attention.
    Now look at the most recent ones. They are still flowed of course (the whole genre has an intrinsic flow if you think about it) and not quite near to being masterpieces, but we have got to see (finally) a good amount of changes.

    Let’s talk about the male protagonist first. He is now portrayed as an intelligent character (at least respect to the past), more aware of his surroundings and the feelings of the people near him, somewhat capable, reliable at some degree and with a good personality with likable traits that can justify having some girls falling for him. He can still be thickheaded at times, or even most of the times, but that’s now more often an aware choice than not, just think about Eita here or Kodaka from Haganai, they both have their own issues (that incidentally also make them more “real”) for not fully acknowledging the feelings of the girls around them. We as the audience may or may not agree with their way, but we have ceased to treat them as a mere anonymous point of view inside the story, because they are now an active, well defined part of that story, so we are now connecting with the male characters in a different way. That “improvement” in the male characters extends to other genres as well, think about Manabe from Kotoura-san for romantic comedies or Mahiro and Yoshino from Zetsuen no Tempest for action shounens, just to name some examples.

    The increased plausibility of the male lead feelings and behaviour, couldn’t be achieved without making the girls around him more believable, too. That means we are now going to see them suffer, and more deeply, way more that in the old anime where the “everyone is happy” route was the standard way to go. But that has never been the case in the real world, and was the major flow of the harem genre (in my opinion, of course): an anime can be set in the most unrealistic of the universe and bring forth the most uncommon or incredible situations, it may allow magic, improbable science or whatever you desire, but it should never strip the characters of their “humanity”, i.e. their realistic way of feeling. The connection with the characters is the key for us to enter into the story.
    Come to think about it, male reader (wow you are still with me after this wall of text), no girl that is in love with someone, wants to be part of a harem (at the very least it’s utterly uncommon), as much as we guys wouldn’t like the reverse situation either. Admittedly, the whole harem genre indulges with our (of males) GUILTY pleasure in thinking about such a situation, being loved by many wonderful girls sounds so beautiful … I let myself wander in this thoughts of course, but that is accompanied by the aforementioned guilt about the girls, although the amount depends on the people, I guess.
    Anyway, regardless of the gender, a person in love would get jelous, suffer, get depressed, get angry, and this anime (as other recent ones) is starting to show that to us. In the last episodes of OreShura I could get how Hime is feeling knowing she’s not likely getting the boy she likes, how much Chiwa is suffering for thinking of being less attractive than the others (Chiwa you are wrong, by the way) and being unable to reach the heart of her loved one, how hard Ai is trying, how confused Masuzu is about herself. I forgot it was a harem show, as the focus has shifted on the inside of the characters and their interactions.

    That was something I was waiting for since a long time, as before that was an exclusive of more “serious” genres. Harem shows will hardly ever become globally recognized masterpieces, but let’s welcome a finally renewed way to approach them.

    See you in the next ones.

    Voyager
    Reply

    1. Yeah, I brought up the harem aspect before. As much as it may sound like paradise on paper, it will more than likely end up a nightmare in the long run unless you find the “perfect” girls for it, which the chances of doing so are extremely slim.

      Though, as you bring up, I DO like that there are SOME non-typical harem male leads as, more often than not, the male will usually be the same “nice”, “sensitive”, “‘naturally’ dense”, “underdog”, etc foil. And yet, despite being seen as at the “bottom of the food chain” socially, they still tend to have much better looks than a lot of other males they show in the series, lol (or the others are mostly flat out perverts or jerks). Not to mention it only takes 1 kind deed or something to make a girl(s) fall head over heels for them without really establishing an actual relationship or mutual affection between them.

      HalfDemonInuyasha
      Reply

    2. Thank you for your thoughtful commentary! I too am glad that harems this season moved away from making main characters clueless for the sake of preserving stability and delving into the female character’s conflicting feelings rather than well…oppai oshiri mizugi all the time~

      I have similar hopes for henneko next season :3

      Zanibas
      Reply

      1. Omg, yes. For some reason, I am really looking forward to Henneko as well, although I have never read the light novels or the manga. I hope my expectations are met!

        Shadowfax14
        Reply

  37. Jumping on the Chiwa ship in much the same way Stilts probably have for all the same reasons. I’m frustrated with Ai, every time it seems like she’s about to get a seriously good moment, her childish behavior gets in the way and disturbs me even more. If her behavior wasn’t so disturbing I would be all for her winning… In any case, a 2nd season would be obviously needed, because this ending isn’t acceptable. Eita needs to pick one.

    J_the_Man
    Reply

      1. sorry, had to make sure the spoiler tag worked…anyway, the ending of the recently released volume 6 of oreshura seems to be leaning towards a Show Spoiler ▼

        sonicsenryaku
        Reply

      2. If that’s true… Then it’ll kinda suck for me then.

        Now I know that Masuzu clearly gives the main heroine vibe but still.. Damn…

        Everytime Chiwa gets her time I just feel depressed and get choked a little. She got painfully friendzoned. I just can’t help but root for her.

        Regarding the poll, I voted for Chiwa just because she really won the spotlight for me here. If maybe I read the LN then maybe it would’ve swung me to the other side. She’s on the same level as developed as Masuzu I guess(anime). I had my shares of annoyance with Masuzu’s and Chiwa’s personality. Nevertheless what I saw here and what I got, I gotta hand it to Chiwa.

        Seriously though, I never imagined I’d watch another harem-esque show. Surprised to say but I enjoyed it. The girls were pretty quirky. To tell you the truth, the ones that hooked me interested in this and picked it up late was, the opening song and Masuzu’s color palette. In fact the whole color palette for this show was soothing. I really like it.

        Anyway as much as I enjoy Ai-chan’s childish behaviour I find her not a real contender as Chiwa is to Masuzu. I dunno, she just became some sort of comedic relief. She succesfully done that and I’m happy with that. 1 less girl to lament about. Hime on the other side… Forgotten.. so that’s another minus…

        If S2 comes, may the best 2 REAL heroines win.

        megalith
        Reply

    1. That’s more because of the vocal minority who prefer to judge characters by first impression. Not everyone who has an opinion actually takes the time to comment. I mean, OreShura hasn’t broken 100 posts on any of it’s episodes but there’s like around 1000 votes on the poll.

      Kuntzy
      Reply

  42. Soooo, who thought anyone except masuzu would win?
    Anyone?…………..of course no one because nobody (especially japan and the usa) can make unique anything anymore. Romcoms/harems always have the first girl the audience sees win, those with some incest bullshit either make them not blood related or MC ends up with a different but still boring girl (check kono naka’s LN)

    riii
    Reply

  44. Ai Fuyuumi actually disqualified though didn’t get the real hanko only bloody fingerprint. Himeka Akishino not willing to accept the fact. Chiwa Harusaki is still acting like a childhood friend. Masuzu Natsukawa a bit realistic confessing that she did mess up earlier.

    Lim Lynn
    Reply

  47. See you Eita,Masuzu and characters from oreshura if therses gonna be second season 😀 (I only mentioned eita and masuzu’s name because for me they’re special.How? they’re anti-romance lovers) :p

    DatAnime
    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *