「いつかはマイファミリー」 (Itsuka wa Mai Famirii)
“Someday, My Family”

Hello everybody! Stilts here, covering for Zanibas while he’s off at some con or flirting with beautiful ladies or something, I don’t know I don’t really listen well. All I know is I heard “Can someone cover HenNeko for me?”, and I jumped at that like Tsukushi on a stockpile of Tsukiko photographs. This week was more serious than usual, but it was good serious, and Koutetsu-chan was still around to deliver the laughs. Thank the warawanai neko for that dense buchou!

Wishes within wishes

If I had a qualm about this episode, it was that Youto took such a long time to confront Tsukushi about her wish. It really seemed like there was no reason to hold back, especially since she’s a baka and so readily accepted the situation when he brought it up. Fortunately, the episode was roundly saved when it became clear that Koutetsu-chan’s wish wasn’t the only one that had been made – in addition to her previous one that moved Youto’s room into the storehouse, Tsukiko had made another one as well. A good bit of misdirection there.

P.S. The range on the big warawanai neko’s wishes is OP. They don’t even have to be in front of it, but can wish from anywhere in the house? Imba! Nerf, neeeerf! (Sorry, been playing too many video games lately. I’ll stop.)

Tsukiko is just lonely…as is Tsukushi

With everything they’ve gone through – both of their parents dying, living in a giant house full of memories – it’s not surprising that the two Tsutsukakushi sisters are lonely. What surprised me was the lengths they were willing to go to banish that loneliness. Not just Tsukiko’s wish, which she had to know was a short-term fix at best, but her asking Youto to become her ani. (That expression, hng~) Let’s face it, Tsukiko’s feelings for Youto have been made as clear as day, so we all know that a brother-sister familial relationship isn’t the kind she’d prefer, but she was willing to settle for him as her fake-ani just to have him nearby. First she sacrificed her facial expressions to bind them together, and now this…Tsukiko’s love might not be as ridiculous as Tsukushi’s is for her, but it may be just as twisted.

That’s why I think it was right for Youto to turn her down. Mind you, I think he could have done better than “I want to be close but distant”, but even that may have been for the best – to ever truly take part in an adult relationship, Tsukiko needs to be able to stand on her own better, or at least that’s this humble writer’s opinion. I think Youto becoming her fake-ani would have been enabling that kind of dependence in Tsukiko, which doesn’t seem healthy to me.

Fortunately, Youto made the right choice, Tsukiko took back her wish, and my oh my, wasn’t that scene beautiful. Nice to see J.C.Staff isn’t skimping on the animation on the scenes that matter. Wonderful!

The love triangle is now a square

Oh lordie lordie, I am always (pleasantly!) surprised by how much of a baka Tsukushi is. She showed it throughout the entire episode, from her worrying about where Youto’s hands were when the storehouse was just blown away around them, to accidentally revealing her secret room with absolutely no provocation at all. Still, best of all as that end scene! I’m going to start a new paragraph so I can appropriately fangirl about this:

MOVE OVER, Tsukiko and Azuki Azusa, Koutetsu-chan has entered the fray!! I knew as soon as Youto showed Tsukushi the Yokodera family record that she wouldn’t believe his little brother didn’t exist, but her falling head over heels for Youto’s not-at-all-different alter ego was beyond expectations! (Okay, actually I got spoiled on it like two weeks ago, but it was still funny.) Plus, it goes without saying that Tsukushi wanting to capture both Tsukiko and Youto’s “younger brother” makes her a woman after my own heart. Though I guess that would make it a love pentagon? Or a hexagon, if you counted both Youtos.

Ahhh screw it, we all know I’d just go after Azuki Azusa anyway. Call me, Youto! I’ll simplify your life back into (only) a love triangle any day. I’m a helper like that.

Looking Ahead – Make me a different me

This show sure loves to throw out those cliffhangers, especially these last three episodes. Of them all though, this one might be the most dangerous of them all. The others were reversible since the people who wished for them were the same as they always were, but how much will this wish change Azuki Azusa inside? She may not even want to turn back, no matter what Youto does. Maybe I’m reading too much into it, but I guess we’ll see!

tl;dr: @StiltsOutLoud – Wishes on top of wishes. Tsukiko is lonely, Azuki Azusa is frustrated, & Tsukushi is…well, lonley too, but mainly just a baka #HenNeko

Random thoughts:

  • Youto slept in a house full of beautiful young girls, unguarded by any parents, and he couldn’t sleep over the warawanai neko? Okay, I mean it’s smart to worry about that kind of wish, but that’s not what I expect in an anime protagonist!
  • Did you notice how Tsukiko & Tsukushi’s father had the same type of ahoge as Youto? Ufufu~
  • Azuki Azusa is going to try to make a whole soccer team with that tiny body? A tsundere gone dere is a wonderful thing indeed!
  • In case you haven’t heard, I launched a new blog called Stilts Out Loud, where I’m chronicling my journey towards becoming an author. You should check it out!

Full-length images: 25, 35.

 

Preview

40 Comments

  1. Tsukushi joins the harem! lol

    And this goes to further illustrate how Tsukiko still has emotions, but merely is unable to openly express them like before, which can be easy to forget because of her expressionless face and monotone voice, so hearing about what she wanted just makes you feel for her.

    But I also feel bad for Azusa. Despite her obviously being more smitten with Youto, it feels like she doesn’t get any real attention from him; from his not getting her calls, to now.

    HalfDemonInuyasha
    1. Doesn’t matter, they are one and the same. When she finally gets it, she’s going to be in for some heart break as she’d sacrifice her own feelings to let her little sister be happy.

      EliteF22
      1. It’s already been said before she approves of letting them both marry Yokodero. I think she’ll still be okay with that when she finally realizes it herself.

        Yokodera! You lucky bastard you!!!

        Vaans
  2. It appears something happened to youto in the past and made him lose his memories as he can’t remember tsukiko and now it looks like he knew her mother. Not to mention he didn’t even realise the clothes he borrowed where his

    Bukszie
    1. I was thinking that maybe Youto is somekind of wish realized. He has no memories going back some years ago and he had that flash back holding his mother’s hand that I think was also the girls mother so I’m guessing that maybe they not only lost the parents but maybe a brother too? Anyway something deep is going on and I love this show!

      diaz
  3. Wooooohhhooooo Stilts did a Review!!!!
    You should definitely pick some shows an review the s**t out of them!!!!!!!!
    Your Blog is awesome too, but i just love your way of writing about single anime episodes.

    I’m going to start a new paragraph so I can appropriately fangirl about this:

    No one is better at fangirling than you!

    Ootani-kun
    1. I would like to second this! I really like your reviews. You’re really good at digging out the real depth of the episode, and you highlight the emotions it portrays excellently. That’s one big reason why I was disappointed to learn you weren’t reviewing any shows this season. I hope you’ll be back and reviewing more for us soon!

      Wanderer
    2. Nyahaha, well thank you! As usual I’ll keep mum on whether that’s going to happen or not, but I will say that I’m probably only going to do a couple more My Way or the Anime posts for the rest of this season, so I can finished getting rested up / work on my book more. You’ll just have to wait and see what next season brings : )

      Stilts
      1. So my eyes weren’t playing a trick on me, and you really did do a review for this episode. Oh, how I’ve missed the weekly fan-girling. Any chance you’ll be doing the last episode of Achiga-hen?

        Annyms
    1. Tsukushi: how dense can YOU be?! lol XD. Best line of the episode.
      That’s a good question. The sisters have a great trauma Tsutsukakushi. The loss of her parents has left a vacuum at Tsukiko. She is afraid of losing another loved one. She must first recover her expressions, or stop pretending not to. Just as her wish, it get worse their dependence on Youto. Nothing good will come out while she is still insecure and not end their fears.

      Shadow74
  4. Stilts, I don’t think the link you have in the words “Secret Room” is the link you wanted. It does lead to a very pretty picture from the episode, but it has nothing to do with the secret room…

    Anyway. I am INCREDIBLY worried about Azusa right now. A wish like that made in front of the cat… That could easily be equivalent to committing suicide. Azuki Azusa as the person she is could cease to exist, perhaps forever as the new person may not want to change back, and is that worth it? Just because Yokodera doesn’t love-love her? She still has friends who truly care about her, who like her for who she is. How will they feel if that person they care about basically kills herself in this way?

    Why aren’t any of these kids learning to be careful what they wish for? Were it me, it would only take one or two examples of the way that cat grants wishes to warn me off completely. By now, you couldn’t pay me to state a desire anywhere near that thing.

    Wanderer
    1. Thanks Wanderer! Yeah, made a mistake on that cap.

      As for Azuki Azusa, I thought it was pretty obvious that the pink-haired loli is going to be her. What remains to be seen is whether she’s still the same old Azuki Azusa on the inside.

      Stilts
    1. Ahaha, my apologies. I’m experimenting with an alternate method of taking screencaps that should (and did!) increase my speed, thus making it easier for me to blog. Alas, it comes at the cost of me occasionally missing an especially juicy image or two.

      Hopefully we’ll see more of her soon!

      Stilts
  5. Though Tsukushi is my heroine of choice, their mother is also a sight for sore eyes. It’s no wonder both sisters are very pretty in their own way. I would be jealous of Tsukushi’s dad if I wasn’t so jealous of Yokodera. Hopefully, Tsukushi does discover that Yokodera is just one person. I want to see if she still falls in love with him after that fact.

    dytianquin
  6. Tsukushi is winning me over more & more with each episode.”How can you be so dense?” ~ my sides still hurt from that.Also,just like the people around them I too,was clapping after that kiss.

    I’m really tempted to board the Tsukishi sh…NO!Must…not!A true hentai prince can’t limit himself to one girl,he must have a harem!

    MgMaster
  7. It would be really bad if Yokodera turned out to become the 2 sisters’ brother… Then that would mean that the two would be erased from the love candidates which leaves only Azuki Azusa which may become the default love interest..

    …Oh, Tsukushi, ‘how dense can YOU be’?!

    Red HeartGold
  8. First point: Azusa no ecchi XD. That daring to want a family soccer team lol XD. Azusa won my heart with that line. Pay attention to she Youto.

    Second point: Tsukushi found the same answer as Cthuko, when there is a love triangle make a trio lol XD. I can not believe the same situation happens in these two animes in the same season lol XD

    Shadow74
  9. The animation was really impressive this week. The wet hair drawings were awfully realistic renderings of what the characters’ hairstyles would look wet. If only all anime could be drawn so well…

    CarVac
      1. It varies depending on the encode…the version I have looks dramatically, immediately better than screenshots 1 and 2. Though of course BD will be leaps and bounds ahead.

        CarVac
  10. Wait, Stilts, where’s the sexy see-through eyecatch screencap?

    Still, I was going to comment on it even without the cap anyway, I nearly mistook that cutie for Tsukushi, but it was actually the Athletics Team Vice Cap. I confused them even in the OP since they both had ponytails, though Tsukushi has a longer tail with a smaller ribbon, while Vice Cap has a bigger blue ribbon.

    Anonymous
  11. First it was Iwai, now it’s Kotori, go back to your own anime!

    This episode teaches the audience a lesson of important value, and that is to keep Tsukiko away from your prized collections or suffer the consequences D;

    I felt just as dumb as the Queen of Steel when I found out the parents were dead.I guess the anime logic of bills pay themselves even with dead parents prevailed so the thought of the parents being dead never really crossed my mind.

    We have the Hax Neko granting wishes all willy nilly and you don’t even have to say “I wish” at all.

    Idiot flags getting raised, Tsukiko trying to commit suicide with a wish ;(, and heartbroken lolis going to the dark side

    Magoiichi
  12. so now face with big storm now wondero to give sure get all things to safety & oh steel queen got secret room full of tsukiko pic but now closed & youto see pic of parents of tsukiko & steel queen give bow to them.

    youto tell steel queen about big stone cat & tried unwish the doing give it did work but somehow only effect house only give revealed it was tsukiko did it.

    so youto reason with tsukiko on it give she want a brother give some talks manage patch-up all good house fine & til awkward cause steel queen kiss “younger brother” youto cause azusa saw it uh-oh.

    b.i.t.w.

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