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「はじめての学園祭 」 (Hajimete no Gakuensai)
“The First School Festival”
There’s an ominous air that surrounds Houjou High School’s school festival this year and I’m not just talking about the showdown between Mayura and Takayanagi, but also what’s going with Izumiko and her internal demons too. It’s clear that there’s more than one story being told one, one that follows Izumiko and the spirit within her, and the other one surrounding the Souda family. For the most part, it seems like Miyuki and Sagara are mainly trying to keep Izumiko away from it all. They’re trying to protect her for her own good (and for good reason) but it also seems like Izumiko gets herself dragged into these situations. It doesn’t help that Mayura and Manatsu have no idea what Izumiko is and I think that’s a secret that Miyuki is trying to protect from them.
The rest of the episode was made up of little happenings around the festival. There was the parade which required a princess – a role which is apparently cursed. I wouldn’t say that Izumiko was off the hook either, but that’s an entirely different situation compared to what the other girls encountered. I thought Izumiko would’ve learned to grow a backbone a bit more, but luckily Miyuki was there to knock some sense into her. Their relationship really is coming more to life with every episode, however I also think that makes it more frustrating to watch. It’s pretty obvious now that Izumiko likes Miyuki (and vice versa) and as she comes to terms with that, I just know it will drive me crazy that she’s so quiet about it. I like strong dominant female characters and Izumiko isn’t growing as quickly as I’d hoped.
Then there was that haunted house… was anyone else reminded of FMA:B when they saw those hands? Damn that’s creepy. I don’t doubt that Izumiko saw ghosts, but that’s what makes it so much more terrifying for her. I’m not sure what the message the ghosts were trying to get across, but I do think that they’re trying to save or tell her something. Speaking of haunted houses, I don’t think any of the people visiting the house actually got sick. It just seemed like there was a massive line up for the nurse’s office just because Sagara was there; not because girls were actually getting sick. That’s one mystery solved…
There’s only 2 episodes of RDG left and while there’s still quite a bit of story left, I don’t want to overhype myself for the ending. Even after 10 episodes, I still feel as though there’s a general lack of understanding that I have for this anime. Perhaps it’s because I don’t fully understand the intentions of the characters or what the ultimate goal is for each of them. This is definitely an anime that needs a second season, one cour is not enough to dive into the heart of the story that RDG has to offer.
Preview
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Artwork for the RDG Blu-ray?/DVD? release by illustrator Mel Kishida.
http://pds2.exblog.jp/pds/1/201305/23/63/e0199963_9541180.jpg
Pity the series itself still hasn’t shown Miyuki wearing full Shugendo costume yet.
Also if anyone has read the RDG novels 1-6 feel free to post spoilers.
That’s the back cover, the front cover is this –
http://ec2.images-amazon.com/images/I/71Zma-1a2LL._AA1500_.jpg
Found it rather cute when Izumiko started pouting and throwing abit of a jealous tantrum when Miyuki was talking about Himegami 😛
And is this series only gonna be 1 cour long? Because it thus seem that there is alot of story unexplained. The OP itself already indicates that there is still alot more to go.
https://randomc.net/image/Red%20Data%20Girl/Red%20Data%20Girl%20-%2010%20-%20Large%2010.jpg
this image made the episode for me 😀
Izumiko is way too moe than how I expected her to be.
I’m a bit worried. With only two episoded to go and it doesn’t look like they even started to wrap things up.
I prefer strong female characters as well and although Izumiko is getting to it rather slowly, it’s nice to see that she IS changing. To think that the show is ending makes it frustrating though. It’s like the whole series is an introduction.
Apparently episode 12 is the final episode….why?!!! that’s not nearly long enough and this anime has so much potential too…><
My questions were answered~! You know for a ‘starting’ festival episode, not much happen. Or maybe it was me? Or maybe they’re saving it for the next episode? I’m still in Hyouka’s world which set the standard ridiculously high for any anime out there of how a festival episode(s) should be. I mean seriously, what an awesome arc that was! -COUGHS- Moving on.
Wait. The Himegami only appears out of dire situations? I didn’t get that memo with all of that trolling last week. Unless that was-what was important.
For some reason, I honestly lost count, and I would seriously give a cookie to whoever can point out all of the times this has happen…but how many times has Miyuki been ‘fire’ for being her bodyguard? No, guys seriously everything is a horrendous blur. Miyuki has been fire so many times that I honestly don’t know when to take it serious anymore. So he’s officially OFF DUTY for now on? And I mean that loosely.. So Izumiko is basically upgrading from a cute young bodyguard, to a hotter older teacher who’s going to follow her everywhere creating more fanbase that would rival Mayura’s fanclub that could led to scandalous rumors about a student-teacher affair that would invoke a father-and-son family conflict of rivalry for a teenager girl/Himegami that the world has never seen?
Um. Sounds legit. I hope you’ll pause and take that last sentence into consideration about what an amazing anime that would actually be. I. Would. Watch. The. Fuck. Out. Of. That. Religiously. Also did Masumi just ruined the action for the next episode by potentially removing that curse that was in place for Mayura!? D< I mean I don't know if he did or not, he just 'poof' and implied that he could remove it quickly. Damnit Masumi, I wanted to see Mayura in action as the princess and to tackle that trap. Either way, looking forward to the final episodes.
A grade-schooler in Hyouka’s world could tell this story better than this, or better yet let Oreki ghost write this shit. At least he won’t introduce all these useless characters & the let them do – nothing. If I had Himegami appear out of me for every time I was confused while watching this show, the world would be long gone. I don’t mind being confused about all the jargon this show is spewing. That’s only natural for westerners. Its the plot that didn’t have any freaking direction or just didn’t make sense at all. It’ll make some sense at the end of the next episode but that means anyone who haven’t watched it yet is still conplete in the dark of why this mess is still on . . .
But seriously, did anything actually happen in this episode besides all the “I’m going to eat you” vibes from Matsumi at the end? That’s some great foreshadowing, really great . . .
Hyouka was awesome. Fact. Ok, so it depends on your personal taste. But I suppose comparing the two is frankly unfair. They’re different. The issue I have with RDG is that it’s executed poorly with no sense of direction that it makes it confusing to follow, even more so with such type of theme that Westerners will have a hard time following.
I stated before that you must be somewhat knowledgeable about the spirits and BG to fully appreciate this anime and someone stated that I didn’t. I call bullshit. You really fucking do. Otherwise you don’t fully understand why things happen the way they did. I think if they wrap up the story in such a bullshit fashion I’ll honesty be piss.
Anytime when you read or watch something that you need a ton of relatively useless prior info/knowledge to even achieve a basic understanding of what’s happening, you end up with that confusing cheated feeling. Whether you throw the need for that info away or take a wiki crash course on it, you still have to rely on the basic story to make sense out of any of it. Needless to say, nothing is explained in this story at all. Nothing! Not even the basis for the plot itself.
I watched everything & I still have no idea why Izumiko went to that dumb school. You can guess why & everything, but it would still be just a guess. She just went there just for the hell of it, or to follow Miyuki – to get in a lot of BS along with him & Himegami. That’s my guess. I also guess you have to know a lot more to get anything else out of it. You’re gonna be pissed episode 12 . . .
@Megas
Exactly, why must I go online and take a Wiki crash course to enjoy a series!? Shouldn’t they explain everything, if not some things, in the series as it continues to go along? If by watching it you don’t understand it, you’re just fucked. Simple as that. The creators don’t have to explain things to themselves, they know wtf they’re doing, to them it’s a damn masterpiece. Like yes, let us in on your little secrets plz! We’re not in the same story board room meeting! We’re the damn audience, explain shit! D<
I'm already piss! xD I already know it's going to be some bullshit, there is no way it would redeem itself (the show) on the last episodes. The sad thing is that this anime may go down as one of those pretty animes that you didn't really understand well at all. And that's a shame. You'd figure a nicely animated series would have better structure.
The novels are finished and the impression I have gotten is that the anime is supposed to cover them all, thus episode 12 is the final episode of this tale. Correct me if I am wrong.
Vol 6 Show Spoiler ▼
I would think there will be an OVA or extra episodes in BluerayDiscs selling. This story does not look like you can close properly with only 2 episodes. Considering that the rate should have had 1 or 2 OVA to properly complete. At the end I have only speculation. We need to see the remaining episodes, and pray it does not end badly.
Short anime all across the board this season, even though it’s so good ;/
This little boy is going to grow up to be a leader.You can see the pride in his face when he took Izumiko’s hat like a boss lol
I think Himegami and Izumiko’s personalities are starting to merge.Himegami already said she was going to take over the body and I doubt Izumiko just said the same thing Himegami said about Miyuki talking about other women to be a coincedence.
OBJECTION!!!
>End on a cliffhanger.
>Skip the events that happens next in the succeeding episode.
goddammit.
Even without knowing anything about Japanese folklore, I think you should be able to understand the story. There are some confusing elements, I won’t deny that but it’s not that confusing, is it?
By the way, Izumiko looks really cute in that hairstyle. <3
I’ve followed niconico’s screenings and its already done airing (won’t spoil anything) and decided to watch the better quality ones again. And honestly, up till this point the show isn’t proving anything despite watching twice. Sometimes in the past episodes even the situations weren’t explained clearly and I’m getting pretty confuse. They really need to make a second season for this show there more to show.
The show has actually a very good background setting and the character’s personality and backstory isn’t that bad just that the creators didn’t utilized them well. The show is just far to fast paced in my opinion:\ some of the previous episode could’ve have more juice in it… Its like a under cooked dish…