First Impressions / Ro-Kyu-Bu!

「葵は勝つ？」 (Aoi wa Katsu?)
“Aoi Wins?”

A trip alone with Subaru should have been a slam dunk for Aoi, but the world is not always so kind to our beleaguered heroine. Fortunately it was hilarious for us!

Poor Aoi

Poor Aoi. Even when she wins a trip with Subaru, everything does not go as planned. First she gets passed over for the younger girls, then she has all sorts of misunderstandings, and finally the pivotal scene. Keep fighting, basketball girl! You’ll get him someday! (Sorry, that’s a lie. Tomoko is the destined waifu.) In related news, my kingdom for uncensored BDs of Aoi-chan!!

Two further thoughts on Aoi and Subaru. First, it occurs to me that this is one of the rare romantic comedies where it’s never the guy, and almost always only one girl (Aoi) who is having the misunderstandings. I don’t mind, it’s working, it’s just uncommon. Secondly, I’m continually surprised by how much Subaru’s obliviousness does not annoy me, contrary to how it works in most romcom anime. Probably that’s because none of the girls are throwing themselves at him in that this-guy-is-as-thick-as-a-board-so-I’m-not-screwing-around-anymore-time-to-get-naked-and-tie-him-up (+20 Stilts points if you can guess which story I’m talking about) way that many haremettes operate nowadays. Of course, that’s mostly just because only one of his love interests is of age, and as this episode illustrates, Aoi is not honest with herself. Once again, it’s still working, so keep it up!

Manlist. Pantsu. Plotline. Ever.

By far and away the most hilarious part of this episode was the whole Subaru and Natsuhi pantsu return arc. First of all, let me say that I had totally forgotten about Miho-nee, and now she reappears with a pervy yuri colleague and is openly contemplating murder? Oh man Miho-nee, I missed you so much!!

Back to Subaru and Natsuhi. Their entire adventure contained some of the, without a doubt, manliest discussions bout pantsu, the manliest mission about pantsu, and the manliest basketball shot with pantsu that has ever and probably will ever grace our screens. I was cracking up the entire time! All I can say that is if Subaru ever really wanted to be a pervert – if he wanted to pull off his own Hikaru Genji plan (trope!), Aoi – then he could totally do it. With moves like this, I have no doubts about his success. He would be the Lucky Sukebei! (+20 Stilts points for that reference too)

Looking Ahead

Well I was wrong last time (I thought Aoi was going to be playing against Subaru), so I’m not even trying this time. A note, though: I’m not sure whether I’ll cover this next week, since it looks like it’s going to be a recap + the first half of the Tomoka no Ichigo Sundae OVA that took place between seasons 1 & 2. Which you should totally watch! I’m just not sure I’ll feel like blogging half of something I watched a month ago. My original reactions have faded somewhat, to say the least. So if a post never appears next week, that will be the reason. Until next time!

tl;dr: @StiltsOutLoud – Aoi wins? I don’t know, maybe. I know we viewers won though, that’s for sure! #rokyubu

Random thoughts:

  • Stop ruining this for us, Aoi.
  • “Come tonight for sure, okay?” Mahoooo!! You shouldn’t say such dangerous things with a smile like that!
  • The moral of this week’s episode: mo pantsu, mo problems.

For more from yours truly, check out my blog on writing, art, and the book I’m working on at stiltsoutloud.com.

Full-length images: 04, 08, 14.

 

Preview

29 Comments

  2. I couldn’t help but think that when Aoi was sitting next to Subaru on the train that she was Way. Too. Nervious. Maybe Aoi needs to have a sleepover with Subaru, too — it worked pretty well for Tomoko last week.

    cbhl
    Reply

    1. Thanks Croos-man. A downside of the shorter post format means I can slac–I mean, don’t have enough room for all the full-sizes sometimes. Luckily, RandomC readers are awesome 😀

      Stilts
      Reply

  5. this-guy-is-as-thick-as-a-board-so-I’m-not-screwing-around-anymore-time-to-get-naked-and-tie-him-up … hmm I dont exactly recognize this one… maybe one of the mutitude of plots of certain Deviluke princess?

    ewok40k
    Reply

      2. There are trillions of them. Infinite Stratos comes to mind, but that was after the first season of To Love Ru, so it’s probably not what you were thinking of, even if its protagonist did particularly irritate me. I could sit here listing series for weeks and not run through them all.

        Wanderer
        Reply

      3. hmmm was something like it in Sekirei? not 100% sure…
        Saito definitely was tied up by Louise in ZnT, a few times…
        Kanako tied up her brother (and a few more people) in Love Hina… after he did tie himself to NOT do anything to Naru…

        ewok40k
        Reply

  9. Ah yes, Hikaru Genji – the original lolicon. No wonder Subaru felt so comfortable in that role.

    Poor Aoi, if this show wasn’t titled “RO”-Kyu-Bu, then she might have a decent shot. But right now, she’s not even a dark horse within Subaru’s harem.

    echykr
    Reply

  11. U know, its hard not to like Aoi. In any other situation, I would totally be rooting for her. But she has the misfortune of competing with Tomoka for Subaru. Sad to say, The chemistry of Tomoka x Subaru is just more appealing compared to Aoi x Subaru.

    Euzio
    Reply

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    KIMBERY
    Reply

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