「私について」 (Watashi ni Tsuite)
“My Story”

That was one of the best paced episodes of Megami-hen yet.

I like this conquest for a lot of reasons. Firstly, I like Shiori quite a bit; she’s not as flashy or as dashing as Yui or as strongly individualistic as heroines like Tsukino or Kanon, but she is interesting, and personally I kind of identify with her. I know what it’s like to be hugely shy and to hide behind books as a form of escapism, but I also genuinely love the wonderful freedom that reading gives one, and thus understand Shiori’s rather quiet personality. She’s definitely the sort of girl that constitutes the usual library girl trope, but she’s also very endearing, since she’s one of the few heroines whose capture is mostly seen through her own eyes. Perhaps that’s what leads to my second point, and that’s the point that Shiori’s capture is one of the most romantic of the Goddess Arc. It’s not hugely elegant or anything mind blowing, but Shiori’s sense of romanticism and Keima’s good sense to win her over by inspiring her definitely lead to a more charming and less dramatic capture than usual, though by no means less entertaining because of it. Perhaps it’s because this is a simpler capture than usual, in which Keima simply supplies Shiori’s already ample imagination and she does most of the rest herself, but it’s such a cute capture that it’s no wonder Shiori is among the more popular KamiNomi girls, her hugely popular voice actress aside.

I do like that Keima decides to go with a bit of a crazy approach; instead of denying his crossdressing in Yui’s capture, he uses it as a shock factor in order to help Shiori’s novel come along (noted, getting your significant other to crossdress is 100% motivational, fufu) and he pretty much tells her about his circumstances, omitting certain details of course, even if she thinks he’s a bit crazy for it. But for the most part, this is Shiori’s time to shine, and her imagination does most of the actual work here, except for when she requires a nudge in the right direction. I like that about Shiori, and it’s really kind of true that one’s own sense of romanticism can propel your feelings in one direction or the other based on small stimuli in the Real. Her novel may not have been all that much of an actual novel, but it did allow her to finally open herself up and face her feelings in a more tangible way than she had been previously. Perhaps it’s not all that much of a romance as it is a story about growing out of her shell, but even that lends to romance, and her feelings for Keima are definitely what allows her to face herself more openly than ever before.

Note: Apologies for the late post and poor quality, I’m recovering from a migraine straight from hell.

 

Preview

26 Comments

  1. If I had shown someone Keima, while he was crossdressing, for the first time then…….well it makes me wonder how many people would think Keima is a girl and would like “her.” The dude seriously didn’t get his mom’s physical power but he did got her looks.

    L002
      1. Beats me, I’ll let you decide, though I am refering to anime lovers that had never watched this anime before and saw that image for the first time. If they see an image like that, It makes me wonder how many would fall for such a girly charm. Keima may attact more guys than girls, without a the help of a certain devil, if he was born a girl.

        L002
    1. I had to watch this episode in a hospital bed. The doctor said I suffered a myocardial infarction as a result of HanaKana-ism.
      It’s also nice to have cheeky Haqua moments in every episode

      Hakumen
    2. Over exposure to Moe like this is dangerous. I swear I have died countless times watching and rewatching this episodes. (That’s right I have watched this episode for I think six times already)

      pahlavi
  2. Kairi please don’t force yourself too much when you’re not feeling well, rest until you have fully recovered all your energy. I appreciate your commitment but I’d better wait a bit more rather than worrying about my beloved RC writers, and I’m sure I’m not the only one 🙂
    BTW Shiori is damn cute I was waiting for this ep. I’d give my kingdom to be waked up by someone with hanakana voice…

    Voyager
  3. That’s Minerva? Damn, even if she’s the roman side of Athena, she’s much more timid than I would imagine her to be. It even seems she’s much more shy than Shiori, but that may be just me. Another think I would like to add is how simple her story was. I think it added to charm that the episode add. It wasn’t overly done (I’m not sure how to say this), but was simple and cute which I think fits Shiori quite well.

    dytianquin
    1. Hehe yeah. Such a shy Minerva is certainly at odds with my image of her considering that the Athena I’m familiar with is from the Campione! novels. And the Athena in that one is like the complete polar opposite XD.

      Euzio
  4. This episode perfectly captured the essence of Shiori’s capture : Quiet, Romantic and Beautiful (and full of HNGGGGHHHH). Also, props to Manglobe for it’s superior musical scores, I think music (both OST, BGM or other extra songs) always been one of several Manglobe strong points in Kaminomi adaptation.

    Next : The real meat of Goddess arc starts, Ayumi/Chihiro capture. My body is ready >___>

    p.s hope you fully recover soon Kairi 🙂

    zeroyuki92
  5. A Shiori-centric episode! RAINBOWS IN MY EARS! Hnnnng! Love love love that they paid a homage to Shiori’s Baka and Aho back from Season 1, and Keima’s proclaiming that: “I can see the ending! It has been a while, hasn’t it?” Yup…it’s definitely been a while…

    Sick visit event next! Hyped!

    Tremste
  6. Couldn’t agree more, very well paced episode and one of the best episode of KamiNomi S3, at least for me because unlike the last two conquest, I know Shiori from S1 so I have more attachment to her.

    I hope that like how they did an OVA for Tenri, they should also do the same for the Yui and Tsukiyo.

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