「ロリ小姑ってのも悪くないわ」 (Rori Kojuutotte no mo Warukunai wa)
“It’s Not Bad Having a Loli Sister-in-Law”

Mashiro-tan really is a nice mix of childish and mature, and–oops! Looks like their secret is out of the bag, even while one still stays hidden from Kobeni.

UFOs, Sweets, & UMA Benio

Mashiro is simply a treat to watch. She’s undoubtedly childish no matter how mature she tries to act, and I find it both hilarious and adorable. Her penchant for clinging to people when she’s scared is especially great, as is her continued fear of Benio. And she even almost fell for Benio’s scone trap! Once again, this is comedy stuff, so whether you liked it is subjective. I enjoyed it heartily though!

Hakuya, Kobeni, & What Happened in the Past

The old osananajimi plot is a gold mine for romantic stories, and the slight “tweak” we have here appears to be 1) arranged marriage + 2) boy saved girl from an accident + 3) boy guilty he didn’t protect her better. Hakuya doesn’t get in many lines per episode, so when he stopped Mashiro from letting the cat out of the bag, I took note. True to my guess he didn’t want to inadvertently put pressure on Kobeni for her to marry him out of obligation. Though, a tip for Hakuya – you showed up at her doorstep and proclaimed yourself her fiance. You’re already sort of playing the obligation card.

Either way, Hakuya once again proves himself to be a nice guy, and too honest to just lie to her instead of making her wonder about it forever. Ahhh well, that fits his character. I’m sure this plot won’t disappear until Kobeni learns the truth, which should be good fun to watch.

Kobeni – More Than Cookie-Cutter

You could make the argument that the other characters are more tropey, to which I would remind you that tropes are not bad (trope!). Kobeni, though, is still proving herself to be more unique than that, and it’s in the small details you see this. Take her sensitivity about her wide hips (which is totally undeserved, by the way…those hips are wonderful!) or, and this is a better example, how she gave up on questioning how Mashiro got into high school because she always wanted an imouto. The “typical” comedic foil would have kept it up, but Kobeni, for her own unique reason, did not. She’s a good character.

Looking Ahead – The Secret is Out! (Partially)

Ohhh Mashiro-tan, you’re so precocious! She managed to keep one secret, but the other one is out of the bag. I like that – rather than letting the status quo stand, they’re changing things up. I look forward to seeing what hilarity this inspires.

Note: I still haven’t decided whether I’m picking this up or not. Yeah, I’m being indecisive, but it’s not a particularly convenient day for me to be blogging. Bear with me please.

tl;dr: @StiltsOutLoud – Mashiro-tan kawaii yo! But now their living situation is out of the bag. Let the love comedy continue! #未確認で進行形 #mikakunin 02

Random thoughts:

  • D’aaawww, Mashiro-tan’s ponytail wags like, well, a tail!
  • You really ought to use some glue, Hakuya.
  • Damn, he can look that cool while asleep? I wish I could do that. Would have made sleeping during class so much more fun back during college.
  • There’s nothing good about big breasts?! LIES KOBENI, LIIIIEES!! (Okay, so maybe they’re not as much fun for you, but still.)
  • Looks like Mashiro knows she’s going to be a pettanko forever.
  • Multiple Benio-samas? Eh, I’d prefer multiple Kobenis myself.
  • Benio is the eternal onee-sanexcept when it comes to otoutos. You’re out of luck, Hakuya. Surrender your imouto immediately!
  • The OP is still really good, but this ED is no slouch either. Chibis banzai!
  • Those were undoubtedly the cutest MIB references since Remon-sempai. Cuter really, just nowhere near as badass.

Check out my blog about storytelling and the fantasy novel I’m writing at stiltsoutloud.com. The last four posts: Stupid monsters, Don’t break the chain, Nerds & the miracle of human consciousness, and Urgency & the rush to come. My current combo counter: Writing chain, 5 days long. Editing chain, 0 days long.

Full-length images: 08, 15.

 

ED Sequence

ED: 「まっしろわーるど」 (Mashiro World) by みかくにんぐッ! (Mikakuning!)

Preview

55 Comments

  1. Wait, you DON’T look that cool when you sleep Stilts? Frankly, I’m disappointed.
    Really liking this show so far, it’s so cute and has some great comedic moments- can’t wait to see how Hakuya and Kobeni’s relationship develops, that ought to be interesting.

    katsudon
    1. N-No, I was just kidding, I t-totally do!

      In all seriousness, I never got the lean perfected, and when you’re 6’7″ (2m) tall, slouching down in your seat can be effective, but totally not cool. Ahhh the curse of being ridiculously tall!

      *pat everyone on the head* *laughs when they can’t do anything about it* *gets kneed in the crotch*

      Stilts
  2. You know, I wasn’t expecting anything from this series… I literally started watching it because I had too much free time (a rarity anymore as a parent of 2 little girls) but I’m glad I gave one more series a try. This is easily my favorite of the season so far… it’s just a shame that SYD has fallen so far. Why do sequels to comedic series take their relationship aspects too seriously?

    Koji
    1. The problem with heavily gag-based comedies – or pure comedies in general, really – is that once you learn how the jokes in that story generally go, they stop being as funny. You may continue to watch, but it’s more out of nostalgia, and it never reaches quite the same heights. The same thing is true of the creator. They can feel they’re not hitting it out of the park with their comedy anymore, so they try to build up something that can take them the distance…and then there you have it.

      Mind you, I like the relationship aspects in many comedies, I just prefer they be worked in from the very beginning like with this one ^^

      Stilts
      1. Agreed, it’s not that comedies can’t have romantic aspects, but it’s when a series that starts off comedic with slight romantic hints comes back for a second season, it inevitably throws away nearly all comedy an attempts to give you a show you didn’t ask for.

        The only successful exception to this in my mind has been “Friend Club”, but they managed to keep the show just as funny while doing so.

        Koji
  3. Never expected this show to be good, but so far have been pleasantly surprised. Laughed most at Hayuka’s block house being knocked down not once, twice, but three times. Gives me nostalgia playing with my mom’s stone blocks she got as a kid when living in England, only to have the damn cats knock the buildings down T_T

    Not sure if this can be labelled as a healing anime, but it definitely is on the cute and light-hearted side. Especially the artwork, for some reason the simple way they have shown “shining” on hair and clothing is quite pleasing.

    Pancakes
    1. Think the good thing bout this series so far is that while its mostly light-hearted, it does touch on some of the serious aspects as well. Really interested to know what happen during Hakuya and Kobeni’s childhood. Hakuya earns major points for not wanting Kobeni to feel indebted to him.

      Euzio
    2. Agreed, the best part about it is how secondary the “marriage” elements are treated. It’s serious yes, but it is not SERIOUS per say; the marriage serves as the foundation for the comedy rather than being the thing laughed at directly.

      I always have preferred these light-hearted romcoms or SoLs to the other ones because they do not try to forge a serious, real-world example we are supposed to draw conclusions from or stick purely to hyperbolic, exaggerated gags that grow stale after some time. They give you a little of both worlds to keep things fresh and prevent viewer burnout.

      Pancakes
  4. Amazingly, a lot of info in this episode and it didn’t feel rushed
    or out of place. Such great execution of the story in Anime…

    …the dialogue flows so well you almost forget that they’re talking
    about a 16-year old girl’s hips!

    Love it so far!

    mac65
  5. Note: I still haven’t decided whether I’m picking this up or not. Yeah, I’m being indecisive, but it’s not a particularly convenient day for me to be blogging. Bear with me please.

    It’s ok for me if you don’t blog this Stilts but promise me that you’ll keep watching this… for me :>

  6. Second episode, still awesome. I can’t exactly pinpoint the reason, but this show is just plainly *fun* to watch. It doesn’t happen often that I just sit with my mouth twisted into a grin throughout an entire episode, and yet this series managed to do this twice in a row already.

    Vip
    1. The title is after all “Engaged to the unidentified”, so I wouldn’t be all that surprised if there were something weird with that family. Someone on another forum also brought up that the family that they are part of are very mysterious and powerful.

      Greg
  7. Mashiro is totally hngggg~!!! cant get enough of her! XDDDD

    anyhow, i hope they would not turn Hakuya and Mashiro’s identities into something i fore-fear it would be…a normal SOL would do. huhuhuu

    onion warrior
    1. I hope not either, but seeing the series so far, I think the chances are rather slim, and probably it’s not going to be the biggest thing in the series 😛

      And of course Mashiro is too damn cute, she’s a loli (a proud one to be more precise), and who doesn’t like a loli :3

      TrapMaster
  8. Even though the plot can be generic as it can get; childhood friends, accidents involving lost memories, overnight fiance, hidden couple in the school, the characters are more than enough to make up for it. The OP and ED are catchy and funny too.

    The Story You Don't Know
  9. Benio is the eternal onee-san…except when it comes to otoutos. You’re out of luck, Hakuya. Surrender your imouto immediately!
    Loved how that woke him up!

    btw, I think Kobeni’s friend (what’s her name again?) is one of the best “main character’s friend” characters in a long while. Accepting the situation, supporting Kobeni, being involved in scenes and not being annoying are all points in her favor.
    She’s not spectacularly written and sure is a bit bland (for now, at least), but she’s a nice character.

    Anonymosity
    1. I agree. Not every character needs to be a font of originality with a forceful and astonishing personality – some just need to support the main cast, and she does it well. I also appreciate how she’s always there in school scenes like one would expect, rather than just disappearing randomly. Compare this to Isshiki in Chu2koi, who tends to only show up when there’s some story reason for him to be there (usually, a joke at his expense). He’s never just there, hanging out with his friends. Mayura is.

      Stilts
  10. I really want to watch this series because its been an enjoyable experience so far. The only problem is Mashiro. I think her character is fine but that voice. It just sounds so annoying and it’s not only due to the fact that it doesn’t fit her character design at all.

    Zangkin
  11. I have to admit, coming in this series, I thought this was going to be an average series watching it only because stilts did a preview on this show, but after watching it, I have to completely change my opinion on this series, so far, this series is probably one of the best this season for me so far. I mean who doesn’t like a proud loli, a perverted siscon + lolicon (wait, if mashiro is her sister in law, then wouldn’t she be her sister + a loli, that’s double the threat mashiro has coming her way :0) and an average girl (who has great child bearing hips :3). the premise is really laid back but wacky and silly at the same time, and animation wise and voice acting are really nice, IMO, and the way the story seems to flow really fluently and naturally makes it that much better. :3

    TrapMaster
  12. Da da da, da da da woo woo~

    I love that OP.

    The ED is cute too, but it seems that it was made for the express purpose of making Mashiro more likable…

    And I want a Kobeni for myself! T.T

    Hanabira.Kage
  13. Honestly, it did feel like the main character is Mashiro rather than Kobeni, simply because she got so much screen time. But well, that’s probably because it was a Mashiro-centric episode (or at least that’s what the episode title implies).

    Just noticed that Mashiro and Hakuya share a kanji in their names (the same case as with Kobeni and Benio, which is a bit more obvious). Waiting for more characters with color-coded names, I suppose.

    SingerOfW
    1. Because I haven’t picked it up. I did a second episode because I was still deciding, but I’m 90% sure I won’t be blogging it because it’s a rough day for me to be blogging right now. Besides, Mikakunin is a somewhat hard show to write about. You can probably look forward to a finale post though, time permitting.

      Stilts
  14. Benio is a pervert siscon and child molestor but gets a free pass because she’s a pretty high school girl and that’s fine and all. She was fun at first but it’s episode two and she’s starting to get on my nerves which is why Nadeshiko is currently my favorite character. I hope she’s there to shut her up every episode.

    Sirius

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