First Impressions / Mikakunin de Shinkoukei / Series Introduction

「何事も最初が肝心です」 (Nanigoto mo Saisho ga Kanjindesu)
“First Impressions Are Everything”

Characters rule the day in Mikakunin de Shinkoukei, and it works because they’re very good characters who are treated with kindness and respect. Equal measures funny, warm, and romantic, I very much enjoyed this first episode.

Characters, Not Caricatures

One of my greatest fears coming into this was that Dogakobo would make the same mistake that Project No. 9 made with ImoCho and put unnecessary focus on the male lead at the expense of the more interesting (and rightfully the main character) female lead. I’m happy to report that my worries were for nothing! And honestly, I was just being paranoid…this is from Dogaboko, and they don’t make boneheaded mistakes like that.

The attention was rightfully placed on our main character Yonomori Kobeni (Terui Haruka), and as main characters go I instantly love her. She’s kind, responsible, and a good cook, but she’s not above overreacting to a sudden fiance (and rightfully so…in fact, I would consider that simply reacting) and throwing out tsukkomis like a pro. (Also dem thighs, yum.) What I really liked was that she’s so empathetic – even when she overreacted she was worried about hurt feelings, and when she told Hakuya (Hatano Wataru) to keep the whole fiance thing quiet, she asked him if he was mad (albeit when prompted). That plus her apparent inferiority complex when compared to her sister makes her more relateable (and more deep) than many a main character on Episode 1.

As for Hakuya, if the story centered on him then it would be boring. He’s quiet, he’s not good with words so he’s pretty blunt, and he has an overall lack of presence. Fortunately, the story isn’t centered on him. He’s the catalyst for change in Kobeni’s life and a constant source of reactions from her, and that’s the key – it’s all centered around Kobeni. As long as the spotlight is on her (and others), Hakuya can come in from the side, score some points with Kobeni by being blunt, dependable or surprisingly perceptive, and that works great. He’s an understated character, but because he doesn’t have to hold the spotlight, he works. Plus the fact that he seems to be a genuinely good guy – not to mention absentminded – helps endear him to Kobeni and the audience.

The Comedy Sisters

Most of the comedy centered around our main couple’s sisters, Kobeni’s perverted-at-home-but-perfect-at-school Onee-sama Yonomori Benio (Matsui Eriko) and Hakuya’s proud and responsible (yet still childish) imouto Mitsumine Mashiro (Yoshida Yuri). If they’re going to keep flitting around being hilarious, this will be a good show. Benio is stylish, a siscon, AND a lolicon? I found best character of 2014 already! (Just kidding…maybe.) And her chasing after Mashiro-tan, complete with the Mashiro freakouts and clinging to her onii-san, HAH/HNG~! It’s always hard to talk about comedy because, as I’m fond of noting, it’s extremely subjective, but I was laughing a lot during this episode, and when I wasn’t I was smiling from the warm atmosphere. A good start.

Production, Acting, & The OP

This is being produced by Dogakobo, which as I’ve previously mentioned means it’s good. Okay, perhaps that’s a simplification, but it does mean that they’ll bring out whatever strength there is in the source material through good animation and direction. This first episode proves that again. As for the seiyuu, they largely went the newbie seiyuu route, but I have no complaints about the acting we heard this time, so the strategy appears to be paying off. In fact, it was only Hakuya’s seiyuu Hatano Wataru who initially sounded off to me, but I got into it. I’m just not used to hearing his voice sound so blasé.

As for the OP, well, a good OP can be singlehandedly responsible for me watching, introing, or even picking up a show. I was interested in Log Horizon, and then I saw the OP. DATABASE DATABASE DATABASE = instantly pumped! Here it was an early viewing of the OP that got me wanting to intro this show, and I was not disappointed! (Either by the OP or the show.) Originally I was slightly miffed that Hakuya wasn’t included in it since he’s, you know, a main character, but now I’m cool with it for two reasons: 1) He doesn’t have a lot of presence, so him making anything but an occasional appearance would be weird, and 2) it’s the three main girls’ seiyuu who actually sing the song, so it sort of makes sense. Either way, I love both the sequence and the song, so I can’t wait to hear the ED next week!

Looking Ahead

The obvious development here would be for Kobeni and Hakuya’s relationship to progress as Kobeni realizes that her jii-chan may have been onto something, and I wouldn’t go into this looking for a subversion. Since it sort of seems like Kobeni and Hakuya could actually be good together, I’m totally okay with this.

Whatever the case, while I’m not sure if I’ll continue covering this I’ll definitely be watching it, so check in with me on Twitter for more thoughts as the season progresses. Thanks for reading!

tl;dr: @StiltsOutLoud – Crap, I might love Mikakunin de Shinkoukei. That was a really good, really funny, really warm first episode. Dogakobo, yooou! #未確認で進行形 01

Random thoughts:

  • Random aside: So far I’ve written at least a post about every show Matsui Eriko has been in. I wonder how long I can keep the streak going? Though if she’s in another failed adaptation like Maoyuu, I don’t want to win.
  • Uh oh, looks like Kobeni is mad now— Oh, nevermind. Looks like she was just worried about her meal plan!
  • I get it! I totally get it! When you see a short–erh, a cute girl, you just want to pat them on the head, right? Right?! I like this guy. Aibou!
  • Mashiro-taaaan! I don’t blame Benio, I want to bully Mashiro-tan too. Erh, wait…I can’t do that, can I? Damn!
  • DV already!? Though I don’t think it’ll last. I don’t expect Hakuya will catch a lot of elbows; Kobeni just doesn’t seem the type.
  • He’s fine with anything she cooks, ufufu~ He can be a smooth mofo, mostly by accident.
  • Points go to the source material for not even pretending that Hakuya and Mashiro should really be in the same class. Why have the loli be unrealistically old when you can get the same effect from perfectly natural power abuse?
  • Kobeni gave in? A prior victim, nooo! …wait, does this means we’ll get to see Benio, Kobeni, and Mashiro bathe together at some point? Yeeeees!

Check out my blog about storytelling and the fantasy novel I’m writing at stiltsoutloud.com. The last four posts: Don’t break the chain, Nerds & the miracle of human consciousness, Urgency & the rush to come, and Explain yourself. My current combo counter: Writing chain, 0 days long. Editing chain, 1 day long.

Full-length images: 18, 30.

 

OP Sequence

OP: 「とまどい→レシピ」 (Tomadoi→Recipe) by みかくにんぐッ! (Mikakuning!)

Preview

68 Comments

  2. I wasn’t really very optimistic at first, but after watching the first episode… Wow, it was quite fun, surprisingly enough. I love the character designs, and I think that this show has one of the best animations this season. Probably won’t end up as anything deep or meaningful, but it looks like a pleasant watch.

    Vip
    Reply

  4. From the moment Benio had a nosebleed, I knew I was going to like this series. Not to mention I also look forward to seeing more of Benio and Mashiro, and getting to know more of the characters, particularly that girl with the camera. Definitely sticking with this one. Also, that girl in the OP who wears a kimono reminds me so much Saginomiya Isumi from Hayate no Gotoku.

    Zhinvu
    Reply

    1. I’m also surprised by how light Mashiro is. She latched on to Hakuya’s arm after being chased by Benio, and I’m guessing she was hanging on his back the whole time when Kobeni was looking for her at school. It was all so cute.

      Zhinvu
      Reply

  5. This show was surpringly funny despite how, for the lack of better word, simple it is.
    It seems to take widely-used rom-com/comedy situations and changes them slightly, yet enough to make them feel fresh! It didn’t create the exploding laughter many anime comedies do for me, but it gave a constant good feeling, which is actually quite rare because of the hit and miss nature of comedy.

    For example the obvious “he’s going to be in her class” was made fresh by Mashiro (also I agree with stilts: who needs legal loli classmates when you can have true lolis?)

    Anonymosity
    Reply

    1. All artists steal, my friend; there’s no reason to (always) reinvent the wheel when you can tell a good story well. Mind you, I would like a little more ambition in my anime, but that doesn’t mean every series has to be hyper ambitious, so I’ll take this one and enjoy it for what it is.

      Stilts
      Reply

  6. What to expect more from this show:
    1.)Scenery-porn
    2.)Comedy between the twisted characters:
    – Proud loli Mashiro’s brocon
    – The perfect and home-perverted, Benio who release her stress by being a siscon and lolicon.
    – How Hakuya will express his love and feelings for Kobeni but no one just noticed because of his character and low presence. I seriously feel sorry for the guy after Kobeni said “Not at all” when her mother said “You don’t remember him!?”.
    – Show Spoiler ▼

    – Show Spoiler ▼

    – Show Spoiler ▼

    3.)Aliens?
    4.) Romance between all?

    Croos
    Reply

  9. All right, Stilts, you suckered me into watching something else. :p

    Kobeni is win: exactly the sort of protagonist I like to see, and so rarely find.

    Kobeni gave in? A prior victim, nooo!

    Her eyes at that point were a little… unsettling. May be some psychological scarring there.

    Whoa, nice fanservice in that… oh that’s the OP. Well, whatever. Kind of surprising, given that there wasn’t any anywhere else.

    Wanderer
    Reply

    1. Muahaha, welcome to Stilts’ World of Watching 15,532 Anime A Season! Say goodbye to your free time!

      Also, the OP is a great place to put fanservice, especially when it doesn’t belong in the show proper. Plus it was pretty tame to boot, and when it’s in the form of candid photos it’s not surprising that an, ahem, interesting one or two would slip in.

      Stilts
      Reply

  10. Man this studio has good animation. Love Lab was generally nicely animated, but with occasional quality bumps at random times, a real treat.

    Also, the preview is very Hidamari Sketch.

    CarVac
    Reply

  12. Did not actually go into this series with much expectations. Was surprised how well it turned out for a first episode. I loved how the perspective comes from Kobeni rather than a male character. Most romantic/comedies have the perspective come from the male-MC, unless its based on a shoujo-manga or something.

    Also, I already like Kobeni’s character alot~ Like Stilt’s mentioned, she’s all of the above mentioned and also just adorable! And if the OP is anything to go by, she does have some… mmmmm…. adult charm… XD …. And Benio is a riot!

    Euzio
    Reply

  20. Dear god Stilts stop giving me more shows to watch! Halfway through the post this show’d already shot way way up on my watch priority list just from reading about it. As you described it, it is EXACTLY my type of show; Character-driven, light-hearted, fluffy art style mmmmm~

    Time to start budgeting my time better…

    NKNKN
    Reply

  22. The very second I saw Mashiro, I immediately thought of http://i.imgur.com/mbJxEyz.jpg

    I think I’m going to like this show. It’s nice to have a female lead who doesn’t just beat on the innocent guy and act all tsun all the time. I think I’m going to like Kobeni (a name I’ve never heard of before in all my years of watching anime)

    Roguespirit
    Reply

  23. As long as you don’t go into Kirino level Domestic Violence, you can do no wrong Kobeni.

    I feel like Hakuya came from a Shin Megami Tensei game or Devil Survivor to be more specific. Hakuya embodies Silent Protagonist without skipping a beat. It’s like someone is choosing his responses just to pursue the Kobeni route. I’m going to see how many flags he trips in the next two episodes.

    With that being said, I’m loving this anime, lots of laughs with almost every scene. That OP or ED is just….let the doujins begin O.O

    Magoiichi
    Reply

    1. I didn’t. He’s a main character, but the main protagonist is Kobeni, and I knew that going in. What I was afraid was that they’d pull an ImoCho, where Mitsuki is the main protagonist…and yet they kept putting the focus on Yuuya for no good reason other than he’s a guy (I guess?). That would have ruined this show, and since I saw it a few days ago (and many times before), I was concerned. Fortunately I was concerned for nothing!

      Stilts
      Reply

  25. Dammit Stilts, the goal was to REDUCE the number of shows I was watching this season. Oh well, +1 to the list. (Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.)

    My mind must be working differently this late at night. When Hakuya caught Kobeni and they had that touching moment, all I was thinking was “damn, that guy sure got his coat, gloves and scarf on fast.”

    7godeohs
    Reply

  27. Addictive PV? Check
    Stunning opening visuals? Check
    Super clean chara animation? Check
    Tsundere feMC? Check
    non-typical maleMC? Check
    Loli? Check
    Loli abuser? Check
    Great chara interactions? Check

    There’s a loli here. A loli! It’s a loli! Check

    Kyosuke
    Reply

  28. What a surprise, it’s great! I don’t know what to say; it was very enjoyable and put a smile on my face. The animation is great, let alone for a non-action show. The show is quite unique. I really like the white shine/highlights on the characters too. My hopes for an at-least-decent year of anime are increasing!

    limyohwan
    Reply

  34. Wow, the first anime of this season that made me think “I really wanna see what happens in the next episode.”

    And definitely agree with you there about characters, not cutouts, being the driving force of the story for a change.

    Dangerism
    Reply

  35. I didn’t get your fascination with Dogakobo first, but then I realized that between Yuru Yuri, Love Lab, and GJ-bu, I’ve seen and enjoyed them all. Seems like I have another studio to look out for.

    SingerOfW
    Reply

    1. Ah yeah, I probably should have explained better. Sometimes I forget that you all don’t spend weeks working on the preview / introduce and watch a ton of shows, and thus aren’t as familiar with staff, seiyuu, and studios as I am. I usually remember about the staff, but forget on the other two :X

      Moral of the story: Dogakobo is pretty much awesome. Really just a rock solid studio over all.

      Stilts
      Reply

  36. I’m not a fan at all of the older sister/younger sister combo. They both come off as annoying (specifically the older one) and stereotypical. Also I don’t know how the male could be more bland, and his random comments that show he’s attentive and caring are delivered with such little emotion it’s like he’s not even there (which was the first thing noted about him when he arrived at their house). He reminds me of that kid from Hey Arnold who would just pop out of some random place breathing over that girls shoulder all creepy like. I also liked the MC, but I’m not sure how that will make up for the lack of any other interesting characters. Creepy rapist sister, and annoying trying to be an old woman little sister just bug me too much. Give the male some more emotion, and the main relationship could make for a good show, but it’s a lot of hurdles to overcome.

    MAVMAN
    Reply

  37. hmm they come from deep out in the country the main has almost no pressence and yet is right there when kobeni need saving. and aperently they come from a family with enough power to bend the rules. i’m calling it right now the main is a ninja.

    i might be wrong but from what i’ve seen and from what mashiro (like being unoticeed on the mains back for who knows how long) is able to do i’m thinking they came from a noble ninja family.

    negimagi
    Reply

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