First Impressions / Tada-kun wa Koi wo Shinai

“Well, It’s Not Wrong”


「まあ、間違っちゃいない」 (Maa, Machigatcha Inai)

As with many second episodes from this season, at least for me, Tada-kun finally picked up the pace and hit its stride. You could say that it was expected of the production team who took on Gekkan Shoujo. However, they’ve only just reached my expectations, following a lukewarm premiere. After getting a couple of passable explanations out of the way, the series jumps straight into photography fun, which proved a brilliant choice. The photographic battle was hilarious and entertaining, and reminded me of a Japanese game show, giving us a taste of what kind of wacky comedy we can expect in the future. But most importantly, every single character gained substantial depth, due to how they acted and interacted with teammates and rivals alike.

Alec the Kunoichi

Many characters who initially seemed one dimensional received a much needed lease of life. Alec particularly rose in stock, standing out as the focal point of this episode. Although she continued abusing poor Ijuin-kun, she pulled off some slick ninja moves and displayed high levels of competence. Despite being overprotective of Teresa, to the point of restricting her freedom in certain ways, Alec also respects her master’s wishes, such as complying with her desire to join the Photography Club. I grew a whole new level of respect for her, because other than her impulsively violent tendencies, she seems like quite a reasonable individual capable of compromising. Still, it’s hard to say whether I’d actually pair her with Ijuin-kun. But since there’s no one else at the moment, let’s call it the default ship for now.

Introducing the Photography Club

A lot of important elements were introduced through the newer characters. I would personally compare their role with pieces of a jigsaw puzzle – slotting together with existing pieces while hinting at a far bigger picture. The star of the show was undoubtedly Hajime Suzamoto (Umehara Yuichiro – a.k.a. Pin-sempai). Perverted, eccentric and passionate, Pin-sempai made for a thoroughly compelling character, that lit up every single scene he featured in. Plus, Ume-san totally hammed it up with an invigorating performance! But beneath his brazen exterior lies a genuinely caring heart and soul. He clearly cares for Hinako Hasegawa (Ishigami Shizuka) a lot more than he lets on. Note the scene where he gets water splashed onto his back. When he claimed that he was protecting his camera from the splash, why would he need to look backwards towards Hinako with concern, when he was holding his camera in front? Throw in Hinako’s tsundere antics, and I’m a massive fan of this ship! Additionally, Hinako bears a remarkable resemblance to Pin’s beloved Hina. Look at their names too. Coincidence? I think not.

Meanwhile, Gentaro Yamashita (Shimono Hiro – Woof!) gets the short end of the stick, though it doesn’t seem like he minds. He might be Tada’s slave and loathed by Nyanko Big, but at least he’s adored by Tada’s younger sister. If you factor in everything I’ve just brought up, I’m rather optimistic that these club activities will continue remaining fun and lively. Because fundamentally, the character interactions ended up being fantastic, in spite of my prior doubts. I was particularly impressed by how everyone played off each other, because it generated a great chemistry between the cast that was previously lacking. That fixes one of the issues I previously had, and steers the series in a promising direction.

Concluding Thoughts

While Tada and Teresa remained lacklustre, I feel confident that if given a similar kind of focus to Alec, they’ll be bound to receive some cracking development as time goes on. For now, the pairings are starting to solidify, and I’m pretty happy with how it’s shaping out, both in regards to comedy and romance. That said, whether I’d regularly blog this show is still an undecided matter. However, I’d be happy to give Tada-kun another week, before finalising any sort of conclusion. Thanks for reading my post, kind folks, and hope to see you next week!

Preview

9 Comments

    2. I thought of a couple of explanations which might have justified Hinako’s reaction, which wouldn’t necessarily make her Hina. I think many people are overlooking the difference in cup size, especially considering Pin-sempai’s mystic eyes of perception, although it’s possible he’s playing dumb or her gravure shoots are photoshopped.

      I think that Hina might be Hinako’s older sister/mother, and she was embarrassed/felt inadequate that Pin-sempai openly fawns over them. Alec might then have noticed that Hinako has feelings for Pin-sempai – or the vague similarities with the gravure idol due to familial relations.

      I guess we’ll see who ends up being right, but it’s definitely the case where Hina has some kind of connection to Hinako!

      Zaiden
      Reply

  4. I was relieved Tada-kun has showed a lot of emotions and it was not a boring guy! My heart melted when he laughed. Hasegawa totally has a crush on Pin-senpai. Anyone else thought Alec can be a Naruto fan, running like that? I loved the seiyuu work of Pin-senpai and Kaoru for their “evil” laughters. The ending with her adding pictures to their days together on the board, so cute.

    neko_in_blue
    Reply

    1. Tada-kun is still relatively stoic, much like Nozaki-kun actually, and he’s definitely shown some more emotions. However, I think that he’s got some way to go, and we’ll probably find out much more about him, when the Mitsuyoshi’s family situation gets revealed.

      Eh gad, I absolutely loved Pin-sempai’s voice acting! He’s absolutely my favourite character, surpassing Nyanko Big, with Yamashita Dog in third. And I’m also pleased that Mamoru Miyano stepped it up in his role as Kaoru. He’s already spread pretty thin doing Okabe (Steins;Gate 0) as well as Reinhardt (Legend of the Galactic Heroes), so it’s great to hear him take on a totally different challenge, involving a narcissistic but good natured pretty boy.

      Zaiden
      Reply

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