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「そうだ、小姑でうめよう」 (Souda, Kojuuto de Umeyou)
“I Know! I’ll Fill It with a Sister-in-Law”
A Valentine’s Day episode so warm and fuzzy that I…I just can’t eat another bite. They’re so sweet!
Benio Pivots To Mashiro
It’s been clear for a while, but finally, Benio realizes it – she’s a lolicon. Th…that’s too far, Benio.
In all seriousness, it’s interesting seeing Benio oscillate between supporting Kobeni in her (potential) relationship with Hakuya and aggressively rejecting it. I get the feeling that she realizes Kobeni may actually be happy with Hakuya, and I know she wants Kobeni to be happy. She’s still a little nuts though, so that gets in the way sometimes.
I for one am totally in favor of Benio turning her attentions to Mashiro, if only because Mashiro’s reactions are hilarious and it gives us more time for Kobeni x Hakuya, hng~!
You Can Be Whatever You Want To Be, Kobeni
An open note to Kobeni: Just because you’re good at housework doesn’t mean you have to be a housewife. You became good at cooking and cleaning through experience, and you can become good at something else the same way. You can still be a housewife if you want to though, and with a potential future husband who apparently gets good marks (even if it’s only because doesn’t have any hobbies other than loving Kobeni, ufufu~), that may work out just fine!
Nervous Kobeni, Depressed Hakuya
In other news, the love comedy aura between Kobeni and Hakuya is getting stronger than ever! I heartily enjoyed seeing embarrassed and nervous Kobeni all episode, though I really felt for Hakuya when he got all depressed. I was almost mad at Kobeni there (almost!). If even Hakuya has clued into the fact that it’s Valentine’s Day…don’t torment the poor boy! (Even if it was by accident.)
Speaking of, much like last week’s Sakura Trick, this was another example of a Can Not Spit It Out (trope!) situation that worked well. Here it was because of two things: 1) The whole v’day chocolate thing was satisfactorily resolved by the end of the episode, and 2) it was super cute and really funny. If a story can manage #2 it will earn a lot of goodwill, but because Mikakunin never drag these misunderstandings out they never get old. Plus, super happy Hakuya is kind of moe.
Hakuya Is A Dog – Transformation & Pat On The Head
I think Hakuya’s transformation is the first thing they’ve actually held back. At every point up until now they made the reveal or whatever, but this time the episode ended without Hakuya transforming for Kobeni. Here’s why I think he held back – he wants to remain human for Kobeni. Hakuya loves Kobeni, and he wants to be with her, but that may be harder if she starts seeing him as an animal. Yes, she already knows he isn’t really human, but there’s a big difference between knowing and seeing. As long as he stays in human form, they can be together…or so he may be thinking.
I don’t think Kobeni will care, though. Or rather, she already doesn’t care, and I don’t think seeing will change how she interacts with him. It may result in more Kobeni patting Hakuya though, which is fine with me. Related: I told you so!! I knew it would happen, and it was so damn hng~ More please!
Looking Ahead
Real Valentine’s Day is now dead to me. It will never be as sweet as this, and Kobeni will never give me chocolate. Zetsubou deshita!
tl;dr: @StiltsOutLoud – Real Valentine’s Day is dead to me, b/c it will never be as sweet as this #mikakunin 06
Random thoughts:
- Kemonomimi flag get-o! Oh, wait, nevermind…Benio broken flag get-o!
- Kobeni is an angel! She praised Mashiro and calmly accepted that Hakuya didn’t want to transform! AN ANGEL!!
- So the fact that they’re so undefined was why Mashiro was able to blend into high school without anyone objecting, other than Kobeni (who has a bit of Hakuya’s power inside her). Or at least, that’s what I drew from that.
- Every day I don’t have this show’s OP & ED on my mp3 player makes me a less happy person. Release them faster dammit!
Check out my blog about storytelling and the fantasy novel I’m writing at stiltsoutloud.com. The last four posts: I’m that guy, Unexpected directions, The market has spoken, and I can quit anytime, so I don’t have to. My current combo counter: 33 days long.
Full-length images: 27.
Preview
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Nessie… why? Why so many purple Loch Ness Monster?
Kobeni is finally in her rebellious stage!
Or at least a less passive one and now doling out threats.
It helps to be the only good cook in the household, it seems.
An angry Kobeni is still cute.
You would think that a genius like Benio would be more thorough with her actions, I guess she’s blinded by love.
I’m cheering Benio’s love on, she’s just too straight forward with her intentions that it’s refreshing. Hopefully her sisters will one day reciprocate her affections.
Forget the chocolates, I want sweet sweet anime like this every year for Valentine’s Day.
This was really sweet! I would have gotten diabetes if this show hadn’t given it already
Just when I was wondering how they can top the previous reveal combos, they go into entirely different path and have a sweet episode without major reveals, and it was awesome!
Kobeni at the top of the househould hierarchy was expected yet awesomely funny.
Mashiro’s supporting chocolate business by buying Nessie’s! Mayura must be happy.
I’m somewhat surprised stilts didn’t comment about the mother not having her hair up, she’s pretty hot. We have further proof of who Benio and Kobeni got their beauty genes from.
On their mother – that’s a good point! Though to be fair, she’s hot with her hair tied up as well. She’s the megane beauty we don’t deserve, but I’m glad we have!
Kobeni is even adorable when she’s maaaaad.
So many hnnng inducing blushes this week (≧◡≦)
Love this series so much.
The modern Yamato Nadeshiko.
I get the feeling that I’m not supposed to be taking this show seriously as a romance anime. Because it feels like there is nothing going on here. I generally like the comedy most of the time even though i still can’t stand some of the voice actors but every single time there is a hint of a romantic situation Benio comes in and pretty much says exactly what’s on my mind. It’s good that the show is self aware at how cheesy it is but that also curses it since that leaves only the comedy to support it from not being your typical forgettable romcom series (though even at this point i don’t think i’ll remember this show after next season lol).
I think the reason is simple. Kobeni doesn’t love Hakuya as much as she feels indebted to him. Had she not found out about the accident i think their relationship would have been the same as it was at the start. As soon as i saw how dull Hakuya’s personality was i figured there had to be something BIG that would make Kobeni like him eventually and i guessed right. I thought the whole being forced to marry him would be enough but the accident just adds onto the pile. And even 6 episodes in he hasn’t really changed much besides occasionally patting Kobeni on the head now. He says little nice things every now and then that make Kobeni blush but there isn’t much else going on.
If i recall Hakuya was worried that Kobeni was going to end up this way if they talked about the accident which is why he was against telling her. He wanted for her to love him naturally not because she felt obligated too. However ever since then i haven’t seen him worried about this issue at all even though that’s clear what’s going on. Why drop that? I figured he’d say something about it when he first found out she knew but apparently not.
Overall the story and romance is pretty weak but i usually overlook it due to Benio’s pedo antics each episode lol!
Oh and i thought for sure someone was going to be worried about the fact she’s giving chocolate to a family of dog people o_O
Romance is a secondary element here, it’s why it has the SoL label. If anything the arranged marriage and the spiritual elements serve to keep things moving and prevent the show from falling back into the gag-a-week theme that many comedy-centered animes suffer from.
Ironically this is what makes Mikakunin work so well because a show without a direct focus on either plot or comedy usually fails due to a lack of variation or depth. It straddles the middle line near perfectly.
What Pancakes said. I think of this like Acchi Kocchi, where the romance is not the central element, but it’s a strong supporting flavor that enriches the whole dish for its being there.
Good point. I guess it’s just a bit of a peeve of mine to see romance sidelined since i love shows that integrate it evenly with other elements (like Chuunibyou which i am loving right now). I do give the show credit for slowly but surely moving the plot forward instead of just throwing it all in the last 2-3 episodes like a lot of bad shows tend to do.
Remember, don’t be bad if a story isn’t the story you expected/wanted it to be. Love it or hate it for what it is. Not that I should probably be talking when I make that mistake all the time myself, haha, but it’s an ideal to shoot for!
This was the most adorable Valentine’s day anime episode I ‘ve ever seen (is all).
https://randomc.net/image/Mikakunin%20de%20Shinkoukei/Mikakunin%20de%20Shinkoukei%20-%2006%20-%2040.jpg
Different height, same volume?
Benio has been such a bountiful source of .gifs as of late, it almost puts everyone else to shame.
Her and Mashiro make this show, literally.
$10 that Hakuya isn’t a dog but something else entirely different. Tanuki or Grizzly bear.
Mashiro’s talk on the subject made it sound like they do not necessarily have a ‘natural’ form and are some type of shapeshifter.
Saying that they are unstable when they are young might explain why Hakuya’s dog form is blurry in Kobeni’s memories while other people like lolimom are defined.
I took the fuzziness to just be on account of Kobeni’s fuzzy memories (/ the storytellers not wanting to give away all the details of Hakuya’s other form yet). After all, she knows what she looked liked when she was younger, and at that point she knew what lolimama looked like, so Hakuya’s form was the last memory to be fuzzy.
I’m in despair! The fact that Kobeni will never give me chocolate has left me in despair! *sobs*
New Mikakunin scan: http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=5010312&postcount=342
Amazon BD/DVD preorders ranking suggest Mikakunin is becoming the #2 bestseller among Japanese otaku. Other top 4 include in order:
3)Seitokai Season 2
4)Hoozuki no Reitotsu
5)Chuunibyou Season 2
6)Nisekoi
Witchcraft Works is placed in 1st spot Btw.
http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=5007002&postcount=621
Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!
I love Mikakunin to death, but damn, this really is a weak season.
Season of the rom-com, definitely…
Barely any serious anime, and even action shows like Pilot’s Love Song and Strike The Blood have strong rom-com components.
Other than that:
I am surprised Benio’s RomCom radar did not go off-scale this episode…
Happy Singles Awareness Day everyone!
Sadly next season is not shaping up to be any better in that regard so far either.
Unless you count the return of Fairy Tail, but shounen is distinct.
Pancakes:Sadly next season is not shaping up to be any better in that regard so far either.
Not necessarily. If it’s 2-cour (24-26 episodes) AND sticks to the source (LN), Mahouka no Koukou Rettousei should be excellent (IMO).
From Baka-Tsuki:
Story Synapsis (also from Baka-Tsuki) Show Spoiler ▼
Indeed. I’m a huge fan of the light novels for Mahouka Kouko no Rettousei. And if the anime does follow the light novels closely, we’ll be in for one heck of a time with it. Things get really epic in that series. If it goes 2-cours, we can probably hit up till volume 4 (Nine-High School’s competition). Though the real epic-ness comes only in volumes 6 & 7.
Hoozuki no Reitotsu is actually pretty good, so I’m glad to see it getting rewarded with good sales. I’m bummed that Enzo dropped it. Sometimes the humor can be a little hard to get if you haven’t lived in Japan, but it’s still pretty funny. Kind of like Joshiraku, but with a Stripping Hag.
Mikakunin has also been surprisingly good, too.
@s_w
Enzo is still blogging Hoozuki no Reitetsu on his own blog.
I guess I don’t know what constitutes a strong or weak season, because I haven’t followed as many shows as I am this season. Definitely stronger than last winter in my opinion.
@ J_the_Man
It’s really not important. That’s something for bloggers like me to opine about; for you, all you need to do is enjoy whatever shows you’re liking. I’ve had a lot of fun watching anime in “weak” seasons before, so no reason you can’t either : )
I wonder how the family was able to feed themselves while Kobeni was too young to cook? *Looks at all those buns*
that opening! always gets me!
man.. so sweet!
I thought chocolate is poisonous for dogs?
Yeah. Theobromine poisoning. Ironically, sweeter chocolate would be safer than bitter dark chocolate.
cannot compute in paragraphs atm.
-Funny how some productions have taken lessons NOT to repeat the mistakes of the past…
-Yeah, it just replaced Valentines day for me too.
-Liking the continuing UMA related jokes and the subtle uses of everything from previous weeks.
-So, did they live with their grandparents before Kobeni started to cook or something? cause that “who can cook” diagram is blind-sidedly disturbing
This episode is just too sweet for me, it’s making me feel dizzy and light headed XD Throughout this whole episode, I just couldn’t keep a smile off my face the whole time and now my cheeks hurt from smiling so much. Kobeni is still the best waifu out there and best girl although kemonomimi Mashiro (if only QQ) is also cute and HGNNNN :3
The opening and ending is just making me crazy, I was humming this in my head while I was writing a test, and I just can’t make it stop, it’s so catchy is contagious!!
Now that they revealed that he is a dog, his reactions are even funnier now, I don’t even, but it looks like his puppy act is working on Kobeni XD Keep it up Hakuya! Your so close to making Kobeni your waifu!! (But she won’t be my waifu, oh the zetsubou!)
Really looking forward to another sweet episode between Kobeni and Hakuya next week!
She’s perfect.
This. OMG, this.
Hell, even in the 1960s, the Bradys paid Alice to cook and clean for their plot-driven huge family.
Or be a chef. There’s an idea. Not a patissiere, because that’s worn out. Be a head chef, with big-ass scary knives, cook red meat with fire, and curse a lot at your sous-chefs, who STILL don’t have their sides ready.
Oh, I think I want to see Kobeni in that role.
And now I know why I always like the 20-something cursing single female teachers in anime.
Who needs facial expressions when you can express your emotions with background changes?
I get the feeling that
Manami TamuraChitose IkedaKobeni’s friend is so chill about everything that she would be totally cool if she find out Mashiro and Hakuya weren’t human.