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「水族館で逢いましょう」 (Suizokukan de Aimashō)
“I’ll see you in my Aquarium”
Oddly enough, the Amar actually knew about the redevelopment, and none of them were really that worried. The problem then seemed to be shoved to the side, as it bares no mention for the rest of the episode (or the preview for that matter). So as far as the typical plot structure I was previously hoping not to occur, apparently didn’t occur, which is great! But that means there’s not really much driving the story as of now (again, I may be wrong), except for the completely obvious love triangle that I also wanted to happen.
After knowing Tsukimi for a while, Kuranosuke has never looked at her “that” way. However, after seeing her entranced in a pure state with her love for jellyfish, he now finds himself questioning continuously where these “strange” feelings are coming from. I’ve seen this kind of development before with people suddenly falling for others, and it feels a little unrealistic to be asking yourself seriously, “why am I pissed off at this situation”. Given the nature of the show, it just sticks out like a sore thumb compared to the previous kinds of character development so far, so I can’t help but feel this way. Anyhow, at least the KuranosukexTsukimi pairing is now completely possible, and ShuuxTsukimi is growing more and more impossible. Shuu is freaking thirty years old, so the age difference alone gives him a huge disadvantage. But the fact that he hasn’t had a single girlfriend, yet Kuranosuke’s dated the hottest women in Japan (the lucky bastard), is something I just have to sympathize for. Though now with the facts are laid out, I’m actually quite conflicted on who to root for. Well, I’ll side with Kuranosuke anyway, because Shuu’s love is totally shallow right now.
Basically the entire episode reveals more about Tsukimi’s relationship with her mother (yet not her father, whose face wasn’t even shown. Is he just not important or will he come later?), and the reality of it is that she’s still hurting over her death. So much so, that even bonfires will bring tears to her eyes, causing her to pine for the jellyfish to calm her down. You could call this a bad road to take, seeing as how people who eat when they’re sad, or hide in their obsessions when depressed, usually create a worse and worse situation. However, obsessing over jellyfish has never harmed anyone, so I suppose this is a special exception. Anyway, Kuranosuke inadvertently pushes himself into the aquarium visit, resulting in another makeover (though I have to say, a little overdone this time), leading to Shuu inevitably tagging along.
As we all know from last episode, Shuu pretty much only likes makeover Tsukimi. As you know, liking someone gives you an incredible bias into loving everything they do, so Shuu falls more and more in love as he experiences Tsukimi’s true feelings of love and pain, all at the same time (it’s that “seeing a new side” of someone that Japanese people find extremely romantic, as do I.. to some degree). For example, instead of seeing Tsukimi as some creepy girl salivating at the sight of Jellyfish, he sees a prim and proper lady with “an intense admiration for nature.” Shuu is in love with a “mask” (this being the makeup), giving him bias based on that mask, even though the foundations and emotions are the real Tsukimi. Now, the interesting thing here is that Kuranosuke falls for her at the same time, and because of the context (intentional or not), we might be led to believe that he’s fallen for the “mask” as well (which of course, most of us wouldn’t even consider). Ironically, he’s the one that put that mask on her, and it brings up the inevitable question: Did Kuranosuke fall for Tsukimi herself, or did the mask help the process? I mean, that’s only a valid question because we have proof that the mask has made it possible for people to fall for her, a la Shuu. The conflict is that we know Kuranosuke knows the true Tsukimi, and still became friends with her, but was the mask the catalyst to him falling for her, or was it solely based on seeing a new side of her? Of course, I’m thinking too much into it, but it’s an interesting thought. I don’t expect this to actually be the case, as Kuranosuke never once talks about her makeup, or even remotely about how she “looks.” But like he says, he doesn’t even know why he’s falling for her, and simply believes it must be the obvious reasons. Again, seeing as how simple the show is so far, this kind of subtle underlying “statement” about beauty might be something I’m pulling from thin air, yet was expected since the first episode, as the building blocks are definitely there. Maybe it’s intended, maybe it wasn’t. Of course, it’s up to the individual viewer to interpret, but I’m grateful that it gives me something to write about. 😀
Besides that whole deal, there’s a couple random things I noticed as well. I thought it was interesting that as Kuranosuke started blushing towards Tsukimi, he went to the bathroom and took off all his female guise, as if to reassert his manhood and properly present himself in front of her. Of course, he has no idea what he’s doing, if not just because he said so himself. Also, him losing his mom, while not nearly as tragic as Tsukimi actually losing hers, led him to say that he understands her pain. I suppose he does, but then again, not really. A death and knowing that person is gone forever is completely different from knowing that person is still alive but just around. Perhaps this will lead to some fight between the two later on, where she calls him out on “not understanding”. Haha, I hope that doesn’t happen though, because you know you’ve seen that scene before. I mean, I can call him out on even wanting to be friends with Tsukimi in the first place. It’s not all that innocent as it seems, since he’s BEEN with almost every hot girl out there, and now he’s sick of women. Lo and behold, someone comes around that isn’t googly eyed for him (though really, she kinda was/is), and that interests him. It’s in vein of the saying, “You always want what you can’t get.” To me, that’s not exactly the most innocent reason to spark a friendship, even though it’s displayed as such, and we simply believe it as such. But hey, I’m just putting this out there: Kuranosuke is not the angelic selfless person he’s presented to be. And consequently, this makes him a surprisingly realistic character. At least he falls in love with Tsukimi for more innocent reasons right? OH WAIT. 😛 Only time will tell.
Despite me dissecting these characters to be a little more realistic than we might have wanted to see (which is funny because we watch media to escape reality), the show itself continues to make me laugh everytime. And it’s not like “hehe *chuckles*”, no it’s like “pfffffft HAHAHA *spits on the monitor and screams because it’s new”. I don’t know if Banba’s hair is going to become a running gag from now on, but so many jokes were centered around it that it wouldn’t surprise me if it did. Jiji also gets a joke, as she drew old men into the BL manga they work on, giving her some presence, as she barely gets any elsewhere. It’s too bad, because she has an excellent seiyuu that I can’t wait to hear in KnT S2 this winter. There’s also the reappearance of “ole”, and a bunch of other jokes that if I keep on rattling about, would result in further examples of poor organization in writing if not committed already. The show seems to always create great “cliffhangers”, if you can call them that, with an upbeat song coupled with a sudden realization of some sort (which so far, is always funny). Sadly, I have no witty remark to end this impression today, and so, I leave you with this: “no bra, no life.”
man, this show makes me talkative. also, the ED has grown on me so much for the past few episodes.
Preview
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Oh gawd its out. Haven’t watched this yet. They sure like to do this though. ~kiraboshi!!
Kuragehime <3
This was a good episode, and since Shu is 30 and still a virgin I’m gonna have to root for him.
I rather have ShuuxTsukimi, but if that won’t happen, I’ll take Shuu instead
Its typical shoujo, you just know Tsukimi will sleep with every eligible male at least once.
nah its josei, Tsukimi will sleep with “any” male
Gah, I totally support Kuranosuke! Shuu is funny and I like him a whole lot more than I did last week, but Kuranosuke is just… Kuranosuke. I mean, at least he knows who the real Tsukimi is.
I like the different interpretations for the motives of the characters, but I guess I just kinda take the material at face value; not really that in depth but sweet natured and entertaining, and that’s enough for me. I sorta think that Kuranosuke’s initial feeling’s were changed because of Tsukimi’s glasses and change in attitude more than anything like a change in appearance. Because she was essentially in her “element” i.e. surrounded by the jellyfish, she was genuinely happy and relaxed, which she never is when she’s around Kuranosuke, because she’s shy around men. Also because of this, when she has her glasses off she can’t really focus, so she’s able to look him directly in the face. It kind of allows him to “see” her differently. On a side note I loved that part where he put her glasses back on and was all like “I seal you!”
lo. I agree with you. When he methodically cleaned her appearance up and put the glasses, thought, “Ha ! Someone’s trying to hide a jewel here !”
I am not taking sides, whoever manages to win her heart is ok with me. After all she will be lucky to get any boyfriend at all. Not because she isnt pretty, mind you, but because of her sore lack of social skills aka “how to approach men”.
This series wows me over every time. I only started watching it because a friend was telling me about it. Since then I’ve thanked her for sharing it with me. It has some charmingly cute way to capture your attention and your heart. And Kiiragi is correct about the funny scenes. There’s been lots of “LOL!” ones already.
“This series wows me over every time.”
Eh ? Why ? Its very mediocre so far. There dozens of manga titles exactly like this.
Most of those titles “exactly like this” either a) aren’t actually funny like this show is or b) don’t have awesome cross dressers in them like this show does.
its like saying ouran high school host club is mediocre, which obviously isnt.
this show may have a few cliches, but the theme, production quality, and character are pretty top notch. the premise is far more interesting as well. its already a plus that none of the characters are in high school.
Wasnt Shuu a douche only one episode ago?!
Im hoping he changes completely even after he sees ugly version.
Me personally, my fav moment in the whole show was when he nosebled after securing himself in the car, lmao!(I was sooo waiting on a reaction!!!)
I have been laughing like a moron for the past 20 mins (since I watched the episode) about Shuu’s nosebleed in the car ! Oh, and how pissed Kuranosuke was when he saw the hug ! Actually, I almost spat my food with laughter when he pushed them apart and later kicked his brother ! I love you, KURAGEHIME !
strange episode. the pacing and scenes are completely different from the last three.
When I scrolled down to see the screen cap with Kuranosuke jumping between them, I couldn’t contain my laughter. Best show of the season.
I had another good laugh at this episode
hahaha i love how you are analyzing the show xD, it really makes for a more enticing read.
I agree with you a little on the whole Shuu’s love being shallow, but isn’t Tsukimi in a way also being overly deep?
Tsukimi has the whole pre-conceived ideas about people different from herself while Shuu has the same pre-conceived ideas, so in a sense the only reason why Shuu looks more like the bad guy or whatever is because he’s not the main character… anyways though, my point is that a relationship between the 2 of them doesn’t seem that impossible
I honestly wouldn’t mind it either since both of them are “innocent” in the whole love department making for very entertaining scenarios since the whole falling in love with each other also is about learning to accept both the bad and good sides
Thanks :]
It’s funny about Tsukimi because probably the biggest thing that Shuu has going for him in Tsukimi’s eyes is that he somehow looks like a jellyfish she particularly admires as a “prince.” I obviously am not nearly enough of a jellyfish otaku to understand the connection.
Am I the only one surprised at how easily Kuranosuke turned back into a guy? He even removed those nails in like no time at all!
Also, I think Kuranosuke got embarrassed because Tsukimi looked at him right in the eyes with a smile on her face. That’s new.
They got me with that hugging scene though. I saw it the way Kuranosuke did so it surprised me when she was crying… aww
Hi there, should I watch this? I loved Kimi ni todoke so I’m wondering if they’re almost the same. Only thing that turning me off on watching this is the crossdresser guy.
I wouldn’t say you’d get that sweet butterfly innocence feeling that KnT gives, if not just because few shows can. Personally, I don’t find much similarity besides that they both have romance and comedy. You’ll have to watch and find out yourself, really. It should be worth the time.
Should you watch this? Yes, you should, because it’s an awesome and adorable show.
Should you watch it because you liked KnT? Well, it depends on why you liked KnT so much.
Nice humor? Check. Lovely Characters? Check. Unique heroine? Check. Interesting chracter-development? Check. Touching scenes? Check. Adorable couple? Check. Light-hearted atmosphere? Check.
However you won’t find:
A cute boy like Kazehaya. A school-life romance. A normal pair like SawaKaze. The over-all prettiness of KnT.
“I don’t know if Banba’s hair is going to become a running gag from now on” That was the Lol moments of this show, poor Banba. Mayaya becoming more of a bully to Banba is notable in this episode too.
I didn’t give the whole jealousy much thought but thanks to your write up it pretty much explained it to me.
Yet another funny and touching episode. The ED is really good and perfect for this show.
Drawing mangas FTW, Bakuman and Kuragehime are definitely my favs this season 🙂
NO, I don’t think at all that Kuranosuke is falling for the mask as well. It’s the opposite. As you already said, Shuu os falling for the make-over Tsukimi and deludely sees in her a person that loves nature, while Kuranosuke knows she’s an otaku.
Up until now Kuranosuke only saw her pushing him away, being shy to a degree of weirdness and freezing to stone. This is the first time he sees her having fun, being out-going and looking him in the eye. So he now is falling for the real Tsukimi, because she is showing the real her for the first time to him. I don’t think his feelings would have developed differently if he saw her this happy and open in her usual dress-up. Shuu on the other hand wouldn’t even have looked at her at all, if she wore her usual clothes. That is the difference and that’s why I love KuraTsuki so much <3
On Shuu: I see how everyone feels kinda sympathetic towards him for being a virgin at the age of thirty, but it leaves me, personally, rather cold. I guess it could be relieving for Tsukimi since she is presented as a very innocent girl and could easily freak out by an experienced, but on the other hand I don't think Shuu is more innocent just because of that fact. I just think he simply didn't find any woman who would've let him in her pants.
I also found Kuranosuke's almost subconciously changing back to a boy incredibly cute *__*
Well, I do think that his reasons for befriending Tsukimi might not be very innocent and actually rather selfish, but I think he is now slowly falling for Tsukimi's character and nature which is nothing questionable at all O__o
I’m glad that Shuu is given more depth in this episode, although I don’t like the whole triangle that is developing. I’m growing to like him more and more … he was sweet to hug Tsukimi and seems like he’s understanding Kuranosuke a little better now. Jealous Kuranosuke is cute, too, though.
I find it amusing (and telling) that Shuu is damned for being superficial and liking madeover Tsukimi as if it wasn’t just like that in the real world … how many guys do you know who would go for “normal” Tsukimi? Kuranosuke is an exception in this case, but that’s because he got to know “normal” Tsukimi first (an exception many nerdgirls dream of).
So looking forward to ep 5, I can hardly wait. I wonder if Tsukimi is looking for a job and that woman in the suit is the one interviewing her?
you could also look at it like this: kuranosuke has fallen for the real tsukimi but doesn’t realize it yet. he sees her inner beauty and, because of his obsession with fashion, is subconsciously compelled to bring that beauty to the surface by dolling her up. her makeup wasn’t what made him love her but his expression of his existing love for her.
kuranosuke found tsukimi interesting even before dressing her up.. so i think he might genuinely like her as she is
ole~
The “Ole!” joke kills me each time.