First Impressions / Kashimashi

Summary:
On Yasuna’s suggestion, the entire group decides to go to the beach. Asuta can’t stop thinking about how his best friend became a girl and it doesn’t help that Hazumu shows off her cleavage to him. When they arrive, Jan-puu flies in to greet Hazumu. Sora identifies her as his daughter, but admits that he’s lying when Tomari asks. Because Jan-puu seems to know everyone, Hazumu tells them that she is a relative. Hazumu then notices that Sora is wearing an odd, old-fashioned bathing suit. Hearing that, he rips it off for the much more revealing one underneath.
While everyone is having lots of fun on the beach, Asuta finds himself thinking about Hazumu more and more. When she gets too close for comfort, he escapes to buy everyone some drinks. On his way back, he spots Hazumu being harassed by two random guys. Asuta rushes in and protects her by pretending to be her boyfriend. Because Hazumu plays along with the lie, the guys leave her alone. After picking up the drinks, Asuta apologizes for calling her his girlfriend because he knows that she likes Yasuna. But Hazumu replies that she doesn’t mind at all because it was Asuta. That phrase alone gets him thinking all the more seriously about her. On the other side of the beach, Tomari is sitting in silence with Yasuna. Tomari asks why Yasuna invited her, but Yasuna doesn’t answer.
Around lunchtime, Asuta is lighting the cooking fire when Hazumu comes by and tosses him a towel. Asuta is energized from seeing her in an apron, but that goes away quickly because Sora also shows up in one…except he’s naked. Curry is on the lunch menu, but before the girls can start cooking, Tomari accidentally drops the curry powder in the sand. She leaves to get more powder, but Yasuna wants to come along for the walk. Asuta, meanwhile, is watching Hazumu cut up the vegetables. What Hazumu said earlier keeps coming back to his mind, and he becomes conflicted between seeing her as his best friend and as a romantic interest. His feelings for her eventually win out, so Asuta asks to speak with her.
Returning from the store, Yasuna finally answers Tomari’s earlier question. She had invited everyone because she had realized that she knew nothing about Hazumu’s likes. But she wants to know so that she can see and experience Hazumu’s favorite things. Hearing that, Tomari starts to understand how devoted her rival is. Yasuna then sees Hazumu and Asuta walking off together. On a cliff-side with the waves crashing below, Asuta finally asks Hazumu what she thinks of him. After thinking about it, Hazumu tells him that he is, among other things, frivolous, simplistic, and unreliable. However, she also says that he hasn’t changed at all ever since she became a girl: he’s kind, he stays by her side, and he helps out at the right times. After Hazumu even clears up the misunderstanding about what she said earlier, Asuta comes to realize how important of a friend he is to her. But since he now has his hands on her shoulders, Tomari flies in with a kick that sends Asuta into the sea below.
The gang returns home after a day of fun and a serving of very spicy curry. Hazumu manages to fall asleep on Yasuna’s shoulder on the train ride back. With just her and Yasuna awake, Tomari finally gets up the courage to declare to Yasuna that she also likes Hazumu.

This episode ends up being a combination of chapters nine and eleven of the manga. The basic plot (Asuta’s feeling for Hazumu and Tomari vs. Yasuna) is kept in, but there are some changes. Instead of Yasuna having invited everyone because Hazumu only smiles her brightest when everyone is around, Yasuna here invites everyone so that she can learn more about Hazumu and experience the same things that Hazumu likes. As usual, the end result is the same (Tomari recognizing Yasuna’s devotion to Hazumu), but I think the manga version makes her slightly creepier in the stalker-ish way. That also means that I like the anime version better because I’m still rooting for YasunaxHazumu.
And for a beach episode, this definitely has its share of fanservice (wanted and unwanted as the case may be). I don’t find Asuta’s story all that interesting, but I don’t really care for the manga chapter either. Next week, though, is Ayuki’s episode. To me, she’s a lot more interesting of a character than Asuta, so I look forward to how they extend (over the manga) next week’s story.

21 Comments

  5. Hrm, If only Asuta was a bit smoother.
    There are so many advantages he has over Yasuna and Tomari, he should have
    no problem seducing her over to his side.
    The main thing he has to worry about is whether or not she turns back into a guy-
    that could be awkward….

    bananabanana
    Reply

  6. “The main thing he has to worry about is whether or not she turns back into a guy-
    that could be awkward….”

    The only way that would happen is if that alien dude hit her/him again with his ship. And we all know that won’t happen, right?

    Right?

    Kuya
    Reply

  7. i totally agree with the need to remove pic 6,
    for crying out load, thats totally disgusting.. i wouldn’t want to see it in the animation while
    its a passing frame, YOU DARE put on where it last more then a few seconds :p

    *still totally grossed*
    *shivers*
    *goes empties his stomach*
    *feels abit better*
    :p

    Mela
    Reply

  8. Thank God for Tomari – defending her friend, although Yasuna looka VERY happy with that second-last shot. I just wonder why Tomari didn’t.. ah.. volunteer for that herself. 😀 I’m not all that surprised to see Yasuna’s just kinda sliding into the ‘good friend with benefits’ role with Hazumu there… although I am concerned that Tomari can’t seem to respond by going into the breach as well.

    Haesslich
    Reply

  9. Leave no. 6 alone. Its a great way of saying “Oh I remember that anime!” or “This is very memoriable screenshot of this anime show”. Maybe not that great, but it will in your mind for a long time.

    But, still its is pretty disturbing… Though the girls are laughing like crazy or not.
    I hope fansubs catch up soon…

    Jubo
    Reply

  10. urkk…. mbpp… o_O *screen 6*

    Oi oi!! save that screenie for lolitron.. he’s better off with that screenie on his blog than here..

    geez.. there goes my therapy bill….urrkk!!

    ..at least we know he shaves regularly.. acck!!

    Shinn Agami
    Reply

  11. I dig screenshot #6. His butt shouldn’t be that smooth though…and I speak from experience of seeing approximately 1.000 male butt in my life. *ahem*

    I’m rooting for Tomari-chan… I don’t see how Hazumu is that cute, though. She has a neat haircut that makes her look chubby. Hazumu male-mode was cuter…

    Atashi
    Reply

  12. it looks like he’s about to insert his finger up his anus

    >> Oi oi!! save that screenie for lolitron.. he’s better off with that screenie on his blog than here..

    yea his site need that kind of shock value this site doesn unless your hard gheey or somethin

    koikoi
    Reply

  16. Ah, about bloody TIME she told someone she liked Hazumu, even if she didn’t tell it to the ‘target’ herself. Well, I do wonder how Yasuna and Tomari will handle the realization of one another’s feelings… or, for that matter, how HAZUMU would do it. 😀

    Hopefully, the two ‘competitors’ (Yasuna and Tomari) will be honorable, or semi-honorable – even if it’s fun to watch backstabbing, I doubt Hazumu’d like hearing about that.

    Haesslich
    Reply

  18. With Tomari’s confess I hope we can get to the meat of the competition.
    From the anime prospective I think if they went with creepy Yasuna it would probably push every one to Tomari. For a triangle to work both interest have to be like able. Not to say she may become creepy later because we still have to deal with why she can not see dudes.

    jim_hawking75043
    Reply

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