Amagi Brilliant Park / First Impressions

OP1.08 Sequence

OP: 「エクストラ・マジック・アワー」 (Extra Magic Hour) by AKINO with bless4

「恋心が届かない!」 (Koigokoro ga Todokanai!)
“The Love Isn’t Reaching!”

*With Amaburi‘s delayed subs, everything’s a bit late this week. My sincere apologies.

So I predicted a plot episode this week, or at least a Latifa episode. Shows what I know about anime.

In a sense, I suppose this was a Latifa episode because she does get a non-zero amount of screentime (that is, more than usual) and we do learn some tidbits about her past (indirectly, as it may be, from some poor saps hitting Seiya!Moffle’s berserk button). In fact, we get a fair bit of development in many departments, but Amaburi has always been a comedy first and foremost, and the laughs get priority. It means we have to look for those little flashes of character insight while clutching our sides, but they do sneak their way in there. And sure, it’s still a bit of ‘characters reciting their life story’ but at least it’s made funny, which elevates it from simple exposition.

I actually initially had doubts about whether the premise of this episode would actually work for me as comedy. Turns out it did, and I’m glad for it, but this was a rather strange episode of Amaburi. I know I say that every week, but this time it’s not just because of wackiness. For one, it’s the first time Amaburi‘s wandered out of its theme park setting, which is akin to releasing zoo animals into the suburbs and would result in about as many casualties. There’s also something inherently creepy about wearing someone’s skin—that’s a horror movie scenario right there—and I wasn’t sure if I’d be overcome by the squick, not to mention the extreme suspension of disbelief required to accept that the sensible Seiya would let the Stooges run his life (into the ground) for three days. Seiya must have been really sick; he’s evidently delirious.

Walk a mile in their shoes

Despite the magical gimmicks, characters swapping bodies is an old sitcom schtick. Unlike the usual routine, though, the three faeries make no effort to even pretend to be Seiya; for park mascots they operate despairingly poorly when actually in costume (which might explain some of Amaburi’s woes). I was afraid that this episode Seiya would be subject to a full scale character assassination, which is probably not something his already low reputation at school could afford. It’s a good thing his peers are such a simple and gullible bunch. That’s where a lot of the laughs came from, but it was still almost painful for me watching Tiramie go full sexual predator on the poor girl. I made it through holding fast to the faith that karmic justice would surely be delivered. Great props to girl C (names are hard) for saving the day. Her continually expanding role has been a pleasant surprise, and it was enough to make me feel a twinge of pity to see her eating lunch alone on the stairs. Also great props to Seiya’s seiyuu’s sensational display (say that ten times fast) this episode. It couldn’t have been easy for Uchimaya Kouki to do so many impressions (and impressions of impressions) this episode. While we’re at it, let’s hear it for Sakaguchi Daisuke as well for always having to play the number 2 for Kyoto Animation.

Amagi Brilliant Park: Isuzu Keeps Trying

I was glad that at least Isuzu tries to uphold the Seiya masquerade, even as she was being hunted by her natural predators. It wouldn’t be an Amaburi episode for me without Isuzu’s sincere struggles. To be fair, she actually does a surprisingly adequate job of it, though it’s all relative, I suppose. Considering how much of a misanthrope Seiya is apparently at school (and we can only wonder why), I’d argue that Isuzu makes a better Seiya than Seiya himself. Actually, with Isuzu being so easily expressive as Seiya I’d argue it makes a better Isuzu as well. Maybe I’m letting the ship carry me away, but Isuzu and Seiya complement each other rather nicely.

The Latifa x Seiya ship also picks up some steam this episode, and one can perhaps interpret some displeasure in Isuzu about this. I don’t think that’s what it’s about though; I think Isuzu is burdened by knowledge about Latifa’s MIA mother. Or not. It’s already been demonstrated that I fail at reading anything into Amaburi. Maybe she just wanted cake. I wouldn’t know.

So while next week seems to be an episode about the Elementario girls—about time, considering how they’ve been little more than comical noise since episode 01—I’m not going to make any real predictions. It could be anything. There’s no way to tell until we see it. Amaburi is the quantum physics of anime.

Full-length images: 05, 16, 23, 33.

 

Preview

Bonus Round (because I’m a people pleaser)

71 Comments

  1. Oh, Kyoani… You and your plot evasiveness. Makes me wonder how they’re going to wrap up all the characterization and loose ends in… 5 episodes? There isn’t a Season 2 planned, is there?

    lytterbug
    Reply

    1. I think four, and that’s a fair amount of episodes. Despite all the comedy they’re still moving forward in a clear direction, so it’s still possible to wrap up nicely this season. I’m getting ahead of myself though. We’ll see.

      Passerby
      Reply

  2. https://randomc.net/image/Amagi%20Brilliant%20Park/Amagi%20Brilliant%20Park%20-%2008%20-%20Large%2020.jpg
    I kinda laughed at this…Isuzu and Macaron just NTR-ed her from her original crush?

    https://randomc.net/image/Amagi%20Brilliant%20Park/Amagi%20Brilliant%20Park%20-%2008%20-%20Large%2007.jpg
    Also we need more of those hilarous doodle-version of mascot expressions.

    https://randomc.net/image/Amagi%20Brilliant%20Park/Amagi%20Brilliant%20Park%20-%2008%20-%20Large%2036.jpg
    Water-sylph episode next?
    I’d like to know more about the Air-sylph =)

    Techim
    Reply

  5. So this is what Rikka would look like if she lost her eyepatch, fake contact lens, ahoge and delusions of grandeur–and adopted twintails and hair decs.

    “With Amaburi‘s delayed subs, everything’s a bit late this week. My sincere apologies.”
    And even the delayed subs had a problem*, so I do feel your pain about that…

    (* – No subs for the preview? WTH?!)

    Incognito
    Reply

  6. I know, it is a nice Episode. But you know what, this is the first Episode where the Park was not mentioned. So is this KyoAni’s way of a Filler? 🙂

    Not that i feel bad about that..

    WorldwideDepp
    Reply

      1. Latifa fulfills the “damsel in distress” theme well enough on her own. To have her be Show Spoiler ▼

        on top of that without any it serving any real relevance in the plot would be taking it too far, IMO.

        Mayhaps it does serve some grander purpose in the light novel or manga, but KyoAni probably left it out in the anime for that very reason.

        Ryan Ashfyre
        Reply

  9. In regards to isuzu’s crestfallen expression near the end, i actually like your interpretation as to why she seemed that way passerby; it is quite likely that she just feels bad about latifa’s situation (or perhaps you do as well; how does that girl keep it all together??) But still, it really does seem that isuzu was feeling a little “left out” in the end. The way the camera frames isuzu in that scene; she’s in the middle, her back turned to the viewer so that you cant see her expression until the very end (and the fact that her back is turned as well adds to the fact that she was not apart of the conversation regardless of the fact that they invited her to sit with them, enhancing the “left out” feeling izusu may have been experiencing).

    The camera slowly pulls out more as we see latifa and isuzu carry on a conversation (this is why cinematography is important kids), and if one were to interpret that scene, you could surmise that kanie seems to be more relaxed, calm, and friendly with latifa (maybe hinting to their past that at one point, they knew each other and were friends). Kanie doesnt have this demeanor with anyone else, and that in itself is what probably got to izusu. It’s most like not a “she’s getting in my way” type of jealousy but a “i wish i could have a relaxed relationship like that with him” type of jealousy. izusu and kanie have some chemistry with each other, but it’s mostly situations that arise from work and not because their just chilling with each other. If her expression at the end is because she was feeling left out from what she was seeing between latifa and kanie, i wouldnt be surprised due to everything ive mentioned previously.

    sonicsenryaku
    Reply

    1. Indeed, interpretations! Jealousy was the first one that came to my mind, but I’m uncomfortable with being conclusive about Amaburi. I did note the deliberate camerawork when watching, but it could as easily be an emphasis on Isuzu’s point of view, and her watching Latifa be so innocently happy. I can accept any number of complicated feelings she could be having in that scene.

      On my part, I mostly focused on the lack of a third place set for tea. Isuzu’s not getting any cake. If I were her I’d be sad too.

      Passerby
      Reply

  13. For me the biggest plot curveball was that I was assuming Seiya gets sick > park management goes to chaos. Instead, they ignored that and started talking about his school life! Oh, Amaburi…

    flap
    Reply

  15. Kanae from the back (when she turned he head a bit) looks somewhat similar to Ichinose Kotomi (which is one of my favourite characters; osananajimi always hold a special place in my heart). 🙂

    Lone Wanderer
    Reply

  16. https://randomc.net/image/Amagi%20Brilliant%20Park/Amagi%20Brilliant%20Park%20-%2008%20-%20Large%2033.jpg
    Couldn’t he just put on that guy’s face mask, instead of the whole body suit? I mean they are wearing the same school uniform.
    https://randomc.net/image/Amagi%20Brilliant%20Park/Amagi%20Brilliant%20Park%20-%2008%20-%20Large%2029.jpg
    And Moffle was just so funny when he’s like I don’t care how I look when I’m apologizing as Seiya, he’s the one who looks like he has no pride.
    https://randomc.net/image/Amagi%20Brilliant%20Park/Amagi%20Brilliant%20Park%20-%2008%20-%20Large%2022.jpg
    This will never get old.
    https://randomc.net/image/Amagi%20Brilliant%20Park/Amagi%20Brilliant%20Park%20-%2008%20-%20Large%2010.jpg
    And I like how everyone asks about the zipper’s slider on his head and Seiya is like “don’t mind it.” That subject is so easy to brush off. LOL

    random viewer
    Reply

    1. Couldn’t he just put on that guy’s face mask, instead of the whole body suit?

      Well, then he wouldn’t be able to emulate/imitate his voice too. And mask would be too obvious (this is a proper full-body conversion).

      Lone Wanderer
      Reply

  17. https://randomc.net/image/Amagi%20Brilliant%20Park/Amagi%20Brilliant%20Park%20-%2008%20-%2009.jpg

    https://randomc.net/image/Amagi%20Brilliant%20Park/Amagi%20Brilliant%20Park%20-%2008%20-%2023.jpg

    https://randomc.net/image/Amagi%20Brilliant%20Park/Amagi%20Brilliant%20Park%20-%2008%20-%2025.jpg

    https://randomc.net/image/Amagi%20Brilliant%20Park/Amagi%20Brilliant%20Park%20-%2008%20-%2030.jpg

    https://randomc.net/image/Amagi%20Brilliant%20Park/Amagi%20Brilliant%20Park%20-%2008%20-%2017.jpg

    Unlimited Kaine Works

    ReylandAZ
    Reply

  19. As of now, Vivid is the official fan sub group for this show and has been for the past 7 episodes. This time, however, they were extremely late in posting it, to the point where fan sub sites had to go with other groups! And Vivid STILL hasn’t even posted their own translation yet! Yet another mystery in Vivid’s shady politics.

    starss
    Reply

  21. https://randomc.net/image/Amagi%20Brilliant%20Park/Amagi%20Brilliant%20Park%20-%2008%20-%20Large%2021.jpg

    Slyphy will always be awesome, no matter how short her screen time is.

    https://randomc.net/image/Amagi%20Brilliant%20Park/Amagi%20Brilliant%20Park%20-%2008%20-%20Large%2022.jpg

    I cant find a single reason why Sento would trust this guy. Making him play Seiya is clearly a death flag.

    https://randomc.net/image/Amagi%20Brilliant%20Park/Amagi%20Brilliant%20Park%20-%2008%20-%20Large%2020.jpg

    One of the rare times that im entertained by NTR

    Ginobi47
    Reply

  22. I’ll be honest, I feel a little bit let down by this episode. I’m not saying it’s bad. Actually it’s quite entertaining but I can’t help but feel that this would have been the right time to advance the plot more in terms of “how do we get more people into the park” instead of what we got. This especially after they made the “antagonist” appear at the end of the last episode.

    Juan
    Reply

    1. To address everyone who’s wondering where the plot went: I think an episode like this one needed to happen sooner or later. Well, not one exactly like this one, but something that deals with Seiya’s high school. Seeing the other side of his life is, I feel, necessary for his character development. Granted, we didn’t actually get a lot of that, but we got hints, and that’s probably enough for now.

      Passerby
      Reply

  23. Picked up this show a bit late. From the preseason summary, it just didn’t seem like “my cup of tea”, but I’m actually enjoying it quite a bit. As for this particular episode though, I have to agree with others that with 5 episodes left, it’s kind of random to suddenly stray from the main theme of saving the park. There are quite a few loose threads remaining, and I wonder whether the time spent for Ep. 08 could have been used to better effect.

    I’m not a big fan of the ‘ol mind/body swap type of plot line which this episode follows. There were some funny moments, but overall, probably my least favorite episode so far. Have to agree with Passerby that Seiya must have been really, really sick to think having the “3 Stooges” impersonate him at school was a good idea. Anyone could see that was not going to turn out well. I was, however, glad to see that Seiya (with some timely help from his kohai) was able to salvage his reputation at school in the end.

    As for the preview, I like the Elementario girls so nice to see they will get some time in the spotlight.

    daikama
    Reply

  26. I give up.

    Like Passerby, I just totally give up on predicting what Amaburi will throw at us next, but damn me if I didn’t enjoy this episode.

    The subtlety with how they dropped little plot points is there though, and I’m satisfied that despite the entire comedic nature of the episode they didn’t fail to throw in the tidbits shown throughout the episodes about Kanie’s plans on getting as many visitors as possible into the Park. I felt there could have been a little more of plot development, but so far KyoAni has done a great job in the department of character development and sticking to their guns on what the main genre really is.

    I give up trying to see everyone with common sense as well. “What’s that on your head?” “Don’t worry about it.” and THAT’S IT?! It’s probably safe to say that everyone in the show has one or two screws loose somewhere. The mascots have obviously more than a few, but were pretty hilarious. What surprised me was how well Seiya took it and even played matchmaker for Kanae and her crush. Seems like he might actually have changed a bit since taking over managment of Amaburi.

    Sento is fast becoming one of my favorite KyoAni female leads with an awesome mix of her earnest diligence, personal struggles and looks. The last scene obviously spelt jealousy there, but of what kind we aren’t certain. I’d agree with one of our posters here that she probsbly wanted to communicate with Seiya in such a relaxed manner, but knows she still can’t due to her personality, resulting in a mix of envy, frustration and yearning. Perhaps Tiramie’s little prank might not actually be that far from the truth, ironically.

    Regardless of what this episode turned out for plot, I give up trying to guess, and take the rollercoaster ride that is Amaburi hoping for a great end. 🙂

    Owaranai
    Reply

  27. As expected of Kyo-Ani, even their side characters are so cute. (Kanae and her red-haired friend <3 )

    In dating sim terms, Isuzu unwittingly built a flag for Kanae, Macaron built upon it, and Tiramie had to go and rip it up completely. That left Seiya to personally come and clean up the mess without them knowing.

    i.e. Shiina is a good girl for letting Seiya know right away so he could act.

    PS A bit of Clannad vibes I'm getting:

    1. Macaron in the Seiya-suit with his delinquent personality is totally Okazaki Tomoya. And Seiya resembles Okazaki a bit.

    2. Kimura is voiced by Sakaguchi Daisuke, who did Sunohara (as well as Satoshi in Hyouka). Him confronting Macaron/Seiya totally felt like Sunohara v Okazaki.

    3. Kanae resembles Fujibayashi Ryou a lot.

    echykr
    Reply

  29. This series is a classical case of hit or miss for me. While I didn’t really appreciate that last week’s episode, this one was my 2nd favorite one of the series so far, the favorite being episode 6.

    boingman
    Reply

  30. Moffle spilling the beans [indirectly] and lashing out the full siscon bitterness.

    Aside from that, I feel that this is a set up for Shiina. I have read some spoilers and I can see where it’s going. But I’m kinda doubtful that they’ll ever reach the material I’m hoping they would animate.

    I’m not pegging my hopes for a season 2 since not even production committee had much faith in the project. On the bright side though the is doing pretty well against the odds and going toe to toe with stuff like FS/N and GReco.

    Again. Shiina’s smile warms my heart. Sad that there’s no pic available here in RC. :3

    megalith
    Reply

  32. Great episode. Hyouka level of depth IMHO. Totally get why Vivid would get delayed. A lot of difficult lines, and difficulty expressing each of the three stooges’ nuanced speech out there, now that there are clueless bystanders that are catching all these nuances as odd. Also had difficulty trying to make out some of Macaron & Tiramee’s lines.

    Stuff I couldn’t figure out watching the raw:
    Show Spoiler ▼

    passerby wrote..
    not to mention the extreme suspension of disbelief required to accept that the sensible Seiya would let the Stooges run his life (into the ground) for three days.

    I actually thought the show gave an elegant explanation. Show Spoiler ▼

    meow
    Reply

    1. and I like it.

      Hope KyoAni makes some more school life/romance anime… I really love how they deliver these kinds. Also, I disagree to those who says this anime’s story/plot is a wreck

      Red HeartGold ZX
      Reply

  35. It’s stories like this that IMO is the strong point of this author. Having read the light novel of FMP and the anime, (FMP, Fumoffu and 2nd season) I feel it’s these gag comedy short stories that makes a laugh with the odd chemestry reaction with these crazy character personalities that makes this story good. (I haven’t read this Light Novel though) This episode seriously reminded me of one of the Fumoffu episodes.

    drzero7
    Reply

  39. Not sure if I laughed or cried hearing Moffle-shogun’s confession. Still had mixed feelings for several minutes after that event. It was really a good place to put in exposition like that.

    “Amaburi is the quantum physics of anime.”
    Lol, never tried to predict this show, so I really wouldn’t know.

    theirs
    Reply

  40. I could watch the whole series of everyone being Kanie in turn. Someone will accidentally create him harem, and others will destroy it next day…

    Eveyday would be challenge, since nobody reports what has happened in their turn.

    anon
    Reply

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