First Impressions / Hentai Ouji to Warawanai Neko

「妖精さんは怒らない」 (Yousei-san wa Okoranai)
“The Fairy Doesn’t Get Mad”

My oh my, where have we seen this setup before: The ojou-sama who isn’t actually rich, who has to keep up her looks for the sake of her reputation. Those of you familiar with Kami Nomi should notice the similarity, even to the point where both main protagonists seek to befriend the ojou-sama for the sake of gaining something within her. However, the difference here is that things get really sour, really fast.

In all fairness, I was more amazed by the quality of the animation this episode rather than the actual character development. Suddenly, Azuki and Youto find themselves on a date after two episodes, with Azuki showing off some serious tsundere, and Youto showing some serious lack of restraint (aaaand he’s gone). In itself the development isn’t bad–in fact I welcome romantic comedies that cut to the chase–but the transition to this stage was a bit too forced. The timing for getting to the date would’ve been better placed in episode three, where episode two would show off the newly formed dog-princess relationship Youto and Azuki share. In fact, the punchline of this episode, where things begin to take a serious turn, would’ve been better contrasted with more focus on developing the friendship; there was too little material for the emotional scene to pack a punch, which again in isolation was done quite well. Although this brings up many more questions about the depth of Azuki’s past as well as providing a “serious time” outlet for the other characters, the flow of the character development is slightly worrisome.

But hey, it’s only episode two–I’ll cut the show some slack. For the most part, HenNeko has done extremely well in showing off itself these past few episodes. The characters continue to be drawn crisply and with detail, even in the more animation-intensive scenes. In fact, it rivals J.C. Staff’s predecessor, Sakurasou, in terms of animation quality. So many of their scenes are “animated gif ready” that I expect images to have already popped up, spreading the love for this show’s animation excellence. Such drawing skills also greatly benefit the tone of the show, where the comedic tensions between all the dysfunctional characters just wouldn’t be able to shine otherwise. Remember that scene where we finally discover the sibling relationship between Tsukiko and Tsukushi? Where Youto is hanging for his life and then does this? I can’t imagine the scene being executed any other way, nor eliciting as much laughter without the animation to accompany it.

Of course when on the subject of this show’s animation, it would be tragic not to mention Tsukiko’s well-executed character design and personality. Those close-ups, those eyes, that lack of emotion–why is it so cute!? I suppose the absence of emotion can be just as adorable as an abundance of it, especially when her actions completely betray what she’s actually feeling. That girl can not smile for her life, but she can still own every single arcade bomb like a boss, while also showing embarrassment through the content of her words and her non-facial body expressions.

This barely scratches the surface of Tsukiko’s potential as a character–one who is able to hide their emotions better than most other characters, but in this case not by choice. Suddenly it has become harder to read whether she’s joking or absolutely serious. What kinds of feelings has she begun to harbor for Youto? We can’t tell for sure, even for a romantic comedy, since her face no longer betrays her emotions. It’ll be interesting to see how Tsukiko deals with the big emotional scenes that normally demand emotion. What of her face when she’s heartbroken, angry, or utterly saddened? Will her struggle to express herself show itself in this show? Just like many “losing taken-for-granted abilities” plots of this type, the emotional potential is great, especially in transforming stale ideas into a new light. Though we can guess that Tsukiko held some negative feelings towards her sister, such dynamics appear fresh thanks to Tsukiko’s deadpan execution of her lines. Her words are filled with such emotion, but her face tells us nothing more to assist our interpretation.

Despite some hiccups and wishful thinking, this week’s episode was done well, especially compared to last week. Hopefully we slow down a bit in the next few episodes to let the development sink in, while hopefully getting unique scenes for each ED going forward! Until next time!

P.S: did anyone else think that the OP and ED sound remarkably similar?

Full-length images: 2, 8, 16, 20, 30.

 

ED Sequence

ED: 「Baby Sweet Berry Love」 by 小倉 唯 (Ogura Yui)

Preview

62 Comments

  2. The princess-dog relationship. One of the rare anime episodes that makes me laugh within the first minute. =)
    I’ve read the manga (but not the light novels), and I can say that most of the episode is rather faithful, if not for a few excluded scenes Show Spoiler ▼

    The anime-original Youto’s escape from Tsukushi is quite funny too.

    Techim
    Reply

  4. The moment I saw the preview for this show, I knew it wouldn’t disappoint – and it hasn’t so far. And not only because of J.C. Staff’s recent Sakurasou success.

    The whole “lets-go-on-a-date” situation might have come a bit soon to be honest, but I feel that everything else is spot on. From the main plot lines with the neko statue, the emotionless Tsukiko that forces the audience to try and understand her through words alone, from the STELLAR animation and general production values. And of course the laughing gags + moe. I can safely say that the two biting scenes from these two episodes, together with one other particular scene from Hataraku Maou-sama! (Alsiel !@#$%&) are the highlights of the season so far for me!

    I hope it keeps it up and why not, get even better (although not having too high expectations will make things more awesome if it really DO gets better!)

    Tassadar
    Reply

  9. “…What of her face when she’s heartbroken, angry, or utterly saddened? Will her struggle to express herself show itself in this show?…”

    Will she struggle to show expression and feelings when she gets raped? At the very least, she needs a gag to stop her from biting down.

    ChubbyChaser
    Reply

  11. wait wait, so then Hentai ouji guy here will get his facade back if Azuki can accept who she is? If that happens it kinda destroys the series title though…considering that Youto will learn to hide himself again.

    gawrshness
    Reply

    1. Basically, without spoilers, his reputation is eternally ruined as he is the pervert prince. Anything he does from this point on will basically never be seen as proper again imo. ;o

      Kalocin
      Reply

  16. Not sure what the big fuss is over the pacing. It seems to be following the Manga* pretty faithfully on accurate pace. It’s a 12 episode anime, too. I think the pacing is fine as it is.

    J_the_Man
    Reply

  18. “Who knew that a lack of emotion could be so cute?”
    Probably every Kuudere/Emotionless Girl fan ever.
    Tsukiko really is adorable though, and that ED is cute to the extreme.

    xephx
    Reply

  22. Oh wow, the Hentai Prince doesn’t disappoint, going straight from date to suggesting a marriage to having kids, all in the same day.

    And of course, there’s allowing a girl to escape by grabbing on her bossy sister’s boobs to distract said sister. (Tsukushi, so you can blush after all. <3 )

    I believe the reason Tsukiko's expressionless face manages to evoke such cuteness is due to the Ayanami/Nagato factor, allowing the audience to use their own imagination to perceive whatever emotion they would like to see rather than let the author do it for them.

    The ED dance choreograph reminds me of the ED of Kiss x Sis. I would not be surprised if Ogura Yui (Tsukiko) and Ishihara Kaori (Azusa) once again did the motion-capture choreograph as they did for the Kiss x Sis ED.

    Anonymous
    Reply

  24. What a difference a sub makes!!! One sub I watched labeled the clinic they visited after the bridal store as Obstetrics, the other ‘Abortion’. Does someone have an agenda??? That certainly was jarring..

    SmithCB
    Reply

    1. A translated version of the manga says “Gynecology”.
      Going by the plot of the episode itself, I’d say the general idea is “Pregnancy clinic”
      “Abortion” would clearly be the wrong translation since there’s a scene where just behind Azusa, a mother heads to the place with an already born baby.

      Techim
      Reply

    2. I think the problem is that, in the U.S. an oxymoron is used to describe these
      clinics, i.e. “Planned Parenthood”. So, a translator not understanding American
      Politics might believe that Abortion == Planning for a Family, which couldn’t be
      further from the truth. I think the best translation should have been Pediatrician.
      You don’t take a baby to a gynaecologist.

      I thought it was so funny going from the bridal shop to the Pediatrician’s office
      I’m surprised he didn’t take her to a Real Estate office to look for a home for their
      (upcoming) family, or the missing step of a Maternity store for the in-between state!

      I thought this series would turn out korny, but I like how it’s very funny with heart.

      mac65
      Reply

  25. I don’t think I have ever seen an abortion joke in an anime before- and while it was definitely in poor taste, that didn’t make it any less hilarious. Youto’s explanation on stalking Azuki was fantastic as well: “To bridge the gap between us, I just tried to physically get closer to you!” seriously funny stuff. Two other things: this show will fill the void that Sakurasou left in my life quite nicely and I hope Tsukiko bites Youto everyone episode, because HNGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG.

    katsudon
    Reply

    1. What abortion joke? Perhaps you were watching the wrong subs?

      産婦人科 simply means maternity and gynecology department, it may or may not involve abortion practices, but I’m pretty sure that was not the point of the joke.

      Anonymous
      Reply

  30. Why does everyone’s parents always die when they were little kids, lemme guess, another car accident?

    *Murmurs something about asians and their driving skills – inb4 “but that’s racist/stereotypinglolol!”*

    Mike
    Reply

  34. yoto going idea plan being azuka’s dog til tsukiko think bad idea go maid-animal cafe see azuka work there so after leave & watch then mean guy scared tsukiko.

    so yoto grab tsukiko to safety then azuka working on construction site so new plan yoto date azuka & some oops tsukiko to rescue to arcade fun time.

    give tsukiko own’d all games & azuka not good til give her a turtle all fine then azuka clean her face then uh-oh steel queen alert & also happen to be tsukiko’s sister.

    so run away for yoto & tsukiko while azuka oh no yea “trouble” appear cause moment yoto & tsukiko came back azuka been hurt talking by dark skin girls.

    & azuka feel i was used/puppet part of messed-up doing of yoto & tsukiko indeed drama just kick in big time.

    b.i.t.w.
    Reply

  36. Remember guys. She’s wearing his facade and is living up to it. All he has to do is convince her to do the date and she signs up for it. Hence, its not so much “early” as it is keikaku. He knows his facade best and so that’s how come the date happens quickly. Thought that made total sense really.

    Dorian
    Reply

  42. omg it was like watching moe Nagato all over again!
    im amazed for the fast pace tho .. i think they already covered 50% of the (so far) translated manga? unless this is from a LN? mm not sure.. in anycase need more Tsukiko!

    inanis
    Reply

  45. Tsukiko-chan’s emotions may be hard to read, but faint bits show through the mask now and then. Here we have surprise followed in the next instant by a blush (of satisfaction? and the shadow of a smile? 😉

    Oh, such a delicious kitten 😀

    kornpone
    Reply

  46. After people made tons of rave about this episode’s ED I went and check it out.

    >Tasty girls dancing at the foreground
    >Delicious looking background

    10/10 would watch again…

    The Moondoggie
    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *