Posted by  |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
「スキヤキ・ウエスタン・マツサカ」 (Sukiyaki Uesutan Matsusaka)
“Sukiyaki Western Matsusaka”
Given my experience with Hanazawa Kana, whose roles such as Segoku Nadeko and Tachibana Kanade just happen to be far more familiar, I had always thought she was a pigeonholed seiyuu. I didn’t really mind, as I love her wispy soft voice, but most of her characters were too emotionless to ever really get attached to. With Kurashita Tsukimi however, she expresses a range of emotion I didn’t even know she had, with shrills you couldn’t possibly believe coming out from a girl who voiced the serious and almost emotionless Kanade. She might even pull off completely comedic roles, although Tsukimi’s role is quite close already.
Comedy is, surprisingly abundant, me being the only example, having laughed an obscene amount of times throughout the episode. The subtle character quirks bleed through the dialogue at every moment, never failing to remind the viewer of their obsessions. C’mon, having Banba recognize a train by its horn? It was funny, and yet.. I was also genuinely impressed. A rather weird feeling since no one would be impressed at my knowledge of anime or manga (this also includes yours and just about everyone else). Perhaps I was just in a good mood, but that might be a little insulting to what is probably genuine comedic writing. In fact, I might have been in a good mood because of the show itself, an amazing feat in my current stress filled life. It’s funny that Mayaya hates moe conversions of her favorite generals, because for many viewers, they probably wouldn’t go near The Romance of the Three Kingdoms unless it was retold with an all female cast, with clothes occasionally ripped off during battle. And guess what! They actually exist.
Not to be overshadowed by the females, Kuranosuke continues to visit the Amamizu complex, for the sole reason of seeing Tsukimi. After nonchalantly telling Tsukimi this, the seed of love might have just been planted, which if eventually sprouts, will end in the weirdest couple I’ll ever have witnessed. Even though Tsukimi is so easily charmed, her otaku buddies aren’t so ready to accept a visually superior being, leading to some under the breath chants about how “she” just doesn’t understand “them”. Typical otaku behavior, and yet applicable to just about anyone. Two of the most hilarious moments were around this scene, one being Tsukimi going off on a Spanish “Ole” dance to cover up for Kuranosuke’s male usage of “ore” and the other just echoing, “I just wanted to see you”. That part was particularly funny because I’ve seen it a ton of times, so I wondered how far they were going to go. By the time they passed the planets, I pretty much just lost it. Incidentally, the rock reaction wasn’t just a casual joke, but rather a complex defense force the “Amar” use against the “Stylish”, which on the outside, just looks like them being typical antisocial nerds. But that’s the irony, right?
Kuranosuke’s brother is also introduced, played by Suwabe Junichi (who actually played Takashi from HOTD, which kind of ticks me off lol), and seems like he’ll be playing a major role in the upcoming story arc (if 11 episodes even has enough time for several arcs). Don’t get why? Let me explain. The mention of the vacant lot and how more are appearing near the middle of the episode was not accidental. I thought nothing of it, until the TV showed Koibuchi Shuu being the son of the “Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism”. Now, that sounds exactly what it is, and Tsukimi instantly realizes the situation. She now questions whether or not Kuranosuke’s meat bribe to be friendly with the residents of the Amamizu complex was actually with good intentions. The preview seems to show that Shuu will become more involved with the Amar, and from what the story is telling me right now, the Amamizu complex will eventually face eviction.
A perfect big problem intertwining all the characters right? Too bad I’ve seen this kind of plot before, and am now a bit cynical into how this will play out. Hopefully it’s only a midplot climax, rather than the finale, but anything can happen. I really hope self discovery will still end up being the centerpiece and main point of the story, rather than bank on such an obvious plot structure as house eviction (of course, I could be horribly wrong, and this all gets resolved next episode, because no one cares to evict the apartment -__-). I’ve got more of my defense up now, but am delightfully looking forward to Tsukimi getting the inevitable makeover next episode, most likely given by Kuranosuke himself.
Preview
 |
 |
 |
This anime seems to be on a different schedule. Is it aired fortnightly?
Uh, no, I don’t think it’s biweekly, last week was probably just a special case. There might be another week break, seeing as how there’s only 11 episodes, it has two weeks of leeway. Then again, it was one week late on its initial airing.
Anyways, it airs on Thursdays, and is currently being simulcast by Funimation. This sucks because they only offer it in 360p. I’m hoping someone picks it up and at the very least copy the subs onto 720p raws. Saves me twice the trouble..
There was some sporting event being broadcast last week.
Funimation calls Kurara, Clara.Rage!!!
The story reminds me Cinderella so far,with a little twist.And with Fujoshi as the (nice) stepsisters.
“they probably wouldn’t go near The Romance of the Three Kingdoms unless it was retold with an all female cast, with clothes occasionally ripped off during battle.”
– where can I watch it…??
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/press-release/2010-10-27/funimation-to-simulcast-princess-jellyfish
http://blog.funimation.com/2010/10/new-streaming-shows/
Heh, I’d never tell you.
Especially you.
wtf are you trolling about ? ಠ_ಠ
Lets play word association. I’ll start: Ikki…
Oh damn, I was too busy enjoying the episode, and that last bit
connecting the vacant lot with the news just flew right over my head…
You’re seconded on the laughing obscenely part.
Here’s to hoping they stick with the self-discovery route
as it will make for a great show and a season favourite…
Yeah, but don’t worry, it’s kind of my job to notice stuff like this 😛
I <3 Kuragehime
Good writing style, Kiiragi.
Ouunn! *–*
I can’t wait next week <3
When Tsukimi is singing “Olé !”, it reminds me Konata and her “Cha-la Head Cha-la” in Lucky Star x’)
Kana Hanazawa saying the word “Gay” cracked me up
I absolutely love the the kingdom references lol omg lol sun quan
While I already have some expectation for the series, I enjoy it a lot more than I thought. It’s definitely one of my most favorite shows of the season (if not The Most).
The trap’s brother cracks me up though. Glad to see that he will have more role next episode. I would make a guess that he probably fells for the makeover!Tsukimi (although I personally find her usual self waaaaay cuter).
Huh, that would be pretty interesting, and would partially explain why he found the apartments.
Damn, that kind of shit reminds me of Ranma 1/2 so much.
The scene in the opening where he plays the part in The Graduate section makes me think that he is going to fall for someone in the story. I doubt that he would hit on any of the other lasses in the house, and definitely not his own brother since this anime isn’t called ‘My Younger Brother Can’t be this Cute!’, so that basically that only leaves Tsukimi.
Any kind of whack up romantic hijink always remind anyone (me include) of Ranma. Lol
Lmao, Oreimo jokes somehow fit everywhere these days.
***and the other just echoing, “I just wanted to see you”. That part was particularly funny because I’ve seen it a ton of times, so I wondered how far they were going to go. By the time they passed the planets, I pretty much just lost it.***
omg I laughed so much during that echoing part – like I had tears coming out of my eyes lolol. I must have watched that part 3 times now it’s so funny. I never seen it go all the way out to the galaxy before!
This show is already becoming a potential favorite. The first episode’s “Don’t do the walk of shame!” still cracks me up every time I think about it.
This show is great, I’m so watching this with Bakuman and Panty and Stocking [Ironman is a failure].
Ole~!!
360p subbed, jesus christ i need my 720p fix 🙁
Wow~! Thanks so much for covering this series!
If you don’t mind my asking: How do you get such high res. screenshots of the shows you guys blog about?
A rather weird feeling since no one would be impressed at my knowledge of anime or manga (this also includes yours and just about everyone else)
hahahaha!! the truth sucks.
wow. the power of meat. lol. can’t wait for the next ep. tsukimi makeover! ^_^
I loved the “I wanted to see you” pan-out bit. After reading your blog post though, I had a vision of the animators going out one more pan past the universe to a shot of God painting one of his fingernails with a dark color and studding it with stars.
I would have fallen off the floor…