First Impressions / Medaka Box

「貴様が犯人か？／当然、私だ！」 (Kisama ga Hannin ka? / Touzen, Watashi Da!)
“Are You the Culprit? / But of Course, it’s Me!”

Even demons have their weaknesses. It would seem this also extends to superhuman beings of Medaka’s level. While this episode tried pretty hard to trick us into thinking Medaka might be more human than we see at first glance, I can’t say I didn’t see the revelation coming. My first thought when it was mentioned that Medaka and animals didn’t mix well was that it would be due to their instinctual fear of her absurd power. After all, it’s a concept that’s often used in various types of fiction. The coverup provided by Shiranui’s assumptions did manage to throw me off for a little while, but not really enough to give the joke any impact.

While Medaka may not have been proven human by a fear of animals, her love for them and the depression she feels from being unable to befriend them proves it anyway. Well it proves she has a human side at any rate (definitely not a normal one though). Along with her apparent jealousy of Zenkichi and Shiranui’s close relationship, I’d say Medaka can be deceptively human at times.

Of course, this human side is still completely overshadowed by her astounding intellect and physical abilities. Her ability to deduce facts from the simplest of evidence leads me to believe she’d slide right into any notable detective series and I’m more than a little jealous of how good her memory seems to be. On the physical side, I definitely don’t envy Isahaya – as a normal student, facing off against Medaka would be a terrifying experience. Especially when she’s wielding a twin pair of lethally spiked track shoes. Not to mention that gleeful expression! She almost seems like an animal revelling in the thrill of the chase (which, in fairness, she probably is)!

But yet again, Medaka manages to astound me with the level of trust she’s willing to show others. She took Isahaya at her word, instantly reverting to a somewhat motherly mode after the former’s denials. Whether because of this trust, or the terror she induced chasing her target in an almost demonlike fashion (I’m going to go with terror), Medaka once again managed to reedem the culprit. I think we can pretty safely say she won’t be trying anything similar anytime soon! As a bonus, I would imagine that the praise she recieved would help spur her on in trying to regain her position through legitimate means.

The redemption of Isahaya and the appearance of a new pair of shoes reveal something else – Medaka is supposedly so smart she’s stupid. How this works, I have no idea. If she’s willing to believe the best in humans, why would she focus on the fact that the shoes had been stolen and not on the fact that they’d been replaced with a shiny new pair? It seems a little contradictory to me, even if it’s meant to jokingly suggest she’s so clever it overlaps into stupidity. While I could understand if it was happening to any other character, I don’t see why it would override her faith that all humans are good at their core.

I’ve been focusing a lot on Medaka in these past two writeups, mostly because she’s been the major focus of the anime so far (and I’m guessing will continue to be so). But let’s take a break from that and talk about Shiranui for a moment. Shiranui is evil and she terrifies me. Nah, I’m just kidding (partially at any rate). As someone who hasn’t read the manga and has no clue what’s coming, I can’t help but feel as though there’s going to be a lot more to Shiranui than first meets the eye. In the first episode we caught a glimpse of her casually demonstrating a crazy level of skill in flipping a cup into a bin and now it’s hinted that she has an uncanny knowledge of the school and its residents. While the latter is perfectly in keeping with the ‘reporter’ image she projects, the former most certainly isn’t. She’s definitely the character I’m keeping an eye on for now.

Animation still seems to be a little sub-par for this day and age. The most obvious aspect to me is how completely static the backgrounds are and their relative lack of detail when compared to say… Natsuiro Kiseki. Despite this, I’m quite fond of the ‘Shaftyness’ (this is now a word, honest) we often see in certain shots and there are quite a few other stylistic flairs that have managed to catch my eye. I’m still hoping that this just means they’re holding back their budget to animate some spectacular fight scenes later on, but I guess we’ll have to wait and see!

Random thoughts:

  • Poor Zenkichi… he doesn’t even realise Medaka was pulling his leg and that there’s nothing cool about wearing a jersey under your jacket!
  • I really like these fun shots where Medaka mirrors someone else’s pose. I assume they were also in the manga?
  • This is the second episode in a row were Zenkichi has ended up injured… I wonder if that will continue for the rest of the series…
  • Looks like they’ve helped out quite a few people in-between episodes!
  • I’m not sure if I’m the only one noticing, but the music seems to be mixed a little low compared to the rest of the audio. It’s a little sad given how great the soundtrack has been so far.

* Full-length images: 16, 32, ED 01

ED should be up soon. Huge thanks to Takaii who’s been going around encoding most of the OPs and EDs!

 

ED Sequence

ED: 「お花畑に連れてって」 (Ohanabatake ni Tsuretette) by 豊崎 愛生 (Toyosaki Aki)
Watch the ED!: Streaming ▼

Preview

27 Comments

  3. xD I like this episode way more than the first, the detective deducing bit sure puts Sherlock Holmes to shame. The running gag about the jersey under the jacket made me lol, since the punchline was delivered at a very nice timing.

    At first I thought Medaka was simply bad at handling animals, though the explanation behind the truth was a fairly interesting concept. As for whether the costume was really necessary, I don’t mind it either way 😀

    ps: Shiranui is definitely evil!! (Has not read the manga)

    LightnDark
    Reply

  4. Anyone caught Zenkichi’s derp face before the ED played?
    What happened?

    Aki Toyosaki’s a great seiyuu but somehow I still think she doesn’t fit the role of Medaka.
    Emiri Katou fits Shiranui’s role perfectly though. And with plenty of Shiranui in here, I’m still a happy camper despite some quality in this episode. Plus these chapters were enjoyable back then so yeah.
    I’d better get used to Gainax doing them pantsu shots and bouncing boobs.
    Medaka’s the center of service in this show after all.

    Anyone know how many episodes this is? MAL has it listed now as 12 episodes.
    Seeing the OP, it’s obvious where this will end if it’s only 12 episodes.

    belatkuro
    Reply

  5. i just watched this ep and i spent the majority laughing at medaka herself. though one thing that still bugs my is the choice of VA though……. i’d pick hitagi-sama! no less!

    c2710
    Reply

  7. The dog was so boss I wish my dog was like that! If it has Russian, wolf and hound together you’re damn sure its dangerous. But still no match for the super setokaichou. The show’s looking good so far but still not spectacular though.

    Youkai
    Reply

  15. I like Toyosaki as Medaka’s VA. A reason is because of some of the last few manga chapters. If you focus less on Medaka the Omnipotent President and more on Medaka the quirky NORMAL girl, then the voice pretty much fits. I think there is too much emphasis on Medaka’s dictator-like battle prowess which is understandable from most of the series. However, underlying that, Medaka’s cheerful, saint-like, smile-at-everything-and-anything personality is perfectly voiced by Toyosaki.

    In the line of people suggesting Hitagi-sama’s VA instead, I think Medaka is actually closer to Hanekawa in personality and ability. Those that have read the Kizumonogatari and Nekomonogatari LN might see what I’m thinking more easily.

    Also, the title of the series is very misleading: Medaka IS NOT the main character!

    Ptolemaios00
    Reply

    1. Reading the magna before the anime leaves you with expectations of how closely they willow the source materiel (Zetman for example for me) but if you haven’t read it you’ll at least be surprised on how the story progresses, but be warned to keep an “open mind” cause if your watching the show solely on the first (season?) impression and the “genre shift” kicks in you just ‘might’ be turned off from watching (I’m surprised my brain haven’t exploded from reading the magna all the way to Ch 141, then again I completed reading all of Tenjou Tenge and Air Gear so that probably makes me a masochist…)

      FantomOmega
      Reply

  18. I liked this episode much more than the first, so I’m going to continue watching for now. After checking the usual sites I learned where this show might be headed, so I’m hopeful for the later episodes.

    Still, I can’t help not liking Medaka’s character design. Her uniform is a little on the silly side, and her breasts are too big. I think those are the reasons why people leave not really liking despite its potential to be popular.

    cancerlad
    Reply

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