Moetan – 04 - Random Curiosity

Posted by jaalin on July 30, 2007 August 3, 2008 First Impressions / Series Introduction

Today’s girl is popular idol Alice Shiratori – unbeknownst to many, beneath that meganekko exterior lies a terrifying secret…

Back in the Nijihara house, ducknasty is giving an inspirational speech how small breasts are like the kindness of the world. You must treasure that flat chest of yours, Ink, for they will save the world! Elsewhere in a parallel magic world, Louise Françoise le Blanc de la Valière nods in agreement.

Pan over to the Kuroi house, where Sumi is engaging in her typical activity of oversleeping. How’s the abusive maid going to wake her up this time? No physical contact or brutish strength necessary – this maid must have tortured small animals as a child – she whispers a string of nightmare-inducing lines which gets Sumi up faster than one of those falling dreams. No indication of her getting taller upon waking up though.

I should point out that these abusive-maid types are popping up more in anime these days, and it’s quite a welcome change to a timeless moe mode. Even the traditional butlers are getting a workover in Hayate, like that dude who makes his master throw flower petals in his wake.

I should also point out that Sumi’s cat-suit that she sleeps in is apparently a male cat – a huge pair of nekoballs hangs prominently between those two stubby legs.

Today on Sumi’s agenda – a trip to go see Alice on set! Ink just happens to be at the event too, but one thing’s missing… Alice. No time to worry about trivialities like that, as they get an alert on their mahou shoujo cell phone and rush off to save the day again.

So where is Alice, anyways? Apparently she’s off in some pseudo-magic place, naked in a lake. Inexplicably, only the magic girls in this show are the ones that look about 10 years younger than they really are, and have a natural tendency to walk around naked. Anyways, Alice’s tsukaima is a sickly looking bunny, not particularly cute.

Ink and Sumi arrive on scene – it’s an elementary school, which has been invaded by some drunk pervert ojisan otaku. After trying to sympathize with him, they get too grossed out and kick his ass – only to have gooeyduck tell them that this dude wasn’t the reason they were called. The real reason was right outside – a giant octopus with striped pantsu on his head.

The two promptly get their ass kicked by the octopus as images of slimy tentacles with white excrement penetrate their fragile minds. Hope looks lost as even the shady trench coat flasher could not hold his candle against the monstrosity of the sea – until the drunk pervert ojisan otaku jumps out of nowhere and explodes on top of the octopus. Just another day at work.

That night, Ink rushes out for her nightly tutoring session, as duckakke detects a dangerous presence nearby and goes to investigate. It’s Alice – in rabbit ear mahou shoujo form (her transformation sequence involves gratuitous ass nudity), here in the human world to hunt down the poor duck. She’s about to turn him into Peking Duck before Ink shows up, where she then conveniently runs out of power and warps out to recharge her batteries.

Thoughts

I’m getting the feeling that I’m harboring some dangerous people with these Moetan posts. I also get the feeling that I’m becoming one of these people. After all, while the humor of the first show was off the wall, subsequent episodes have been short in that department, choosing to go fanservice route.

Now in this parody genre that’s a very legitimate route, but I also believe it’s the easy way out. Ten year olds with no chest but a dynamite ass are not difficult to draw per se, but clever humor is difficult to pull off. While I have no doubt that we’ll still see flashes of what the first episode had to offer throughout the series, it’s become clear that Moetan has settled into this groove of a weekly showcase of preteen softcore. Kinda like how Umisho went from a charming first episode to the degenerate show that it is now, Moetan has given us reason to believe that anime studios do not have the budget or the capability of having smart humor and over the top fanservice coincide in the same show.

It’s a sad fact but also the harsh reality. And probably the biggest reason why people who have never seen “anime” think it’s just a bunch of little girls and guys who look like little girls showing off their itty bitties.

On a different note, how about we get some extra camera angles during these transformations, eh?

-jaalin