First Impressions / Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu

OP Sequence:

OP: “Tomadoi Bitter Tune” 「とまどいビターチューン」 by Himemiya Miran and Chocolate Rockers (姫宮みらんとチョコレートロッカーズ)
Watch the OP!: Mirror 1, Mirror 2, Show Streaming ▼

ED Sequence:

ED: “Hitosashiyubi Quiet!” 「ひとさしゆびクワイエット！」 by Noto Mamiko (能登 麻美子), Gotou Mai (後藤 麻衣), Shimizu Kaori (清水 香里), Ueda Kana (植田 佳奈), Satou Rina (佐藤 利奈)
Watch the ED!: Mirror 1, Mirror 2, Show Streaming ▼

「もう，ダメです…」 (Mou, Dame Desu…)
“No Good Anymore…”

Awake in the middle of the night, Ayase Yuuto gets a mail from his friend Asakura Nobunaga, telling him that the anime “Dojikko Aki-chan” is on right now. Despite having no interest in it, Yuuto leaves the television on, since his older sister Ruko, and teacher, Kamishiro Yukari, are drinking downstairs and making a ruckus anyway. Elsewhere at the school idol’s house, Nogizaka Haruka is glued to the television watching the same anime.

The next morning, Yuuto prepares breakfast for everyone, but Ruko and Yukari are still hung over and give him a hard time. On his way to school, Yuuto runs into his friends Nagai, Ogawa, and Takenami, who think he’s finally awaken to the world of women (e.g. is not gay), but he explains that he’s still interested in them, but has just given up on them. Ignoring him, the others are captivated by the music of Haruka’s piano, who is also known as Nuit Étoile (“The Silver Star of the Night”) at school. After hearing how Haruka is a “super woman” blessed with both beauty and intelligence, Yuuto’s interest peeks slightly. In class, Nobunaga goes all otaku on Yuuto talking about the anime last night and eventually an anime magazine called “Innocent Smile” that he found in the school library. Overhearing him talk about some premium first edition coming out, Haruka reacts spontaneously by suddenly getting up, which draws the attention of everyone in class.

After school, a public announcement asking Nobunaga to return the magazine he signed out prompts him to leave it up to Yuuto, as he has more geeky things to do. After returning the magazine and getting scolded in his place, Yuuto runs into Haruka in the library, who’s tries to hide her face, but ends up running into a bookshelf in the process. Wondering what she’s up to, Yuuto sticks around and Haruka runs into him while leaving. Shocked to see someone else here, Haruka frantically questions him if he saw what she took out, and after hearing that he hasn’t, tries to excuse herself, but backs into a bookshelf causing Yuuto to see both her underwear and her anime magazine. In tears because her secret’s been exposed, Haruka runs off thinking that it’s all over. Back at home, Yuuto figures that she’s an Akibakei (Akihabara nerd) after all and worries about her a bit.

Early the next morning, Yuuto runs into Haruka at the school gate and returns her bag and magazine; however, once at school, she constantly avoids him out of embarassment. This continues the next day as well, so Yuuto tries to talk to her properly. After somehow getting through her fanatic Imperial Guard, he manages to find her on the rooftop. Haruka tells him to stay away though, saying she knows it’s weird for a high school student to have such a hobby, but Yuuto tells her that he won’t tell anyone about it. He further explains that he doesn’t care if she’s a Akibakei or not, but since she’s so distressed about it, he’ll keep it a secret. While she’s still worried that he’ll look at her stangely, Yuuto reassures her by saying hobbies are just one thing, and he’s happy knowing she has that side to her, causing her to become really relieved.

Later that night, Haruka calls Yuuto asking for his help since she forgot to return the Innocent Smile magazine she signed out. With tomorrow being the due date, she fears what will happen to her if a public announcement at the school was made for her to return an anime magazine, so she gets Yuuto to come to school with her to return the magazine. In the dark school hallways, Haruka clings tightly to Yuuto’s arm, and tells him not to tell her scary stories, but ends up doing so herself. Hearing this, he calls her a strange princess, but she thinks he’s the strange one for not minding her hobby and talking to her normally. When they finally get to the library room, they’re able to stamp the sign out card and return the book, but not before they get freaked out by a monster cat ringtone. As they leave the school, Haruka says it was scary but fun, and thanks Yuuto for helping her and insists that he just call her “Haruka” from now on.

 

Next Episode:
「初めてなんです…」 (Hajimete Nan Desu…)
“My First Time…”

Impressions:
While I did find the first episode pretty amusing at times, everything happened a bit too quick for my liking, with Yuuto discovering that the school idol, Nogizaka Haruka, is a closet otaku, and then the two of them getting acquainted enough to start calling one another by their first names. The discovery itself was probably the funniest scene though, with Haruka not knowing what to do while Yuuto confirmed several times that the “Innocent Smile” anime magazine was hers. The level of fan-service was higher than I expected, but most of it this time around stemmed from Yuuto’s older sister, Ruko, and his teacher, Yukari. The seiyuu yuri queen Nabatame Hitomi plays Ruko, whose drunken behavior is like Margery Daw from Shakugan no Shana, except several times worse. As for Yukari, the normally quiet Matsuki Miyu plays the part, whose name happened to be mentioned in the episode itself by Yuuto’s otaku friend, Asakura Nobunaga. Undoubtedly, there will be more fan-service from the others down the stretch, especially if the opening sequence is any indication of things to come. As for our starring seiyuus, Noto Mamiko gets away from playing young boys this time, and gets to play a school idol/otaku for a change, while Hatano Wataru gets the role of our male lead. While Mamiko is a no brainer in terms of talent and experience, I can’t say I’ve seen many shows with Wataru in it. Fortunately though, he plays the role well, at least to the point where I didn’t have any qualms with it.

Overall, I found the first episode all right, but quite different from what I imagined. First off, I didn’t expect this level of fan-service (as I already mentioned above), and secondly, I thought Yuuto would be teasing Haruka a bit about her secret hobby rather than being so supportive of her. In short, I was expecting more of a sarcastic male lead like Okazaki Tomoya from CLANNAD or Aizawa Yuuichi from Kanon (remake). Also, the two of them have already gotten along so well by the end of this episode that it makes me wonder how funny things will be from now on with the two main characters simply hiding the secret from everyone else. I guess I’ll have to watch some more to find out.

 

Cast:
– Nogizaka Haruka (乃木坂 春香) / Noto Mamiko (能登 麻美子)
– Ayase Yuuto (綾瀬 裕人) / Hatano Wataru (羽多野 渉)
– Ayase Ruko (綾瀬 ルコ) / Nabatame Hitomi (生天目 仁美)
– Kamishiro Yukari (上代 由香里) / Matsuki Miyu (松来 未祐)
– Asakura Nobunaga (朝倉 信長) / Takagi Reiko (高木 礼子)
– Nagai (永井) / Miyashita Eiji (宮下 栄治)
– Ogawa (小川) / Oosuka Jun (大須 賀純)
– Takenami (竹浪) / Yasumoto Hiroki (安元 洋貴)
– Librarian (Old person) (司書(老人)) / Mamiya Yasuhiro (間宮 康弘)
– Female student (女生徒) / Iguchi Yuka (井口 裕香)
– Girl A (女子A) / Fujiwara Ikumi (藤原 郁美)
– Girl B (女子B) / Yamashita Yurie (山下 百合恵)

38 Comments

  1. Sometimes I wish I understood japanese enough to not have to wait for subs =(.

    I had really high hopes for this series…the idea was so intriguing. I also have to agree…would be more fitting to have say…a sarcastic male lead to tease her a lot.

    Lots of fanservice going around lately huh?

    atomicwasabi
    Reply

  4. been waiting for this blog since i heard about the show, i need a mildly ecchi/massive comedy show for the summer(to go along with Kyouran Kazoku Nikki) i hope this can deliver 🙂

    reggie
    Reply

  5. I was shock during the first 5s. “Why is there another anime opening?” – “I was watching another anime?”
    Now, I’m looking forward to the meido-tai to appear…

    tylon
    Reply

  6. Hmm… didn’t hear about this one…. From the screenshots, seems like nerdy bloke and school idol romance, with other chicks thrown in to create a harem atmosphere and some fan service added. Am I close, Divine?

    Will probably watch the first few eps… maybe. I enjoy the earlier parts for this type of shows… Kinda gets boring when the characters get ‘serious’, IMO.

    Thanx for the screencaps, Divine.

    Lithium17
    Reply

  9. I like the ED seqence and it looks like soon or later they will be couple maybe half way? Does this show look like it’ll be having quite a number of anime reference since i saw a Shana X Nanatsuro Drop pic at somewhere in the beginning of a magazine cover.

    setsuke
    Reply

  11. When I first saw this show listed in the Summer Preview section, I wasn’t impressed at all with the premise, the description or the promos. Having said that, I may have been a bit too hasty in my judgment. This show combines an interesting mix of ecchi fanservice and comedy with a secret-otaku-protagonist. I’m interested in seeing how the series progresses with the secret between the two main characters in future episodes.

    This show seems very fun, light-hearted and tongue-in-cheek.

    Halcyon
    Reply

  13. Bah, the plot-line sounded good. I like romantic comedies. And the manga wasn’t tagged as ecchi on wikipedia like other series are, so I thought it was safe. But apparently not. :/
    I hate ecchi shows, its like they have a terrible plot and have to compensate with half-naked girls in provocative situations. Way to ruin a possibly good anime.
    GG

    Xylona
    Reply

  19. I find Nogizaka Haruka voice and personality a little annoying sometimes…
    The romance probably gonna bore me, hate those drunken behaviour.
    Was expecting more popular quotes/acting/cosplay from other anime in this.
    Hope it gets better…

    Twinblad3r
    Reply

  20. hmmm continuity not that good on this series? or just an oversight?

    if you look at pic 27, all the guys are in blue jackets… yet in pic 28 when they surround yuuto, they suddenly change to red jackets? the female uniform is red…

    Rhodes
    Reply

  23. I checked out the raw, and you’re right about the fanservice. I’m still intrigued by where it might go though, so I’ll stick with it for a few episodes. (Mainly because I want to watch something that isn’t too deep and simple enough to get by without subtitles on.) The dancing in the end isn’t anything special, but I feel like they’re trying to create another Hare Hare Yukai. o.O

    Kyjin
    Reply

  24. >> The dancing in the end isn’t anything special, but I feel like they’re trying to create another Hare Hare Yukai. o.O

    Anime is a copycat medium. What hasn’t been lifted from other shows before it?

    I’ll reserve my thoughts until I can catch a sub.

    Kadian1364
    Reply

  26. @Kyjin:
    In a more general sense, it’s probably more like Para Para, which is a form of Japanese synchronized dancing. In Japan, you’ll sometimes see high school girls and such practicing together on the streets. Hare Hare Yukai is also a form of Para Para, but was just ridiculously popular.

    divine
    Reply

  29. hmmmm. finally waiting for this show. from the looks of it. it is almost the same in seto no hanayome. it looks lyk san, the story are almost the same (san wants to hide the secrets of mermaids beings and only nagasumi and his family knows and now the stories is haruka wants to be with yuuto bec. she wants to hide the secrets being an otaku) but still great love seto so i guess going to love this too~ XD

    shurikens
    Reply

  34. I like this anime at least if you seen the intro they kind of make it pretty clear whos the couple, no more confusing triangle love or harem anime, even if they do introduce more girls later it still pretty clear from the intro.

    Mike
    Reply

  35. And they just had to make an anime series to prove that my hobby is a weird one. Not really a NEW observation but doesn’t anybody feel a bit offended?
    Anyway, another TYPICAL INDIFFERENT (hopefully not too STUPID) but somehow RELIABLE bystander-turned-male lead who gets the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to score with a GOD-mode princess. IMO this guy should get heavily buffed up or something.
    Still, I enjoyed the 1st episode, if only for its brainless comedy. Maybe this will turn out to be a fun series with a meaningful storyline, or maybe it will just fail spectacularly…

    Frankeinstein
    Reply

  37. Maybe it’s just me, but the ending reminded me somewhat of Haruhi’s OP, and perhaps I need to go watch Haruhi again but the main sounded like Mikuru or someone similar…ah well, this’ll be a good watch either way.

    Liz
    Reply

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