First Impressions / Nyan Koi!

「美しい人」 (Utsukushii Hito)
“Beautiful Person”

What are the Saki girls doing in Nyan Koi? Shouldn’t they be practicing for their mahjong nationals? Also, is it considered a trap if it goes the other way around? I don’t suppose that it does, but I’m still jostled by the whole ordeal. *shudder*

When I think of Kobayashi Yuu, I usually have mixed feelings about her. On the plus side, you have the slender-legged seiyuu known for her cheeky role as Shidou Mariya in Maria+Holic. On the horribly negative side, you have the seiyuu known for drawing “demons” straight from Hell. (Google it if you want nightmares.) However, once I’m able to get over that mental hurdle, I’m usually pleasantly surprised by her acting ability. It’s partly her silly character here, but also the way that she plays Ichinose Nagi that made this episode a complete riot. Aside from Nagi’s official series debut, the comedy was pretty hilarious throughout with all the characters’ fantasies and misconceptions. I found myself laughing helplessly at one scene just because it came out of the blue. It was completely unexpected and caught me totally off guard. Aside from timely comedic pauses, most of the episode was riddled with sudden laughs, so you can expect to laugh when you least expect to. (Keep an eye out for the lightning!) Most of the jokes were pretty silly and some of the premise was just plain stupid, but things were oh-so-funny at times. In fact, this is probably the funniest Nyan Koi episode so far.

Right from the get-go, Junpei receives what he believes is his first love letter and of all things, runs to a washroom stall to read it. He’s caught up in that whole, “It’s spring. It’s finally my time. I’ve touched a young girl’s heart.” mentality, which is immediately crushed when he finds out it’s a letter of challenge in disguise. He flips out, tears up the letter, flushes it down the toilet, and chooses never to speak of it. That’s until three days later when Nagi storms into his classroom demanding why he ignored his challenge. Things get hilariously out of whack at that point, when Nagi pauses to admire Kanako before getting a first-hand feel of her lovely breasts. The misunderstandings compile when Nagi declares he’s fighting for Kaede’s sake, causing Kanako to see this as an opportunity to make Junpei hers… as a slave! Having waited for Junpei out at Enoshima for three days though, Nagi just collapses with a fever and the confused Junpei has to help take him home.

Just as things start to settle down, Junpei makes his way to Nagi’s home with the help of Kaede and Kanako, only to find out that he’s part of the Ichinose yakuza family. While Kaede’s enjoying all of this for some reason, Junpei’s busy fearing for his life and hoping to leave without a fuss. Naturally, things don’t end that easily as Nagi’s grandfather invites them inside for a warm bath and shelter from the rain. As the girls go in to show us some fan-service, Junpei ends up getting a request from Nagi’s Kansai-ben speaking cat Josephine and a ridiculous one at that — helping Nagi fall in love. Junpei later gets sent to Nagi’s room (to be killed), where he stumbles on the fact that Nagi’s terrified of lightning from childhood trauma and actually a girl to boot. That doesn’t change the fact that she wants to kill Junpei for being the cause of Kaede’s sad face (or so she claims). To make things worse, an emotional floodgate opens in her when she recalls how she was rejected by her first love because she was mistaken for a guy.

Thanks to the lightning though, Junpei’s able to talk to Nagi normally and offers to help with her problems if she ever needs it. In doing so, he unintentionally makes the tomboy revert back to her girlish ways and fall for him. Yikes.

Next time, at least one of the Kirishima twins shows up! They’re both played by Tomatsu Haruka too. I’ve been looking for a show she’s in this season outside of her boring roles in Asura Cryin’ 2 and WHITE ALBUM.

 

Omake

Preview

39 Comments

  5. Woo, Sailor Suit and Machine Gun and Boy. Nagi fell for him, pretty much as expected, but her yuri moments beforehand are pretty funny. Kanako, work a ‘lil harder, you can do it! Also, I like all the links used in the journal.

    Meery
    Reply

  6. QUESTION FOR EVERYONE:

    Out of the harem/romance/comedy series this season (Kampfer, Sora no Otoshimono, and Nyan Koi), which one is your favorite?

    Honestly, honestly, honestly… I’d say Nyan Koi. 😉

    Phocus
    Reply

  8. In terms of which I look forward to the most, it’s Kampfer, SoraOto, Nyan Koi.

    However, I don’t look forward to Kampfer for the pure laughs, but the twisted yuri harem thing going on. Comedy-wise, it’s hard to say. I laugh a lot at both Nyan Koi and SoraOto. Junpei’s inner thoughts are great, but Tomoki’s outbursts are just as good.

    divine
    Reply

  15. Misao’s so pushy though, “Call Kurogane Tomo. Call him. Caaaall him.” -_-;

    Her nagging gets to me, even though I agree Tomo’s just being a pansy. I can’t help but think, “OMG give it a rest! He doesn’t want you to disappear damn it!”

    divine
    Reply

  19. ewok:
    Not to get completely sidetracked from Nyan Koi here, but knowing that you’d think Misao would realize why Tomoharu doesn’t want to use Kurogane then. Also, when I said boring, it was because Misao’s not tsundere enough to bring out the awesomeness that is Tomatsu Haruka. Mana in WHITE ALBUM sort of is, but she’s just a meddling kid IMO.

    divine
    Reply

  20. re: Asura Cryin’
    Misao kinda makes me wish I was permanently haunted by a genki ghost girl.

    re: Nyan Koi!
    Sometimes watching anime gives me the impression that there is a Yakuza gang on every street corner lol, I wonder what planet Kaede is from though? If I was surrounded by around 30 scary thugs from the local neighbourhood gangsters/mafia/triads/etc. I’d be busy fearing for my life too. 😛

    https://randomc.net/image/Nyan%20Koi!/Nyan%20Koi!%20-%2004%20-%20Large%2007.jpg
    I wonder if her power level is over 9000?

    Ninja Penguin
    Reply

  23. re: twins

    They already appeared in the manga, the first twin appeared in the last pages of chapter 11!

    re: favorite comedy

    Sora no Otoshimono is 1st (just like Ah my Goddess + Male lead is not a complete loser)
    Nyan Koi is very good but, in my opinion, looks pale in comparisson to Seto no Hanayome and Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei (the best comedies I´ve ever watched)

    Itheunknown
    Reply

  25. Oh they’re no prank. I’ve seen her draw on radio shows and the other seiyuus are speechless (and terrified at the same time I bet). She can’t draw for the life of her, but when she tries to, stuff like that comes out.

    divine
    Reply

  27. This episode is kinda fast-paced, but I’m still enjoying it. Plus if you look at 7:48, you’ll see Stealth Momo there with her sempai! (though with these Saki cameos, I would be delighted if they retained their original hair colour…

    Karis
    Reply

  34. ANN lists the following for Kobayashi Yuu:
    CANAAN (TV) : Key Animation
    Hayate the Combat Butler!! (TV) : Key Animation
    S.A (TV) : Key Animation (ep 10)
    To Aru Kagaku no Railgun (TV) : 2nd Key Animation
    Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s (TV) : Key Animation

    How could she possibly be doing Key Animation if that is what her actual drawing is like? Is ANN crediting some other Kobayashi Yuu to the seiyuu?

    runedot
    Reply

  35. Yeah, that’s a different Kobayashi Yuu, so it’s a mistake on ANN’s part for lumping the two of them together. (User submitted mistakes on ANN, that’s not surprising is it?)

    The seiyuu Kobayashi Yuu’s name is written as 小林ゆう, whereas the animator’s is 小林優.

    divine
    Reply

Leave a Reply

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