First Impressions / Ore Monogatari!!

「俺の山」 (Ore no Yama)

“My Mountain”

I hope you checked your cynicism at the door, because there’s no space to carry it on with this trip.

Well, that was pretty much a whipsaw turnaround from the last two-part episode. Pretty much no Suna, and from the most serious story of the series to probably the silliest. But considering its best character was sidelined it’s remarkable how successfully Ore Monogatari pulled this off – indeed, something of a wonder that it can continue to dance through this minefield without blowing up. But so far, definitely so good.

It’s hard to overstate how charming this episode was, and once again, a good chunk of that comes from cutting through the sweetness with a bit of acidity. It’s clear that while Yamato and Takeo are meant to be taken at face value, their relationship is not remotely taken too seriously. Takeo’s superhero act is effectively a running gag at this point, and even if the events transpiring weren’t silly, the way they’re being portrayed is unquestionably so. Thank goodness.

The premise this time around is a picnic for Rinko and Takeo – a make-up game for their deferred birthday date. Except Takeo didn’t consult with Suna this time, and what he ends up taking Rinko on is much more a hike than a picnic. She bears up well on their mountain climb, though she’s packed so much food and supplies that Takeo eventually has to commandeer her cute pink backpack. But a run-in with a jewel-obsessed crow leads to one of the most preposterous of Takeo’s superhuman feats – running down a sheer mountain face, than overpowering gravity itself.

In the face of something like that happening, it’s impossible to take anything that follows seriously. And that’s good, because we’re free to see the remainder of the episode as the borderline parody of teen romance (and shoujo romance manga) that it is. Lots of laughs are provided by Rinko’s reactions, with her inner “squee” manifesting themselves hilariously in the form of ghost-bubbles. The fun thing here is that Rinko is the one in this relationship that’s not totally innocent – she’s fully aware of the implications of being forced to spend a night with Takeo in the woods, even if he isn’t. And don’t kid yourself, she likes it – a lot. She may restrict herself to a stolen peck on the cheek as Takeo sleeps, but this girl wants more.

Also great are the reactions of the happy couple’s friends and family. Rinko’s pals are a preposterously giddy gaggle of girls, jealous that she’s actually got a boyfriend – though they’ve actually warmed to Takeo to the point where they acknowledge him as “manly”. When Rinko’s mom calls wondering if she’s with them, they naturally leap to the wrong conclusion and cover for her – then soar away on flights of schoolgirl fantasy. Meanwhile Takeo’s buddies are thrilled at merely being the recipient of a call from them, even if it’s just one wondering where Takeo is. Suna is blissfuly lost in books, and Takeo’s parents totally unconcerned about his whereabouts . Yes, we finally meet Takeo’s Dad, Yutaka (Genda Tessyo) – and it’s almost a letdown that he looks and acts exactly what you’d expect Takeo’s Dad to look and act like.

As for the bride and groom, they spend a blissfully silly night together in the woods, Rinko practically peeing herself at every moment in her exuberance and embarrassment. Takeo stands over her to protect her from mosquitoes (one gets through), climbs a tree to find an escape route, and wrestles a boar to the ground – all in a night’s work. He’s the real innocent in this relationship, no doubt about it, and he sleeps the sleep of the innocent unaware of Rinko’s frantic mental grinding next to him – and when he wakes up, he’s covered by the adoring creatures of the forest. Like she says – who wouldn’t feel safer that way?

The cherry on top of the sundae comes when Rinko arrives back at her friend Nanako‘s house the next morning (as the girl with the most screentime and dialogue, I’m wondering if she’s being set up as a possible pair for Suna), and they and she are on completely different wavelengths about what happened the night before. When she threw in “And then a boar showed up!”, I just about lost it. I’ve rarely seen shoujo romance handled with this irreverent a touch before, and it really works – though I still find Suna more interesting, there’s no denying that watching this hapless pair blunder through their first romantic dance has charms all its own.

Preview

18 Comments

  1. Yes, when Rinko arrived at their Friends home, and their reaction. Epic

    But, i dunno. This Episode will not remain long in my memories, perhaps it was to silly
    . My mind said to me, “watch, this is just an filler”. I do hope the other episodes do not going deeper in comedy, where they use other Animes as cameo. What was the strong point of this Anime again?. Please do not stray to much from this Path

    WorldwideDepp
    Reply

      3. The thing is, I think he knows English, because he capably shows knowledge of what Enzo, one of the most insightful anime bloggers out there says repeatedly, and then trolls traditional syntax in the most unconventional way on the planet…. I don’t know what to think of his comments. They’re strange, to say the least.

        sivilyslare
        Reply

  2. Beginning with Takeo and Yamato falling off that cliff up to the end, I couldn’t stop smiling. That was how awesomely funny and charming this episode was. Although I won’t lie Enzo that every time Takeo say he loves Yamato, I want to tell him, “we know dude, we know.” But like you said cynicism should be tossed out because Takeo has every right to declare how much he loves Yamato. Yamato was particularly cuter than usual because of all that blushing, and well her naughty side was cute to watch too. I gotta say though that my most favorite moment of the episode was the parts where Yamato’s friends were onscreen. It’s nice seeing them very supportive of the happy couple after getting to know Takeo more, and seeing them get all giddy and excited was funny and cute to watch. If Suna and Takeo have each other to watch their backs, then it’s nice to see Yamato has her girl friends to watch hers. I wouldn’t mind seeing more of Yamato’s friends, and possibly see them with Takeo’s buddies too. And oh yeah, you can’t mention this episode without Takeo’s Beauty and the Beast moment, because Takeo with all those animals on him reminded me of Disney’s Beast.
    On another note, Takeo’s afro friend was particularly on very close terms with Rinko’s friend. It just surprised me how Kurihara addressed Nanako on a first name basis when she called. Might just be overthinking it. Kurihara might just be the overly friendly type.

    Zhinvu
    Reply

    1. I believe this was a foreshadowing added by the animators? Since I do not recall seeing that interaction between Kurihara and Nanako in the corresponding manga chapter.

      Glacierfairy
      Reply

  4. https://randomc.net/image/Ore%20Monogatari/Ore%20Monogatari%20-%2010%20-%2019.jpg

    Best friends ever. Terrible at the end but omg the best. <3

    https://randomc.net/image/Ore%20Monogatari/Ore%20Monogatari%20-%2010%20-%2011.jpg

    I don't know why I keep thinking of Honey and Clover… I've just seen so many romance anime that you have this dark feeling in the back of your mind that something evil is just lurking around the corner for the two and you watch only to see that it's the greatest thing ever. This better not go down some George RR Martin route.

    Shirt
    Reply

  6. relationships with goods and, ultimately, yidels new ways to use garments. She predicted future sustainable fashion designersa0will need to consider a variety of dimensions whena0creating new looks, like how our bodies change

    Sara
    Reply

Leave a Reply

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