Random Curiosity

「#16」

As expected of Tatsumi, he wasn’t quick to hop on the Natsuki bandwagon and bench Sera following the return of ETU’s top scorer.

I won’t be actively covering Asobi ni Iku yo, but the opening sequence that was absent in the premiere showed up as an ending sequence in the second episode and I wanted to say a few words about the series.

「我ながら見事な包み具合だ／会長！もっと裾を広げちゃってください！／もう満腹なのか？！」
(Warenagara Migoto na Tsutsumi Guai da / Kaichou! Motto Suso wo Hirogechatte Kudasai! / Mou Manpuku na no ka?!)
“A Splendid Package If I Do Say So Myself / President! Please Spread the Hem More! / Are You Satisfied Already?!”

On a school trip to Kyoto, school newspaper club president Hata Ranko (Arai Satomi) reveals how Shino and Aria’s jokes don’t seem to have as much punch without Takatoshi around to insert his comedic jab at the end. Surprisingly, the two of them still know when to stop on their own though.

Summary:
101 years before the current events, Yamamoto picked Shinji, Love, Rose, Hachigen and Lisa to investigate the vanishing souls incidents. It is then revealed that Aizen, with Gin and Tosen as his subordinates, performed hollowfication experiments on the shinigami, including the eight who later become the Vizard.

「不審者がいっぱい」 (Fushinsha ga Ippai)
“Lots of Suspicious People”

The only really suspicious person was the Marui triplets’ father Soujirou (Amada Masuo) — being a big overweight guy running across town with his girls’ underwear in hand — but all the misunderstandings this episode made for some pretty hilarious times again.

「海の家でもメイドラテ」 (Umi no Ie demo Meido Rate)
“Maid Latte Even at The Beach House”

A new ending sequence with a lovely shot of the cute couple and a beach episode to boot. This week sure delivered, as Maid Latte kept the aprons but ditched everything else for swimsuits to help Satsuki’s younger sister Nagisa (Kobayashi Sanae) try to re-spark their beach house business.

「森島はるか編 第三章 ヤキモチ」 (Morishima Haruka-hen Dai Sanshou – Yakimochi)
“Morishima Haruka Chapter 3 – Jealousy”

With the way Haruka teases yet puts out now, I can sort of see why part of Japan’s population has given up on 3D girls. These dating simulation girls aren’t realistic whatsoever and Haruka’s behavior blew my mind away more than once over the course of this episode.

「おおかみさんうさぎとかめの醜い争いに巻き込まれる」 (Ookami-san Usagi to Kame no Minikui Arasoi ni Makikomareru)
“The Wolf Caught Up in the Tortoise and the Hare’s Scandalous Dispute”

She’s not Taiga, but Kugimiya Rie makes her debut in this series as another loli named Usami Mimi. Modeled after the hare in The Tortoise and the Hare, Mimi was quickly at odds with Otohime since she’s supposed to be the turtle in Urashima Tarou.

「伝説の魔女達」 (Densetsu no Majo-tachi)
“The Legendary Witches”

For an episode about the witches meeting up again and reforming the 501st Joint Fighter Wing, I don’t think it could have played out any better than having it happen on the battlefield.

「Annoyance」

If there’s one thing to be thankful for this episode, it’s that the arc involving Ishihara and Sasaki appears to be a done deal. However, just when things were finally taking a turn for the better, Mario lashing out at an angry drunk lands him in police custody again.

As some people are already aware, the K-ON live concert that took place at the end of last year at Yokohama Arena was released on DVD and Blu-ray on June 30th. It was near the end of this live event that the surprise announcement for a second season was made. While that came as a pleasant surprise, the concert itself was what I dying to see at the time and here we are six months later. Most of Houkago Tea Time’s songs were performed to a karaoke backtrack with the seiyuu only pretending to play each of their characters’ instruments, but they did learn how to play a couple of songs themselves. The actual live music performances were saved until near the end of the concert, but things started off with a bang and an opening performance of “Cagayake! GIRLS” after a crowd countdown.

Yokohama Arena’s max capacity is 17,000 for those wondering, and by the looks of it, it’s a sold-out crowd they performed in front of. One side of the arena was sectioned off for the stage area, but I’d wager that there are at least 15,000 attendees at this concert. When things are put into that perspective, it’s pretty easy to see why K-ON!! is airing on 28 different stations right now.

*Note: Lots of videos after the jump and not recommended for those without the bandwidth speed to handle it! I was pretty aggressive with encoding, but you’re still looking at 20-30MB per video.

「マラソン大会！」 (Marason Taikai!)
“Marathon Rally!”

I can’t say it’s surprisingly to find out that a group of girls who sit around eating cake and sipping tea all day isn’t the most athletic bunch, but Yui takes it to a whole new level of struggling during a 4-5 kilometer marathon run.