Good kick, Hiroki. And nice teeth.

Apologies for not blogging for the past two weeks. I had been overseas. Although… someone did promise to review episode 3 for me, didn’t he? -_-

Anyway. Episode 3 has already been subbed, so I wouldn’t spend too much time on it. Episode 4 is well… Usagi and Misaki again, so I’m not going to spend much time there either, because I would rather concentrate on my thoughts on Hiroki and Nowaki, which is told in episode 3 and 5.

Screenshots are scant because I’m lazy. Sorry.

Summary

I thought this scene from episode 3 is pretty good.

Episode 3:
- Hiroki, who is Usagi’s good childhood friend, is in love with Usagi. He has some intimate relations with Usagi, who pretends that he is his own crush, Takahiro instead. In the aftermath, Hiroki sits in the park with thunderclouds hanging all over his face.
- Hiroki meets Nowaki, who asks him to be his tutor. He refuses, but Nowaki steals his key.
- Hiroki wakes up to Nowaki, they talk, Hiroki agrees to teach him.
- At one such session, Hiroki realizes that Usagi is the man he loved once (instead of the man he loves).
- At another session, Nowaki kisses Hiroki while he sleeps. Hiroki wakes up, and Nowaki tries to confess his love to him, only to have Usagi interrupt.
- Jealous, Nowaki appears to say that he will take care of Hiroki, and closes the door to Usagi.
- Nowaki confesses his love to Hiroki successfully, and then leaves.
- Hiroki finds himself stalking Nowaki while he is working. He is seen by Nowaki.
- Nowaki finds him at his house, and they talk, after which they have sex.
- At work the next day, Nowaki receives flowers from Hiroki, who congrats him for getting into university.
- Nowaki runs to find Hiroki, and hugs him.

Episode 4:
- Misaki meets Usagi’s editor, and is extremely jealous because they look great together (and other assorted reasons). Usagi sooths his fears in the next 20 minutes.

I must be weird, because I really like Hiroki’s exasperated face.

Episode 5:
- 6 years later, we realized that Nowaki has just returned from New York, after an entire year of absence and non-communication.
- Nonetheless, Hiroki let Nowaki stay in his house because Nowaki claims that he has lost his house keys.
- Hiroki is cold to Nowaki, which caused Nowaki to attempt to leave, except that Hiroki stops him from truly leaving.
- ~*~fill in the blank~*~
- Hiroki wakes up the next day to find Nowaki gone, with only a note that says, “I’m leaving. Nowaki”, without any other details.
- Hiroki realizes that they had a truly abyssal dating relationship, with very little dating activities and even less true communication. He reflects that the state they are in now is probably his own fault, and that he should have paid more attention to the relationship.
- As a result, he decides to end the relationship by sending a postcard to Nowaki, saying, “Let’s break up.”
- We also meet Miyagi-sensei, who is Hiroki’s superior, a professor in the university Hiroki is assistant professor to. He is half of the third couple in the series.
- Hiroki moves, changes his number, etc. in an attempt to end the relationship properly. However, Nowaki finds him at his workplace, the university.
- They argue, Nowaki wanting to know what he did wrong, and Hiroki completely unable to calm down and answer him properly.
- In the end, Hiroki locks himself in his room, and Nowaki tells him to go to their usual dating grounds (a fast food restaurant) at 7 pm that day so that they can talk it out. Nowaki leaves.
- The pre-ending omake features Usagi using Misaki as a bed booster (and sex toy) because his usual hugging bear has been stained with udon by Misaki.

Thoughts

Communication problems in relationships. The most prevalent problem, IMO.

Let me begin by saying the Hiroki x Nowaki pair is the one I like the most in the manga. Very real problems, very strong emotions, and very good characterization. Sure, there were some story lines that are so obviously plot conveniences that it’s ridiculous. But if you read it with an open mind, it’s a realistic portrayal of a relationship.

The anime is not as good as the manga in this respect.

To be honest, there are very little significant differences (that I can tell, anyway… been some time since I read the manga) between the anime and the manga. But the delivery lacks a certain something. Hiroki lacks that special oomph that makes me like him so much. And Nowaki. He is totally cardboard, which very little depth.

Why is that?

Maybe it’s because I was holding so high expectations, which always mean hitting the ground would hurt like hell. Whichever the case, I can pinpoint a couple of points.

1) Character design: Is it my imagination, or does Hiroki’s head often looks too small for his body? Come on, people, be realistic. And stop making him too much like Misaki. He is a LOT stronger and interesting and complicated than that boy. Also, he is a lot better looking, even sexy with those glasses.

Hiroki’s kind of cute in glasses. Even, or especially, in fiery form.

2) Seiyuu: I’m sorry, Itou Kentarou. You are much better as Renji than as Hiroki. Put quite simply, I think his voice is completely wrong for Hiroki. It’s too deep, too brash, too completely un-Hiroki. Itou-san does brashness and bluster well, but fall slightly short of bringing out the vulnerability and complexities of the character.

3) Animation: Studio Deen is really putting their entire effort on Vampire Knight, huh? In episode 5, Hiroki has an identical sequence of reactions three times when Miyagi-sensei hugs him from behind. And the walking really fast to avoid talking to Nowaki? It could have been so evocative if done well. Instead, both Hiroki and Nowaki looked like robots.

4) Funny faces: Episode 3 is better than episode 5, because a) it’s happier, and b) it has more funny faces. Now, I love my angst, but stop with the emo! Hiroki’s actions and Nowaki’s expressions seems a bit overdone. And seriously, part of Junjou Romantica’s essence is the funny faces. I’m calling for more funny faces.

5) Music: Lacklustre. It was so much better in the last 4 episodes.

That is not to say, though, that episode 5 is totally without its good points. The thing I like in the manga is that I always feel for Hiroki, so I never think that he is being overly angsty or emo-ish or making a mountain out of a molehill. The anime achieves this to a certain extent, in that his inner thoughts as to why he wanted to break up with Nowaki were delivered well.

Sigh.

The seiyuu is chosen, and there really isn’t anything I can do about it now, and in any case Itou Kentarou, while having the completely wrong voice for Hiroki, is still a good seiyuu. But if Studio Deen doesn’t buck up and do a decent presentation, Junjou Romantica would slide down to just being another silly and completely boring anime.

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ケロロ軍曹 Episode 41 (Sgt. Frog 41) SPOILER Summary: Keroro and Natsumi get in an argument over whether the milk is poured into the cup first or last for Milk Tea. To settle things, Keroro produces a board game, looking somewhat like the Game of Life. Rather than be just a board game, Natsumi, Fuyuki, and Keroro are transported into the board where they will play the game (Mao, Kururu, and Tamama

Arriving at the front of the stitched building, Maka and company meet up with Dr. Stein, the man responsible for turning Sid into a zombie. Although his entrance was lacking as he fell over the doorstep twice, Dr. Stein showed off his incredible ability to analyze souls and use this information to his advantage as he fended off Black Star and Maka with relative ease. It’s also revealed that Dr. Stein was the former meister of Maka’s father, who dreaded Dr. Stein for performing all sorts of neat experiments while Maka’s father was sleeping. In one last ditch effort, Maka and Soul Eater charge up to use Witchhunter against Dr. Stein, but he was even able to deflect that move aside rather easily. Fortunately for the young meister’s, this whole event was just a front to test their loyalty to each other as Dr. Stein passes Soul Eater for protecting Maka after the failed Witchhunter.

On a side note, it looks like Death the Kid will also end up enrolling in SWMU after seeing how Maka and company struggled with Dr. Stein. But he gets some negative points in my book for forgetting to fold the corners of his toilet paper I don’t see how Black Star should have passed given that he basically got his head fried and his entrances never seem to work, so he loses some points for me. On the other hand, Soul Eater gets some more points in my book for shaking Maka out of her daze to fight against Dr. Stein. No Shinigami-chopu in this episode I wonder if Sid will stay a zombie from now on, or will Shinigami-sama just continue to use Sid as a wakeup call for students in the future. I thought Dr. Stein to be a pretty cool guy, but that bolt in his head seems way to distracting for his own good. You’d figure with all his knowledge, he’d figure out a more efficient way of manipulating his brain.

©2008 Sea Slugs! Anime Blog. All Rights Reserved.

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Summary:
We get some quick catchup and learn that humans can travel very quickly using space folds and Ozma has allowed Ranka to hire that sketchy Vector Promotion manager. Meanwhile, Leon has convinced President Howard Glass to let the public know about the Vajra, due to the attacks on Galaxy 5 days ago. Sheryl stays strong and declares her concert will go on; it helps that she actually kinda hates Galaxy.

Before taking off, Alto runs to give Sheryl her earring back. The earrings are the only thing Sheryl has to remind her of her mother. I guess Alto really was keeping it to get more dates with Sheryl. She loans it to him as a good luck charm, while SMS is on standby. However, when the NUNS recon team sees Galaxy fleet’s Deneb-class Kaitos warp in while covered with Vajra, the SMS Macross Quarter launches.

Reaction:
This was totally a set-up episode, so very little happened. However, a few new questions kept me interested. For instance, is Alto two-timing Ranka? While Alto is clearly more interested in Sheryl, his decision to lie to Ranka and say he was at the mall alone was very puzzling. Then there was the interesting realization that Luca has named his VF-25 Johanne. I wonder if anyone else has named their ship.

It’s also puzzling that Leon sent Cathy to work with Ozma. Maybe Leon is trying to ditch Cathy, or perhaps she is there to be Leon’s spy on the ship. During the launch, it’s mentioned that there are anti-Vajra and anti-ESA-type munitions loaded on the VF-25 units. What are these munitions? Pesticides? Finally, the part where the Jeffrey gives Monica a nice pat on the butt was fantastic, especially since the rest of the bridge bunnies do not approve.

©2008 Sea Slugs! Anime Blog. All Rights Reserved.

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Poor Rolo, he’s such a tool. Reminds me of Last Exile… Hurray for Loli Emperors! Now witness the power of this fully armed and operational battle station! Need… more… Code Geass toys! All it needs is a recharge beam thing and it’s Impulse! V.V. looks awfully like… ^_^ Another week, another new episode of Code Geass. As has been the pattern of this [...]

Who needs fanservice when we get mechaservice?!

After a slow couple of episodes action-wise, this week’s episode comes back with a bang. After resolving last week’s cliffhanger we are eventually thrown into an all out battle royal with named folks from both sides battling it out in the skies. Good stuff all around.

Episode Summary:

Resuming from last week, Rolo comes onto the rooftop just in time to save Lelouch, freezing Suzaku while Lelouch tells Nunally to pretend they don’t know each other. Suzaku comes away thinking Lelouch still hasn’t got his memories back. Shifting back to the Brittanians, Guilford welcomes the new general that will be Nunally’s assistant, and who has a marked distaste for Guilford. At the same time, Lloyd and Cecile arrive bringing with them Lancelot and some other equipment.

In the Chinese capital, Kaguya is spending time with the very sheltered and young Empress. Kaguya tells her she has to leave because Zero has returned, and the Empress is in tears because she finally made a friend. Back in Japan, Lelouch and C.C. discuss Nunally and their situation. C.C. reveals that V.V. and the Emperor are allies who made a pact long ago. The scene shifts to those two, where the Emperor reaffirms their contract to slay the gods, and refers to V.V. as nii-san.

Meanwhile, the Black Knights have used Li’s escape route and left the embassy to launch an attack on the ships carrying Nunally to Area 11. Using special equipment, the Black Knights lands their knightmares on top of the ships to allow Zero to get inside to get Nunally. However, partway through the assault Lloyd arrives in a large ship of his own along with Guilford and the Knights of Rounds. Guilford and Gino start knocking off several off the Black Knights, as the panicking Brittanian general accidentally shoots his own engine attempting to hit Toudou, who kills the general in return. Inside, Zero approaches Nunally, telling her she’s just being used. She responds by saying she wanted this, because she wants to revive Euphie’s dream of the Special Administration Zone. Switching outside again, Gino kills Semba (the fat one) as the ship begins to fall.

Suzaku finally arrives in the Lancelot and damages the Gurren, sending her falling toward the ocean. As she’s falling, feeling as if she’s about to die, the Black Knight’s submarine arrives carrying Rakshata, who has brought new equipment for the Gurren. Launching the new float system, shield, and attack arm into the air, they attach to the Gurren and Kallen heads back to save Zero. She fires her new ranged radiation wave, destroying Guilford’s new machine and forcing him to eject. Kallen then engages Gino and Anya, eventually disabling both of them with a wide area radiation attack. Moving onto Suzaku, they engage for a short while, but both break off to rescue their respective VIPs. Suzaku breaks a hole in the ship to the garden where Nunally and Zero are, as Nunally calls out Suzaku’s name to save her. He pulls her out of the ship as Zero is blown out of the hole, screaming Nunally’s name as the Gurren catches him.

Impressions:

In my head at the end of last week, I thought either Lelouch would straight out lie to her to cover up the truth, or Rolo would come and save him. Turns out it was the latter, just in time, although at this point I’m really not sure if Rolo realizes who Nunally is. To be honest I’m not sure he would continue to follow Lelouch if he realized he’s doing this all for Nunally, his real sibling. I’m sure that will come to a head eventually, probably later down the road.

Lelouch may have a small heart, but it has a spot for only one person, and he can’t bring himself to lie to Nunally. Not only that he manages to tell her he loves her, I was like “awwwwww.” I still feel bad for Nunally, as she’s getting pushed, pulled, and played from all sides now. She doesn’t seem to realize it, but she’s being used as a diplomatic tool just like eight years ago. I hope she doesn’t turn into Euphie 2.0 (considering what she says later on), because Euphie was an extremely weak character.

Fortunately we didn’t have to listen long to the newly arriving general without a name, guaranteed to die within 1-2 episodes. Lloyd comes through for us and arrives with much hilarity, and this guy is just fun to watch. He epitomizes why this show is so awesome, it’s purely entertaining to watch. Lloyd just brings a smile to your face as he says exactly what’s on his eccentric mind. I know a lot of people are rabu-rabu for Cecile-nee, but meh, she doesn’t really do it for me, I’m rarely rabu-rabu for Kikuko Inoue characters.

Ugh, adorable loli overload, both Kaguya and the Empress together snacking and drinking tea…good lord. Stupid eunuchs had to ruin the mood with their annoying way of speaking.

Mmmm, and the puppet Empress is finally shown up close. If you haven’t noticed already, the Eunuch’s seemingly control China, as the sheltered and fragile Empress controls little it seems. Li seems to have a great distaste for the eunuch’s, sounds like he plans on starting a bit of trouble and overthrowing them in favor of the Empress. Whether he is doing it for the good of China, or if he thinks he can be in charge by controlling the Empress we don’t yet know for sure.

Uh, what the fucking is going on now. First, C.C. tells us that the Emperor and V.V. made a contract long ago, but seeing as how old C.C. and V.V. are, how long is “long ago?” I mean, Charles is supposed to be just a regular human right? Well as I was thinking that the Emperor drops a bomb by calling V.V. nii-san. Now, we already knew that the Emperor wanted to “overthrow the gods,” but the other revelations are seriously surprising. I’m not sure I could even attempt to successfully theorize here because this throws questions out there like, is Charles even really human, is he like C.C. and V.V. before they became whatever they are now? Maybe eventually geass users eventually become something else, this other species. After all, C.C. said she might have been human long ago, she even has a real human sounding name.

An inventive attack plan I’d have to say, but it went all too well in the beginning so we know it would have to take a turn for the worse at some point. Sunrise loves making back and forth battles like this that keep you on the edge, not knowing exactly what’s going to happen next. Hell, they even killed off a Black Knight, Crusader was positively gleeful. Guilford getting his own Vincent was kinda giggly, too bad it didn’t even last 10 minutes bud!

My dearest Kallen, not only was there no fanservice shots of you this week but your old knightmare was seriously outclassed by the new models of Guilford and the Knights of Rounds. Predictably, they came and started blowing the crap out of the Black Knights as they one by one either died for fell from the sky. Even Suzaku had to come and show up, sending my beautiful knight falling toward the ocean with his tech hax.

Ouch, that’s gotta hit Lelouch right where it hurts. He comes to save his sister and she’s turning down the same naïve path that Euphie walked. Just like Euphie she doesn’t realize that it doesn’t buy real freedom, it’s just another method of control. It’s not something that could really last forever and create some peaceful utopia. The problem is there isn’t much Lelouch can do about it right now, because he won’t fight his own sister, he can’t solve this the way he accidentally solved it last season. I don’t think the writers would go down that path either, it’s too much of an easy way out, a way to get out some cheap irony.

SSSUUUZZZAAAKKKUUUU!!!!! How dare you! A curse of a thousand plagues upon your house for nearly killing mai waifu! However, she looks glorious even when approaching a very messy death by gravity. Call me onii-chan! Ahhhhhhhh!

While this was patently silly and unrealistic, it was so laden with AWESOME that it doesn’t even matter. While the mid-air upgrades may have given Crusader nightmares of Shinn from GSD, the Kallen fanboy in me was giggling with joy. I mean, this is a mecha anime, it wouldn’t be complete without some upgrades. Kallen had to suffer through a crappy machine for awhile, now she can compete with those scummy Knights of Rounds. A float system, a neat shield, and the pimpest cannon out there. Go on Knight of Japan, fell the demons from the sky!

Oh delicious, see ya later Guilford, that new machine didn’t last long eh? We love the smiling with confidence Kallen. The lack of bodily fanservice is made up for mecha fanservice through her upgrade and much ass she kicked.

Funniest part of the episode, Lloyd crying out in pain as Kallen blows a part off the Lancelot. He’s so damn entertaining. It was also freaking awesome to see her disable the Knights of Rounds with her new super duper arm. God, am I really almost 24 years old? I sound like a middle school kid.

Another shot to the balls administered by Nunally. He’s right there and she’s calling out the man he hates to rescue her. I mean, she obviously doesn’t quite know he’s Zero, and Suzaku is a dear friend who came to save her…but still, ouch. Nice imagery there Sunrise, as soon as she calls Suzaku’s name Lelouch gets blown away by the wind, only to be saved by his Knight.

Cue massive threads on /a/ with this image. I don’t think it will be quite as rampant as the “surprise buttsecks” shot from the end of last week’s episode, but it may come close. I don’t know totally what to make of Nunally’s gasp at the end. Did she finally figure it out? She probably knows her brother is capable of a lot of nasty things, but maybe she’s not bright enough to figure it all out. Don’t think that will stop her from persuing the Special Administration Zone though. In fact, she might be more inspired to do it, because she thinks she can change her brother. Obviously false hopes, but perhaps truly held hopes nonetheless.

Overall, a much more balanced episode than last week which wasn’t particularly exciting most of the way then dropped a huge bomb on us at the end. This one had good action throughout, as well as returning characters and flashy new mechas. We also get a new dose of revelations about the Emperor and geass, as well as more seeds of drama regarding Nunally and the future. No massive cliffhanger this week thankfully, my heart needs a break every once in awhile.

Next Episode:

Nunally is revealed to Japan as the new lady in charge, and we see shots of some of the new Brittanian characters that have been shown in the OP. There’s also some unnecessary nii-san yaoi fodder shot as well as hints of Lelouch thinking about discarding Zero. Don’t count on it happening, but he has to feel bad about stuff for awhile.

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Crusader’s Angry Drunken Rant (Bacardi Silver Today)

Go Nunnally, the legacy of Euphie is not dead. TAKE THIS EUPHIE”S LOVE, HER ANGER, AND ALL OF HER SORROW! SHINING LOLI!

So scared he grew tits…

So yeah, Lulu though that he could just run up in there like CJ from San Andreas and take Nunnally all according to plan. However he underestimated Guilford, and Euphie’s legacy. Nunnnaly wants to do uphold the honor of Euphie clearly this blind and disabled loli is not easily fooled by Lulu’s propaganda like those retarded elevens. I can’t believe Rollo didn’t off Suzaku when he had the chance, it brings me great joy to see that Suzaku lives to make Lu-Qaeda cry. So Gino finally kills a full named character and cements his new position on the leader board. Kallen failed to unlock the Almost Rapist Achievement any one despite kicking Mordred in the face. Come on Kallen three upgrades and all you could do was force Guilford to eject?! Not a good upgrade to kill ratio…

Updated Leaderboard

So yeah the tone has been set for how this is going to go down. It’s going to be science fair between Lloyd and Rakshata! What whacky new inventions will they come up with next? Where do they get the money? Where can I get one? Still I had a sick feeling when Kallen got her strike packs it reminded me of Shin’s core fighter sequence, I just hope this was a one time thing. If Kallen starts weeping for her dead Nii-san and embracing his cell phone I will redirect a GPS bomb unto Sunrise. Let’s just keep Kallen in the showers and away from cell phones…

In any case Nunnally is aware of more than Lulu and Suzaku suspect, so much for damsel in distress. Even a blind girl sees more going on than the Black Knights. I hope Nunnally will be causing many problems for Lulu and his insignificant rebellion. There on the sanctuary moon his friends are walking into a trap as is his rebel fleet. An entire legion of lolis await them there. Oh I am afraid that the Japanese will still love loli when Lulu’s fleet of one sub arrives…

Next time its RolloxLulu prepare to gouge out your eyes, though if you love Lulu, Rollo is fine too.

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It’s time for Maid Guy Episode 4 and it’s also time for the mysterious transfer student who has a fetish for Naeka’s panties and who has a battle maid of her own and who wants to challenge Naeka at kendo. Also, what is the transfer student’s secret weapon to use against Naeka?

But don’t forget this report from Skirt One to Skirt Leader: Maid Guy Eyes has seen everything about you.

Go Straight to the Screenshots | Go Straight to the Review

• A trio of camouflaged men infiltrate Naeka’s yard in order to steal her underwear, but Kogarashi shows up and stops them. After being tied up, they tell Naeka and the others that they are the “Purple Lovers” - serial underwear thieves, though they reveal that they’re actually after Fubuki’s.
• Angry after being told that her underwear would “only fetch $700,” Naeka tries to smack one of the guys with her kendo stick, but he stops it with his feet and another blocks Kousuke and Fubuki, allowing the third to grab the panties and split.
• Fubuki calls for Kogarashi, who had gone inside to call the police, and he chases the man. However, the man is first defeated by a blond haired girl, who takes the underwear for herself.
• The next day Kogarashi starts to investigate by hypnotizes a truck driver who drove by the night before so that he can tell Kogarashi what he saw. He tells him that, besides the underwear thief and Kogarashi, he saw a girl with a green skirt and strawberry print underwear go by.
• At school, the girl, named Elizabeth K. Strawberryfield, transfers into Naeka’s class. Liz starts telling Naeka how she was amazed by how she defeated one opponent after the other at the last kendo tournament, and Naeka starts fearing that this is another confession by another female. However, it turns out that Liz is there to challenge Naeka at kendo instead of to admire her for it (and she tosses on top that she hates “large useless things” like Naeka’s boobs).
• To try to find the culprit, Kogarashi starts stealing the underwear form all the girls at school to find the one wearing strawberry-print panties. Once Fubuki sees what Kogarashi is doing, she presses the phone self-destruct button, blowing up the phone Kogarashi is talking to her with.
• After school, Naeka goes to the dojo where Liz is waiting for her. Naeka refuses at first, but Liz shows Naeka that she has revealing photos of her, and she’ll hand them over to the male kendo club if she doesn’t fight. Kogarashi notices what’s going on, but before he can do anything. Liz’s battle maid shows up.
• In round 1 of 3 in Naeka and Liz’s kendo match, Liz passes out due to the mask Naeka lent her which hadn’t been washed in three years and Naeka easily gets a hit. In round 2, Liz tosses underwear pics of Naeka in the air to distract Naeka and Liz gets a hit on her.
• Meanwhile, Maid Guy follows Liz’s maid to the roof of the school and eventually finds her in a closet there. He steals her underwear as well and sees that it isn’t strawberry, and then leaves to go back to the dojo.
• Back at the dojo, Naeka and Liz are in a fierce fight, but Liz tries to distract Naeka again, this time by tossing her stolen panties. However, Kogarashi calls in crows to retrieve Naeka’s underwear. However, this also results in them violating Liz, who is still hiding more stolen ones, as well as them trying to take off the ones Naeka is currently wearing.
• Kogarashi then tries to confirm if Liz is the girl he is looking for, but just as he steals her underwear, Fubuki blows up Kogarashi’s phone again, charring Liz’s panties to the point that Kogarashi can’t tell what’s on them.
• Back at their house, Naeka, Fubuki, and Kogarashi notice that Naeka is missing one pair of panties. Kousuke then comes home, incidentally with $700 worth of ero and doujin games.

While the story of this show is hardly anything to speak about, the things they keep having Kogarashi do almost makes this show worthwhile to watch. I like how he’s able to steal panties so quickly that girls don’t notice (though, wouldn’t they figure it out soon enough? Isn’t it a little breezy in here?). We also see Maid Guy hypnosis and copious amount of “Maid Guy Eye.” I also liked Liz’s “Nutcracker Fleuret” move as well.

The amount of strawberry-print panty flashing is a little much, but I guess it’s not too bad. There is something disconcerting about Kousuke selling his sister’s panties for $700, however lol.

I guess the main new thing in this episode, other than Liz and her maid showing up, is that Maid Guy has started harassing other females other than Nakea - especially Fubuki and Liz’s maid, though at least Fubuki is able to fight back, which makes it that much better.

Again, this isn’t a great series, but at least it’s entertaining.

It’s (finally!) Special A episode 4. In this episode, we get to see Kei’s family, including Kei’s troublemaker little brother, Sui. Hikari decides to try to tutor him, but can Hikari do anything about the real reason Sui is causing such problems?

Go Straight to the Screenshots | Go Straight to the Review

• Hikari goes to Kei’s house to see his family, which she hasn’t done in quite a while. However, Kei’s father turns out to be a whiny loli-shota who wants to see Hikari’s wrestling moves.
• Hikari then sees Kei’s little brother, Sui, who is basically into a rebellious stage at the moment. Kei and Sui’s father has an idea, though: to get Sui back under control, Hikari will be his tutor. (however, Akira is rather upset that Hikari has to go to Kei’s house every day as a result).
• Hikari soon learns how Sui has driven away his past tutors as he hurls insults at Hikari non-stop. However, this still doesn’t keep Hikari from trying.
• Hikari takes Sui outside the next day since “there is more to learning than what is in books.” Hikari then catches a dragonfly, but Kei shows up having caught three. Hikari sees this as a challenge and she and Kei proceed to fight over who can catch the most, but of course Kei ends up winning.
• Afterwards, Sui yells at Kei, calling him a “robot behind a human face” for being so perfect. Sui says he doesn’t care about doing anything since he wouldn’t be able to beat Kei at it anyway.
• The next day Sui expands on that, telling Hikari that Kei doesn’t care for him, and that his expression never changes no matter what, but Hikari tells him that that isn’t the case. Sui then asks Hikari if she loves Kei, which of course causes Hikari to get all flustered.
• Kei then shows up and tells Hikari to not concern herself with Sui anymore. Sui gets angry and runs away, but Hikari eventually finds him. Sui tries running again, but Hikari grabs him, but as a result ends up hitting her head on a railing really hard.
• Sui decides to carry Hikari home (and Hikari lets him!) until Kei finally catches up to the pair. Kei thanks Sui for bringing Hikari that far, and Sui is happy that Kei praised him.
• The next day, Sui comes to the school and tells Hikari that he thinks he’ll get Kei to tutor him from now on, since he thinks he’ll be more effective. This, of course, horrifes Hikari as she loses to Kei once again…

This is yet another OK, but not great (but not bad) episode. I guess the main things accomplished here are that we see Kei’s family, we have a one-shot problem solved, and finally someone vocally asks the most obvious question: do Kei and Hikari like each other.

However, other than that, it’s largely just more competing between Hikari and Kei which is seriously starting to lose it’s novelty at this point.

About the best thing about this series are the faces Hikari makes, but while funny, that’s hardly enough to carry the show. Other than that, what was funny about this episode? Nothing, really. Not that this was supposed to be a funny episode from start to finish, but I’m trying to figure out the point of this series.

Hopefully it’s more than “Hikari and Kei like each other but won’t say so” and “Kei beats Hikari at everything” because they are both about to wear out their welcome, and we still have 20-something episodes to go.