Thirteens: Giant Killing, Maid-Sama

Let’s see, the teams I was rooting for in the World Cup were USA, England, Mexico, and Japan.

Hmph.

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t expecting ETU to win in this episode of Giant Killing, and it was a feel-good, and mostly realistic win to boot. But I’ll be sorry to see the Brazilian players leave the show, stereotypical though they were.

We start where we left off, well before we left off, since they insisted on showing us FIVE MINUTES of footage we’d already seen. Itagaki, incensed and calling out his teammates, decides to go lone wolf and increase the offensive pressure. He’s worried about his starting job and jealous of the Brazilian stars. On the other hand, his coach approves of the tactic, wanting Itagaki to grow as a player and mesh with those same Brazilians. It looks like a failure in communication, but that’s the other team. For now it means ETU is facing more and more threats. The Itagaki/Kuroda feud continues with its grunts and threats, and Dori is flying through the air a lot. Time is running out. I was sort of into the match, but since I already figured ETU would win, or maybe tie, I wasn’t too concerned. Not even this show would devote three whole episodes to a loss.

The second goal was an example of both feel-good and realistic. The counter-attack works again and Tsubaki is streaking toward the opponent’s goal. It becomes all dreamy as he enters some sort of trance state, one, surprisingly, predicted by Murakoshi episodes ago, though at the time it sounded not like a prediction, but admonishment. He can see and hear everything. This is his stage. He gets by a surprised Carlos (“He’s … smiling?” says Carlos), and I’m thinking, “This is too soon. Who does he think he is? Maradona?” Fortunately, the show doesn’t take that route. He’s double-teamed, but the ball goes right to Gino. 2-nil. Tweet-tweet!

The rest is denoument. Another friendly handshake between coaches with all the implied threats, and a lot of Tsubaki being praised. Man of the Match! “Go greet your fans!,” but the best bit concerned the Brazilians. Apart from the quote in the picture above being something I’ve wanted to tell every angry person on this show, they have a funny jersey-exchange routine, funny because Tsubaki doesn’t know what the hell they’re up to. Ah, a good episode. It’s always more fun when you’re winning.

Kaichou wa Maid-Sama 13 features the Three Idiots’ pasts. Well, two of them. A middle school kid named Aratake and his gang have arrived to fight Naoya, once their leader and famed for his toughness, little knowing that Naoya has been thoroughly trained by Misa and her mother into being a good, though idiotic, kid. So Aratake kidnaps Naoya’s girlfriend.

Yukimura must surely regret his cross-dressing now.

Naoya doesn’t have one. It’s Yukimura in drag again. Alas, another perfectly good character has been reduced to a trap. Anyway, Misa, Usui, Aoi (That’s right! Now this show has TWO traps!) and the idiots go off to rescue them. It doesn’t go the way either side expected.

Cunning disguises.

First off, Aratake isn’t so much nasty as a bit messed up. He used to idolize Naoya when he ran the gang. Why challenge him, then? I’m guessing he wants to prove who the strongest one is before the rest of the gang. The gang isn’t sure they want him leading them, and this feeds his desperation. Meanwhile the rescue party keeps getting delayed, as first Suzuna shows up, then Misaki’s boss, then Sakura, Suzuna, and the Ayuzawa cram school, and they all must be shooed away.

We get our fight but everyone else just watches, then it’s pretty much over. The combatants make up. Everyone’s happy except Yukimura. An all right episode, but Misa was reduced to a side character, and it suffered for that.

Giant Killing 12, Yumeiro 35, and not much fun

In honor of the French team’s glorious day, let’s turn to Giant Killing 12 and observe some other players not having any fun.

Even the Brazilian players aren't having fun.

To make it worse, the episode ends with the match still not over. Instead, they dally over this and that. Carlos and Zelberto mutter about strategy while the ball’s in play, and even their teammates ask what the hell they’re doing. Endless shot of fans and media and suits worrying because ETU hasn’t mounted any offensive yet. And they all talk so slowly. And don’t forget the flashbacks to earlier scenes.

When they do play (and the episode shows only a minute or two of it) it gets more interesting. Nagoya changes their strategy. Defenseman Carlos moves closer to the front. Happily, Tatsumi has anticipated this and whipped up a counter-strategy.

GOL!!!!! Tsubaki!!!!!

It gets fun now, you’d think. Oh, scoring is a good thing, but the show has to milk every little bit out of it. Tsubaki is crushed and congratulated by delirious teammates, gets approval from Murakoshi, Gino, even Tatsumi. Everyone is so happy that you’d think they’d just won the league championship. It’s one goal, folks! The game is far from over! Then they go for the reactions in the stands and the press box. And since it’s Tsubaki we get an overly long scene where it sinks in, not to mention another flashback. And my heart sinks as I realize the match won’t end this time.

It’s more fun when the opposing team isn’t having any fun. Itagaki in particular. The man gets on my nerves anyway, but at least the episode only pays attention to him once, when he blows up at Carlos (Adding to the fun is that Carlos doesn’t understand a word he’s saying) and decides to work independently from now on. That will spice up the next episode, and maybe, FINALLY, we’ll get a result.

Yumeiro Patissiere 35 ups the ante for the Grand Prix finals, and other things, with the arrival of:

Unfortunately, his unexpected appearance affects the team in some unpleasant ways. First off, Ichigo goes into a tizzy, ditching practice in order to track him down, while he’s gone off with star pupil Mari. She decides to make him a cake, the same kind she tasted when she met him, and, and I’m thinking “This will not end well. She’s too happy.” Meanwhile Henri is telling Mari that she still hasn’t made it as a patissiere, leading to scenes of her being depressed. This guy drops gloom wherever he goes. Finally, there’s Kashino to deal with.

Kashino is rightfully angry that Ichigo isn’t preparing for the competition, but that’s clearly not his only motive for blowing up. He’s jealous. In the ugliest moment of this series so far, he gets so mad that he lashes out and hits Chocolat!. Kashino! SHAME!

Kashino is instantly sorry, they make it up, and you could argue that he was striking out blindly, but to see such irresponsible violent behavior from the boy bothers me. A lot.

This episode is not much fun.

We get the inevitable disappointment when Ichigo spots Henri enjoying Tennouji’s cake. But at least Henri didn’t eat Ichigo’s (her teammates consider it substandard). It’s all made up in the end, when Henri visits her, says he’s been following her progress, etc, and by the way, he’s going to be a judge at the finals. Interesting to see Tennouji through all this. In previous episodes she’s seen as kind yet determined, both a friend and rival to Ichigo, above all the infighting and envy that happens at the academy. Now, and this might be HER jealousy at work, she seems to have turned colder, or maybe it’s self-doubt. There wasn’t much fun to be had in this episode. I blame it on Henri.

Giant Killing 11, Arakawa 10

Giant Killing 11 picks up in the middle of the game, and to make it worse, doesn’t finish it, either. In fact, almost the entire episode takes place in the first half. Meanwhile, they continue to develop the character stories.

One of these is the Kuroda vs. Itagaki battle. Kuroda continues to keep him marked and the frustration level is going up. It doesn’t help when your coach is obviously disappointed in your play. And there’s the resentment he feels toward the imported players. Meanwhile Kuroda mocks Itagaki’s moves in the locker room. It’s clear who won the battle in the first half. But will it continue like this? Tatsumi proposes no changes at the half, even though ETU has been on the defensive the entire game. You tend to get worried at times like these.

But Kuroda isn’t the only one doing his job. Every player is contributing to the defensive effort, especially the much-maligned Tsubaki, who comes out of nowhere three times to make saves. The fans, the coaches, even the Brazilian players are impressed. As for Tsubaki, he can barely understand what’s going on (the ball to the back of the head probably doesn’t help). Right there on the field he seems to be going through a transformation he can’t articulate.

It's called having fun.

And when the team plays better it’s more fun. The coaches (apart from Tatsumi, of course) and ETU suits are all frowns about how the game is going. But now the fans are back into it (“Tsubaki!!!”), and for me at home, I’m having more fun watching.

Arakawa Under the Bridge 10 is in two parts. The first one is inconsequential, just more of the random weirdness this show is known for. The second has ramifications for the entire group of oddballs.

It’s the annual fire drill day, and Sister has started the fun by starting a fire. Naturally Recruit is the only one alarmed by this. The others don’t seem interested in putting it out. And so it goes. The attention turns to the Chief, whom everyone reveres beyond any sense of proportion, cheering him when he organizes a bucket brigade and pours the water on his own head. And the fire rages on. Recruit goes back to being shocked at everything. I tired of that by the second episode.

The second part carries more weight. Recruit’s father, to teach his son a lesson, has bought the land under the bridge and plans to develop it. Recruit races to warn everyone. But, like the fire, no one seems to care. Maybe that’s the point. Things move quickly, and soon an official comes over to tell them they’ll have to leave soon.

But, like most “normal” characters who visit the denizens under the bridge, he doesn’t go away unscathed. One visit to Maria breaks him. But this surely isn’t the end of this story. As Recruit endlessly tells them, they’re up against the government and the law here. But they’re still relatively unconcerned. Surprisingly, Nino is the one who shows the most defiance. And since she does it at the very end of the episode you know they’ll get back to it, not ignore it, like the characters did the fire.

Giant Killing 10, Yumeiro 31. Some competitions are more fun than others

In Giant Killing 10, Etu still hasn’t won a game (though it’s not over yet), but the mind games and trash-talking, you know, the things that make soccer great, continue as always.

Fuwa, coach with the weird hair, is certain he’s out-thought Tatsumi even before the match begins. Tatsumi thinks likewise. They snark at each other for a moment. Meanwhile the fans are at odds as well. No one’s having fun out there except the Brazilians, and maybe Gino, i.e., the foreign players. As for me, I’m watching the game and also seeing what human drama they’re going to present to us this week, which usually means keeping an eye on the matchups.

Tsubasa is pretty much useless again. The Brazilian players run circles around him. Gino is, as I said, happy. Murakoshi shows some bravery, but the real conflict comes from ETU’s Kuroda and Nagoya’s Itagaki. The latter is jealous of his fabulous new teammates and resentful that Kuroda’s marking him and not Suge, as it’s been in the past (However, Tatsumi mentioned that Itagaki got two goals with Kuroda guarding him in a previous match. Isn’t this a contradiction?). Anyway, Suge is marking Pepe instead, and Kuroda is marking him. Tatsumi’s reasons for the switch, as I pointed out, are cryptic, but it’s working. Kuroda is cutting him off every time Itagaki has a chance. Fuwa had figured that with the Brazilians there ETU would forget about Itagaki. Whoops.

We don’t get to the end of the game. We don’t even get a goal. All we know is that ETU has been on the defensive for almost the entire match, and no one except the foreigners, and maybe Tatsumi, is having any fun.

So let’s turn to a fun competition. I discovered the fansubbers I’ve turned to for Yumeiro Patissiere put up two episode 31′s, only one of them was actually #32. A bit of detective work and I was able to watch the episode I missed. I’m glad I did. It’s a good one.

Not only do we get back to the Cake Grand Prix, but we get two matches. Only one of them, however, involved Team Ichigo. The other was between the “Heiress” Ojou and the “Princess” Tennouji. The show splits between watching all four teams prepare and compete, so there’s no time to dwell and worry.

The theme for this round, by the way, is 'Elegance.'

“Elegance” comes in different flavors, something that Ojou, in all her biting opulent splendor, doesn’t seem to be aware of. Their piece montee is over the top, a big roccoco crown. Tennouji’s is more traditional, more Japanese, you might say. So is Team Ichigo’s, drawing upon a certain Japanese period style. Their opponent, led by a girl named Tachibana, specializes in organic products and all-natural colors (Good for them!), and they’re a bit at a loss, though I don’t see why. Who says you can’t make simplicity elegant?

What’s more, the teams at this level are now judged by their performance while cooking. So not only do they have to make a work-of-art cake, they have to do showtime while they’re at it. Yeah, it’s ridiculous, but nothing in this show surprises me much anymore. Once again their performances show off each team’s style. Ojou’s (seen above) is overdone. Tennouji’s, and Ichigo’s, again, are more traditional (though their cakes sure as hell are not). The “Organic Sweets Country Girls” go for rhythmic cutting. And I’m thinking, thank heavens I’m not in this school.

Actually, that's Tennouji's cake.

Still, this show can go over the top all it wants; it’s one of the reasons why I like it. And as usual, there are morals to every victory. The Organic Girls go a little too far with decorations and their cake falls apart during judging, costing them serious points. Tachibana says it’s okay; they’re better off with simple sweets anyway, not this extravaganza, so Ichigo’s made another friend. And of course, Ojou’s gaudy creation loses to Tennouji’s flamboyant but less gaudy effort. But notice that Ojou’s side would have outscored Ichigo’s.

A solid episode. The structure made it impossible for it to drag at all, and they worked extra hard to keep things clicking, adding little bits to liven each moment. Every little scene was good in its own way.

Giant Killing 9, Working!! 9, Yumeiro 30

Giant Killing 9 continues the cycle we’re now familiar with. ETU loses, everyone gets pissed off. They seem to take turns going over the line. This week it’s the fans’ turn.

Or rather, the organized fans who try to drum up the excitement. They almost turn on some other fans, and then decide to block the team bus (after yet another loss) and take it out on Tatsumi. In this way we begin to see some unexplored dynamics not only amongst them, but with ETU’s management. Vice-Chairman Gotou, who hired Tatsumi, fully believes in him and goes out to confront the fans in his stead. Other staff members are blaming him for the hire. Nothing much comes of it, but it’s nice to see these overlooked characters interact for a change. We also get a little quality time with Fujisawa, the freelance reporter, who has posted an article saying it’s too soon to sack Tatsumi, and another reporter who secretly agrees with her. She hasn’t been used much this series, so again it’s good to spend a little time on her, only if it’s only a little.

We also get a little more of Tsubaki’s self-doubt, the pep talk coming this time from Murakoshi. That’s getting a little tiresome. But the episode devotes more time to their next opponent, run by the former ETU coach, and the three Brazilian players he brought in, probably for a hefty sum. The team’s doing well, but the Brazilians have a bizarre attitude to playing the game: they want to have fun. They’re almost late for a match because they’re doing moves to entertain the fans. Actually, it’s a bit annoying. They play the role of childlike foreigner from a poor nation and carry it too far, even buying fan jerseys with their names on them to send home. On the other hand, it’s maybe the second time in the entire series that they’ve shown people actually having fun with soccer. Even a disgruntled fan mutters early on “This game used to be fun.” This show needs more fun. Of course, it’s fun when you win. Here’s hoping for more fun next week.

When I learned the premise of Working!! 9 (I was wrong. The show does have two exclamation points) I thought it was setting itself up for disaster. Souta has to cross-dress to fool Inami’s father. I could imagine the scenes before they happened. He would have to be talked into it. They would have to actually make him look like a girl, and he’d have to take girly lessons, and then the nerve-wracking meeting with the father. I was right about the scenes, but the episode carried it off a lot better than I had feared.

The character dynamics have been established enough to give an edge to every cliché scene. Souta at first refuses, but feels sorry for her. Souma has an old photo of Souta dressed as a girl to blackmail him when he falters, so that, as he says, “I’m cross-dressing to hide that fact that I used to cross-dress.” And Taneshima thinks that the girl-Souta looks adorable. And leave it to Satou to explain to Yachiyo why they couldn’t have chosen a simpler way out, like having Yachiyo take Souta’s place. Not only that, but Inami doesn’t hit Souta once when he’s in drag.

The nerve-wracking meeting does even better. The father turns out to be a piece of work, deliberately scarring Inami against men for life so that no man could get close to her. He’s even brought a gun in case Souta does turn out to be a boy. But his combination of fatherly doting and violent intent is so over the top that any sense of threat melts away. And it was good to see Souta’s growing less fearful and more angry when he learns just what a tool this man is. So it’s an all-around good episode, and the second one in a row with a sustained narrative, but once again we’re focusing too much on Inami.

More filler in Yumeiro Patissiere 30. The next class assignment is to make a cheesecake, and Ichigo has just asked what the difference was between sweet and sour cream.

Kashino releases his inner Shizuo.

So they visit a dairy farm to learn about the origin of milk. For much of the episode it’s just the humans and fairies having fun on the farm, getting run over by sheep (Kashino), riding horses (Andou), getting chased by cows. There’s a subplot concerning a fairy report that Caramel has yet to write, due in two days, and Chocolat’s subsequent berating of her. A calf chases her into the woods, Chocolat is worried about her, etc etc. Typical fairy behavior.

Caramel makes friends with a cow.

The humans are there to learn, so they tag along with Ushijima, who tends to the cows, and they learn a great deal about how lovingly they’re cared for, down to taste-testing the grass. The kids are deeply impressed, so much so that they commandeer a kitchen and prepare the staff a bunch of cheesecakes. Ushijima is so moved that he hallucinates.

Another surreal moment brought to you by Yumeiro Patissiere.

The fairies’ part of the episode was the usual stuff about friendship. The humans’ was educational, to a small degree. If nothing else we learn how much goes into making good, healthy cow’s milk. And a couple of interesting lines: “You’re even popular with sheep!” “Where did she get that tongue of hers?” An agreeable episode before the tournament action resumes next week.

Giant Killing 8, Neko Overrun 7

We’re eight episodes into Giant Killing, and the team hasn’t won a game yet. I believe this is only a 13-episode series. Will they go all the way to the final episode before they win? It’s starting to look like it, though in the match this episode ends with they’re only down 1-0.

Their fan base seems to have shrunk, too.

Oh, things happen. Players get turned around, but they’re still not succeeding. First it was Tsubaki and Murakoshi, and now it’s Kuroda and, er, the other defenseman. Are we going to go through this for ever character? Kuroda’s pretty much walked off the team and his friend follows. Dori, the goalkeeper, has given them words of advice, and now they sit and watch the games and for the first time try and figure out what the problem with their play is. In a ludicrous scene they even take inspiration from a ramen shop owner. “Forget your failures and move on!” And, okay, the next match they do indeed play better. Kuroda even pep-talks a defenseman who thinks he’s let in a goal, something he earlier would have yelled at the man for. So I guess they’re turned around. But the team is still losing.

The other players on the field can’t stop screwing up, either. Tsubaki has gotten no better. Gino doesn’t care either way, and the replacement defensemen are doing the same things that the regular starters did. Every time they start a new match you have to think “Yes! This is the one they’ll win!” but so far …

Exactly my thought.

It’s getting frustrating to say the least. And it’s become clear that Giant Killing is intended to be a much longer series than thirteen episodes. At this rate I’ll be lucky to finish the first one.

Mayoi Neko Overrun likes to get a little odd at times. In ep7 they go completely bonkers.

The entire episode is like this: a mecha adventure show with all the characters playing heroic roles. They’re fighting against Duke Machine, who wishes to become emperor of the Machine Empire and is going to suck up the Earth’s energy to do it. All that stands in his way are the Brave Bravers, or something like that.

Watching parts of this episode, I wish I could have.

And it doesn’t really work. First, they do TOO good a job at imitating an old-school mecha show. All the cliches are there: determined words, evil laughter, moments to recollect tragic events, an old enemy turned ally to fight the bigger menace, the all-hope-is-lost moments, more evil laughter, robots transforming into unheard-of new forms, all done in a clunky old-fashioned style which made me check my watch. Second, the characters play straight-up heroes and bear no resemblance to their regular roles, so we lose their quirks. They don’t even use their real names. There was, however, one exception, the only moment that got me laughing:

Look, I appreciate the show’s reach and I hope they keep it up, but I believe this episode failed, maybe not as a concept, but in its execution.

Sevens: Giant Killing, Heroman

At the end of the last Giant Killing, things were looking pretty bad. This episode it gets worse.

Fairly quickly (with a press conference interlude to allow Tatsumi to play mind games with the press, especially reporter Fujisawa) they drop another game, and tempers begin to flare. The center of action this week is Kuroda, who walks up and down the bus berating his fellow players and trying to start fights. We follow much of what happens next through his, disgusted eyes.

Tatsumi's latest training strategy.

Of course, Tatsumi has something up his sleeve, or maybe he only thinks he does. I’m getting the impression he’s making it up as he goes. He creates a game called soccer-tennis, which infuriates Kuroda so much he refuses to try, only to learn that the winners will be the starters for the next game. Meanwhile, many of the other players loosen up and have some fun. Maybe that was Tatsumi’s plan, or maybe it was to so infuriate the hothead that he’ll do something stupid and lose his starter position. Lord knows with Tatsumi.

Happy to say that the team doesn’t make any huge realizations and play inspired in their next match. They do play better, even score a goal this time, but they still lose. Kuroda, on the bench, has an interesting reaction. Instead of gloating over his team’s failure without him, as more selfish players would, he’s angrier than ever. Of course, he claims they would have won if he had gone in, but it still suggests that this man is passionate about winning. So I’m betting there’s going to be some turnaround and redemption from him in later episodes. I don’t particularly like this guy. He has one emotion: angry. I hope they don’t pay him too much attention.

So with the team at 0-3 and only one goal, with Kuroda promising to transfer to another club, Tatsume thinks to himself that the first team they must beat are themselves, then prepares the team for another fun little game … Hey, you know, getting a victory might inspire the team, too … It would certainly cheer me up.

Heroman 7 continues with the various factions’ bizarre strategies. First we get back to those damn bowling balls and a president who’s considering nukes so one doesn’t roll over the White House. If it makes you think that the president’s an idiot, also consider that he’s letting this Minami guy roll over him with words. But Minami at least has the right idea. You can build another White House. Instead, gain control of the bowling balls! That would give the U.S. an overwhelming edge in global bowling ball technology! If he wasn’t obviously a devious villain I’d seriously like this guy.

Thankfully we spend more time with Team Denton, and THEIR strange strategies. Infiltrating the Skrugg base is certainly a good idea. Splitting the team up to accomplish certain objectives when they don’t know the layout of the place, not so much. Then Lina messes things up further by deciding to tag along with Joey and Heroman, rather than look for her brother with Denton and Psy. By amazing luck, she makes the right decision!

--Insert evil laugh of your choice here--

The fight that ensues is predictable enough, though made interesting by the fact that Heroman can’t just smash up these two, and so has to play defense until the headgear is torn off. Lina’s devotion to her brother is nice, and it’s gratifying that she helps him comes to his senses and realize what he has done, so she can forgive him.

Nick comes to his senses, too.

You could see it coming. He LIKES the power of being a Skrugg! No longer a toady is Nick! But because you could predict it doesn’t mean it doesn’t work, especially since his friend Will, now officially a good guy, is forced to fight him. It’s a good scene, especially when Nick is done in by another type of bowling ball and the whole base starts falling apart. If you discount the president sidestory, it’s a pretty good episode.

Arakawa 5, Giant Killing 6, Neko Overrun 5

Shows constructed of vignettes have a habit of dragging. One sketch doesn’t work, which slows down the momentum for the next one. Soon I’m checking the time and wondering if it’ll be over soon. Working! is like this, the same with Hidamari Sketch and Arakawa Under the Bridge. But sometimes everything seems to work, and the episode is over before you’re ready for it. Arakawa 5 is an example, and I can’t figure out why. It’s just more of the same …

We meet another weird character, P-Ko, who supplies the vegetables for the group. Her assets are sensitivity toward her crop and an amazing clumsiness. She takes a dislike to Recruit. Although it’s just another “introduce Recruit to another weirdo and watch his reaction” scene, it works better. I think it’s because Recruit’s tolerance to strangeness is growing. He even mentions that he’s used to not being accepted by these people. Also, P-Ko’s clumsy antics are amusing.

Nino's job under the bridge is to catch fish.

But the bulk of the episode deals with the fact that Recruit doesn’t do anything. He’s a freeloader, something he naturally hates to be called. Nino tells him it’s okay, but he still can’t get around the fact that just about everyone under the bridge does something, even if it’s making white lines. As for me, I think being Nino’s lover is a job in itself, but I don’t think he’d accept that. Now, they do play with this “freeloader” theme for too long, but the episode kept hustling from scene to scene before I could get bored with it.

In short, it’s more of the same, but it works better, and I don’t really know why.

Giant Killing 6 is split into two. In part one Tatsumi is dragged to a managers’ press conference. Intrigue abounds, as managers shake hands and say prophetic things. It’s a little off-putting. In Japanese soccer, aren’t anyone friends? As expected, Tatsumi shakes things up a little with his speech. Some of the managers grumble inwardly, but he impresses a German coach by shaking his hand. Some French guy invites him to lunch.

They get lost, and you get the impression that this new guy’s a bit of an oddball. The talk switches from French to Japanese (Part of the unexpected humor in this bit comes from all the mangled foreign accents). They stop to watch kids play soccer and … they act friendly. After all the threats and mockery in undertones between everyone in this business, it comes as an enormous relief. Turns out the weird guy is Blanc, the manager for the French team. Such is Tatsumi’s mindset that he doesn’t know this and doesn’t care. He likes this eccentric man who loves soccer.

That done, they get ready for their first game, and we get back to the grumbled threats. The opposing coach gloats that he’s too sly for ETU. It’s time for the game face, I guess. We meet Fujii, a freelance reporter assigned to the club who desperately hopes for something to write about. The fans are pumped-up. Everyone’s into it … and the opponent scores a quick goal. Whoops. Tune in next week!

Mayoi Neko Overrun jumps and stumbles its way through another bonding episode, alternating sometimes sweet but often saccharine moments with bits of silliness. We learn some more about what goes on in Chise’s mind. The rest of the gang are so busy at the store that they have no time to spend with her. This episode we learn just how she feels about that.

The first time, when they leave her meeting early to attend to the store, it’s actually quite affecting. We see how lonely she is and how much she wants to be part of the gang, not realizing, of course, that they already consider her a friend. Then they switch to silly, as Chise decides, working with Kaho’s advice, decides to open a huge, fancy patissiere of her own and drive them out of business. THEN they’ll have plenty of time to hang out with her. If this sounds cruel, consider that she wants to hire them to work at her place. If that still sounds cruel … well, it is.

I don't know WHAT goes on in Chise's head.

Then the show does another of its weird lurches. The gang figure that the only way to save the store is for one of them to win the festival’s bathing suit event. Time for some girls’ petty jealousy and boob jokes. Then it lurches back to maudlin and the right people overhear just the right bits of conversation; the gang realize Chise is simply lonely, Chise learns that she’s a friend to them already. All is forgiven and everyone is happy. Never mind the weird end piece about the conspiracy to get Otome in a swimsuit … I swear, this show doesn’t know what it is, sometimes. Either that, or its more innovative than I’m giving it credit for. … Nah.

Giant Killing 5

Giant Killing 5 finishes up the eventful preseason game. Tsubaki is up to his old tricks, other players step up, and we learn a little more about Tatsumi’s mindset.

Dude! That's your goalie!

Let’s start out with Tsubaki. At halftime of course he’s down on himself, but is reassured by the others and told by Tatsumi not to hold back. And he doesn’t. But his inexperience shows often, and he follows that with outright stupidity, and Tokyo Victory scores again. Was he so intent on the ball that he couldn’t even tell see his own goalie? Even I wouldn’t have done that!

Well, that’s it for him this game.

The rest of the team, however, feels otherwise. Tatsumi studies their attitudes after the goal. By now he’s already used up all his reserves. It seems to me (being a bloody yank) that a soccer coach really can’t do much once the play begins. It’s the players who have to make the tactical changes as they play. What Tatsumi can do, however, is give the players a mindset along with the pregame strategies. In other words, it’s more psychological than anything else once play begins. So how will the players respond, down 2-1 to the defending champs with five minutes left?

That's more like it.

They respond in their own way, or rather, Murakoshi does. Not being able to order the teammates around any more he takes charge with his play and scores the equalizer. A draw!

Now we get to look more at Tatsumi. Yes, he can’t do much during the game, but we see the extent of his work during it anyway. The team has a better mindset now. And he has seen enough of Murakoshi when it counts to return the captaincy to him, in spite of the fact that Murakoshi hates him. He knows that Murakoshi is considered “Mr. ETU” by the fans. Murakoshi simply had to earn it.

Fours: Giant Killing, B Gata H Kei

Giant Killing 4 brings us the first real game, with all the politics and mind games that go with it.

Much of the latter is done by Tsubaki—on himself. As Tatsumi says, he fails nine times out of ten, but his one success is always memorable. But all Tsubaki can think about is all those failures. We have a flashback scene stuck in the middle of the game where Tatsumi challenges him and Tsubaki keeps screwing up. Then the two talk it out. I can’t make sense of it. He claims that it was Murakoshi’s support that led him to help beating the regulars in that scrimmage (and later we see an opponent doing the same thing, with more sinister intent). Is that all it takes?

As for the game, Tatsumi’s strategy seems to be working for both the team and for Tsubaki. He streaks around the field, gets fouled, but recovers and charges the goal while team captain Gino pops passes here and there … and they score, thanks to a deft Tsubaki pass to Gino. Gino’s mind games on the opponent marking him also helped. Moments later Tsubaki is yellow-carded for a phantom foul and the other team scores on the free kick, so stuff is going both ways for Tsubaki. We don’t see his reaction to inadvertently causing goals on both sides, but it will be interesting to see. And apparently there are egos and politics at work on the opposing side as well, but the episode ends before the game does.

An unsatisfying episode 4 of B Gata H Kei, for me as well as for our would-be lovers Yamada and Kosuda. It’s coming up to Christmas Eve and of course Yamada is all out for getting her cherry popped, and it pretty much pans out the way you’d expect, except it feels like it takes much longer. I can’t remember the number of times I glanced at the time, wondering just how slowly an episode can take.

The reaction he doesn't see.

First, Kosuda has to actually ask her out, and he wants to, but you know it’s going to take forever to get the words out of his mouth. Meanwhile, Yamada is getting just as angry for the same reason. Spit it out already! The show seems to have a strategy where we sympathize with one character while the other one screws up, then switch when they do. Here, we’re on Yamada’s side.

After that there’s the actual date, and she leads him to a street full of love hotels. Now it’s our turn to sympathize with Kosuda as they pass each hotel, but Yamada just can’t choose one. But they do get their first kiss out of it, which is as major an event as we’ve seen yet in this series. Naturally, it freaks out Yamada but energizes Kosuda.

Note the adoring expressions on their faces.

Following that we get some misadventures in the lover’s park. And once again we see that when the opportunity for sex comes up neither character is actually ready for it. I actually like that. These two characters, especially Yamada, are simply kids who want to do what the grown-ups do, but they don’t have the rules down and they don’t realize they should just take their time about it. It’s a nice look at the pressures society can put on young, innocent people. Unfortunately, the techniques used in this show, especially Yamada’s mood-swings, are wearing thin. You can tell, more or less, how each scene is going to pan out. I’m pretty close to dropping it.