Polishing off Maid-Sama, Yakuindomo

The Kaichou wa Maid-Sama finale did what you might have expected, bring together Misa and Usui as a couple, and they actually do it pretty well, but everything around them felt off.

Misa came to this festival because she wanted to keep an eye on Sakura, who’s there for the UxMishi concert, i.e., their lead singer Kuuga. But they get separated. Most of the episode concerns Misa and Usui as they kill time until the concert’s over, including a “love-trial” contest, where they must do a number of things around the festival while holding hands. Not only are these scenes fast and silly (Maid-Sama’s specialty) but they exhibit the couple’s weird dynamic. First, they are holding hands; second, Misa isn’t sure how she feels about that, third; Usui is doing his best deadpan teasing at the same time.

But there are things that didn’t pan out. After the concert Kuuga is to be escorted around the school grounds by Sakura. Misa runs into him beforehand. It’s an odd scene. Misa is looking for changes while Kuuga says he likes Sakura for how she sees right through him. I don’t buy that at all, but at least it shows he has no nasty intentions this time. But, face it, the reason he’s in the episode at all is so he can comment on Misa/Usui. He says stuff about enduring someone, then poof, he’s gone. We never see how Sakura’s tour went. I guess she wasn’t that important to the episode.

And then we get the big confession scene, the characters dressed in old fashioned costumes for some reason, waiting for fireworks, Kuuga’s “enduring” concept rears its head again. I must say that I had not been looking forward to this scene because I thought it would mean Sakura simply giving in to Usui’s charms, but the real scene is, happily, two-sided. She asks if he is enduring HER, and why, and Usui, taken aback (which was satisfying in itself) gives out a splendid, honest rundown of the things he loves about her. He teases her because he loves to see her expressions was my favorite bit because I like those moments too, but there are other good things here. And then he uses the L-word. Then its her turn to rattle off a sort of confession, Misa-style. Another good speech. She’s letting out her frustrations and insecurities and telling him how important he is to her. Usui is almost shocked. He’s unsure what to do! For once, in a romantic setting, he shows vulnerabilities we hadn’t seen much of before.

Well, it was good to see him soften a little at the end. It was not good that we don’t see Hinata until the closing credits; I expected him to play some role in a finale. That’s another reason why the episode felt incomplete.

And now it’s over. Will there be a sequel? I mean, they’ve confessed now. If there is I’m not sure I’ll watch it. The show did some things well. At its best it had great energy and a good set of characters bouncing off each other. I liked the ensemble acting very much. Misa was terrific. Usui had great moments when he wasn’t being smarmy. But I don’t know if I need to see any more of this story. Maybe I’ll feel differently when the time comes.

Seitokai Yakuindomo 13 ends with nothing at all.

A typical Takatoshi reaction.

Let’s see. There’s a small earthquake, the student council visits the robot club, Suzu is short, Aria shows off her family album, back to the robot club, Dejima’s driving skills, Kaede has trouble with mushrooms, Takatoshi has to write another essay for the school paper, Kata wants childhood photos for the paper (Suzu is short), Mutsumi and Takatoshi are on day duty, Suzu spills tea on Aria’s cell phone, Takatoshi is nervous about giving a speech, and then there are closing credits, only they involve Kotomi … and the episode is only half over.

Takatoshi's idealized beach scene.

I was worried at first. The Student Council all start to reminisce about the past school year. That means flashback time. However the show decided to give us variations of the memories based on the characters’ dreams and fantasies, which made it slightly more tolerable. However, the fantasies did little but stick the character in their ego-driven dream world (Hata as undercover photographer, Mitsubi fighting off goons, etc). Not much imagination there.

And the episode STILL isn’t over, so they talk about next year, break the fourth wall by comparing a year in anime time to three months, then invent a new magical girl show, then plug the time slot’s actual next show: Hakuouki Heketsuroku, which I must say is pretty decent of them. I’ve never seen one show plug the next one before.

Don’t ask me why I watched this all the way through. I simply don’t know.

One more of the Student Council.

Seitokai Yakuindomo 12

Until the avalanche of Fall season episodes begins I’m limiting my daily report to one show a night, otherwise I’ll run out. For some shows this won’t be a problem, but there’s usually so little to say about Seitokai Yakuindomo that I’ll have trouble stretching my entry to the usual length. So I won’t.

We start with New Year’s Day. Let’s see. They try to recall their dreams; happily, we don’t hear about them. Then we learn what they wished for, or assumed Takatoshi did. Kaede bumps into Takasoshi and freaks out …

After they finish perverting a perfectly good holiday it’s back to school. It’s cold. Girls shiver for for more reasons than one. It’s snowing. Then it’s raining and Takatoshi interprets the girls’ reactions to thunder. We get to the only sustained action in the story, Kotomi’s attempts to pass the school’s entrance exam. Tiny Suzu tutors her, gets called a sensei, gets all happy.

We move on to Valentine’s day. At least this episode moves fast. None of the handful of boys attending the school get any chocolates, because …

Actually, this bit was pretty good, especially when Takatoshi wisecracks to one boy that no one watching remembers who he is. Actually, the student council girls give Takatoshi valentines, and there must be a joke about murky white fluid filling, right? Moving right along we get back to Kotomi and her entrance exams. After botching the exam itself she goes in for the interview. Remember that she’s as disgusting as any of the other girls in the school, and she gets a sympathetic interviewer.

It’s the best scene in the episode. At first it’s intimidating with its two tired teachers and a nervous would-be student until teacher Naruko realizes she’s talking to a kindred, if disturbing, spirit. So it’s no surprise when they go check the results.

She must be dreaming! Someone pinch her! Someone does. Do I need to tell you where? Okay, what did I miss? Er, Takatoshi’s fly is open, Naruko tells her class about a reunion she attended, Suzu is short, Naruko catches a cold, Suzu is short again, Shino gets a shoulder massage, and other things too trivial to mention. Takatoshi’s world-weary asides after the punchlines felt a little off this week. I think he’s trying to hard.

Elevens: Highschool, Yakuindomo

Another episode of Highschool of the Dead where no one whacks a zombie. Instead we get characters talking, decisions made, and Shido’s brief and ignominious return and departure. Oh, and some fun at the end, if you can call it that.

Each main character gets a scene and then we move on. We don’t see the aftermath of last week’s little crisis. Apparently Takagi was impressed enough that Kohta and his weaponry are left alone. But we get some spillage when Saya confronts some adults who claim the zombies are still alive, that it’s a disease and they shouldn’t whack them. It’s an interesting question, actually. But Kohta makes the argument that the adults are living on fantasies because they can’t handle the truth. They want the hope that the world can somehow get itself back together. And really, when a zombie’s about to bite you what ARE you supposed to do? And that’s it for those characters this episode. Next it’s Saeko and Takagi doing some bonding and sword-giving, and the thought that Takashi’s heart might waver too much to be an effective leader, which leads to Takashi and Rei’s nice scene which expands on the topic. As for me, I’d choose Takashi to lead for the same reasons Rei does: sometimes he wavers but when it’s important he leaps to the right course of action. Besides, I’d prefer a leader who sometimes doubts himself and listens to council.

Nice talking by everyone. Too bad Shido has to show up. He’s still got his cluster of fanboys and girls—well, most of them, because he sees no problem with sacrificing a member when he feels like it. And what the hell has he been doing to them? It’s like they’ve got a perpetual orgy (or pre-orgy, since everyone’s still somewhat dressed) going on in that bus. It’s one of the things in this scene that doesn’t make sense. When he’s allowed into the Takagi compound Rei immediately freaks out and threatens him with a knife. We learn the reason: Shido made her flunk a grade to disgrace her father. Fine, so why didn’t she react like when they first ran into each other early in the series? And what’s with his reaction when she decides not to kill him? He had just played a “you’ll live with the guilt” card, she turns away … and he gets upset. He ought to be happy. “He’s not worth my time” isn’t the best comeback I’ve ever heard. Never mind. He is ordered to leave along with his students. You think they would have rescued them and done some reverse brainwashing. What I’m most sorry about is he still hasn’t been eaten.

To top off the episode we get a glimpse of things to come. Looks like everyone’s in for a lot of fun in the last couple episodes. So to cheer us up a little:

A rare moment of goofiness.

It’s pointless to describe Seitokai Yakuindomo 11. I’ll list the gags and post screenshots of various reactions. Let’s see … Kotomi tries to study, Takatoshi conducts a mock HS entrance interview, Takatoshi slept wrong, Aria has a small mouth …

Takatoshi gets ink on his fingers, Takatoshi tries to yawn, Hata interviews Mitsuba, it’s windy, students hanging around after school, Kaede brings a report, Suzu is short, Suzu overhears two weird conversations, Suzu is short again (appparently this is the Suzu block), Takatoshi sets up a kotatsu. Then a subset of jokes around cleaning the office: a cleaning spray which turns into a commercial …

This joke wasn't bad.

Watching a magical girl show, cleaning behind things, Takatoshi gets bossed around, they clean windows. Then we move to Aria’s vacation house for Christmas festivities: Exploring the house and acting childish, a present exchange that includes a vibrator, the girls play a board game, more vibrating presents, it starts to snow, Santa shows up and gives a vibrator. Uh, that’s it.

I'm with Suzu.

Tens: Highschool, Yakuindomo

Highschool of the Dead 10 doesn’t bring us much wild action, only one zombie gets decapitated, yet the team still finds itself threatened.

Safely behind gates, in the womb of the Takagi family, it looks like they’re in a good spot, . But maybe that opportunity to rest and think is the thing that allows some of them to start to fall apart. Especially brittle Saya. This is her home and obviously an emotional minefield for her. When they meet to talk over what to do next it’s she that explodes first, and she has a point. The Takagi empire moved quickly to save and protect their workers—all except her. You do have to wonder why such an efficient and powerful organization behaved like this and whether it’s a good thing to stay under their protection. And earlier Saya’s mother told Takashi that they’ll only taking in people who are prepared to survive. As opposed to our heroes, who risked their lives to rescue a helpless little girl.

As for the rest of them, they’ve lost their freedom to act. We see it early on when some adults reject Takashi’s offer to help carry a box: “Let the adults do it.” And other staff see Kohta’s caring for his weapons as a a kid playing with toys he doesn’t understand. To give it a further twist, Soichi, Saya’s father and head honcho, arrives with a caged zombie who used to be a friend. He cuts off its head before his people to demonstrate something that any sane person had already figured out by this time, a demonstration of both practicality and his autocratic power. Saya, meanwhile looks at the beheading with disgust. Again, is this really the best place for them?

The Takagi empire can't inspire this kind of loyalty.

So they can remain there in a gilded cage, grow soft (Takashi’s fear), and let the grownups make the decisions, even if the decision might not be best for them, or they can leave. In the back of my mind I wonder how long the cage can even hold up. It looks safe for now but sooner or later they’ll run out of power or supplies, and the zombies are still everywhere. Saya and Saeko hint at this possibility. These questions are put on hold when some of the men try to take Kohta’s weaponry away from him; in this relative paradise he’s in danger of becoming an ineffectual fat nerd all over again. The rest of the team rush in to defend his honor. Saya gets in the zinger at her father: “Unlike you, he has been protecting me!” Alas, we’ll have to wait until next week to see what happens. We can assume they will eventually escape, and that Saya will be with them. But the previews suggest that Shido is going to have a hand in it as well. Damn, I was afraid he’d be back.

Seitokai Yakuindomo 10 starts in an elegant room with the music of flute and harp, and a demure nurse named Dejima, and it’s not fooling me a bit. Sure enough:

And off we go with more straight gag formatted lack of action. Hand injuries. The gang go to Aria’s mansion to hang out. Student Council budget reports. Career advice. And, er, other things that went by without thought. They bring back a segment called “You Tell ‘em, (character name)!” Originally for Suzu, they add new ones for Kaede and Hata. And while it’s all stupid, we get a moment of non-sequitor when Hata points out that her segment overlapped with Kaeda’s, leading to three unknown boys shouting in disbelief. I actually laughed. This show is actually rather good with non-sequitors.

You KNEW they'd have a chocolate banana booth scene.

After that we get more of the same, except this time it’s the school festival. Let’s see, a dramatic play with dubious dialogue; the chocolate banana booth mentioned above plays out as we expect, then they move to a popsicle stand for an encore. Takatoshi’s asides are very effective this episode, in fact, in one scene, after the advisor says something I won’t repeat, Suzu looks around, begging Takatoshi to show up and say something. Andophobic Kaede serves the boys tea from long distance. Then we get the obligatory single, sane moment, where Shino invites Takatoshi to the bonfire dance, leading him to conclude:

This was the second not-bad episode in a row. Sure we get the dirty punchlines, in fact, they’re getting dirtier, but the show’s improved its timing and free use of sight gags, such as love-struck Mitsuba seeing Takatoshi in a sparkly pretty-boy mode, which makes him look disgusting. Just a little bit they added to liven things up. In other words the show’s not as tedious to watch as it used to be. Now it’s only tedious half the time.

Shiki 8, Yakuindomo 9

Without changing its leisurely pace Shiki gets more suspenseful by the week, to the point where I found the gravedigging scene hard to watch. Actually, almost every moment promises to turn bad for our characters, only, most of the time, they don’t, leaving the suspense for a future scene.

Why these scenes have to go in and out of focus I don't know. Sorry about that.

Take the scenes between Seishin and Sunako. You know she’s probably not going to turn and bite him; she’s having too good a time talking. Yet the threat is there. Not only that but the fact that we don’t know why she’s paying him these visits adds to the menace. On the other hand the two have established sort of a friendship. They spend some time this episode discussing the idea that one of them, or both, have been forsaken by God. That’s how Sunako analyzes Seishin’s books, anyway. While we know, and I suspect Sunako does too, that she is the truly forsaken one, having to live away from the light.

But this is a small scene. The bulk of the episode follows Natsuno, Kaori and Akira as they go to dig Megumi out of the ground. Even though we expect the grave to be empty digging up a body is itself a frightening thing to do. What if there IS something down there? Adding to this is that the kids are living these same fears even as they do it. Adding even more is we know someone is watching them. When he attacks it’s almost a relief. Something is happening! After Natsuno brains him we’re back to hushed discussions and it actually gets more intense. Okay, much of this is diffused when the vampire later wakes up and mutters “ … brats …” but I enjoyed the brief moment of humor in the middle of all this.

Remember folks, if a weird girl holding a mannequin comes to your door, don't invite her in.

And the humor helps in the last scene as well, where a girl wants to come in and see Natsuno. Her behavior is so eccentric that you almost have to laugh even as you realize her threat. His parents are a little freaked, but what harm can a little girl cause, right? Meanwhile we flash to moments of Natsuno riding his bike home. Will he get there before his parents invite the girl into his house? … No. So now we have a vampire who’s invaded Natsuno’s territory, a nice scary thought to tide us over until next episode. If I can handle it.

Seitokai Yakuindomo 9, by the standards of the series, is actually not bad. This time the straight gag format gets interrupted by a sports festival. And other things.

Even the straight gag stuff that comes before the festival is better than average. Takatoshi writes an essay that makes all the girls cry. We get three different imaginative takes on it (See above, and none of them involve sex!). All we at home can figure out is that it has to do with an abandoned cat. Sadly the sex jokes predominate after that while the school prepares for the festival. Aria gets tangled in ropes. The girls misconstrue Takatoshi’s talk about erecting tents. You get the idea.

I will say that the jokes do add life to what is otherwise a typical sports festival scene. In the “find an object” game the girls each pick Takatoshi, for various reasons. It works through repetition; the scene repeats for each girl and the silly music they use in these things starts up again. Another good moment comes from the other boys in the school, so unimportant to the show that until now we didn’t know they existed. They watch the action, comment on not being written into the story, content with not doing anything but sad because it means they don’t get to take part in a harem series. I wonder if, off-camera, they’re having the same weird experiences Takatoshi has, regulated to straight man surrounded by horny, confused girls …

But the best moment is when Suzu anchors the club vs. club relay. It turns out she’s an excellent sprinter and wins for the Student Council. Nothing much is made of it, but it was nice to see her as something besides the brunt of shortness jokes. And since there’s still time left they do a fake preview of next episode, a serious drama series while the captions make sarcastic comments. Nice touch. If this show could break things up this effectively every week this could be quite an entertaining series.

Highschool 8, Yakuindomo 8, and a moment of silence.

First, a moment of silence to honor the memory of Satoshi Kon.

Thank you.

I’ll leave it for bloggers more capable than myself to write eulogies and appreciations. Besides, I’ve seen too little of his work. I will say that Millennium Actress and Paprika are outstanding films you really ought to watch if you haven’t already. As for me, I’ve moved Perfect Blue to the top of my Netflix queue. I have some catching up to do.

Returning to the my usual beat, I’ll add that writing these little reviews on the fly like I do has a disadvantage apart from the usual sloppy editing. It doesn’t allow time for the true value of an episode to sink in. I wrote that episode 7 of Highschool of the Dead “may be its best yet,” damning it with faint praise. Rather, that episode was so good I’ve watched it a half-dozen times since then. So, er, sorry about that. Episode 8 can’t possibly match the righteous mayhem of the previous episode but it does a damn good job anyway.

The quiet was nice while it lasted ...

After we see the bitten US Secretary of State (Defense?) try to talk the also-bitten president into launching all their nukes for no reason (I love how foreigners always assume the US high command are just waiting for an excuse to nuke everyone), a scene left unresolved, the episode gets … serene. The Humvee crosses the river. Kohta and Alice sing nursery rhymes. The girls go from nearly naked to wearing an odd assortment of clothes. There’s not a zombie to be seen. “Awful quiet, Tex.” “Yeah … too quiet.” It’d be a nice, peaceful moment except we know the zombies are around somewhere, else there would be no show to watch. Sure enough, they find more and more, they get cornered, and Rei is flung off the Humvee and possibly injured. Here they come!

Now, the gaps in the fence are plenty large enough for any of them to slip through, but they don’t think of that. Instead we get a prolonged fight scene with little triumphs when Takashi manages to fire a shotgun correctly, and a lot of despair because there are just too many zombies for them to handle. And they start running out of ammo. The fence, guys! The fence! Takashi and Saeko try to lure them away but there seems to be a limit as to how far the zombies can hear. It’s well-done as usual and has the usual mix of violence and fanservice, Saeko’s dancing around the bullets being the topper. And it looks quite hopeless. (The fence! The fence!) I actually thought we might actually lose a character this week.

Mommy!

Instead we get an unexpected rescue and the first appearance of a family member. It works well. We had pretty much given up on them finding their families so when one shows up alive and well it’s a moment of joy not only for Saya but for everyone else, including us the viewers. Maybe there’s going to be some happiness in this show after all. What she’s doing there with a bunch of firemen can wait for next week.

Seitokai Yakuindomo 8 has just enough variety to keep it going, though the usual gag business runs throughout. Including the usual innocent double-entendres which don’t translate well into English.

Takatoshi is Japanese, and HE can't always figure them out.

Much of the time is spent talking about the upcoming sports festival and the events they should have now that the school has gone coed. You can imagine the suggestions. But we don’t get to the festival. Instead we get a visit from Kaede, a morals officer, who has pictures showing the student council sleeping in the same room (from last episode). Her schtick is that she’s afraid of boys.

Unfortunately, that’s all she brings to the show. There’s a non-sexual oriented scene where Takatoshi kills a bug and gets more praise than any of them have given him before. Let’s see … there’s the inevitable “Suzu is short” sketch. Oh, we get a judo match. The team is a girl short, so Shino volunteers, and wins by using grappling techniques she learned from a yaoi novel. It’s all just more of the same. Some of Takatoshi’s weary asides work, some don’t. I’ll leave it to Shino, deciding how to handicap the boys during the sports festival.

Never mind.

The hell with it. I’m going to go rewatch Paprika.

Shiki 6, Yakuindomo 7

An interesting episode of Shiki. While no one is any clearer on what’s going on the main characters and even a few of the townspeople are coming to conclusions. Except, maybe, Toshio.

He’s a doctor, a man of reasoning, and science and observation are the only skills he has for curing people. As more and more of his patients die on him we watch him grow more frustrated, lashing out at patient’s families, Seishin the priest and generally kicking at the grass and punching inanimate objects. Seishin brings him the news that so many of the future dead quit their jobs and Toshio blows up. What the hell can he do with that sort of information? And he’s right. It should have no bearing on the epidemic, though it does.

Ironically, it’s the people who should know the least that catch on the quickest. There’s Itou, above, and while you can say that her ramblings are just those of a crazy old lady in a town where most people have little to do besides gossip, she actually gets it right. And others, two kids whose names I forget, saw one of the dead enter the mysterious castle. But in both these cases, no matter that they’re on to something, no one’s going to pay attention to them. So the kids decide to take matters into their own hands. Too bad they’re being observed and undoubtedly in danger.

That IS sort of cold.

So Toshio is powerless to solve the problem. Seishin has no information that they know how to use. No one listens to the very old and very young. That leaves Natsuno, who’s deeper in the shit then anyone not bitten. Interestingly, he has come up with his own strategies. He notices that the pieces of the postcard he tore up are now gone and theorizes that Megumi came by. It’s a stretch of logic. There are things out there that could have made them vanish, like, you know, wind, but he’s right. We see Megumi do it in the prologue (though I have no idea what that rewind and fast-forward effect was supposed to do). And while some of his actions don’t amount to much (making a cross), he learns a few things. He watches vampire movies and learns from Tohru’s brother about local legends, goes off to see Seishin, and even asks Toshio some pointless questions. He’s sort of using his own version of the scientific method using evidence he himself observed.

The only point that didn’t work is that Toshio seems to have a revelation that it might be supernatural after all. What brought that on? Otherwise it was another good episode.

Turns out what you get when you take Seitokai Yakuindomo to the beach is more of the same.

It could be worse. A new environment gives them something different to riff upon for a change, even if the punchlines still deal with feminine hygiene, sex, male anatomy, or Suzu’s lack of height. Here we get to see them applied to the beach situations we all know from countless other anime shows. To be fair they add some more-or-less regular comic bits, like Shino trying to ride her inflatable dolphin (heh), Suzu building a sand castle, and, well, I can’t think of anything else.

Since their perverted teacher gets too drunk to drive them home we get the added bonus of the old “staying at the inn” cliché scenes. Some of these are actually all right, the best bit probably being Shino describing Takatoshi in other cliché settings, like high school comedy and boys’ love romance. Interesting that when there’s a scene of real intimacy (Shino sleepily climbs onto the wrong futon) it’s completely innocent and a little sweet.

But mostly it’s more of the same. Why am I still watching this again?

Heroman 19, Yakuindomo 6

Heroman 19 wraps up the tentacle island story. Alas, it was not terribly interesting.

'The hero you tried to reach is unavailable at this time ...'

It wasn’t bad, just straightforward. Joey, Lina and Ravi the scientist encounter threats and Joey heroically gets them out of them each time. First, Heroman doesn’t respond to Joey’s call, so joey uses his super speed to wrap up the tentacles. Then they try to throw surprises at us, such as the tentacles being able to form a human shape and say some simple words. But Ravi sees through it and holds Joey back. And it turns out the giant crabs aren’t any threat at all.

Even the story of these tentacles is mundane. Just another biological weapon experiment gone wrong, that’s all. They try to develop Ravi’s character as he goes from a man hell-bent on leaving the island, to trusting Joey and Heroman, even if he can’t get the name right. More successful in the character department is Joey. Realizing that the others are depending on him he puts on a brave face and slugs through or runs past every obstacle he faces. His first rescue of Heroman shows him being resourceful, even if his strategy is obvious to everyone.

The final confrontation at the power plant is exciting enough, even if they set up the tentacles as creatures that can imitate human (or robot) behavior, and thus even more dangerous, only to have Heroman punch it out anyway. Escalating threat when more tentacles show up, etc., but it it seems pat. Joey uses the same strategy he used before and they win. It seems to me that they could have done so much more with the premise. What about danger to the others? Nah, they’re all safe. The tentacle thing mutating? Maybe something with the giant crabs? Instead we get some running in the jungle, a pretty good fight, and they wrap things up with enough time to take another swim. There could have been so much more.

Seitokai Yakuindomo 6 begins not with the usual gags but with a girl encountering a ghost in the bathroom. Then a mock TV show where the characters sans Takatoshi go to investigate. Then it morphs into an old giant robot series. And I thought “Yes! A gimmick episode! Just what the show needs!” Sorry to say …

The gang DO investigate a report of strange noises from a storage room, and even if we know the answer to the mystery will be mundane and probably dirty (and I was right), it was a break from the usual gag routine. But they quickly go back to the usual stuff. Routine conversation turns to dirty joke and subsequent reaction shot and placard. Let’s see. Some stuff about people’s lunches, perverted two different ways, a visit to the judo club practice, perverted four ways, I think. And this just in: Suzu is underdeveloped.

A typical reaction shot to one of Aria's comments, this one involving enemas.

Next time it’s a beach episode. God knows what jokes they’ll whip out there. I’m STILL trying to figure out why I’m still watching this …

Fives: Highschool, Yakuindomo

Highschool of the dead 5, along with the usual bloody violence, zombies, panty shots and jiggling boobs, adds another element: improbable coincidence (Edit: okay, not so much as I thought), and it couldn’t be more fun.

Oh, they add another character, too. I didn’t get her name from the episode but Wikipedia says it’s Rika, and she’s an excellent sniper, currently holed up shooting zombies from an island airstrip. And (put this in the coincidence cubbyhole) she’s friends with Shizuka. A nice friend to have under the circumstances. But we leave her for now and follow the two groups, both trying to find a way across the bridge. Any bridge. Takashi and Rei zip around on the motorbike and encounter humans running amok, just like the guy last episode, allowing them to philosophize about insanity and the state of the world. Takashi says the both of them are going insane, just like the others, but I don’t buy that. What he and Rei are doing is surviving without cruel pleasure, unless they’re whacking zombies, which indeed looks fun to do.

Interesting enough, but the more compelling story happens on the bus. Shido is still lecturing and “comforting” his frightened charges. Seako compares it to forming a cult. The regular characters get sick of it and decide to leave. The bus is stuck in traffic, anyhow. To escape from the Cult of Shido and survive they have to use unorthodox means. Shido tries a little guilt trip on Shizuka. As a nurse, she shouldn’t desert the people on the bus, should she? Another little moral dilemma for our heroes. Where does her duty lie? We can see how clever Shido actually is. This time it’s Kohta who clears the air, reminding Shido of how badly he treated him in a nicely threatening manner. And they’re off the bus. It’s another good moment, but I really would have liked to see Shido eaten alive. As it stands we may never see him again.

Off the bus, but in greater danger from the zombies. Indeed, soon they’re surrounded and bashing away. It’s here where the improbable coincidence occurs. To get on the bridge Takashi and Rei ride up a car transport ramp and fly to right where his buddies happen to be! They didn’t even know they were there! (Wrong! Takashi heard Kohta’s nailgun … from some distance … heh, so I’m keeping my wild improbability stance) Before the bike stops (they have to knock over a few zombies first), Rei has lept off the bike and is smashing zombies. Takashi flings his gun to unathletic Kohta, who catches the piece of spinning metal with one hand and starts shooting. It’s utterly ridiculous, and fun as hell to watch. I sat there, grinning-mumbling “No way! No way!” What makes it succeed is that the group had already learned to work as a unit, each one contributing in his or her unique way. So when Takashi throws the gun to Kohta it’s because he knows that Kohta is the one best able to handle the weapon. Later, in another battle, Saeko issues a few orders, and because they trust her (as she trusts them) no one objects. One of the best things in this show is watching how the team works together. It overwhelms any qualms you might have about improbabilities that would feel contrived in most other shows. In Highschool it adds to the fun. Another good episode.

I don’t really expect a good episode out of Seitokai Yakuindomo, so it came as a surprise when I found myself laughing during episode five, twice!

I laughed at this scene.

I normally don’t laugh out loud at this show. If the inevitably predictable joke is timed well, or theres a good aside, I might smile. But laugh? Almost never. But the scene above made me do it. Takatoshi is sick with a fever and, he says, he has weird dreams in this state. We get to see one. It’s funny but not LOL funny when he hallucinates your average magical girl suddenly appearing in his bed; what got me going is Takatoshi’s blasé reaction. He knows what a cliché it is as well as we do. Also, it took me by surprise. Its delivery is different than what this show usually gives us. It’s not the only riff on anime clichés the episode delivers; there’s also the girl running to school with a piece of toast in her mouth, but I saw that one coming a mile away.

Takatoshi is responsible for the other laugh as well, but in that case (a comment about not thinking too much about the punchline) it was more a matter of delivery. In fact, at least for this episode, the VA who does Takoshi’s voice seems to have found a good rhythm to his comments. Or maybe the character is more resigned to his situation and doesn’t have to react negatively as much as he used to.

Back to the usual routine.

Otherwise it’s more of the same. Predictable dirty jokes growing out of normal conversations. The pool opens. Shino learns to work a computer. Suzu is very smart. Aria has someone she likes. Suzu is very short and underdeveloped. The teacher corners Takatoshi in a dark room. None of it really bad, but none of it really funny. Not LOL funny. I’m grateful for the two laughs I got.

Yumeiro 40, Yakuindomo 4

I’ve fallen three episodes behind with Yumeiro Patissiere. I’m always a little behind, but I was hesitant to start the new story arc. With episode 40 the gang is in Paris, new people, new everything. Just like Nodame Cantabile, and that show stumbled a little when THEY went to Paris. Would YP do the same? Hehehe! Nope!

After some misdirection the story settles in. Naturally Ichigo makes a fool of herself over all the tasty things Paris has to offer, then doesn’t get off the subway in time and gets completely lost, when she is befriended by the smarmy Ricardo, or “Rick.” The very type of boy Ichigo’s father was afraid she’d meet. Inevitably, he turns out to be a sweets Grand Prix contestant, but we learn that later. Ichigo is grateful for his help, but turned off by his smarminess. The rest of the team take an instant dislike to him. Actually, Rick’s not all that bad. He’s a huge flirt, but his heart seems to be in the right place.

So far, so good. But in case you’re still uncomfortable with the new surroundings the show gives us an extra topping or three of classic YP weirdness, just to make you feel at home. At the contestant’s meet and greet Henri appears, and guess what? Everyone, I mean EVERYONE has their own sweets fairy. They rise as one, as if they’re being exorcised, and then come scenes that make me wonder if the sweets academy actually likes the fairies that much. The tourney bracket will be determined by which fairy team wins a bizarre obstacle course. Walking on a pole, under a net, a sweets and ladders board game, rowing in teacups, jumping rope, slipping past giant fairy-crushing gears(!), and rushing to serve their humans in a speed cake-eating contest (Ichigo smokes the competition) … and it means absolutely nothing. The real bracket-listing comes from which fairy will fall out of a lottery wheel, face down, with a splat. In other words, the entire perverse race was for, well, I don’t know, unless it was to give Henri cheap thrills. And me, the viewer. Great fun!

But if you STILL don’t feel at home they decide to bring in some familiar characters. First there’s Lemon, who Team Ichigo beat several episodes ago and is now a friend. But she’s with Ricardo’s team, and guess who Team Ichigo’s first opponent will be? If that wasn’t enough, Miya and her patented rich girl laugh shows up. She bought her way into the tournament, natch.

There! The mix of familiar old characters with extra weirdness should be more than enough to help you the Yumeiro Patissiere viewer settle you into your new surroundings. Welcome to Paris!

Seitokai Yakuindomo 4 is more of the same. I’m wondering why I still watch it. Let’s see, Shino gives Takatoshi and Suzu souvenirs from their school trip …

Shino’s melon bread is stolen, she councils students, gets presents for her birthday …

Not only that, but their faculty advisor gives her a vibrator. Anyway … there’s a heat wave and Aria tries loosening her clothing …

In other words, the usual. Not to mention that the wordplay often doesn’t translate well and all I can do is scratch my head. So why am I still watching? I think part of the reason is that the silly innuendo is placed on top of perfectly normal scenes. Shino gets erotic gifts for her birthday, but it IS her birthday, and people are helping her celebrate it. There’s a pleasant umbrella scene at the end where little is said, it’s just a nice moment. On the other hand, I didn’t laugh once this episode. With Yumeiro I laughed several times, the loudest when Ichigo starts turning the lottery wheel, unaware that it’s full of confused, tumbling fairies. I don’t know why I’m watching but I am. For now.