I’m getting my girls mixed up, not hard to do with Amagami SS. The next subject of Junichi’s affections isn’t Hibiki as I thought, but another swimmer, Ai. So far we’ve had an alluring but eccentric upperclassman, a childhood friend, and a shy little thing. Ai looked to be our tsundere for the series. Sounded good in theory.
It certainly starts that way. Junichi and Masayochi are looking for a bathroom when they spot Ai jumping off a swing. Panty shot. They are taken aback when she threatens to report them. And so the next few scenes go. Junichi gets into some situation or other that looks perverted but is in fact totally innocent only to have Ai witness it. It’s a little repetitive (though you have to love Kaoru playfully groping Junichi’s butt) and it gets worse when he slows up the lunch line. What makes these scenes bearable is wondering what Junichi will have to do for her to reassess him.
He may not have to. Overnight, Ai goes from aloof to playful. Catching Junichi in another embarrassing spot, involving a cat, she actually lifts her skirt—to reveal a swimsuit. And we get Junichi at his best: hiding his eyes, refusing to look, he looks anyway. Apparently Ai finds this trying-to-be-polite-but-giving-into-temptation act cute. She must; she uses the line above more than once. And there’s the fact that Miya wrote something on his forehead and he didn’t even notice it. Soon, they’re hanging out, shopping, winning prizes, and picking up trash together. I’m not sure what Junichi’s motives are for that last activity, but he probably doesn’t know, either.
Now, I know that a tsundere goes from tsun to dere, but Ai does it awfully quick. She’s not lovey-dovey yet, but I’m wondering how they’re going come up with stuff for another (I assume) three episodes. Well, they’ll think of something. I’m also wondering what Ai’s going to do to set herself apart from the other three girls we’ve had so far. Now that the coldness is melted what has she got to make her unique, apart from having a swimmer’s body? Never mind. The series has been resourceful so far. Junichi is his usual amiable, adolescent self. Miya will get extra time in this arc, always a good thing. The girls he’s already messed with have their cameos and gracefully get out of the way. It’s a pleasant way to kill a half hour even without the romance. It’ll be even better if Ai comes up with something fresh.
Too Old for Anime 