minami-ke, fruitless love
Categories: anime, episodic review, minami-ke
Tagged: minami-ke
61 Comments »
They’re all broken. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.
I’m running out of ways to praise this series, and I’m running out of ways to complain about running out of ways to praise this series. Let’s just get on with some awards…
Chiyo-chan Memorial Wait That Can Be Done With Hair?!? Award
I didn’t know hair could do that. Mesmerizing.
Sonny Corleone Memorial Award
Watching Kana handle the doling out of the new year outfits was… awesome. The part of the whole process wasn’t that Mako-cakes got Uchida’s kimono or that Touma showed some boob, it was that Kana actually acted like a mob boss, only not a great one. For one, her underlings are primarily Chiaki’s friends that she has hijacked, and she’s off doing the unimportant stuff like sorting outfits. Just like Sonny Corleone.
(I enjoyed her “I didn’t think one sentence could lead to such an interesting turn of events.” line. Mmm… I can think of many… a lot in the “Wait… wait… NOOOOOO!” category. The ironic part is that there’s a better line at the end of this episode… “Let’s go somewhere nice, just the two of us.” Still, I prefer the one-liners that lead to chill moments, like “My drill is a drill that will pierce the heavens!” category or “Let me show you how to play a game without time limits.” or “I have a new outfit for you Mikuru-chan!” Well, that one does lead to a “Wait… wait… NOOOOOO!”)
Michael Corleone Memorial Award
The real power lies with the bountiful one. It’s not often that Haruka reverts to mob boss mode, but she demands attention when she does.
Pain Is Beautiful Award
Pobrecita.
Manny Being Manny Award
In terms of anime, it has to be Hosaka. If I just write, “Hosaka being Hosaka,” you can probably understand what I’m talking about much like “Manny being Manny” for baseball fans. I still think Hosaka is crazier… at least I don’t think Manny has delusional fantasies about Alyssa Milano. Yet.
(The way Hosaka was slowly undressing as he made the noodles… let’s just say at that point, I knew that it was Kyrios’ doing that Hosaka and Itsuki share the same voice. It was manifest destiny.)
Hold Me Jack Award
Titantic is a great parallel for Hosaka… he has all these elaborate plans, but every time, it seems like he gets sunk by an iceberg. There’s a lot to this parody that I like, other than Haruka and Haruka’s plunging neckline: the juxtaposition of cheap noodles and the cheap disposable chopsticks on a luxury liner, the fact he’s holding onto the noodles instead of wrapping his arms around Haruka (which proves that Hosaka is either gay or pansexual for food, because I don’t think any traditional male could keep their mitts off of Haruka at that point), and Chiaki and Kana engaging in a knife fight.
Rossiu When You Think You’re Right You’re Wrong Memorial Award
Unquestionably, the funniest moment of this episode was that Kana– KANA!– was the smartest of the girls by not falling into Hayami’s trap by drinking the “juice.” She’s the idiot savant. She’s the anime answer for Mozart. Of course, that leads to the real funniest moment because since she didn’t drink any juice, she was at least able to somewhat defend herself against Hayami’s advances. And, she still fell into Hayami’s trap nonethless. I had the following conclusions:
One, Hayami specifically went for Kana. The other girls were defenseless, and, if Hayami wanted to attack Haruka or whomever else, I’m sure Kana would just sit back, giggle, and take pictures with her Sony Cybershot. Yes, I was disappointed that Haruka went for the “more juice” option rather than the “less clothes” option, especially when a camera is involved.
Two, the part when Hayami’s eyes make that move was the best part… that’s definitely when Kana’s “OMFG” meter broke.
Three, can we hook up the Clannad cast with some of that juice? I want to see Kyou bully Kotomi on a Twister mat. I think Hayami’s juice will join Akiko’s jam-mu in the Anime Unidentified Food Hall of Fame.
Four, Hayami has better luck than all of the guys combined.
Lastly, I realized that Minaki-ke just blows Gundam 00 and Bamboo Blade out of the water for potential gay pairings for doujinshis. There’s a lot of implied and implicit pairings possible, and the fact that Mako-cakes and Touma can go both ways, they’re like the night elf druid and the undead priest of Minami-ke.
Keeping In Touch Award Sponsored by DoCoMo
This is what happens when a half-way competent studio animations a two hour long phone conversation. At least I’m not staring at a phone booth for six minutes. Still, I’m shocked that they didn’t do a full 24 parody, and I’m still in shock that Minami-ke was done by the Crescent Love team.
You Can Never Go Back Home Award
I wonder on a broken-ness scale, where would Mako-cakes rank? He’s past broken, and he’s going to need a lot of psychiatric help later on in life. It’s one thing to accept one’s own crossdressing, but when one’s friends accept and encourage it as well (instead of teasing and just)… it’s just a new whole level. It’s yet another thing to potentially look better in that kimono than the original owner of that kimono.
Damaged Beyond Repair Award
Touma’s just as broken… Mako-cakes and Touma weren’t that broken before meeting the Minami family, it’s just like meeting them amplified and nurtured their broken-ness. Is “broken-ness” even a word? I think Touma and Mako-cakes were so into their roles that Touma forgot that she has actual breasts whereas Mako-cakes does not.
Most Amazing Award
Haruka is amazing.
And a few final thoughts…
I will never win a Pulitzer.
Minami-ke is definitely a slice-of-life comedy, but I think it’s most important aspect are the romance and love angles. While it’s not the heart of the story, it’s the heart of the comedy. A good chunk of the comedy generation came from the fruitless love of Hosaka, Fujioka, and Mako-cakes, with the rest coming from good old sisterly love (like Weather Charm Chiaki). I think without Mako-cakes and the rest, Minami-ke just wouldn’t be as entertaining.
I’m wildly disappointed that Sensei and Ninomiya-kun didn’t get run over right before they went down on the floor. Or, better yet, Ninomiya-kun turns out to be an Austin Powers-styled fembot. Or, even better yet, Ninomiya-kun turns out to be Mako-cakes in 6 years.
As amazing as Haruka is, Kana is my favorite character. Is it too late to change this blog’s name to Broken by Kana? Or should I wait for how Okawari does?
I think I will be following Minami-ke ~Okawari~, especially since the Black Bible faces seem to return. I’m feeling slightly better about this now… and if they used blaxploitation music for the preview, I would be jacked and pumped.
61 Responses to “minami-ke, fruitless love”
Leave a Reply
Rather than getting broken, couldn’t they have just stripped?
Ahhhh, I LOVE the Rome Man-Ram callback. I think you might just be the only person to make a link between Mako-cakes and Jacko. That alone, sir, is Pulitzer-worthy. Okay, maybe not, but we all have our dreams.
Sorry, not Mako-cakes, you and your insidious references. Hayami. I hate how do-over jokes never freaking work.
Yes, I was disappointed that Chiaki went for the “more juice†option rather than the “less clothes†option, especially when a camera is involved.
Fixed.
Kana got raped! What makes it great was that Ninomiya-kun and Sensei were going down in their passionate honeymoon at the same time, showing that happy endings only happen on TV. Anyway, a great series, no episode was bad and 5,6,10 and 13 were absolut legendary.
I see you finally got it. You have to love how Hayami-senpai got everyone drunk, after commenting to the camera that they couldn’t SHOW minors drinking, yet they all act drunk anyways so we get cheerful Chiaki, Mob-Boss Haruka, and some accidental (or in Hayami-senpai’s case, not so accidental) yuri. Thank you, Hayami-senpai, for giving us all sorts of fanservice (remembering she was the one who traumatized Natsuki by shoving him face-first into Haruka’s cleavage, and was the one who brought up the Panties conversation).
That, and how Hayami-senpai happily nuzzled Kana’s lower half there is telling enough with regards to her preferences for.. ahem… companionship. Good thing Mako-chan didn’t show up – he and Kana have a similar shape. But no, Touma didn’t forget she has breasts; she just doesn’t care about showing off her chest, like many men who are confident in their manhood. The problem is, she ISN’T a man, which makes it awkward as well as possibly illegal in some parts of the world to go out dressed like that. Once she was in the full outfit, on the other hand, it worked… just as Uchida’s kimono works on Mako-cakes.
I swear, those two need to exchange outfits at school ASAP. There’s NO way Mako-chan can go back, and Touma may as well get rid of all of her female uniforms by giving them to someone who can make more use of them than she will.
One final note: Haruka-banchou’s cleavage, BANZAI!!! Chiaki knew what she wanted when she squirmed under the kotatsu.
Also, since you own the blog, why NOT change it to ‘Minami on My Mind’? With the caption ‘In Soviet Animeblogger, Kana breaks you!’
Also, a panicked-looking Chiaki is fine too, as is Haruka speaking in a flat, threatening monotone.
http://img213.imageshack.us/im.....kedoz9.jpg
Of course, you do have to wonder why Touma wanted to see Mako-chan without his underwear…. even if he had a kimono over it all.
I mean… wow! Way to go out with a bang! Definitely amongst the best episodes of this run. Hosaka’s further exploits with food are nearly worthy of their own legend, and the alcohol-and-yuri laden final is just omg.
Amusingly, Hosaka’s exploits sparked a lengthy debate on 4chan whether he should be elevated as Man Amongst Men or branded as homo side character. Similarly, Hayami’s “juice” and making Kana lose her innocence was suspected to be a “JUST AS PLANNED” moment – her expression is certainly a Keikaku Doori face.
I’m disappointed the game of twister didn’t have any passion-blue comparable moments (let’s see how many get that reference), but the wobbling ahoge was icing on the cake. I can see this episode giving a lot to the doujin authors to draw upon… I really hope Okawari will be able to pick up from where this one stops.
>> Minami on My Mind
Sounds good to me!
Am I missing something? Why do you keep on calling it “Black Bible” and not “Bible Black”?
Hayami set the record for the best “RAEP TIME” eyes ever.
One thing that I forgot to add, is that Miya-Miya’s stalker in Bamboo Blade better step up now. The bar is set, and it’s set high,
>> Also, since you own the blog, why NOT change it to ‘Minami on My Mind’?
I don’t want a possible acronym for the blog to be MOMM. I’m not that hot on DbD either, so I just refer to the blog as “Derailed.” I think sounds classier, but I still don’t think I’ll ever get that job with the New York Times.
>> Amusingly, Hosaka’s exploits sparked a lengthy debate on 4chan whether he should be elevated as Man Amongst Men or branded as homo side character.
I’m firmly in the manly man camp. Then again, I also put Touma in the manly man camp as well.
>> Am I missing something? Why do you keep on calling it “Black Bible†and not “Bible Black�
It sounds better in English. ;P
If you don’t want “MoMM”, why not “KoMMFE”? Kana On My Mind For Eternity? Or “Derailed By Minami”? DoM?
I vote Hosaka for ‘homo side character’, myself – at least Natsuki and Fujioka have ‘normal’ responses to women (the former blushes and faints after remembering heavenly cleavage, the latter gets jealous enough to chase Akira all over the place after thinking the latter’s trying to score with Kana), while Hosaka gets lost deep inside his head like a Tamaki Suoh gone horribly, horribly wrong.
Also, the reason Hayami has better ‘luck’ than all the other guys combined is because she’s aggressive, and goes for what she wants instead of dithering humorously, cross-dressing, or getting lost deep inside his own head and undressing while delusional. She goes for the clothes, like Haruhi after Mikuru for her outfit – it’s why she gets places that Fujioka can only dream of. And Hayami knows that Kana, unlike Haruka-banchou, is not a danger.
It’s no wonder Touma forgot her breast was showing… I forgot it too! Seriously, I needed Kana to tell her to have some shame until I noticed it at all.
>> I vote Hosaka for ‘homo side character’, myself – at least Natsuki and Fujioka have ‘normal’ responses to women
I don’t think Hosaka is gay at all. He doesn’t have a typical response to hawt women, but he does seem to have this need to cook around them. He also seems to cherish his food more than them, which leads me to believe that he might be pansexual with a preference towards food. Of course, I’m taking pansexual in its literal form where objects are fair game, rather than the more established “any biological organism” usage more in vogue today. He just doesn’t know it yet, so he just projects his desires as Haruka.
I have more questions about Craft… my gosh… he’s going to be the new Leeron… how he can not… rub that tail?!?
If he wants to ignore Haruka in favor of his soba, then more power to him. Me? I’ll go for Haruka-banchou, thank you very much. Hayami-senpai’s just pure win this episode, though – she gets all the girls. ;)
Haesslich: “Of course, you do have to wonder why Touma wanted to see Mako-chan without his underwear…. even if he had a kimono over it all.”
Well, Mako had just gotten through seeing her goods, so maybe she wanted a chance (however unlikely) to see his?
“It’s yet another thing to potentially look better in that kimono than the original owner of that kimono.”
I’m gonna have to disagree with that. Sure, Mako-cakes is a cute trap and all, but Uchida’s no slouch eaither, and she’s got the right equipment. She may be a little plain and too young now, but I think she has the potential to be near Haruka-class by the time she gets out of high school.
Haesslich: “Thank you, Hayami-senpai, for giving us all sorts of fanservice (remembering she was the one who traumatized Natsuki by shoving him face-first into Haruka’s cleavage, and was the one who brought up the Panties conversation).”
Those were both Maki-chan, but I agree. With that last episode she graduated from being a mere Kitsune clone…with honors. Hayami-senpai wa sugoi!
“Ninomiya-kun!” “Sensei!” “Ninomiya-kun!!” “Sensei!!”
Y’know what…that was really cheesy… I LOVED IT!
Sometimes I think that their making fun of hetero-couples at times.. that’s just me..
haha Kana got raped (lucky….) LOL jk ;)
Decent series, I think Hosaka’s fantasies about Haruka, and food, were what made this series all the more enjoyable to me. Yeah I was hoping that Haruka would have chosen to strip rather than drink more, hell even just down to the bare minimum clothing would have sufficed. I wonder if O-kawari is going to continue from this point on or just repeat the same stuff over again cause, it seemed to just end on some random note.
Lastly, Ninomiya-kun and Sensei definitely should have been run over a car, hell better yet after the car goes by them on the cliff scene an airplane just could have hit them from behind while he was looking toward the road. A twist, but in a related manner.
Although the Black Bible (i’ll just go with the flow here) faces were a great addition, I’m always looking forward to new styles of animation so I am looking forward to the new episodes just as much as I would any of the past 13 episodes. Besides if the animation studio that did Yoake Mae could do this decent of a job on the quality, I think asread can do even better.
It was sort of full circle where ep 1 had Kana chasing after Chiaki to giver her younger sister her first kiss then Hayami gives Kana a kiss in ep 13. The thing that makes it scarier is that you know that Kana would have stopped at the kiss, but who knows where Hayami stopped when she opened those scary-looking eyes…
I think it was fortunate for the other girls that Kana had stayed conscious. If Kana had some of that “juice” to drink, it would have been five unconscious girls and a very drunk Hayami with nothing to do. Care to hazard a guess as to what she would do?
Drunk Lesbian Rape; didn’t Muteki Kanban Musume ended like this too? :P Great ending for this great first half.
I anticipated Minami-ke only because I liked Today in Class 5-2, so I thought it was going to be at least as funny but less ecchi. I think I was somehow wrong in both counts.
How good is Shuffle? I see that Okawari’s director is Naoto Hosoda same as Shuffle. Masashi Suzuki, also from Shuffle, is in charge of the series composition. And with Asread in charge, well, just wondering.
I think the only thing missing from this last episode was Chiaki teru-teru-bozou.
We even got another ruined-for-marriage Uchida, we know she won’t be wearing that kimono ever again.
Kana is love.
I chuckled at Mako-chan’s statement: “Even this cute kimono cannot hide my Japanese manliness!” LOL,WHAT?
Daisuke Ono is a genius. His portrayal of Hosaka was comedy gold. “Ahaha Ahaha Ahahahaha”.
I want moar Hayami-senpai in Okawari! I am not fond of the new character designs, but at least we start with an onsen episode. You can never go wrong with an onsen episode.
any more name changes and i’m pretty sure sixten will also develop a bible black face…
The director worked on Shuffle series, more fanservice is to be expected, as far as I am concerned, I just hope for more crazy Hosaka’s fantasies.
quigonkenny on Uchida: She may be a little plain and too young now, but I think she has the potential to be near Haruka-class by the time she gets out of high school.
Sir, I most definately disagree and may even claim you are on the verge of discrimination. Uchida is very very fine as she is. Even though it may be bad, I was hoping Uchida could have been ruined a little more during the series. Maybe not at Mako-chan’s level but atleast on Touma’s.
Hosaka’s laugh is amazing. It reminds me a lot of Kogoro from Keroro Gunsou
From now on, when Haruhi 2 will come, I’ll mentally picture Itsuki laughing and gjvjng us this “Kimochi warui” while doing so.
fixed.
Northernshadows wrote: I’m disappointed the game of twister didn’t have any passion-blue comparable moments (let’s see how many get that reference).
Not enough colours. Not even Permanent Yellow Deep!
Mako-chan’s in denial, the more he protests about how the clothes can’t hide his manliness, the more girly he gets.
I loved the aside about no alcohol for minors. It was like they were saying “Yes, it’s ‘juice’. YOU know what we mean, and WE know that you know what we mean…”
The next season of Haruhi needs a sequence where Itsuki goes ‘Ha ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha ha ha!’.
>> Dop: “Not enough colours. Not even Permanent Yellow Deep!”
Ding! You win one free internet! The reference was to Honey & Clover’s game of twister (of-many-colours) in episode 8, only it ended up going horribly wrong to the tune of snapping bones. I was hoping at least for a clothing disaster of similar proportions here…
Also, I only just noticed:
>> Jason: “Pobrecita.”
Oh really… I think a fair part of Derailed’s audience would be more than happy to trade places with her.
Given how many voted for Haruka, I’d have to agree. I wonder how Kana’s sisters would react upon the news of what Hayami-senpai did, if the latter told them herself?
Damn that Haruka-in-a-dress was amazing. It may not be strapless but I wouldn’t change it to anything. Well, maybe to nothing but to something, never.
I think the juice was old….stuff *ferments* after a while, especially if it’s high in sugars. Underage drinking is fine when it’s accidental. ;)
Kendra: ‘accidental’, my ass. Hayami-senpai knew just what she was doing – and in doing so, gave the last episode a hell of an ending. She didn’t want Chiaki, who was too young, or Haruka and classmates (who were too familiar), so cut straight to the chase and nuzzled Kana’s lower half before pulling herself up to steal Kana’s first kiss from her. She talked to the screen to indicate they couldn’t drink (as minors), but snuck around that by having weird bottles with weird labels, and indicated it was ‘top grade’… something you dont’ usually refer to juices with. Hayami-senpai may not have anticipated everyone else kicking off into the land of nod, but she sure as heck seemed intent on ruining Kana for marriage.
One anime rule is to never take the word “juice” for its true meaning, it may be alcohol (or something else in hentai anime).
As much as Haruka-neesama is amazing, I was consistently won over by Chiaki. Now there’s a Banchou in training. I wonder if Ayako’s subtitles were a bit aggressive at times – an awful lot of swearing for an elementary schooler – but it didn’t overmuch detract.
I’ll also put Minami down as a show that I thought didn’t really gain much from fanservice. I’ll remember the antics rather than the cleavage. Azumanga goes in this category, but I can’t think of anything else. I consider this high praise.
Hosaka’s Fanfare for the Crazy Man wailing from an electric guitar on the mountain top was awesome.
The backgrounds behind Mako-chan and Touma when they posed in their kimonos were Hanafuda cards (in the suits of February/Plum and March/Cherry respectively).
Andrew: No, the show didn’t need fanservice to be great, but Hayami-senpai and Hosaka-senpai created some by their actions or inactions (the former got the girls drunk, leading to giggling Chiaki and full-out banchou mode on Haruka) while the latter’s delusions gave us some interesting images of Haruka.
I still can’t quite get over how Hayami-senpai acts when she’s smashed, though.
This episode has left ME ruined for marriage. LOL
Haesslich: I think she didn’t know either, that the juice had gone boozy during the import…Remember, she said she bought it herself…it must’ve been expensive. She wasn’t going to NOT drink it. Of course, maybe she DID know all along…at least until she also got utterly blotto.
Sugars ferment into alcohol, but not always ethanol; most species of alcohol are quite poisonous, and it’s a bad idea to drink spoiled juice that was not intentionally fermented and tested under controlled conditions.
Of course, we don’t know that they didn’t all die.
-Galen
I will now be hearing Hosaka’s laugh until the day I die. Ah ha ha! Ah ha ha! Ah hahahaha! Ah ha ha! Ah ha ha! Ah hahahaha! It’s the kind of laugh a serial killer has while he’s sharpening his axe. Hmmmm, maybe Hosaka could be a special guest star on Higurashi? Certainly would make as much sense as the rest of the plot.
Damn those slanty eyed characters! They always know exactly what I want to see. Which is raep.
You know,when you first started blogging this,I was wondering what the appeal was. It was slooow,worse than Azu. Remembering Azu,I kept going.
Now,though…now I understand. It was setup.
By the 5th episode,I was intrigued. By the 9th,I was hooked and reading your entries as unofficial commentary,and by the end,it went epic with an ending that made me go WTF. Several times.
Given the Hosaka-laugh to end all laughs and Hayami-sempai’s devilish plans for Kana,I’ll be crushed if the manga isn’t this awesome.
I was surprised at Hayami going that way,but the manipulation? Not so much. That girl is devious. Remember how she was when Hosaka admitted his thing for Haruka? I’d have had exactly the same thought;get ’em together,drop him in the shit and see what happens >:-D. And I don’t think they were fermented – she’s just the type to spike the drinks with vodka.
I agree that Haruka-neesama is amazing. But I submit that Mako-chan is amazing too. You’ll notice that the pop-up chibis at the start only show Mako-chan. That’s how amazing he/she is. Disturbingly cute.
The fanservice in this show is unique – it has hotness,because I can imagine it happening for real. Damn you Itsuki! Why wasn’t that me? Why?
Haruka will always be amazing,BTW. The remake won’t feel the same without the same subtlety – there was exactly the same potential for fanservice in-series as in real life.
Well, he molested the fish he wanted to make a meal of.
He didn’t MOLEST the fish – he just cuddled it close, while stripping to the waist and having delusions about what Haruka-neesama would want to eat. It was his substitute for Haruka, and a poor one at that.
Does anybody but me hear Mandark(Dexter’s Lab) laughing when they hear Hosaka?
Ah-haha! Ah-haha-haha! Ah-haha! Ah-haha-haha! Ah-haha! Ah-haha-haha!
All things considered I found his laugh slightly disturbing, but that describes his entire character so it is all right. Hosaka’s up now in SaiGAR ’08 vote by the way. Let’s make it count.
Say, Jason, on a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate the expression of terror on Kana’s face in the opening picture, compared to Tsukasa about to watch Saw III, Sousuke getting told that Tessa gonna stay one week in his home and Mikuru about to get cosraped?
Kendra Kirai: “Does anybody but me hear Mandark(Dexter’s Lab) laughing when they hear Hosaka?”
My first thought was 556 from Keroro Gunsou, but that’s just me.
quigonkenny: My first thought was 556 from Keroro Gunsou, but that’s just me.
No, Kogoro’s less manic in his laughter. I don’t recall any Daisuke Ono roles with a laugh like this in recent memory, and would love to see him pull Itsuki off while cackling like this.
Just watched Okawari. OhGod,OhYesOhGodOhYesOhYESOhGODOHGODOHGODOhYES…
…
There will be blogging about Okawari. Jason should.
Heh. Even without subs Okawari was funny. I imagine if I actaully understood what they were saying it would be even better.
There was more fanservice than I liked, especially given how one of the jokes from the first season was how Kana had no figure… but on the upside, the Touma/Mako breaking of Fujioka was good.
“The next season of Haruhi needs a sequence where Itsuki goes ‘Ha ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha ha ha!’.”
Soba also needs to be involved somewhere in this if the scene actually occurs.
Well, I loved this show. And Mako-chan is awesome on all kinds of levels. :D
I finally finished this. I look forward to ~Okawari~.
Mmm. Ayu just released Ep 13 of this, in a higher res and with a better encoding and sub than Ayako had.
More juice for all!
Minami-Ke is a great anime, light and humorous, and thankfully low on the retarded “accidental boobie grab” type of jokes. Plus the animation’s really nice and not crazy on the comedic effects.
My favorite character was Hosaka, loved his fantasy “simulations” :)