ookami-san to shichinin no nakama-tachi 1
Categories: episodic review
Tagged: ookami-san
14 Comments »
So this isn’t Spice and Wolf?
Jiiiii~~… my favorite scene of the whole episode. Honestly, Ookami-san to Shichinin no Nakama-tachi (Ms. Wolf and Her Seven Friends) is right up JC Staff’s alley… much like Nichijou and Kyoto Animation… or losing seasons and the Pittsburgh Pirates. This show aspires to be some sort of tsundere romance comedy mixed with afterschool club hijinks with a fairy tale gimmick. I would be more impressed if not for the hundreds of anime that already feature some sort of average/superb pairing involving a tsudnere and the hundreds of anime that feature afterschool clubs that cannot possibly exist. But at least they have little red riding hood!
(Average/superb refers to the Third Modern Law of Anime where if for an anime couple features one highly average to the point of being pointed out as highly average individual, the soul mate will be exceptionally gifted at multiple things. Ryoushi and Ookami fit this perfectly. As a reminder, the Second Modern Law of Anime states that TK is awesomesauce. Never forget.)
Taiga and Komoe-sensei… so basically, we’re getting Taiga voiced by Hinagiku and Komoe-sensei. Swiftly approved. Sadly, we’re not breaking new territory… then again, this is JC Staff. Watching them make Ookami-san is like watching the Minnesota Timberwolves make yet another atrocious deal. Completely expected. (Seriously, Darko?!)
(Gotta love “Akai Ringo”… best pr0n name since Bruce Pearl.)
Mike Tyson joining Twitter… proud to be the first anime blogger to follow @MikeTyson on Twitter. I also enjoy the Neko Neko Gloves… they’re the Ranka Lee Slug App Phone of boxing gloves.
(But boxing is so 1940s. Has to be MMA. Ookami-san should be doing some Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu for modern impact. Then again, I’m reminded of Rocky… it’s the eye of the tiger / it’s the feel of the fight. My gosh, that Apollo and Rocky training scene from Rocky III is one of the greatest montages ever, but it’s also one of the greatest homoerotic montages ever. The way Apollo “shadows” Rocky… their runs on the sunset beach… Rocky’s cut-off tank-top… the short-shorts…their man-hug at the end… I so want a Suzaku and Lulu remake of this montage. It would be perfect. Sunrise, I don’t ask for much, but please do this for me. And I promise never to bring up Gundam Seed Destiny again.)
Kuroko… as the narrator. Awesome. Between choosing Onsakumaru for Hayate and now Kuroko for Ookami-san, JC Staff has nailed their narrator choices, unlike, oh CBS when they picked Drew Carey for The Price is Right. Yes, I’m still bitching about this. That was a worse choice than Kanako not running the eff away from Mariya.
Mahoro… I have no clue what JC Staff is doing, but if they’re going to rip-off fairy tales, Toradora, and others, why not rip-off a pantheon-class meido? Ayako Kawasumi voicing miedo Tsurugaya Otsuu is awesome. We need more of her and less of everyone else. And, yes, with those hopes and dreams, I hope for many upcoming jokes considering Ookami’s and Red’s DFC. (Fourth Modern Law of Anime states that if an anime character has low self-esteem concerning her bust size, then that anime must milk that breast joke as much as possible as blog好ã milks Code Geass jokes. To the point of eardrum-bursting repetition. Preferably.)
(Okay, I wrote that law poorly. Just imagine Azu-nyan on her inner tube, and everything will be fine.)
Mad Scientist… yet another mad scientist type that manufactures crazy inventions with hideous flaws that aren’t immediately apparent to those who use said inventions. Gee, that could even be the Fifth Modern Law of Anime. Thing is, they’re only useful for deus ex machina moments as in, “Hey, I have an impossible situation… how can I get out of it? With this handle invention that I pulled up from my bottomless pocket!” Ok. Doraemon was the best at this, and everyone has been trying to rip-off of him since. He’s the Jordan of deus ex machina inventions.
Speedlines… way too many speedlines in this anime. Come on, it’s 2010. Can’t you animate movement by now? Though I knew that the logical conclusion to this Cinderella story is that the Prince of Tennis enjoys some S&M. Who doesn’t enjoy some S&M? Oh wait, am I thinking out loud again?
Afterschool clubs… can we please get some anime that doesn’t involve high schoolers in weird clubs? At the very least, can we get some premises that don’t revolve the antics of an afterschool club? I’m sure there’s other ways to have plot out there.
(I have a hard time believing this is the core audience of anime watchers… I would suspect that the average age of people who watch late night anime to be much higher than 16.)
BlazBlue… only a few weeks before Continuum Shift. I’m excited. And, yes, Haibara Kakari would make an excellent addition to the fighting roster.
(Also gratz to this show as being the first semi-appealing fansub to hit this season, guaranteeing it the most posts amongst anime bloggers desperate to blog about something new and to be the first to hit Google’s page ranks for “ookami-san” searches. It’s always a feeding frenzy. But watch the posts for new shows go down as more shows come out. It’s good to be first.)
(Actually, it’s not… iPhone wasn’t the first app phone… World of Warcraft wasn’t the first MMORPG… Prius wasn’t the first hybrid car… BP Deepwater Horizon wasn’t the first oil spill… Kogarashi wasn’t the first meido… the Egg McMuffin wasn’t the first breakfast sandwich… it’s not being first that counts. It’s being the best and leaving the rest.)
He’s no Otonashishi… Ryoushi is Saji Crossroad with less crying. I think I would rather have Kamiya voicing Otonashishi for this role than have Ryoushi. And, yes, as we went through this episode, I was going through the classic harem checklist. Male lead exposes himself to female lead, gets punched? Check. I was as disappointed as New York Knicks fans when I didn’t get to check off male lead and female lead collide as an introduction. Damn, we were so close! But we can build on this!
(I like how the Minoru Shiraishi lookalike president justified hiring Ryoushi, “We needed more male help, right?” as matter-of-factly as the madam of a brothel describes hiring a man-whore to appeal to the non-traditional male guests.)
New York Knicks… she: LeBron James. Him: New York Knicks. Pathetic. Andohbytheway, this turned out was anti-romantic as possibly be… I’m sure Ookami was thrilled. “What do you love about me?” “You’re so strong, cool, brave, and manly…”
(Needless to say, if this was how Otonashishi responded to Senjougahara, his entrails would be fattening up the squirrels and raccoons in that forested area.)
14 Responses to “ookami-san to shichinin no nakama-tachi 1”
Leave a Reply
Geh…
Overused character >_>
What’s with anime these days…
This was one case where the speed lines worked well – simply animating it normally doesn’t convey the speed at which she was moving well enough.
J.C. Staff is playing to its strengths, and at the same time playing it safe.
Delicious not-Taiga is decidedly delicious.
Saiji Crossroad with less crying is a bad thing? Ah well. Kugimiya Rie is showing up next episode, with the busty character.
There’s a reason why so many animes pertain to High School Clubs and High School Student Councils doing wacky things. Most adults know better (or, depending on the anime, most adults flat-out don’t exist. I’m looking at you, Makoto Itou’s non-existent parents.)
Having said that, though, let’s take this to its (il)logical conclusion. “In Spring of 2011, Latveria will fall. Doctor Doom, broken and battered, will be ousted by the mightiest force the world has ever known… the Audio-Visual Club from Yellow Moon High School! Codename ‘Spankyfist!'”
I’m offended that you’d think I would just pick the first new show to blog; I’ll have you know I picked the second……….well, I picked it before I knew it was the second…if that helps.
So what’s the first modern law of anime?
I am surprised you did not mention the man…stroking his pole. What with all your pocket rockets, I didn’t think you would let that go by.
Neko gauntlets ftw. What better way to harm and humiliate someone in the same time?
So if he likes her for her manliness, can we consider this a bromance?
@W4:
Already happened in one alternate future in the Runaways comic series.
Also, I can’t believe no one picked up on the Voltron/Golion ref with the Neko Knuckles.
And I’d cut Ryoushi some slack since it’s the first episode, and despite all what delusions every blogger is saying, the series doesn’t revolve around him. I’ll give it time for his balls to drop.
Flat chest is fine too :D