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Dec 17 2010

Categories: digest of episodes
Tagged: amagami

13 Comments »

“I love you from the back of my knee navel of my belly spaces between my toes tips of my fingers fat of my belly bottom of my heart.”

Finally over. Well, at least until the Amagami-Style My Little Sister Can’t Be This Cute bonus arc. I enjoyed Amagami SS— just a solid harem series in a world that is devoid of solid harem anime. Yes, there’s a lot of harem anime, but most just aren’t that good. Amagami did a few things right: the omnibus format, which I’ve been advocating for a long time. Instead of one big arc, why not give all the major heroines their own arc? Also, Amagami had its own hook where each heroine had their own particular body part of interest, whether it be the back of the knee, the belly button, the toe, or plain jane boobage. AIC just did a great job, showing that they can do all variants of the harem genre well.

(Last year? Amagami would have been lucky to crack top ten. This year? Much easier to crack. You’ll find out. In April 2011.)

“Merry Christmas!”

The biggest problem with this arc is that it was too short. They really crammed everything into four episodes, and I can understand how AIC wanted to be fair and give each haremettes four episodes (though Rihoko needed fewer), but we really never got to Ayatsuji’s own Christmas trauma (which really makes her a great fit for Junichi’s own Christmas trauma, thus indicating her preferred ending status). We also never really got to her sister, who was setup to be a semi-important character and then promptly forgotten. Giving Ayatsuji just four episodes is as bad as giving Senjougahara only two and cutting out her rant about Full House.

(Yes, Shaft cut out her epic rant on Full House. Yes, that Full House. The one that took place in San Francisco with the creepy twins. And Aunt Becky.)

“I like them all. That’s why I don’t want you to tell me sad things like part of you has disappeared. I’d like you to scold me if there’s anything I need to improve.”

I like Junichi’s confession to Ayatsuji… “I love you. I accept you– all of you– there’s nothing about you I don’t like. And I’m not scared to tell you when you’re acting like a bitch because I care about you.” That’s manning it up and doing it the right way. Even if it did get him kneed in the crotch afterward.

(The wrong way? Jacking off over her half-dead, nakkid body. Shinji. No matter how gar Gainax tries to remake you, I will always bring up that scene.)

In terms of scoring the chix0r with multiple personality disorder, no ending can top Mahoraba where Kozue-chan ends up having quintuplets that each inherit one of her old personalities. You just can’t top that. Don’t even try.

(But I’m still disappointed we didn’t Kirino and Kyousuke as the children from this pairing.)

Dear Santa Haruka,

I’ve been a nice boy all year. I think there’s a lot of pain and suffering in the world right now, so I don’t need any toys or gadgets but instead wish for more understanding and less internet trolling in the world. But if you really do want to give me something, all I ask for is to sit on your lap. Or you can sit on mine. I’m cool with either.

Sincerely,
jason

All I can say is that Miya is trying out to be the next Haruhi Suzumiya. Or at least the next super director for Sunrise animation.

(If I were a movie producer, I would give Miya a Red Scarlet camera and have her go to work on her masterpiece. We need to nurture young talent.)

I like the typical trick of playing the original OP over the final montage in a series. Always works well, especially with pants-less Haruka. Though I hoped they would have run the credits over this instead of using the hyper-black and depressing Ayatsuji ED for the final minute of the show. Seriously, we just got done with this super happy and cheery ending… then we get hit with the darkest, blackest ED of the series? Bad planning. I would have ended with I Love You playing over ninety seconds of pants-less Haruka. But that’s just me.

(And showing Ai not in her swimsuit… wait, what?)

Another issue is the ending showing relatively happy endings for the other haremettes, which doesn’t sit well with me because if they are happy without Junichi, then he really didn’t do much for them. Like Ai managed to handle the food stand just fine without him and seemed to have made up with her brother. Junichi wasn’t necessary! Junichi was at best an average typical harem lead… he’s no Jaash Freeman. He’s just a game manager, but with a harem as stacked as Amagami‘s, he didn’t need to do more. Just manage the game and don’t commit dumb turnovers.

“You reward dogs when they perform tricks.”

Besides “game manager,” I guess I would describe poor Junichi as a lost puppy. Because that’s what he is. Most of the haremettes treat him that way. Mmm…

Junichi: Lost Puppy
U1: Sarcastic Bully
K1: Kind Doormat
Kyon: Sarcastic Doormat
Kyousuke: Onii-chama
Tomoki: Noble Pervert
Ryuji: Unlucky Dragon
Araragi: Nosy Prince
Tomoya: Second Chance
Keima: Capturing God

I’ve been kneed in the groin and punched in the neck (emotionally) after telling a girl how I felt about her, but never physically kneed in the groin and punched in the neck. At least Junichi got mounted afterward…

Still wondering what the hell was written in her notebook.

A. Death Note.
2. Hook-up list.
c. Cruel Intentions-type gossip.
IV. All of the above.

“So people like you who spread baseless rumors and do nothing but complain really exist! You look down on others to feel superior even though you can’t do anything on your own. How pathetic! Go ahead and respond. What have you accomplished? Do you really think there’s anything about you that’s better than me? If you know the meaning of the word ‘shame’. Come back after you’ve taken a good look at your own lives.”

Awesome, Ayatsuji. My only response… I’ll channel Luke Perry for this one. “May the bridges you burn light the way.”

And, somehow, that flows to this so quickly… in the next scene even!

“I want you to become mine.”

(Damn girl, you don’t mess around.)

“Huh? Did I skip a few steps?”

(Good answer: “A few? You skipped a lot!” Better answer: “No, no. This is a good pace.” *unbuttons pants*)

“I-I have fun and am happy when I’m with you. Well… to the point where I can barely understand it.”

(The soft, sweet, creamy deredere filling is always worth it. Always.)

“But I can’t force you to!”

(Said with her hands fumbling a stapler behind her back.)

“I won’t say it again. Give me a clear answer. I’m pretty anxious right now…”

(You get to score with an emotionally unstable girl who might cut your Johnny off! But the kissing and sex would be fantastic. Mmm…)

Drunk sensei with ripped tights 4tw. Still a bit disappointed we didn’t get a sensei arc. Damn, those are always the toughest, unless you’re Chitose Hitotose.

“You want to kiss again?”

The way Ayatsuji says “sexual harassment” is pretty cute too… “se-ku-ha-ra”… I would much rather the press say that Julian Paul Assange is detained because of his se-ku-ha-ra charges. Sounds so much better than “rape charges that really should be insulting to the million of women around the world who do not get their rape accusations investigated with the same resources or diligence as this case.”

(Though I like Ayatsuji accusing Junichi of sexual harrassment when she has hit him at least twice and slapped him another two times. What kind of double standard is this? She’s getting the Kobe Bryant treatment!)

(I mean how Kobe gets away with calls on the court. Not that he gets calls off the– oh boy, I should stop now.)

Some awards…

Best Body Part: Admit it. We all got sucked in this show when Haruka commanded Junichi to suck the back of her knee. And, admit it, some of us tried this out in real life…

Best Meme: Wild Animal Sex Hair… gosh, Kaoru, you were surprisingly un-wild in Junichi’s futon. But at least you spawned my favorite image macro since the gaijin 4koma.

Best Amateur Pr0n Star: Sae. A true star, not just a performer.

Best Ending: Come on. I have absolutely no interest in Junichi’s Christmas trauma: suck it up and go bonk the cute, cool underclass girl in an open air hot springs as a family of deer watches. Now that’s an ending.

Worst Ending: Poor Rihoko… but… at… least… DOZO! Have a starfish.

Best Capture: “I want you to bring me happiness… … … ah! Your hair is all messed up now.”