hontou ni sou omou?

Ohhh, the animation in this episode very craptastic. No masses of Honoka-chan screencaps as a result. Suzuka tries the umbrella trick on Yamato but didn’t walk home with him under it like he did with her previously. Later she barges in on him at karaoke and tries to get closer to him, both literally and metaphorically. Yamato thinks that he’s done good by ditching the coincidental duet with Suzuka after seeing Honoka-chan’s agonized expression. Nana Shirakawa adds more paving the little red brick road to relationship hell by making Yamato realise that he is, afterall, a chump and to make up for it by buying a gift for Honoka-chan’s upcoming birthday. (Zyl shakes fist at the spoilerastic Next Week scenes.)

My very first impression of Honoka-chan’s reaction to Yamato gaping at the Nana Shirakawa advert was a tad paranoid. After all, celebrities are not "real" people and much less of a threat than your boyfriend’s next door neighbour to whom he’s confessed to. Twice. Then again, as politicians like to say, "Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean that no one is out to get you." Yamato was obviously lying to placate Honoka-chan when he said he was looking at the MD player rather than at Shirakawa only to show his fanboy face when Nana turns out to be Honoka-chan’s friend whom they are meeting.

The explanation of how Honoka-chan and Nana met and became friends was enlightening. Honoka-chan can be quite firm and bossy when she’s defending her shrine. If she was this assertive with her idiot boyfriend, she’d housetrain Yamato and drive off Suzuka in no time. It was also hilarous how Nana accused Honoka-chan of being a cosplay freak. But… miko cosplay is Good. Especially if it’s lesbian shrine maiden cosplay. Yeah. ^_^ Just waiting for the Orochi to show up, Yamato to get a big robot and Suzuka to take up a purple miko outfit with bow and arrow. Heheheh.

I didn’t notice the eyebrow similarity between Honoka-chan’s agonized look and Suzuka’s earlier jealous worried frown was until I was processing the screencaps. Honoka-chan is really insecure even though she is pretty, sweet, cooks well and really loves Yamato. Again I thought she was just a tad paranoid and should be more confident in dealing with Yamato and against Suzuka. But then I remembered that she also knows that Yamato is an idiot.

I think all Nana Shirakawa has succeeded in doing is to start Yamato on the path of realising that he is, after all, not really interested in Honoka-chan. Whenever he shouts that he can’t understand what’s going on, I just think of Homer Simpson mentally humming the tune of Mary Had A Little Lamb while he is being told something important by Marge / Lisa / Mr Burns etc.

This series is seriously quite agonizing to watch (bad animation aside). The plot is like that mega-disaster scenario that Calvin (of Calvin & Hobbes) imagines as he plays with his toys - the farmer is going to light his stove, unaware of a massive gas leak while a vast fault line is opening up towards his house and an out-of-control passenger jet is heading towards him from above at full speed. Macabre but absolutely addictive and actually quite hilarous.