I must confess to being bitterly disappointed with how Nagasarete is turning out and this episode, despite the Mikoto fun, was probably the last straw. I don’t expect anime adaptations of manga to follow the source material exactly but the way the story was changed removed the things which I found most promising - mostly because I favour the approach of building up Rin as a credible rival to Suzu, thus aiding the realization of her feelings for Ikuto leading to cute jealousy and apron wars 4TW. But alas.
The opening sequence had been good; Ikuto has finally seen a side of Rin that he finds to be "proper" girly behaviour. One of the charms of Manga Rin is that she’s actually a very girly girl at heart despite her Natsumi Tsujimoto-class strength and rough speech mannerism. Of course, IMHO, her attractiveness to girls also raises her Charisma through the roof.
Mikoto, lesbian ninja and Rin’s Biggest Fan. Anyway, she’s definitely not blood-related to Rin - in the manga, it’s shown that she comes from a separate family which is (what else?) a ninja clan. Taking up carpentry is just another way of stalking Rin.
My feelings exactly - by this time in the story, manga Suzu had started to show more awareness of her feelings for Ikuto and consequently more fun hijinks.
I still think that klutziness is not moé but Rin’s incompetence as a carpenter is one of the humour points in the manga that I enjoy. She’s in the trade due to family obligations even though she’s clearly not suited for it - which makes it even better when Ikuto is impressed by her cooking skills and her beauty in a kimono (in one of the later chapters of the manga) as she is very touched by how he appreciates and likes what she would really like to do for a living.
My manga-to-anime grumble for this scene is that it just concentrates on Rin’s accidents and removes all the elements that build up to Suzu’s awakening. In the manga, Ikuto is prevented from saving Rin from herself because the imminent physical contact triggers an attack from Mikoto - Ikuto has to constantly dodge her missiles and he is successful mainly because of his ability to sense the killing intent. However, in the last accident of the day, the killing intent doesn’t come from Mikoto…
Instead we get another ‘Zettai Muri’ SEED mode from Ikuto which is getting kinda old. Sigh.
The good atmosphere of this scene is also spoilt in the manga, but not by Mikoto’s huge atomic melon. Instead a work tool is hurled between them. Rin blames Mikoto even though the latter protests (truthfully) that she’s barely had time to draw her shurikens. While Rin is chasing Mikoto around, Suzu confesses that she had thrown it but doesn’t know why. Later back home, Ikuto and Tonkatsu can’t sleep because Suzu is radiating anger and jealousy. Instead, in the anime, just as we think that Suzu has come to understand the concept of love, it cops out with a series of awful awful cheap puns that aren’t even funny. orz
I give up already.
Its interesting how people tend to be so angry with this show. I find it odd that the animation and art are so comptent, really. I mean its a harem, you got the girls and the fanservice thats it. So I find it endearing and commendable that they really want to make this show good looking too. As for the content I’m not as critical as some of the people in the blogsphere, I didn’t read the manga ( Lucky me! ) so I find it really fun and entertaining. Bring on episode 10.
You know what, the reason it sucks is because there’s not enough Machi.
Ivy, I’m just being a grumpy old man. LOL Glad you’re still enjoying the show.
tj han, we all have our favourites. ;) I’m curious, though, to hear another perspective from anyone whose favourite character is Suzu.
I know that this show is blatantly shoving Ikuto-Suzu down our throats.
But there’s a problem.
Y’see… I watched Shuffle! And I really enjoyed it mainly because it was the first anime (that I remember watching) that embraced the idea of an alternate pairing.
Personally, I like Rin more than I do Suzu, and I’d be happy to see Rin get Ikuto at the end of the show. Failing that, I’d settle for a Ikuto-Suzu-Rin happy threesome.
But no. From… let’s be generous and say “episode 10″… onwards, the show seems to say, “Well, we’ve got all these characters, but none of them matter! Suzu will DEFINITELY, 112% get Ikuto, and they will have 400 babies! Yes! No! Shut up! And if you make any fuss about it, I’ll ram my ovipositor down your throat and lay my eggs in your chest!”
And then I sigh heavily and await the next episode of “Lovely Complex” or “Kenichi.”
On a side note: am I the only one who has asked himself/herself the question, “Why doesn’t one of the lovelorn girls go up to Ikuto and tell him, ‘It’s impossible for you to give me an orgasm!’?”