The sound effects and BGMs for this episode really got me laughing and even drew a sniffle.
This August will be my first time too!
For fans who have attended ComiKet, how representative is this episode of what actually happens at the Big Sight?
Which is why I bow down to Konata as my Otaku Overlord.
This series may feel heavyhanded to some but, personally, I feel that it (via Konata) understands me. -_-;;
The loading and locking sound effects really killed me ROTFLMAO. The various types of battle music were sooo good too.
Don’t all girls like yaoi?
I can already soooo imagine this scene with Stripey and his daughter in the future except probably at a goth-loli-meido cafe where the waitresses address their customers as ‘Oniichan~~~’ LOL
We haven’t had much Kagami x Konata tsundere vs tsukkomi tension in a while and it’s a welcome return to form. Poor Kagamin really seemed distressed (at first) that Konata didn’t support her prayer to be in the same class in the next year. Sometimes I wonder if Konata’s teasing is really a way for Kagami to gloss over her embarrassment with her tsun ways.
Kimura Power. I was an event today that had an unexpectedly high number of high school girls but it just made me feel very old instead. T_T
Future career recommendation for Tsukasa: Public Relations.
BTW this is a shrine with not one, not two, not three but four sister mikos!
I love this ZARD song. So sad. T_T
The locked and loaded section was completely awesome. I really enjoyed Kagami being exposed to Yaoi doujinshi, and even her hands were completely red/blushing! Of course having that one guy play all the random vendors at Comiket was kinda weird…
I laughed at the Akira cutout getting knocked over.
You’ll have to let us know how it goes at Comiket. Sounds exciting! Make sure you have a battle plan and an exit strategy!
I’d forgotten that Kagamin and Tsukasa had older sisters. I also have to agree that having that same voice for all of the extras sort dampened the fun of that segment
There’s something very Genshiken about the “Kagami and HC yaoi doujin” gag…
Gotta dig that whole “wants/don’t want to” thing though. Kagami the Closet Quasi-Otaku. She seemed to pick up a bit too, shall we say, all out specimen for her still-developing otaku sensibilities to digest however. ^_^;
And Konata, the John Rambo of Otaku Conventions, rocks, as does her near-mythic “Shoujo A” legend.
2 more comiket for kagami and she’ll be completely convert to an otaku…just look at how she is viewing that dojinshi.
now just too bad it wasn’t a yuri doujinshi amirite ; ]
For some reason this episode didn’t do it for me, besides Konata’s military pattern, Kagami’s yaoi experience, and Akira being a stand. The second half was plain not amusing for me.
Oh, by the way: http://www.xamayon.org
For some reason I find Kagami’s jaded “Understanding Konata 101″ interpretation to Miyuki at the beginning deeply amusing. As well as Konata’s annoyance at the dichotomy between the most mystical etymology of Kagami’s name and her utterly rational worldview…
Incidentally, is it just me or does Shiraishi drop a whole lot of obscure one-liner references ? “This sea is Hell!” is obviously one, and the “Even Dad never hit me!” in an earlier episode also made an appereance in Genshiken (albeit with a little different translation, “even my own father never hit me”)…
Kagami’s worldview really threw me off. At this point I’m not sure if she even believes in what she is worshipping.
And then I’m also confused over Konata’s relationship with her father. They obviously agree on otaku stuff very much, but I have a feeling that Kona uses him as proof that she is not a completely insane otaku like those “here for the shrine maidens like Dad”. I saw in her smile in that shot that she inwardly tries to put some distance between herself and them. It’s obviously not working for the twins given how she appears both relaxed and, even more alarmingly, excited during Comiket.
I’ve been told repeatedly (which obviously does not make it any more necessarily true) that the Japanese tend not sweat the details overmuch when it comes to the divine. Which is AFAIK pretty normal for cultures whose main religious interest is polytheistic. Anyway, being born the child of a priest doesn’t necessarily make you a believer; in Kagami’s case, given her personality, her attitude is probably descripable as “positive agnostic” - convinced of neither the existence nor the lack thereof of the divine, but willing to follow the rituals if only because there’s no particular reason not to and it’s a habit. It is, after all, difficult to logically prove that the divine *doesn’t* exist, and it’s not like she loses anything by being polite to it.
Konata certainly does seem to have a rather… brutally honest opinion of her father, close as they may be; and you may well be on to something there. Perhaps she regards Dad as a sort of “whatever you do don’t become this” cautionary example, a yardstick of how otaku it is still “safe” to be without going off the deep end ?
Actually, if Konata indeed thinks like that, she’s not doing a good job at it. She has already commented on the twins’ miko “cosplay” enough times for the “normal people” to downplay her attempt. She even failed in copying the one good trait her dad has with otaku-ism: keeping his work and his obsessions separate. Plus, some blogs have correctly cataloged and in turn predicted everything she bought at Comiket, and I saw one particular booth’s material as diving way off the deep end (Haruhi torture).
By the way, we can safely say that Konata is now 18, assuming that Comiket cares at all about age restrictions, which I doubt, because Konata getting excited over being 18 is one point the anime probably shouldn’t miss. I’m sure her physical size would have raised some eyebrows at the convention, although everybody there might have gotten used to (and taken for granted, i.e. those two Tencho sidekicks and Densetsu Shoujo A moniker) her appearance since she’s been there since she was freaking 5.
Maybe, then, she’s in denial about her own state and employs Dad (who’s arguably further gone - or in any case from the perspective of Konata & Co. his issues with too young girls make for a legit enough case) as a point of reference to maintain the “necessary illusions” ? In the sense that it takes a fair lot to be creepier than the show’s resident incarnation of Kimura-sensei…
Makes you wonder if one reason she hangs around Kagami wasn’t maintaining a connection to normal reality, the latter being capable and willing enough to do the “Earth to Konata” part.
The cosplay cafe gig cannot really be counted against her though; as the Hiiragi twins discussed, is there any other job she could be expected to actually get hired for and be able to maintain an acceptable degree of motivation in ? One does wonder a bit about her future though… -_-;
It really makes you wonder what would happen if someone confronts Konata and rams it into her head about her lack of reality check. ^^;;
Well…her chief motivation for work was Comiket. I think she has enough will to push herself on for the money regardless of her job, but she settled for cosplay cafe for the extra interest (ironically much Comiket doujin material right there). Konata…would probably live the rest of her life as a freeter for just enough money to fund her basic living and otaku needs.
Off-topic remark: This is the first ever slice-of-life anime that made me crave for a serious arc concerning the girls. They throw so much material in the field for character development that it would be a waste not to. I really want to see how the rest of the school sees them, and how they deal with it when alone. Konata must have gone through something for her to start sealing out other people. Kagami must also have gone through something to start looking at Konata instead. A Honey & Clover-esque serious anime (Lucky & Coronet!) would be pretty well received on the side IMO.
Comiket is pretty much the way you see it here. I think you might have more fun at American cons, but you should check out Comiket while you are still in Japan.
re: Konata and her dad. There are some 4komas in the manga compilation that recall how her mom wanted her daughter to grow up like a normal girl. Reminiscing complete, Souichirou then looks up to see Konata doing some typically oyaji otaku thing and sweatdrops.
I think Konata really does enjoy lots of otaku stuff but, at the same time, she is aware of what is frowned up by wider society. I’m always struck by how polite she is to Nanako even in-game and towards older authority figures. Besides that dynamic, there’s also the irony of how Konata is the embodiment of both the ultimate otaku and also the physical manifestation of the object some of otakudom’s darkest desires (loli DFC body etc.).
Makes me wonder about what Konata’s mom was like, considering how similarly young she and Konata look. It’s also odd that sometimes Konata seems completely aware of how lolicons perceive her. Sometimes she brags about it, but she doesn’t seem to like it when Kagami points it out.
It’s not like Kagami particularly enjoys being reminded of their miko outfits quite possibly being eye candy and prime attraction to assorted creepy weirdoes either… starting with a certain Izumi Souichirou.