Another nostalgia-inducing episode; to be sure, it wasn’t a bucket of laughs but it was enjoyable slice of life.
There’s just something about power blackouts that’s so neighbourliness-inducing. Then again, if you’re the Minami Ke, you can just go next door and abduct your neighbour. LOL at Chiaki’s continuing Cold War with Fuyuki - the girl obviously believes in social engineering, with ‘Speak Your Mind’ not being incompatible with ‘Shaddup And Do As You’re Told’ since Chiaki believes herself to be In Charge.
The snowball fight made me think of an unanimated scene from the Azumanga manga where Chiyo and Osaka are throwing snowballs at each other. But both are completely hopeless with their aim and no hits are being scored even by the fourth panel. Then in the follow-up yonkoma, Kagura (?) joins in. Possibly doing the smartest thing in her life, Osaka declares herself to be Kagura’s ally. Last panel is Chiyo covered by a heap of snowballs. Ah the joys of bandwagoning; she’s just lucky Kagura didn’t decide to attack her after Chiyo. LOL
The snowman also brought back memories of all those lovely Calvin and Hobbes snowmen and snow monsters doing absurd things. I particularly liked the one where he made two snowmen, one representing his father (complete with glasses) as a whip-wielding slave driver of a poor oppressed little snowman (referring to himself, of course) after he was told to do the household chore of shoveling snow off the driveway or something.
I IS JEALOUS OF FUYUKI-KUN.
Save a place for me, Haruka-neesama!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yes - he and Natsuki got to be right by Haruka… which is probably the closest either one of these two will ever get to a woman again, short of going the Jun Watarase-in-the-OVA/addon game route.
Besides, the reason she (Chiaki) hates Fuyuki is the same reason she drove Makoto down the path of crossdressing - she hates anything that steals attention away from Onee-sama (think Skuld’s akogare for Belldandy… whose qualities are very much seen in Haruka), which means that she has to hound them to death. And Fuyuki has less backbone than even Makoto from School Days, but with the fearfulness that Makoto should have had (and which would’ve kept him alive, had he followed such an instinct). I don’t think Chiaki would be too bothered if Fuyuki was found one day, hanging from the balcony of their apartment by his neck…
Chiaki’s probably the only one of the girls here who would go yandere, really - Kana’s too stupid and flighty, while Haruka’s too self-controlled to really cut loose that way. And Touma’s too sane, while Uchida and Mako-chan aren’t exactly yandere-types; ditto Hayami-senpai and Maki.
Methinks Chiaki’s just too clever for that, really… Quoth one Sonozaki Mion, “if we had killed them do you really think you’d ever have found the bodies?”
I can totally see her mounting a ridiculously sophisticated and subtle campaign to wreck your life and drive you into breakdown without ever realizing just who’d behind it all, though.
…or does that still go under “yandere” ? Mesa no speak the lingo so good. ;_;
re: Chiaki and yandere. The term is, of course, contested and used to mean lots of different things… but I tend to think of it as being very kind that is the public (and socially acceptable) face of an obsession that will not be denied.
I’d be inclined to be charitable to Chiaki since she’s still young and it seems that she’s adopted Haruka as her surrogate mom (that goes for Fujioka and Touma too). I think she misses her parents and this is her coping mechanism - can’t really see her doing or meaning to do anyone any real harm.
I’d say it’s not so much “seems” as “is obvious” - and it goes for Kana too actually. The kind of awe the two younger Minamis hold Haruka in, and the sheer unquestioned authority she can effortlessly extert over them, seems to me rather more like the ‘child-mother’ view than the ‘younger-elder sibling’ one. (Haruka herself doesn’t always seem to be entirely comfortable with this IMO, and sometimes seems to worry a bit if she’s really up to the task - hardly surprising, given that she’s what, 16?)
But yeah, precocious as she is it’s sort of symptomatic how Chiaki repeatedly “Soviet Volunteers” people to fill diverse empty “family slots” around her.
As an aside, I could actually easily enough see Chiaki seriously trying to harm someone if given enough reason to. When you look at it she actually has a kind of ferocious streak (probably partly borne out of extensive association with Kana - with an older sibling like her, you’re going to have to grow up pretty tough or get trodden underfoot) and not quite the nicest personality around… plus a lot of brains, a forceful manner and no particular scruples about exercising either, or stepping on people in the process.
I can well imagine she could get downright nasty, particularly in the case of people (unwittingly) trampling right into her main point of insecurity.
Zyl: I suspect she could do something that would do real harm… but she’d need to be provoked in the ‘Hayami-senpai going Shizuru’ sorta way, more than anything else - preferably with Haruka as the target. In a situation like that… she’d probably do SOMETHING, and she’s not against physical violence either to judge by how she attacks Kana on a regular basis. I could see her unintentionally doing a lot of physical harm - just imagine her with her usual punching or throwing schtick… but her target is by a balcony, and goes over the railing, or trips over something and slams head-first into a wall.
Or if we’re going the real Yandere route… I could see her throwing rocks, and other things, continuing even after the target’s unconscious and bleeding on the ground. But it would HAVE to be when she saw an immediate and critical threat to Haruka, or to her relationship with Haruka.
Fuyuki…what a lucky guy!
Chiaki keeps looking at him like his name was Taro-san, to quote a restaurant manager’s euphemism for cockroach from Excel Saga.