Are we there yet?

Oh the innuendo.

Ahaha, that’s the side you should show more of to Hayate.

I think that Yukichi might have better luck with guys now if she regrew her ponytail. But maybe that’s just me…

Well, it happens sometimes while waiting for a guy to come…

Shana first OP sequence.

It’s strap-on time!

A Dark Hina is fine too.

An Agito is fine too.

That’s… that’s not fair!! The ultimate feminine weapon!

If it were Nodame, the reaction from the guy would be rather different.

Hina, Ace of Hearts.

Well, this is a harem comedy.

This admixture of the competitive and childish side of Hina is surprisingly endearing. In other charas, it would be soooo annoying but it’s executed here perfectly.

The sharing of the tragic backstory. Again, very well done. Often it’s so embedded in the story that we never see the charas discuss it – because the how of communication is just as important as the what. In that respect, it’s another area that I give high marks to SHUFFLE!

Best flag-triggering sequence EVAR. Not just in this series but in harem comedies in general. Falling in love can be unpredictable, whimsical, even farcial – exemplified in the best way possible by Hatsukoi Limited. But the long process, spanning 3-4 volumes of manga and a dozen anime episodes for Hina x Hayate is really something that deserves a classic status.

Ah, slightly disappointed that this was nerfed slightly. Preferred the more OTT depiction in the manga.

Last word for Hina!

©2009 hontou ni sou omou?. All Rights Reserved.

I’m just astounded that the current series I’m most excited about is old news to the aniblogosphere, being ‘current’ only WRT the Animax Asia broadcast schedule. Chiaki’s story was interesting from the get-go and I look forward to his (inevitable?) success. And it was Ep 11 that gotten me seriously hooked.

Ep 11. Ah, this has gotten me to dig out my Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No.2 CD. As Garten noted (from whom I’ve also stolen the above screencaps), the Chiaki/Stresemann version is slower than the usual interpretation but it was enjoyable and not unexpected since Stresemann had already told Chiaki right from the outset not to play the piece in the orthodox or Russian style.

I was completely LOL at the Damascene conversion of the music critic Sakuma Manabu though I can’t help but think that classical music would be so much more accessible if they had visual effects (the ripples at the intro), live commentary (Sakuma’s flowery purple prose was so cheesy but effective at the same time) and the element of interactive drama (between performers and audience as well as between soloist and conductor). Damn, the last time I had a boom in interest WRT classical music was because of the Evangelion OST.

Saiko’s backstory was also interesting. I had a terrible first impression of her, because of her utterly unsympathetic ‘loser dog’ comment, in the first episode but Chiaki’s frank and brutal appraisal of her performance, showing us why it’s not over till the fat lady sings, made me think that while external parties like Mine may say that their pairing was excellent, they’ve hurt each other a lot in the course of their relationship.

But Stresemann’s parting words to Nodame was an important point that got me hooked to this series: ‘Until you face the music straight on, you won’t be able to truly enjoy it… You can’t be together with Chiaki at this rate.’ On the former part, I’m incredulous that Nodame can’t read sheet music; I couldn’t read notes when I played grade one piano (I gave up after that) but she’s a freakin’ university piano major for goodness’ sakes. It seems to me that it’s not that she can’t but that she won’t. And she’s managed to get this far despite it. I’m really writhing and rolling around on the floor to know why she became like that and how she’s going to get over this – a fascinating parallel to Chiaki’s plane/boat phobia (obviously both are going to be resolved since they’re going to Paris in the next season).

Ep 12. Whenever Chiaki and Nodame play piano duets together, it seems to be an almost erotic experience for the former. LOL remembered how Nodame sighed at how good it felt the first time she played together with Chiaki and he was alarmed and disgusted by her sigh of contentment. I can completely understand Chiaki’s puzzlement and frustration at how she reverted to type after her Chiaki-inspired music is serious business mode, also in the way she avoided the topic of her upcoming jury. It’s not surprising that she doesn’t think much of her own skills since no one else had really recognized her before Chiaki and Stresemann and, probably equally important, she hasn’t found a mentor. Not just someone who has the piano skills but someone whom she can accept and allow to develop her. But at this point, it looks like Chiaki has got his own problems, again, which he only realizes when mirrored against Nodame’s situation.

I also had that wistful feeling of the end of an era and the coming future from the final arc of Azumanga when Nodame talked to the rest of the students who were thinking about the future and, significantly, how limited the opportunities are for professional musicians out there even if they are skilled or talent.

Ep 13. I was really amused by Chiaki’s pickled ginger sushi, mostly because I was reminded of the web quiz where one of the Lucky Star girls got classified as gari (Konata?) after making fun of another (Kagami) who had been classified as kappa maki (cucumber roll): Is that even sushi?

Masumi-chan’s story was surprisingly sweet and funny, especially how he was unable to graduate from Chiaki due to being invited to Chiaki-sama’s orchestra built around the leading players (Kiyora on violin, Kikuchi on cello and Kuroki on oboe) from the Nagano music festival. Really looking forward to see how that’ll take shape. But also a bittersweet note at how the most improved twin sisters still didn’t make the cut. And Chiaki is not going to even make them mascot girls. But with Chiaki preoccupied with this new orchestra, it seems that he and Nodame are going on separate paths. I would have thought that Nodame’s desire to play the Rach Piano Concerto No.2 would have been a perfect setting for them to work together and thus work through their respective issues but that path closed when Nodame’s wish for it evaporated.

Ep 14. A surprising turn with Chiaki’s return to the Miyoshi household. But other than the constant banging on about Chiaki’s future as a professional musician, there was surprisingly little backstory about Chiaki’s phobia. We didn’t get to meet Chiaki’s mother and his father wasn’t even mentioned (well, maybe not that surprising since this was an encounter with the family of the wife’s side of a divorced couple.) Chiaki and Nodame make sweet music together again but will it be enough of an opener to get Nodame to seriously consider a future as a professional musician?

©2009 hontou ni sou omou?. All Rights Reserved.

While I’m glad that, with my limited bandwidth, I can watch this series on Animax, it’s a bit inconvenient to adhere to the broadcast schedule (or even the repeats), particularly with Wimbledon on right now.

Ep 7. I loved how Nodame’s piano playing caused Chiaki to see his relationship with the S Orchestra in a new light and eventually allow them to work together to triumph over the hapless A Orchestra who also had to deal with Stresemann’s last minute sabotage. Not so hot on the Puri Gorota thing as I’m generally not too keen on anime within an anime – Gekiganger was probably my least favourite thing about Nadesico.

Ep 8. LOL at learning about Stresemann’s connection to Momogaoka; I can understand, to a certain extent, how you can just drop everything and head over to somewhere far away just because someone, who’s ‘just a friend’, asked you to. It seems that the Chairwoman is setting a big plan to not let Chiaki’s talent go to waste into motion but what’s even more intriguing is how Stresemann also sees Nodame in the same light – but the person to do that job will have to be Chiaki I guess.

Ep 9. Enjoyed the good vibes of Chiaki, via Stresemann’s antics, being able to gain more experience and recognition at the Nina Lutz Nagano music festival. But I was also happy that our title chara also managed to shine in the end. Like Lutz, I was rather cheesed off with Nodame and, like Chiaki, disappointed that she didn’t seem to have any intrinsic motivation to play the piano well. But given that Nodame seems rather odd (she seems cheerful and carefree but her messiness and screwball behaviour seems to indicate the former could be a reaction to some kind of deep trauma and rebelliousness), she might not be able to benefit from being ‘discovered’ by Lutz and that the pressure might actually crush her. So, in contrast to Garten (from whom I’ve taken the screencaps from), I’m glad that Nodame was able to show us her talent but leave it for future eps and someone else to blossom fully.

Ep 10. Nodame and the S Orchestra crystallize another important lesson for Chiaki. Sometimes there’s tellin’ and sometimes there’s showin’. I was completely LOL at the mongoose story and finally understand why Nodame is in that costume (which I thought was a squirrel) in the ED. And a bombshell from Stresemann right at the end – how will it affect Chiaki’s performance?

©2009 hontou ni sou omou?. All Rights Reserved.