I wrote briefly about this show in my first impressions post, but I’ve decided to start posting on it in earnest. I was skeptical of its high school romantic comedy aspects, and indeed, both episodes so far have felt weakest when focusing on the 2 main protagonists. Fortunately, the show has been about much more than them, and it has excelled in other aspects, not the least of which is the wonderful narrator.
It's a little odd to see Little Red Riding Hood being best friends with the Wolf.
This one spent more time developing Ryouko and Ryoushi. Unfortunately, that was not such a good thing. For one, Ryoushi’s crippling fear of being seen isn’t all that interesting. It made for a couple okay gags, and I do admit that it plays nicely with his role as the sniper behind the scenes. But, come on, really? Perhaps the problem is that we’ve only seen Ryoushi as a collection of his character traits, not as a complete human being.
I can't be the only one who thinks Ryoushi is the spitting image of Koyomi Araragi.
Same can be said about Ryouko and her character type of being tough on the outside to cover up her scared inside. It’s been done to death in all mediums, but especially in anime. Come on, just because she looks like Taiga doesn’t mean that she has to be a tsundere like her too. Hearing her fearful thoughts when she was tied up at the end just pushed it over the top for me. It’s okay that she’s like a dozen other heroines out there, but I’d rather that fact not get forced into my face. It’s more fun to see her kicking ass.
The other characters were also pretty meh. Really, it’s only 2 episodes in, so we can’t expect to know too much about everyone, but so far they seem like nothing more than warm bodies to fill the cast. Fortunately, the one without the body, the narrator, has been excellent. In fact, she’s pretty much stolen the show.
Ookami-san loves cute animals, you see.
I wrote it before, but Satomi Arai’s peculiar voice just works so well for the dry sarcastic narrator she plays. And you can tell that she’s enjoying it. She was even more out there in this episode, giving us some really wacky voices at times. She was omnipresent, going over the top to tell us the obvious, but in a very ironic way. I loved it. I can’t help but picture Kuroko from the Raildex series when I hear her voice, but that’s a good thing.
As for the story in this episode, it seems to be the start of something bigger, what with the boss mentioning a bigger boss and the man in the shadows at the end. I hope it builds into a real violent gang war, because the action was pretty good at times. That 1st fight wasn’t particularly well animated, but the one at the climax was a lot of fun to watch. That said, it was not very well directed. Using the OP this early on in the show is just tacky. Give us some time to associate it with the show, to get a Pavlovian reaction out of it before using it in a dramatic scene.
And Ryoushi managing to beat the boss just doesn’t make sense. There’s something to be said for suspense of disbelief, but given that he was presented as being a wuss the whole time, I think it’s reasonable to expect that, given what we saw him do earlier, then Ryoushi stands no chance.
Biri Biri
I’m hoping for more fairy tale interpretations are in the coming episodes, because that’s where the show shone. This episode didn’t have such a one, as far as I could tell, and it was saved by the narrator and a well animated fight scene. I’m willing to give more time to let the main characters develop, but what I’ve seen out of Ryouko and Ryoushi haven’t been inspiring. Let’s hope that J.C. Staff realizes this and either fixes that or moves the focus away from it all together.
Notes
- I’ve noticed that in this show and others, people say “jiiiii~” when they stare at someone. Anyone know where that started? The 1st instance of that I know of is Stalker-tan from Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei.
- Shizuka Itou’s character in Amagami SS also seems to have a thing for dogs.
- Speaking of which, I’ll continue to blog Amagami SS, but only every 4 episodes, following each heroine’s arc. Given the pacing and style of that show, I feel that writing after each individual episode would be overkill.
- J.C. Staff has officially Anglicized the title as Okamisan and Seven Companions.
- The OP and ED were both shown for the first time this episode. I thought the OP song was just okay, very typical for this type of show. The OP animation reminded me a lot of that of A Certain Scientific Railgun, what with the jumping at the end. I enjoyed the ED a lot more, with its catchy chorus and childish mood set both by the lyrics and the animation.
I’m sure I’ve said it before, too, but I agree, the narrator is a great element.
I don’t really care fore either the OP or the ED. Not like I can’t stand them, just don’t care.
Re: That final punch. I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, because the guy had been KOed previously, and he hit in the same spot as the last KO. Ideally, I think that would have been handled differently, like if he could have used something closer to his ranged ability, which was already established.
I would like to see more development of the companions. So far Ringo is pretty cool; I like the way she is nosy, and enjoys teasing her friend. I don’t think Alice got any lines this week!
The issue I mainly have is that Ryoushi was able to dodge/deflect the boss’s attacks at all. The dude was breaking boxes with his punches before. And Ryouko could only land a hit on him thanks to Ryoushi’s shot on his foot. I do appreciate that she weakened him up for him, but even so, it’s too big a twist for a character like Ryoushi.
Jii~ means “stare” and while it’s sometimes spoken in an Anime it’s more often written unspoken in a Manga to denote staring (alongside others like “doki doki” to denote a racing heartbeat). Time to research your Japanese phonomimes (onomatopoeia), phenomimes and psychomimes. See http://www.lolikon.org/misc/soundfx.html for various Japanese sound effects.
Wow, and I thought we were fresh out of good narrators after the last few I’ve heard. There’s nothing more annoying than a narrator who tries to tell you how you should feel. I think I might have to take a look at this when I’ve got a chance.
Okay, I watched both episodes, and now I can safely say it’s on my list to watch for now. I kind of like Majo, the eccentric “mad scientist.” Like you, I hope some of these side characters get a little more development soon.
Also, “The Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing” isn’t just a phrase, it actually is one of Aesop’s Fables. That’s the fairy tale this episode was based on. Except in this case, Ookami is a sheep in wolf’s clothing, if you will.
The actual story wasn’t about wolf in sheep’s clothing, though. That was the metaphor for Ookami’s character, but the actual story was about Ookami getting tricked into that trap. For which I can’t think of an analogous kid’s story.
I totally agree with what you’ve said about the side characters. They seem eccentric and fun and pleasant enough, but I hope we get to know more about them soon for the sake of the show. And I really want to like all of them, so development would be lovely in this respect, too.
Also, like you, I’m very much enamoured with Satomi Arai’s role. I think her voice works perfectly as a narrator, she’s funny and a real joy to listen to, and it seems like she’s having the time of her life (which is always a fantastic thing). To me, she feels half-way between a regular audience member and an omniscient third party: she knows the characters much better than we do, so that allows her to give some fun insight, but she also seems to be going along with the show and enjoying the ride, which is awesome.
As for the fairy tale in the episode, I think “Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing” refers not only to Ookami-san (being a sheep in wolf’s clothing) but also to the girl who requested Otogi Bank’s services. She seemed so innocent and sweet, and yet she was the one who led them into the trap. She did say she was coerced, but whether that’s true or not, I still think she’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
“She seemed so innocent and sweet, and yet she was the one who led them into the trap. She did say she was coerced, but whether that’s true or not, I still think she’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing.”
Hmm, that’s a good point. Didn’t really think of it like that.
ookami-chan is so cute she looks like taiga aisaka of toradora.. morino rocks.. even if he’s like a freaking emo ahaha.. sniper mode.. good choice of weapon for an emo..