Subculture Anime Blog

Go Umisho! Oops, wrong show.

Summary:

Akira goes over needed changes in the script, but Kouichi can only think of what he saw the previous night. Kouichi begins making suggestions when he is called out, but Narumi and Nana go on to make their own ridiculous ones. The two reveal the swimsuits that they have made for their frogs, as a swim meet is the next day. Akira actually takes a liking to this idea, as he suggests that they find a girl with a good figure at the meet. On the way home, Yumi realizes that boys would be interested in a girl with a swimsuit, causing a bit of embarrassment for Kouichi. Mao is with Eiji at the Jazz Bar Debby as usual, but she is also thinking of the previous night. When she saw Kouichi, she stepped away from Eiji. Mao and Kouichi then expressed to each other how well they seemed to have been doing. Mao decides to leave the bar early, and goes straight home. Kouichi interrupts Mao in her room to get some swimming gear, causing her to find her own swimsuit. She excitedly suggests the need to show her swimsuit to Eiji, making Kouichi wonder if something has happened. With this, Mao puts it off as nothing with a joke.

At the swim meet, Akira prepares Kouichi and Kazuki to take pictures of potential candidates. Shortly after Akira takes off for his own work, Megumi appears to ask what Kouichi and Kazuki are doing. She quickly warns them that pictures are not allowed, before taking off herself. Yumi impresses Kouichi when she appears, and Kazuki finds Eriko while beginning to find shots. During the competition, Asuka impresses the crowd with an outstanding performance. The regular group of friends flatters Asuka at lunch, and Narumi presents everyone with an udon meal. When Kouichi sees Eriko eating alone, he offers some udon to her. Eriko finds it as delicious as everyone else, but her questionable comparison puts Narumi in despair. Eriko is invited to eat with the group, and when they begin asking her about her own swim, Eriko tells them that she has studied all of the techniques through books. Asuka expresses that actually performing is different from just reading, but Eriko continues to challenge her opinion.

As the swimming competition continues, Kouichi notices that Mao isn’t doing well. His turn comes up shortly afterwards, and he finds that he is up against Eiji. Kouichi wonders if something happened between Mao and Eiji, but he soon collapses after putting on his goggles. Kouichi explains what happened to Tomoko while she cares for his slight injuries in the infirmary, and then leaves to return the goggles to Mao. Yumi is left alone with Kouichi, and she is still in her swimsuit. Yumi gets closer to Kouichi to observe his injuries, but this comes off as looking like something else when Kazuki interrupts them. With him is Asuka, who has injured herself as well. As she is forced to rest, Kazuki promises to do his best in her place.

Kazuki doesn’t do as well as he claims, as he gets disqualified for falling into the pool before the match starts. With hope getting thinner, Mitsuki realizes that Asuka’s turn is next. Asuka appears, insisting that she will still go, but Kazuki tries to convince her that she shouldn’t. The girls believe that Eriko is planning on going when she appears, but she only warns Asuka not to do anything unnecessary. Asuka enters anyways, and she shocks everyone by winning. Kazuki confronts Eriko when he believes that she is going to start trouble again afterwards, but she only says the words “amazing” before walking away. This creates a good atmosphere, but it is broken when Akira arrives to question Kouichi and Kazuki’s progress for the film. Mitsuki seemingly has a solution, but it isn’t quite what everyone is expecting. When Mao meets Kouichi later, she assures him that things are ok. However, she quickly remembers that she has just lost one of her contacts. Kouichi offers to find it for her, so she is only able to watch him search despite his injuries.

Preview: Eiji and Kouichi have a talk.

Impression:

So not as cool as Umisho, but just as awesome in its own way. Honestly, this episode was kind of strange. I certainly wouldn’t call it filler, but it’s like they tried to go more comedy than drama. The way Mao and Kouichi’s eyes popped out was really weird, and there was a lot of humor stuck in places where I wouldn’t have expected it. What kind of hand gesture is this? Rock-on paper? I also laughed at finally finding out the name of Eiji’s workplace: The “Jazz Bar Debby”. I dunno, it’s just a funny name. Honestly, the main attraction for most people is probably going to be the swimsuits. Yes, every main girl was shown in a swimsuit; school swimsuits at that. More Eriko please! (I know there will be certain people who will disagree with me on that one, haha.)

The end of the episode gave me some slightly straying thoughts, but this has gotten pretty regular by now. They hinted at Kazuki switching to Asuka and Kouichi getting with Mao a bit, but I still see both staying at friendship. Besides, Eiji and Kouichi seem to be meeting in the next episode to clear things up. I really loved Eriko’s last line. It seems like Asuka’s actions made her realize that not everything is about logic, and this will probably be a step towards her breaking out of her shell. One thing I didn’t like about this episode was the return of the frogs. I wish those would go away already. Also, Noto’s dumb oujo-sama role just isn’t cutting it for me anymore. Eh, it has it’s place. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a pounding headache that refuses to go away. I need sleep.