Subculture Anime Blog

Poor Mako-chan….so confused.

Summary:

Walking outside of the apartments to do her morning chores, Haruka notices her neighbors praising Fuyuki for his diligent actions. The women realize that Haruka has a lot of work to do at her own house, as she returns to her sisters. Haruka finds Kana sleeping in the middle of a large mess of manga, and attempts to wake her up. Chiaki believes that she can sleep awhile longer while Haruka works to wake Kana, but she panics when Haruka raises her voice. At the breakfast table, Kana explains how she could not help but start reading her old manga when she was suppose to clean the previous night. Using Fuyuki as an example, Haruka demands that the sisters change their actions. Troubled at school, Chiaki learns about Fuyuki’s transfer from her friends. When Chiaki tells her friends about his helping out the next morning, they are quite impressed. With this, Chiaki declares that they will attend as well. In her classroom, Kana asks if Fujioka is free the next morning. Fujioka quickly states that he is, so she tells him to meet her. While Fujioka excitedly imagines what they will be doing alone together, Kana asks Keiko the same thing. Haruka and her friends express how tough it must be to be a motherly figure while walking in the hall. When Hosaka overhears Haruka’s plans for the next day, he already decides to attend.

The next morning, the Minami sisters meet all of their friends at the park. With a few different reactions to everything around them, everyone gets to work. Kana asks Chiaki several obvious questions, while Chiaki notices Fuyuki becoming troubled at the same situation not too far away. Chiaki later finds Kana napping on the bench, so she attempts to make her get back to work. When Haruka finds the two, she warns them that they will not be getting any dinner if they do not work hard. After everyone is done gathering the trash, the Minami sisters again notice the large amount of praise Fuyuki is receiving. Haruka believes her sisters should take his example, but Fuyuki continues to be modest about the praise he is getting. Chiaki states that Fuyuki should just be honest with his feelings and be happy about the praise, but he does not change his actions as he leaves. Kana panics that she will not be eating if she does not beat Fuyuki, so she gathers help from her friends. Chiaki does not want to lose either, so she points out tactical spots for their friends to work.

The group arrives next to the river, finding it littered with garbage. They get to work, but notice that Fuyuki and a few others have arrived on the other side. The girls notice Fuyuki’s good qualities too, but Kana quickly has them continue to work. Chiaki has trouble with once piece of garbage, so Fuyuki helps her out. After thanking him, Chiaki wonders if Fuyuki is one that enjoys helping others. When he is called to help someone on the other side of the river, however, she wonders if he is just someone who cannot say no. As it begins knowing, Haruka worries about where her sisters could be. Kana has found a large refrigerator, and ridiculously suggests to everyone that they will not lose if they bring it back. Kana is persistent in lifting it despite all of her friend’s suggestions, so Fujioka suggests that something might be inside. When Kana finally opens the fridge, she finds that all that is inside is rocks. Realizing that they have been made fools of, all of the girls begin throwing the rocks into the river. Haruka finds them in belief that they have only been playing around, so she angrily declares that her sisters will not be getting any dinner. Afterwards, Chiaki finds Fuyuki still hard at work despite being alone. Ignoring his offers, she tells him to just refuse something if he does not wish to do it. Haruka surprisingly finds her two sisters awake earlier than her the next morning, but she learns that they only want breakfast.

Preview: Fujioka is a BAD A samurai!!

Impression:

More story, less episodic comedy. That’s pretty much all I have to say about this season of Minami-ke. Although that I’ve already found that a few people dislike this new approach, I’m certainly not one of them. Or rather, I’m probably indifferent. The laugh out loud jokes might not be as numerous, but the slice of life messages certainly remain. It was pretty easy to empathize with Fuyuki, even though many will probably put him off as a spineless wimp right away. I’m sure everyone has had experiences with people like him. He simply just can’t say no to requests that are sent to him, and even though he receives a lot of praise, he just isn’t being true to himself. I thought Chiaki’s realization of this was really awesome, and it probably sets us up for some interesting development in the future. I also like how, despite how insightful she is, Chiaki is still as naive as ever. Easily falling into peer pressure, and getting caught in the act by Haruka because of this, she’s just a kid. That’s what’s so great about Minami-ke. There’s a heart warming realism behind the funny laughs.

Speaking of laughs, there were quite a few of them in this episode. Besides the returning personality quirks that Fujioka and Hosaka offer, I really enjoyed just hearing Chiaki’s speech in this episode. I really think she’s growing to be my favorite character in this season, despite how I was all over Kana last time. Maybe it’s that lovely Minorin voice playing tricks with me. When it comes to the two sisters, I also like how different they are from each other. Kana is so ridiculous, and Chiaki is so rational. I meant to mention this random thing in my last Bamboo Blade post too, but I can’t help but notice the cans in anime. I’m not sure how many of you know this, but asian manufactured cans are actually REALLY tough. So, Hosaka breaking them like he did in this episode was actually pretty impressive. The highlight of hilarity in this episode definitely had to be the plotting Mako-chan and his confusion later. Poor, poor Mako-chan….he just wants to be a real girl!

Lastly, since some people have been bringing up the “dodgy” animation lately, I have to disagree. After paying more attention in this episode, I’m pretty sure the animation team is doing that on purpose. Even taking the black faces in this episode and the unique shots from the previous episodes, I think it’s a stylish move. But wow, I can’t believe I’m making such long posts on a supposedly simple and humor filled show. Oh well, I’ll do what I want. I’m also glad that sub groups have finally started getting their move on for this show. You guys can finally get the love you all deserve!!!