Subculture Anime Blog

Not as dramatic as you would hope. My final impression is included~.

Summary:

Kana reveals to Chiaki her discovery about Haruka’s overseas trip, but Chiaki refuses to believe her. When Maki and Atsuko talked to Kana previously, they suggested that they give Haruka support if the event proved to be true. Over breakfast, Kana and Chiaki panic at Haruka’s wish to see something foreign on the television. To quickly change the atmosphere, Kana asks for seconds. When Chiaki mentions her sister’s ability to eat, Kana describes Haruka’s cooking as the best in the world. When Chiaki reaches school, she finds that the rumors about Haruka’s studying abroad have spread to her friends. Of course, the kids all have their own ridiculous suggestions and desperation. Hayami and the other high school girls discuss preparations dealing with Haruka’s leaving outside. Overhearing this, Hosaka decides to make preparations of his own. At her own school, Kana talks to Keiko to reassure herself as usual. Because of Keiko’s suggestion, Kana gathers Chiaki and her friends for training after school.

Deciding that they will have to work on chores, everyone gathers to practice the next day. Kana and the others all have their usual trouble with cooking at the apartments, but they continue to try their best as Haruka is out for the day. While Haruka continues to play volleyball in the meantime, the girls are finally able to create presentable dishes. During the night, Kana assures Chiaki that things will turn out for the best. Haruka finds her sisters doing chores early in the morning. Kana and Chiaki refuse Haruka’s help throughout the day, assuring her that things are fine as they do their best to demonstrate what they practiced previously. At the end of the day, the sisters are relieved that Haruka approves of their cooking. The two sisters are soon brought to tears, however, revealing their knowledge of Haruka’s leaving. Surprised that they have heard of this, Haruka assures her two sisters that she will not be going anywhere.

ED: “Keikenchi Jōshōchū (経験値上昇中☆)” by Rina Satou, Marina Inoue & Minori Chihara – We’re given a single from the first season as life goes on. The girls discover that Haruka is not really leaving, Chiaki gets a certain postcard in the mail, and Hosaka flies to distant lands. The usual ED was also changed in a fairly interesting way.

Impression:

Aw, what a touching ending. I’m pretty sure we all knew what was coming though. Honestly, I probably had more negative thoughts about this episode than positive. The animation and art quality was a downgrade when compared to previous episodes, and the quality overall was not as good as usual. For a last episode, this was no where near as great as it should have been. There were some funny parts in the episode, but most of it was spent on the girls doing their usual mess ups in the house. I just didn’t think this was very exciting after watching it happen repeatedly numerous times throughout the series already. Even though the drama they set up was really weak, I did smile at the ending for the three sisters. Chiaki getting a postcard from Fuyuki was a really nice touch too.

Final Impression:

After the very pleasant surprise that was the first Minami-ke, I came into Okawari with very high hopes. The first few episodes were just what I was hoping for, with a lot of laughs and even more slice of life themes. The new animation style quickly grew on me, and my liked characters of choice even began to shift a bit because of some additions (ahoge radar FTW). There was a definite change in atmosphere though, and many were turned off by the switch from humor to an attempt at light drama. One new character in particular, Fuyuki, was seemingly never resolved after his introduction. The rest of the series, however, was more or less the same as the first season. In the end, I felt like Okawari would end up with a point less than the first season. It just wasn’t as funny towards the end, and animation problems showed through quite easily. As much as I enjoy slice of life, the drama attempts were flawed and I had a hard time connecting with a lot of it. I definitely wouldn’t say that this was a bad sequel at all though, and it would probably be standard for those who have seen the first season to watch it. I definitely enjoyed myself, and I don’t regret covering the series at all.