Subculture Anime Blog

OP: “Zettai Otome” by SUN&LUNAR – Yea!! The OP wins! I’d call the animation lazy or unoriginal during some points, but this is definitely fun to watch. It’s also notable that the single has been out for awhile already.

Summary:

At the start of the new semester, Nagasumi and the others notice that they have become third years. All of the usual friends then learn that they are in the same class together again, with the exception of Nagasumi. Obviously due to Gouzaburou’s work, Nagasmi finds himself in a broken down classroom full of thugs. Some of the students express surprise and annoyance when Fujishiro shows up as the new teacher for the class, but they are quickly disposed of. Fujishiro then suggests that, for class that day, the students would draw weapons contained in their desks to fight each other with. Meanwhile in the other classroom, Gouzaburou introduces a new student to the class. This turns out to be Luna’s Papa in a sailor uniform, and when he gets into a usual fight with Gouzaburou, the students are forced to retreat.

San and Luna meet Nagasumi during his one sided battle, and Luna quickly has her forces appear to battle the thugs chasing him. This is enhanced by Luna’s song, but San then counters this with her own melody. When San makes everyone realize that they do not truly want to fight each other, they are all touched. Nagasumi soon notices a particularly threatening individual send an attack towards San, but before he can connect, Nagasumi transforms into his large protective self to defeat him. The girls then realize that Gouzaburou and Luna’s papa have not ended their fight yet, but Nagasumi volunteers to stop this as well. He trips over his previous “weapon” on the way, however, sending him to the nurse’s office at the start of the semester.

On a latter day, Nagasumi and San have a date at the movies. Nagasumi can hardly hold in his excitement, having planned out the perfect plan already, but he is surprised when San implies that she wishes to see a different movie than the one he had picked previously. Nagasumi settles for this, but while walking through the theater, he is run into by a young girl who drops ice cream on his jacket. San becomes attached to this girl when she finds that she is also a fan of the character from the movie they will be seeing, causing a loss for Nagasumi as they part ways. Nagasumi surprisingly meets Masa next to him during the movie, and the young girl from before appears to be in the seats in front of him. With a little interference from Maki, Nagasumi’s movie turns out to be a bit different than desired.

When the group exits the theater, a truck suddenly crashes into the nearby building. San quickly moves to help those around, but she soon realizes that the girl from earlier is still in the building on a high floor. Inspired by San’s acts, Nagasumi can only run back into the building to help the girl. Nagasumi saves the girl through numerous obstacles after meeting her, and with the help of San’s song, he is able to bring her to safety. Until the end, the girl continues to insist that Nagasumi use the heroic lines that were in the movie they had just watched. San scolds Nagasumi in the aftermath, expressing how worried she was about him, and the young girl is delighted to learn Nagasumi’s name as he leaves with the others. When the young girl returns home, it is revealed that she is actually Saru’s younger sister.

ED: “Mirai e Go” by DEKABANCHO – Woah! So chaotic!! Like most of the other singles this series has produced, I do like the song. The animation is just kind of “meh” to me though.

Preview: Akeno!!!

Impression:

LOVE POWER!!!! Oh man, this was 30 minutes of pure hilarity and greatness. It was awesome to see all of our favorite characters return, and hearing them was even better. The episode was much like every episode of the original series: full speed and high tension. The Battle Royal-like event from the start of the episode was simply hilarious, and the songs’ return just added to that. (Gotta love those sakura petals.) The second half of the episode was just as good, though I can’t say I really liked Saru’s sister that much. It wasn’t that her character was bad, but I cannot stand the voice actress that plays her. I’m sure this won’t be the last we see of her, so maybe my impression will change by the next episode. I loved Nagasumi’s mention of the use of explosions and the such in modern movies too. I facepalm every time I see a movie become a blockbuster because of its mindless action. (Also, make sure to note the Dark Night and 300 parodies on the surrounding movie posters.) Besides that, there wasn’t that much to actually talk about in this episode. Just watch it and enjoy it. Can’t wait for the second episode.