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hentai4me
Joined: 25 Oct 2005
Posts: 1313
Location: England. Robin is so Cute!
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Posted: Tue Apr 22, 2008 5:20 pm
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kyokun703 wrote: | I just cannot stand spineless ditzy heroines who act completely stupid. Tohru Honda from Fruits Basket was okay, because she sincerely had a good heart, and she wasn't stupid. She was just accepting. Kotoko's stupidity came out with that whole relay thing. That was just too much for me and turned me off of her character completely.
I thought she might be redeemed during the letter sequence, but five seconds later, she was all, "Oh, he might really love me!" and I threw my hands up in disgust.
Irie's flaw is his personality, and that's a pretty big flaw to overcome. A guy can be perfect in every other way, but if his personality is utter crap, then what's the point? |
Problem with his personality being his flaw is that Kotoko is so utterly stupid she makes it almost a non-issue. Him being mean or just generally unpleasant and her lapping it up regardless means his character flaw is far less of an issue. He has no depth of character and she is a vapid ditz...and yet this show is probably the one of the better ones out this season...(Kure-nai sort of, Kamen no Maid guy because it's so over the top and...and...Allson and Lillia I suppose)
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chichiriNoDa
Joined: 13 Dec 2007
Posts: 531
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Posted: Tue Apr 22, 2008 6:31 pm
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Well I think episode 3 wasn't that bad. I really like the letter scene (cause I like embarassing moment). But not when she immediately forgot everything happened after hearing Irie say the line about people 'might' change.
The relay race was plain stupid though, cause she was so determined at first to beat Irie and then when she saw him she went dumb.
But other than that it was fine. Still be watching this series.
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kizzmequik_74
Joined: 06 May 2007
Posts: 302
Location: QC, Philippines
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Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2008 2:25 am
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I thought that it was certainly weaker than episodes 1&2. The opening, where they replayed a huge chunk of episode 2's conclusion gave me a horrible feeling about the episode... And that feeling was right, to a point.
Sports festival episodes irritate me completely, for some reason, and the entire "omgwtf, he's looking at me <3 <3" relay scene is very, very irritating, ranking in the highest echelons of irritating shoujo anime scenes. The letter scene was pretty good, though they could have made it better if they stretched out the drama a bit.
What felt out of place in the episode was the severe mood whiplash: the transitions from depressed, to fired-up, to love-love, then depressed, then angry, then love-love just felt too unnatural. The emotions experienced by the characters are best stretched-out for more impact. Here, we just see the mood shifts, but we can't really feel it ourselves, since it seems like they're in too much of a hurry to show stuff.
I dunno about this episode, but hopefully, at the very least, next episode should be a bit stronger than this one.
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marie-antoinette
Joined: 18 Sep 2005
Posts: 4136
Location: Ottawa, Canada
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Posted: Thu Apr 24, 2008 5:42 am
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I completely agree that the whole relay race thing really brought this episode down, but there were redeeming points too. I think Irie actually took a few turns for the better when it comes to overcoming his flawed personality, since he did read the love letter this time, even if later he exploited it. I would have liked him to not be perfect at everything though. I was really happy at first when Kin-chan won the race, until they had to go and pull a "he wasn't trying his best" to explain it away.
I also really liked it when Kotoko slapped Irie, because he totally deserved that and not just for reading the letter.
So all and all, while this is the weakest episode, I don't think it was as bad as some people are making it out to be. But perhaps given that I am a more casual watcher of this series (of everything I'm watching this season, it's my least favourite so far) so I might not be judging it as harshly as others.
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Mylene
Joined: 07 Feb 2006
Posts: 2792
Location: Indiana
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Posted: Mon Apr 28, 2008 8:37 am
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Well, episode 4 tried to be an improvement, but for kind of failed. Seriously, two pool rescues in one episode is just lame. However, I did rather get a kick out of Kotoko trying to steal Naoki's notebook, although I'm not sure I can explain why. I suppose it gives me fuel for my fire of dislike for her, as well as the fact that it kind of made the character a bit more 'real.' I've never been tempted to cheat, but she definitely seems the type to take the easy way out of most situations and that showed it in a believable way.
And I really think that's where the problem lies. I really, really dislike Kotoko. I actually like Naoki fairly well. Sure he's a jerk, but that's the way he is he isn't asking anyone to like him for it (actually, he seems to actively push people away). It's Kotoko that has the problem, having a crush on someone who treats her so badly. He's about the only thing that makes the series interesting for me, while she tends to make me like it less and less. It also doesn't help that Kotoko's friends are starting to really irritate me, particularly Ginko with that voice of hers.
Anyway, back to some positive. I did really like the scene after Naoki rescues Kotoko (we didn't need a second rescue though, it cheapened the first one which was actually a little meaningful in my opinion) when he's rubbing out the cramp and Yuuki and Kin-chan are watching. I loved the way Yuuki grabbed Kin-chan's swim trunks and shook his head, that resignation that there wasn't any good to come from interrupting, the moment was Kotoko's. I generally don't like Yuuki (character design, personality, and voice [Paku Romi tends to grate on me in most roles, with Osaki Nana and Haraken being pretty much the only two roles I like her in thus far]), but I really appreciated him for that moment. Besides, his choice for summer homework was great.
Oh, I nearly forgot. What is up with those freaky parents of theirs? I'm beginning to think they intentionally built a crummy house the first time as part of a plan. Well, maybe not given that in the first episode it was Mrs. Irie taking pictures outside the school to get an idea about Kotoko and all. I suppose the plan to what, build a new house all came about after the Aihara family moved in, and Papa Aihara just seems to want to go with the flow. That led me to another moment of dislike for Kotoko. Not only did she forget to even ask about the state of the house, she also went sappy when Naoki once again did the 'if I ever decide to like her' bit. That really bugged me.
But that's enough negative. I really do want to like this series, and I can see the positives (art, music, Naoki), but the negatives are stacking up faster than I can really handle.
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cool3865
Joined: 31 Aug 2006
Posts: 770
Location: Austin, TX
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Posted: Mon Apr 28, 2008 10:10 am
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let me just say this........i hate Kin......he is about to ruin the series for me. so with that out of the way, i just got done watching episode 4. I think episode 4 improved alot, more so than say episode 3. Mylene pretty much summed up episode 4, but i really want to like this series but some of the charecters are screwing it up (hint its not Kotoko (ok sometimes) or Naoki).
and yea i think the mom is psychotic, i mean i know she wants them to get married with her wanting a big room for them and their baby, but come on.
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marie-antoinette
Joined: 18 Sep 2005
Posts: 4136
Location: Ottawa, Canada
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Posted: Fri May 02, 2008 10:44 am
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I really loved episode 5 of this series. Probably a bit more than episode 2, which had been my favourite. I think it mainly has to do with the nice character development Irie got, as he's still an ass but he's becoming a fun ass, and I love those type of characters.
I also think it was really interesting to hear that he doesn't plan to go to college. I guess school comes so easy to him that it's really hard for him to care, in comparison to Kotoko who has to fight for every good grade and thus values each grade that much more.
I'm definitely glad that I ended up checking this series out. It may not be the greatest series in the world, but it can be very fun to watch.
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Mylene
Joined: 07 Feb 2006
Posts: 2792
Location: Indiana
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Posted: Fri May 02, 2008 12:44 pm
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I totally agree about episode 5, marie-antoinette! It was so much fun. The only downer to me was a bit too much if Jinko (her voice hurts my ears.) It was really fun watching Naoki getting suckered into tutoring everyone. And the way he ended the episode was great.
While he's often a jerk, he still has a certain acceptance of Kotoko's feelings. He kind of reminds me of the guy I liked in middle school and high school in that regard. While the guy was always nice to everyone, he was similar in that careful acceptance of me, knowing full well that I liked him. He never tried to lead me on, but he always seemed to know that I got a bit more pleasure out of giving him a ride home than he got from my company and was careful never to condemn nor make me feel too awkward about it. I get a hint of that from Naoki, and I rather like it. Kotoko didn't annoy me nearly as much today either, perhaps because he wasn't so cruel (more teasing) and so I was able to make myself think of things like the kiss on the cheek I got from the guy I liked while playing spin the bottle, and realized there was really a connection there with Kotoko. My biggest beef with her really is that she likes him when he's pretty abusive to her at times.
My main question is how much time is this series going to cover. We went from summer vacation in episode 4 to December in episode 5. That's quite a jump!
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cool3865
Joined: 31 Aug 2006
Posts: 770
Location: Austin, TX
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Posted: Fri May 02, 2008 3:19 pm
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got done with episode 5, this one was prolly the best one. def. going to make me watch the series even more.
really isn't much to say that hasn't already been said, altho the ending was great.
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Unmei No Deai
Joined: 27 Apr 2008
Posts: 21
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Posted: Sat May 03, 2008 2:34 am
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*is totally behind, didn't even realise episode 5 was out* Well that's one more thing on my "to-do" list for this evening.
Mylene wrote: |
My biggest beef with her really is that she likes him when he's pretty abusive to her at times. |
Thank goodness someone else feels that way. I know she cares for him deeply, but when she passively puts up with his behaviour I want to knock some sense into her.
Mylene wrote: | My main question is how much time is this series going to cover. We went from summer vacation in episode 4 to December in episode 5. That's quite a jump! |
Didn't you know that Autumn no longer exists?
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Ariolander
Joined: 30 Jul 2003
Posts: 66
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Posted: Sat May 03, 2008 3:49 am
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I think episode 5 convinced me I am gonna keep watching this... Was getting on my nerves for a moment there.
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kizzmequik_74
Joined: 06 May 2007
Posts: 302
Location: QC, Philippines
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Posted: Tue May 06, 2008 12:44 am
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Suddenly, the show becomes good and blows away my expectations. With episode 3, they missed their chance to become one of those rare shows with no bad episodes, but episode 5 (4 too, actually) does well to wash away the horrible taste of that relay race. While 4 had a single defining moment (Yuuki tugging at Kin's shorts, stopping him from interrupting), episode 5 was excellent as a whole, balancing the comedy (I actually liked Jinko flipping out... Since I usually do the same) and Irie's character development. The scene immediately after the tutorial session, as Kotoko and Irie enjoy a rare quiet moment (okay, Irie still slapped on some sarcasm) was particularly sweet.
And on the "magically disappearing months" pacing thing: next episode is supposed to cover events from the New Year all the way to Valentine's Day. Not quite as huge a jump as this episode's, but still large. It's actually good that they'd rather choose to skip through time than make filler for the months in between: it allows the plot to continue more naturally.
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Jedi General
Joined: 27 Nov 2006
Posts: 2485
Location: Tucson, AZ
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Posted: Sat May 10, 2008 11:17 am
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This series keeps getting better and better. Episode 5 is the best episode yet by far. Irie is becoming more and more likeable too. His ploy regarding the photo at the end was classic.
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xia83
Joined: 11 Dec 2006
Posts: 137
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Posted: Sat May 10, 2008 4:35 pm
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I am only watching two Spring shows at the moment (untill the end of May when I start all of them), and I have absolutely no complaints about this show.
Out of this and the other anime i'm watching this is my favorite. I dont think the story is too contrived with the exception the father's being friends and none of the children knowing.
I cant wait for the next episode.
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Nom_Anor
Joined: 09 Dec 2006
Posts: 246
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Posted: Sat May 10, 2008 4:49 pm
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xia83 wrote: |
Out of this and the other anime i'm watching this is my favorite. I don't think the story is too contrived with the exception the father's being friends and none of the children knowing.
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Funny, I didn't find that odd in the slightest. They never said best friends now: they were good/best friends back in school. I don't think I'd be in the minority saying I know about virtually none of my parent's friends from high school or college.
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