This was quite the interesting episode. For one, Alice made no appearance whatsoever, so the creators aren’t trying to overuse her, but this episode also went another step further in its analysis of the cultural differences between France and Japan. Previously it discussed things like different foods and climate,but this time it really looked at the people: how they act towards each other and strangers.
Beyond that, Yune also had the bad luck to get lost in the middle of a rainy day where everyone would be rather pissed off, but I’m actually surprised at how she thought that talking to strangers with a smile will catch their attention: my impression of Japan (and do correct me if I’m wrong here) was that it’s very difficult to talk to strangers, in an “everyone’s minding their own business”-kind of way, even more than what’s common in Europe.
The shop scene pretty much nailed it though: I was also really surprised when I first found out that Japanese shop keepers tend to really flock to you and try to assist you in every way. Beyond that, this episode also addressed the poverty in the area quite subtly as an introduction: we’ve seen that young boy before, and only now he just makes his move, actually taking advantage of Yune’s niceness.
Oh, and in the meantime this show is also doing quite a good job in fleshing out its characters. The Aria-esque parts where Claude explains how important his grandfather is to him also really worked here, and this episode pretty much did that with the rest of the cast as well
Rating: ** (Excellent)
It has baffled me for some time now, that no one has brought up the “king’s gallery”‘s name in the comments.
Shouldn’t it be “galerie du roi” instead of “roy”? That surprised me even more when you mentioned the studio had its roots in France and they have a very capable speaker for the intro.
Nevertheless: Slice of life with a good dose of culture shock is nice. I like the show so far 🙂
Ah poop. I gotta eat my own words… So on the *second* page of results Google tells me roy is actually old french for roi.
Feel free to flame me 😉
“my impression of Japan (and do correct me if I’m wrong here) was that it’s very difficult to talk to strangers, in an “everyone’s minding their own business”-kind of way, even more than what’s common in Europe.”
Not really. Maybe they won’t necessarily come up to help you, but if you ask, they certainly will help. When I was there, we asked some restaurant workers standing outside where another restaurant was, and they helped us, and we didn’t even speak Japanese. It is kind of everybody minds their own business, but it’s also like Claude’s grandfather says, a group mentality to help people too.
“my impression of Japan”
I also think an issue is the age in which the show takes place. At the time, a female (of any age) in a Japanese city would not have gone out alone. Yune, therefore, is comparing home-life, and whatever knowledge she has of shops in Japan, with interactions on the streets of Paris. Naturally random strangers are much different than those who are visiting your home (or your store).
@Kevin Caldwel:
Roy: Old french word for Roi.
The french in this anime is actually quite good (narrator french pronunciation & the words on stores) and accurate.
Oh lol, sorry for the double post, but I wanted to say that I did not see your 2nd comment Kevin xD
Disregard what I said in my previous post, then.
Well, let’s say that all Asian Merchants will really come after you if you have money. I mean from observing my parents, I would know, we smile and we really will help if it means profits. We’ll even go so far as to help you pick stuff and put it in your car if it means a good sell. =) Or we’ll even give you a freebie to entice you to comeback to our shop or to get ur taste buds open for new varieties. Seriously, asian have this mentallity. I sear go up to any shop owners and if they are in the customers service like boutiques and small booths at farmers market or baazars. . .they’ll really smile and act the way yune does it because asians feel happy when they are waited upon.
Well, let’s say that all Asian Merchants will really come after you if you have money. I mean from observing my parents, I would know, we smile and we really will help if it means profits. We’ll even go so far as to help you pick stuff and put it in your car if it means a good sell. =) Or we’ll even give you a freebie to entice you to comeback to our shop or to get ur taste buds open for new varieties. Seriously, Asian have this mentality. I swear, go up to any shop owners and if they are in the customers service like boutiques and small booths at farmers market or bazaars. . .they’ll really smile and act the way yune does it, because Asians feel happy when they are waited upon.