Violet Evergarden – 06 [Somewhere, Under a Starry Sky]

by SuperMario, posted in Currently Watching:, Violet Evergarden

This episode of Violet Evergarden, Violet learns the feeling of loneliness, AND I find myself largely indifferent to it. Not a bad episode by all mean but when the show makes same old beats and adds little thing to the table, it doesn’t leave much lasting impact. Let’s get to the positives first, I really enjoy this new setting Justilia Province, a mountainous place with cable cars, dome and star observatory. This episode also marks the first time that Violet doesn’t ghost-write other people’s feeling, in fact she transcripts whatever materials the guy she assigned with recites. No doubt that Violet is the perfect person to pull this job off, as writing at the speed of sound is always her speciality. This week is in fact, the story of her partner, Leon, as he able to move forward with the help of Violet. I’m not that keen of his story to be honest. While his backstory about his Mom abandoned him has its merits, the way Violet Evergarden brute-forces those details to our ears in the form of these boys in the library is just…bad storytelling. It was obvious and dull to the point of dragging his backstory down. Remember Violet Evergarden, viewers don’t like to be spoonfed because it’s just an indication that you don’t trust us enough. Jeez

As for the story, Leon has always felt awkward towards girls in general and the Dolls in particular, mostly because of his issues with his own Mother and his current status within the Manuscript Department. His way of view changes the moment he meets Violet though, since Violet is neither your regular Doll, nor your regular girl. Despite his low-esteemed, she sees him as an equal, and remarks that they are similar in many ways. Our young Leon opens his heart for once and invites her to watch the Ally Comet, which appears only one every 200 years. And from the moments they watch the comet together he decides to travel the world to learn new things and hopes to see Violet again, if ever. The development is frankly, conventional and predictable but I have to note that this is the first time someone has a bit of romantic feeling towards our Violet.

As for Violet, her range of emotion has varied gradually from when we first met her and this episode is the first time she blends in well with the rest of group. Her expression becomes more natural and she can clearly express many things that she’d have troubled addressing before, mostly when it comes to her feeling with Gilbert. She claims that she only knows loneliness on the conceptual level, but by Leon’s observation she indeed feels lonely. Despite my lukewarm feeling overt his episode, I still think Violet Evergarden goes in the right direction: episodic nature about people who affects by Violet’s letters with the steady development of Violet as its cornerstone. Step by step, Violet grows right before our eyes.

A Place Further than the Universe – 07 [The Ship That Sees the Universe]

by SuperMario, posted in A Place Further than the Universe, Currently Watching:

“I boarded this ship to do catchy, witty, sensational reporting! I want to open the treasure chest of Antarctica that my mother wrote about with my own hands! Everyone, let’s go to Antarctica together!”

Although Universe is a show about the girls heading off to freaking Antarctica, the last couple episodes make it clear that this is more about the journey than the destination. At such, I don’t really mind the lack of “what will happen in Antarctica” plot thread, if anything beside being the place that “further than the universe”, the show need to tell us why it attracts people in the first place. Everyone has their own motivation to go to the South Pole, as we’ve already seen in the girls; and this episode again shines in how they bring the adults’ goals to the table. As a result, while this episode takes place in Australia, unlike Singapore last week we just have a little glimpse here and there about the place, given the central setting of this episode is the ship itself and the people who board on that ship. This expedition just barely makes it there: they lack the supply, the people, the funding. What keeps this ship staying afloat is the determination of the past members – broken people. The people who give up part of their lives, the people who have lost hair, have gotten divorce, have lost the jobs and might have nothing when they return, yet they’re here in pursuit for this trip.

The first half runs much lighter in tone as we see the girls snooping around spying, led by our formidable Yuzuki that lead to some hilarious situations (I love how Hinata couldn’t care less about all this, just look at her in the screenshot), and how Shirase just keeps getting worse doing her sensational report (she’s as stiff as the wood, man). In addition, at this point I enjoy the girls’ interactions greatly, all their stupid hijinks together have such natural chemistry (like how Mari and Hinata always in synch when it comes to prank, or just look at Shirase’s multiple expressions while she was holding a stuffed bear).

There’s a solid reason behind their spying though, up until this point the expedition has been received negatively by the media. They are lacking in everything, and even some of the crew doubt about their chance of accomplish anything. The more they investigate, the more they realize that it was Shirase’s mother determination that started it all and Gin and Kanae, and the group at large want to fulfill what she started but couldn’t finish. Universe makes us realize that sometimes, these ambitious quests come from a very personal dream. Shirase’s mother is the heart that keeps these people moving on, or to be more precise, keeps them from moving on, given parts of their soul remain in Antarctica forever. And if Shirase’s moving speech at the end is any indication, that spirits will continue to live on for generations.

Darling in the Franxx – 05[Your Thorn, My Badge]

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Darling in the Franxx

Today on Darling in the Franxx, Hiro gets a STD. This was a surprisingly good episode as I found myself pretty engaged with the goings on of the plot. Now previous episodes of Franxx haven’t been all that bad besides the excessive sex symbolism but up until this point I would have deemed this show passable. Decently watchable while not being particularly outstanding. This episode however may push Franxx out of the shadows of its inspirations and help it form its own identity.(Well I suppose it was differanting itself with the sex symbolism but that wasn’t exactly a positive distinction.) So we learn that despite Hiro’s posturing and excitement over finally becoming a pilot of a Franxx that him riding with Zero two has indeed been having a negative effect on his body. However until others who have rode with Zero Two and ended up hospitalised, Hiro seems to be undergoing different effects as a blue tumor has appeared on his chest that causes him agony. Despite this Hiro is determined to ride with Zero Two again despite the fact that this would quite likely kill him. I might be wondering whether Hiro would actually die if we didn’t have 19 more episodes to go and while I would applaud the writers if they were gutsy enough to actually kill off the main character, I sincerely doubt they will do so.

Which brings me to a certain theory I read about while browsing the seas of Reddit. It seems that there is a theory going that Hiro is going to end up becoming a creature much like Zero Two and that these two will end up becoming a red and blue Oni. If you watched My love Story or Re:Zero you may be familiar with this Japanese children’s story but the general jest is about a blue Oni pretending to attack a village so the Red Oni could drive him off and become friends with the humans. Afterward only to find a letter from the Blue Oni wishing him well and revealing that they will never seen each other again. There’s a whole TV tropes page on the topic but it does seem to appear quite a bit in anime and manga with having two characters, one passionate and aggressive while the other is more silent and serene. It’s an interesting idea though we can’t quite be sure that’s what this series in gunning for as I don’t see Hiro growing any blue horns. The easy way out of Hiro’s mysterious disease is to turn him into some sort of hybrid like Zero Two but I feel the series would lose a lot of the appeal it gained with this episode if it did that. For after that Hiro would get a power up and it would render the concern and tension of this episode rather meaningless.

We now know what “kissing” means for plantations for it is when two plantations link to transfer liquid hot magma with…each…other…in case you didn’t realise this is symbolism for sexual relations. Boy how subtle the writer’s hand is. There are bits of little info here which hint at darker events to come as our crew meet another robot team who have more experience and it shows that they are the exception to the norm as normal pilots don’t give themselves nicknames nor have specialized Franxx. More importantly when Zorome asked if any of them have “Become adults”, one of the members of the experienced crew whispers to the other “They don’t know.” Suggesting that these kids may have a shorter life span than they might think or that they never mature into adults and instead stay in teenage bodies. Mitsuru also is popping pills for some reason, maybe to fight of the infection that Hiro has.

Zero Two’s more callous and ruthless side appears as well for it’s clear that she cares about nothing other than Hiro and when it comes to other people dying in the battlefield, they were just too weak. So as far as Zero Two is concerned, everyone in the squad can die and she won’t give a damn. Even she knows that riding with Hiro will likely kill him but rather takes delight in knowing that he wants to ride with her despite the risk. As when pushed by Ichigo, she admits that if Hiro dies then he was just too weak to be her darling. But Zero Two also hinted as something else when called inhuman by ichigo, namely suggesting that the kids themselves are not human either which would make sense considering they have already confirmed they were genetically engineered. Well next episode Hiro likely isn’t going to die but that new nameless expendable robot crew might want to abstain from joining in this new operation, or else we will need to start digging some graves.

Junji Ito Collection – 06[Window Next Door/Gentle Goodbye]

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Junji Ito Collection

My friends, I lament to say my interest in this series has fallen to a degree that I really can’t seem to care all that much about it. It’s a shame that it should turn out this way but not entirely unexpected. Our first story has to do with a boy being tormented by his weird neighbor who calls out to him at night and if there is a story that was killed by this anime not capturing Ito’s style, it’s this one. Let me give a visual example, this is the woman from the anime and this is the woman from the manga. One of these women would have me raise an eyebrow and wonder what the hell I was looking at. The other would have me shut the window, close the curtains and nope the hell out of there. You can go right here to get classy and architectural window films. It’s painful how still the animation is with not even the womans mouth moving as she speaks and the final twist just leaves the story hanging. Was the house trying to eat the boy? Or trap him? Why was the woman so interested in him? What even was that woman? I can get behind the idea of being tormented by a woman keen to get personal with you that you really want nothing to do with. Though if that woman was supposed to be bait to get the boy to enter the house then this house should have looked up some playboy magazines to create up a woman that the boy would be more keen to interact with. Though maybe that is the point, the house wanted to attract the kids attention but didn’t know how to appeal to humans. Regardless without ito’s detail this story just falls flat without a conclusion. We don’t know it the boy was finally gotten or if the house just stretched over and didn’t manage to get him. I think the bigger question is however…why didn’t he just sleep in a different room?

The second story was actually rather interesting and may have worked simply because it’s appeal wasn’t on finding the situation scary but instead on the idea of the story itself. In this story we have a family who bring back relatives as ghostly projections to help get over the grief of a family death. A newly wed girl is brought into this family only to find herself treated coldly and is rather keen to use this power to bring back her father when he dies as she has had constant nightmares of seeing him die and leaving her alone. I don’t think anyone was shocked to find this story pull a sixth sense and reveal the protagonist to be one of the apparitions brought back to life after an unfortunate death. The end of the story is the most conclusive i have seen from this series so far having the girl come to terms with her death and take comfort in the knowledge that both she and her father are not long for this world and at least will spend their last days together. It’s a good story but I feel it could have been fleshed out more with better characters and a longer duration as it’s developments were rather forced. Namely the husband’s sudden relationship with another woman and laying down the truth on his current wife happened within seconds of each other and could have been built into something better. Again its an interesting idea not really fleshed out to its full potential.

Mahoutsukai no Yome – 18 [Forgive and Forget]

by Lenlo, posted in Finished Series: Adventure/Fantasy/Science Fiction, Mahoutsukai no Yome

Hello everyone and welcome to another episode of Mahoutsukai. This week we some follow up story time, a return of older characters and what is hopefully the start of an actual story arc. Lets jump in!

Overall, this week was adequate, or maybe slightly above.  They story was quaint, with some nice follow up, and with the reintroduction of our supposed main antagonist the ball might be rolling again. In terms of animation and such, not much really happened. There was a lot of very pretty stills, really showing off the background art and detail Mahoutsukai has when it wants. But there wasn’t much movement, aside from terrible chibi as usual. For sound design, I think everyone knows what the best part of was for this. Chise’s lullaby was great, for more than just its music which I will get into later. Say what you will about the new OP’s art, but from Lindel to Chise and the OP’s Mahoutsukai has a knack for music. With general critique out of the way though, lets get into the meat of the episode.

Continue reading “Mahoutsukai no Yome – 18 [Forgive and Forget]” →

Fate/Extra Last Encore – 03[Golden Wild Hunt]

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Fate/Extra Last Encore

I actually wonder if a time will come when I have an actual idea of what exactly is going on in this series. But today marks Hakuno’s first true servant battle as he takes on Shinji and Francis Drake so that he can ascend to the next level. So to surmise what I can understand of the exposition in this episode, it seems that originally a pretty standard grail war tournament was going on with masters killing each other to reach the top floor. However something seems to have happened which has locked down each floor and put the Grail War on halt. Now it seems the only way to make one’s way up is to kill the Floor master, whom seems to have been selected by the bright circle in the sky. Shinji seems to have had the option to move up to the next floor but after killing yet another person to get further in the game ultimately decided that he wanted no more of this and built a town on the bottom floor. It’s not really certain whether anyone was in the town, or if the town was filled with the ghosts of the masters who died in the war, or if the town existed at all. But I will say that Shaft knows how to make a good servant match setup as the town is flooded to make the stage for Nero’s battle against Drake.

And yes, Francis Drake is a big breasted pirate in this universe and no, there is no real explanation as to why this is. Honestly I really like how this fight was set up though they really should have kept Drakes Golden hind in the water instead of having it weirdly floating. Also for all the grandstanding the fight itself is disappointingly anticlimactic with Drake essentially giving up the moment she runs out of bullets. Part of the reasoning suggested behind this is that Shinji was using Drakes treasure to sustain the illusion of the city and Drake is a servant whose power is dependent on how much treasure she possesses. Still this does feel like Drake was effectively given the short end of the stick as it doesn’t really show just how much of a powerhouse she can really be. She’s a five star servant for a reason so she shouldn’t be getting destroyed by a four star servant. She really should have put up more of a fight than this and it just seems so out of character for Drake to just lay down and die. Drakes a girl that fights with her fists when she runs out of bullets.

So my previous episode guesses turned out to be half right and half wrong. Right in that it appears there were no masters on the first floor but wrong in Shinji’s intention. Shinji seems to pity those that gave up on the fight and the town was really supposed to be just that, a refuge for the quitters. Or he believes that bringing a bunch of masters together will cause something to happen. Or he just wants to prove that humanity isn’t worthless. Honestly his motivation is rather confusing. This would be a good time to remind that this Shinji isn’t Fate/Stay Night Shinji. If this goes by the same lines of the games story, Shinji was a regional games campion who joined the Grail War because he thought it was just another game. He is also significantly younger than his teenager avatar would suggest. Same goes for Rin who may look Identical to her Fate/Stay Night counterpart but her real self actually is rather different.

For one, real Rin is blond. Still I find it really weird for Shinji of all people to accept dying with Rider. Shinji so far has been portrayed as being the usual Shinji we know though his final words certainly seem to suggest he went through a large change of heart in the time since coming to the first floor. Most curiously both Shinji and Rin don’t seem to recall meeting Hakuno in the school simulation and on top of which when Hakuno remarks about having been killed in the school, several shots of Hakuno’s dead body are shown with different causes of death. One I find most interesting is one where he is lying dead in front of a throne with a clear sword slash on his back suggesting that Nero killed him. There is most definitely some time looping shenanigans going on here. Last note, Rin states that her servant was taken but I hope that doesn’t mean he won’t be showing up. One thing I always thought was a massive shame with the Fate/Extra game was the lack of Rin and her servant interacting with each other.

2011 Anime Retrospective Summary – The Shortlist

by SuperMario, posted in 2011 Anime Retrospective

It’s me, Mario again, for an update of the 2010 Retro Summary. Like I mentioned last time, 27 shows were watched, eliminated/picked based on how much I like to follow them till the end.

SHOWS THAT WERE DECIDED BY THEIR PREMIERE EPISODE:

10 shows are eliminated, while 4 shows are picked during this period.

IS: Infinite Stratos: Easily the blandest debut for this 2011 retrospective, thank you IS (short for It’s Shit) for making my job of dropping shows fairly easily.  Right at the beginning we have a fight that we have absolutely no idea about, all the girls flash their moves and the main guy finishes it off. Then my little interest is drained when I learn the facts that 1) this mecha fight is supposed to be a sport game and 2) somehow our main IS the only male who can drive this thing, make him an automatic winner in girls’ eyes. I dropped out this one fast. OUT

Kore wa Zombie Desu ka?: I find the whole premise dull rather than funny, and the show already features a girl naked in several occasions, which never is a good sign. A main guy is having a harem of eccentric and downright annoying girls, while himself doesn’t fare much better to stand out. OUT

Mayo Chiki: The fact that right after just one day since I watched this I have a hard time recalling the plot should tell you how much I care for this show. Let’s see, a guy who “by chance” sees a crossdressing girl in her underwear, grabs her boob and that said girl vows to kill him before comes to live with him. Nah, nah, NAH. Why do you have to rely on such cliché crap, anime medium? OUT

Kimi to Boku: This one is more “cute boys doing cute things” and I must admit I’m not within the target demography for this. There are some strong moments about friendship but I have a hard time caring for any of those guys, especially the male lead. The animation is especially lackluster. Dropped. OUT

Beezebub: One of two shows about the son of Great Evil messing up with simple daily life. It has some amusing laugh and that kid is a delight but is it good enough for me to burn through its 60 episodes? No, Also I find the humor a bit bland at times. OUT

Ben-To: Only anime can make a series out of such ridiculous premise: about a bunch of “professional hunters” who hunt… half price bento in a supermarket. And because it’s anime, characters are the types you’ve seen in other shows before, the action and the violence are over the top and ridiculous. I’m in a camp who buying a full price bento anyway so I guess I don’t see the appeal of this show. OUT

Phi Brain: This first episode plays out well the puzzle aspect of the show, otherwise it’s serviceable. If it was a current seasonal show I can continue to watch it, but for the purpose of this summary there are literally 30 plus other shows that worth watching more. I still don’t really like the main lead, who is your typical shounen protagonist that can easily leave his friend behind in the quest of becoming stronger. Another problem with this show is with the guy who already overpowered like this, it takes out all the suspension the puzzles might have had. OUT

SKET Dance: The last two shows are a good example of using a “false protagonist”, that is a main guy who becomes less relevant as the episode goes on. I found this SKET club rather charming with formulaic team members: a brain – a muscle – an info guy but the case in question in this episode leaves a lot to be desired. For once, I don’t buy the bullying aspect at all and that machine voice from the info guy gets on my nerve every time. Could be a decent watch but once again it just doesn’t stand out enough for me to spend time watching 77 episodes of it. OUT

Yuru Yuri: Like the title suggests it’s yuri banter all the way. I like some of its satire aspects, like the fact the main character is constantly ignored for her lack of presence. Or the yuri banter can get out of hand in a hilarious way. Still, there is no real plot and that is a huge issue since it sometimes feels it goes nowhere. Not cute enough for me to spend more time with, it seems. OUT Continue reading “2011 Anime Retrospective Summary – The Shortlist” →

Mary and the Witch’s Flower – 73/100 (Joint Review)

by SuperWooper, posted in Anime Reviews, OVAs and Movies:, Reviews by Lenlo, Reviews by SuperWooper

Mary's movie poster

Wooper: Mary and the Witch’s Flower is the first feature film from Studio Ponoc, which spun off from Studio Ghibli in early 2015. Given Ghibli’s towering reputation, the bar was high for this inaugural flick, which recently made its way to U.S. theaters, giving Lenlo and I a chance to see it on the big screen. Director Hiromasa Yonebayashi, whose previous work includes When Marie was There and The Secret World of Arrietty, selected a source novel (“The Little Broomstick”) that landed his newest film in safe, Ghibli-reminiscent territory. That choice works both for and against the movie, because while its familiar characters and motifs of magic and flight are visually arresting, many anime fans will have seen it all before. There’s hardly a single frame in this film that you couldn’t hang above your mantle, but its story never manages to generate that same impact.

Lenlo: Agreed. Mary and the Witch’s Flower managed to trick me with its Ghibli-esque style a few times. However that also means the comparisons to Ghibli are inevitable. It’s a perfect example of the limits of beautiful animation without a good story to back it up. It’s the classic “little girl finds magical land, saves it from some evil and is home in time for dinner”. I was never surprised by it and often let down. My biggest problem with it however was the criminal use of its characters. Flanagan and Great-Aunt Charlotte are underused and feel more like Director ‘Deus Ex Machina’ plot devices rather than real characters.

Continue reading “Mary and the Witch’s Flower – 73/100 (Joint Review)” →

2011 Anime Retrospective – The Introduction

by SuperMario, posted in 2011 Anime Retrospective

Hey folks, welcome to another one of my attempt to catch up with the old shows. First of all, my thanks to all of you readers who gave a kind support for the 2010 Summary. Truth be told I a bit hesitate to start it over again, given I fully aware of how massive and time consuming this project going to be. But damn, I guess I’ll try my hardest until real life commitment has an upper hand, right? I won’t rush anything this time, so it’ll end when it ends. Unlike last year where I wrote it in one supermassive black hole post, this time it’s my intention to semi-review shows every few weeks, so you guys can stay up to date to the progression of this summary. For future reference, you can look for this little project under the “2011 Anime Retrospective” tab.

To keep things short, here’s what I’m about to do:

  • MAIN LIST – These 26 shows are the ones that I will 100% follow in full (20 new shows and 6 sequels)

Winter:   Madoka – Wandering Son – Level E – Gosick – Supernatural the Animation – Kimi no Todoke 2 – Mitsumodoe 2

Spring:     Steins;Gate – AnoHana – Nichijou – Tiger & Bunny – Hanasaku Iroha – Hyouge Mono – Kaiji 2

Summer: Mawuru Penguindrum – Usagi Drop – The Idolmasters – Ikoku Meiro no Croisee – No.6 – Natsume 3

Fall:    Hunter x Hunter – Chihayafuru – Fate/Zero – Mirai Nikki – Bakuman 2 – Working 2

 

  • QUALIFYING LIST – And below is the list of another 27 shows that I intend to give them some episodes-treatment before settling down for another 10 shows

Winter:   Fractacle – Kore wa Zombie Desu ka? – Beezebub – Yumekui Merry – IS: Infinite Stratos

Spring:    C: The Money of Soul and Possibility Control – Ao no Exorcist – Deadman Wonderland – Shouwa Monogatari – Hen Zemi – Sekaiichi Hatsukoi – SKET Dance – Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko – Moshidora

Summer: Mayo Chiki – Yuru Yuri – Dantalian no Shaka – Kamisama no Memochou – Blood-C – Kamisama Dolls

Fall:    Guilty Crown – Haganai – Un-Go – Tamayura: Hitotose – Ben-To – Kimi to Boku – Phi Brain

 

  • MOVIES – I will watch 5 out of this list

A Letter to Momo – Children Who Chase Lost Voices from Deep Below – From Up On Poppy Hill – Hotarubi No Mori E – Tezuka’s Buddha – (The Princess and the Pilot) – (K-On  the Movie)

Next post, I will give some quick comments for shows from the Qualifying List based on their first few episodes and form the full watchlist for the 2011 Summary.

And it’d be more fun if you guys can jump in as well. For example, if you find any show that I’ve missed out, shoot up in the comment below, I can give it at least a check-up, because put it simply, I don’t want to miss a thing.

Bye for now, see you in a few days for the next post.

After the Rain – 05 [The Scent of Rain]

by SuperMario, posted in After the Rain, Currently Watching:

It’s a bit of a slow episode this week, with the appearance of the show best character (Tsubu!), Tachibana becomes a pepping Tom, Kondou’s unexpected popularity amongst his staff and Tachibana plays a motherly role to Kondou’s son. Well, I said “slow” in regard to the romantic development between our two leads compare to last few episodes, but the central romance still progresses gracefully. This episode splits into two parts, one we have Tachibana visits the manager’s house and the other one involving our cute little hamster. At first, Tachibana finds a chance to voluntarily take his son to his house, without any ulterior motive I’m sure. She even gets into the house while he was away, and comes hiding in the closet when he gets back home in the Blue Velvet fashion (“She wears blue velvet”). While in there, we see her fascination to know more about Koundou’s private place: the messy bed, the empty fridge, the bookshelf that has all the books about being a successful manager or “How to do an install trick” (great details here as you can see how Kondou thinks about his position within his choice of book), and the work room where there are papers lying around.

While hiding in the closet, Tachibana both overhears and overheats the conversation between him and Tachibana. It’s the time like this when his personality can be shown the clearest: he doesn’t have to pretend to please someone else, he doesn’t need to make any formal gesture, but the guy behaves earnestly, just like the way we see him in early episodes. Yuuto tries to get him into take care of a little hamster, on a ground that he can visit him more often. The manager reluctantly accepts it, and reveals that he loves reading books. I noticed in the closet where Tachibana was hiding, there’s a box that said “1990”, makes me wonder if they’re his manuscript from way back. I like the smart visual motifs when Ameagari cuts to the manager waving his hand in rejection, match-cut to Tachibana waving her hand out of the heat, to Yuuta waving his spoon while eating. I also like the way Ameagari underlines many Tachibana’s actions this week as sensual (like how the tea spilled over her shirt revealing her bra, or how she is physically blush when wearing her crush’s oversized shirt; and other of her activities with the father and son as part of a family (she was cooking for his son, they were walking together in the rain), both of these affect Kondou, obviously, further challenging him on what her role is gonna be in his life.

But both the lovebirds could never have guessed is how suddenly Kondou regains his popularity through the staffs’ mutual love for our little hamster. Tachibana is jealous with this newfound recognition where she finds it difficult to reach him anymore, and jealousy has never been this adorable. In fact, look more closely and you might realise that Tachibana is walking a thin line between showing her affection to the man she likes, and manipulating his life with her sheer determination. For now, I’d rather say she never cross the other line, but it’s a close call. She snaps the high-spirited mob to back to their work, while announces to the manager that she’s the first source regarding any hamster-related issue; an act of monopolize him I would figure. Ameagari almost reaches halfway point, but the execution to this sensitive romance drama still remains thoughtful, quiet and graceful as ever.