badger11’s take on anime

I suppose I’m over-analyzing this, but I find it really interesting that the Makoto from the early episodes wanted winter to end and Spring to return while the Makoto in this episode had an all-white room. When I think of Spring, I think of color. And the whiteness of the room reminds me of the snow that blankets the city that the show is in. It also reminds me of the paranoia I have of being a bad guest and dropping food or drinks when I visit someone with white carpets (which caused me to withdraw from the world and adopt a hikikomori lifestyle…just kidding..sorta).

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I found episode 8 more light-hearted than the previous one. I suppose that its because Rin finally chose his “girl” and this is just a recap episode, it isn’t out of place to have that decision made in the middle of the series. Even during the more serious moments with Asa in the hospital., the mood wasn’t that depressing. Actually, it wasn’t that romantic either as it wasn’t unexpected to find Rin waiting there by the bed during the night. But then, that was pretty much explained in episode 7. It was just…’about damn time’ sort of a mood. What was unexpected was that Ama was part of an experiment.

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It took a few moments to realize that the voice-over at the beginning of this episode was Mine. It took a few more moments to remember that he was reciting lines from a beginner’s book to orchestras. And we finally get to see the show’s punching bag in the form of Okochi Mamoru, a student from the Conducting department. In the live action, Okochi was introduced not only as a rival to Chiaki but as a Chiaki clone. We’d see him in the background imitating Chiaki’s mannerisms and at one point he tries to find out what brands of clothes Chiaki wears. Okochi was also one of my favorite secondary characters in the live action just because he’d routinely take abuse. Its interesting that I have no qualms about Okochi getting knocked silly, but the physical abuse that Nodame takes is starting to wear thin with me. It almost seems be verging into domestic abuse territory.

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I guess it isn’t a good idea to listen to Lisa Gerrard’s The Mirror Pool before watching this episode. And Mozart’s Requiem. Wow, this was a painful episode to watch. Poor Nayuki, having the only person constant in her life suddenly removed, it’s not surprising that she pretty much just shuts down. And what a prefect time for Yuuichi to remember that he knocked the snow bunny down that she made for him. Even though she told him it was in the past when he apologized, it still isn’t, otherwise she wouldn’t have asked if the snow bunny she made at school reminded him of something. Of course, that’s a minor issue now that Akiko is in the hospital. I’m not really surprised that Akiko wound up injured. Sayuri was also a secondary character and she wound up being attacked. But it was a sudden development and more serious than I thought. I had thought that the illness she had a few episodes back was going to return in a stronger form. I just didn’t expect the car accident. Still, it was painful to watch Nayuki suffer, especially after becoming accustomed to her endearing sleepy and upbeat persona’s.

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Ya know, every time I see Primula, I think of the tasty Norwegian cheese spread and the even tastier Norwegian mayonnaise that I grew up on.

I suppose its because this version of the show is more of clip job that we don’t see any new material. Too bad. Its like watching a Quentin Tarantino film on a television network. You know the network has edited down most of the interesting parts and yet they’re bragging about how they’re pushing the edge of broadcasting. And yet, Kaede the in psycho-emo mode was pretty interesting to say the least. The way this episode was edited makes it look like Asa collapsed from Kaede’s assault, but since its a clip show and we’ve seen that Asa had problems as a kid, I wouldn’t be surprised if that was a returning issue that just happened to coincide with this episode.

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Great montage music in this episode, but I’m surprised that in some ways this show does actually rely on the manic energy of Manabi. While I liked what I saw of Mikan and Mei getting closer as friends, I’d call this more of a filler episode. I enjoyed the music more than the actual story. I blame Nodame Cantabile.

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