badger11’s take on anime

I can’t believe I’m going to make comparisons to a Steinbeck novel. Not a bad episode, we learn about Streseman’s background and why a character like him is in Japan and teaching of all things. While it appears that Streseman is out to impress an old flame, it is a little more deeper than that. I think the interesting point in this episode is when the school president makes the comment how its nice to hear the S orchestra play with passion. Considering that all of the members of the S Oke were underachievers until Streseman picked them, plus each member’s realization that they hadn’t played in an orchestra, it’s no wonder that they would have passion for music. If the school president feels that way about the S Oke, what about the A Oke? Could it be filled with overachievers who expected to get into A Oke and are playing with less evident passion than the S Oke? That’s not to say they don’t have any passion for music, but if she’s making a comment like that about the S Oke, then I wonder what she would think about the A Oke.

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Aaaand we’re back. Thanks to Maestro for his help on with this blog. It’s always those censored-Norwegian-swear-word outdated plugins, isn’t it? Now that the blog is back, I have a confession to make. I’m one of those Haruhi Suzumiya fans (as Jeff painfully reminded me) who wondered why KyoAni was cutting short Haruhi and wasting time by redoing an anime based on a porn game. I was wrong. From the start. I admit it. They weren’t wasting their time. They created one of my favorite shows*. But I wouldn’t include it in an objective top ten list.

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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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This is a rather dark episode. We see a group of people wishing a guy “Bad luck”. One of them is holding a laptop and we can barely see that it’s Yui’s website. We see a quick shot of the laptop’s screen which also says “Bad Luck” right above Yui’s usually positive message of “The only way is up”. The next day, Izumu is writing about their experiences on her computer. It looks like she’s actually writing on Yui’s website. Akira comes into the shop and Izumu hides the website. Akira just bought two huge bags worth of Umaibos and she wanted to drop them off for Izumu and the guys before heading off to the maid cafe, Akanechan.

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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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