Nisekoi – Episodes 8 & 9

Episode 8 Impression:

And so the stagnation begins…

If you don’t like Tsugumi, you’re not going to like episode 8 of Nisekoi. As predicted, the plot has effectively been thrown out of the window in favor of romance, blushing girls and…well, more blushing girls. Tsugumi, after going on a pseudo-date with Ichijou and injuring her toe, begins to feel ‘odd’. Overcome by bouts of erratic heart-beatings, hot flushes and high pitches squeals, Tsugumi goes to her most trusted confidants – Chitoge and Claude – in search of a cure to the affliction that ails her. After being informed that she’s hopeless ill and needs to seek medical attention immediately, Tsugumi goes to find…’another opinion’, this coming in the form of Onodera and Ruri’s much more realistic interpretations of her…’sickness’. She’s in love…yup.

Whilst episode 8 was comical at times, it failed to be truly ‘captivating’, lacking in any real clutch to draw the viewer in. Tsugumi is a tsundere, through and through. When Ichijou evokes the feelings that perturb her so very much, she attempts to kill him…over, and over, and over again. She’s vulnerable: her femininity has been stripped away after many years of training under Claude’s idiotic gaze, and now, confronted by the feelings she has for so long repressed, she doesn’t know how to respond. Therefore it’s understandable that she might act in this way, but it gets old…very quickly. In fact, it becomes borderline aggravating at times.

But I digress. Annoyances aside, Tsugumi provides another side to the story for Nisekoi to delve into – she provides the key to Chitoge’s past (if you’ll pardon the pun). Tsugumi seems to know more about Chitoge’s past than she (Chitoge) does, and, when Chitoge finally retrieves her diary (then finding a key), the plot is, once again, thrown back into action. But will the story actually develop? We’ve been teased like this before – Onodera, for example – and so I’m not getting my hopes up for any real plot developments, but, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Slice-of-life can be interesting. Harems shows can be interesting. But both are slow and somewhat redundant, and, if Nisekoi doesn’t do something to make itself more interesting, Nisekoi will become yet another ‘average rom-com’ with excellent qualities…

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 Episode 9 Impression:

Love is (up) in the air…and so it the plot.

In episode 9 of Nisekoi, Chitoge comes to terms with the fact that maybe (probably, possibly, feasibly) she was in love once and that, maybe, she might be able to somehow find this ‘lost love’. A school trip arises, hindering her plans to find this allusive lost love, and she ends up being grouped with Ichijou, Ruri, Onodera, Tsugumi and Shuu (no thanks to Shuu himself), this then leading to a blush filled coach trip, full of arm brushes and knee taps…saucy.

An intense game of ‘Old Maid’ layers the episode in sauce yet, Chitoge realizing that she must not lose in order to retain her secret…that secret being that it’s entirely feasible that Ichijou is her first love, his scar being the first clue and his locket (and her key) being the second. Naturally, it’s entertaining but goes nowhere, Ichijou allowing Chitoge to win and their call to the hot springs interrupting Ichijou before he can do any real good damage…that is, until he (albeit inadvertently) wanders into the female bathing area and is found by Chitoge who, to her credit, doesn’t freak out and hurt him, instead understand that Claude has, once again, used Ichijou as a means to his own evil ends… In short, Chitoge helps Ichijou out and delivers a kiss to his buttock – that is all.

Really, that’s all there was. It was a good episode, I say with a weak smile, because, if anything, it was barely ‘adequate’. It was what I’d expect from a slice-of-life: it was funny, but it lacked substance. Oh, so Ichijou has the scar? You going to develop that plot point? Oh – wait – no – don’t worry everyone we’re being allowed to see Tsugumi’s new breast size, her breasts seemingly growing with every passing episode. I mean, seriously, what hormones has Claude got her on?

Episode 9 lacked substance, the plot grows ever weaker/dimmer/more and more non-existent, and it’s getting harder and harder to blog about.

That is all.

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 I’m dropping Niskeoi. It’s not that it’s bad. It’s just that I can’t find anything (or, ‘enough’) to write about on every episode. Sorry.

[DROPPED]

– Chris.