Well, let me just start by saying that I LOVE THIS ANIME AND ALL THINGS ASSOCIATED WITH THIS STORY
OH LOVELY COMPLEX!!!! Mmm. My true love. A superior shoujo and superior anime too- and a great example of a slice of life show. It’s amazing, but before I let my bias show….(too late) let’s start the story. Oh but I thought I’d mention this is one of my favorite openings ever
Ohhhh you guysss….
Anyway, the story begins with the main (female) character in the show explaining that she’s always been taller than everyone around her, and this has always been something she didn’t like. Ironically, her name is Koizumi (which means Little Spring), which is a pun since she is so tall. Then it cuts to her sleeping in assembly and her friends trying to ignore it..before the wakes up and yells “DAMN IT! MY SUMMON MONSTER HAS BEEN ANNIHILATED!” which….which is just hilarious.
Then we go to an office, due to her crass actions Koizumi must attend summer classes. In the background we see a very short boy reaching for a box – and we can pretty much guess where this story might be going.
Koizumi helps him out and then calls him Kotani, which means little valley, but surprise surprise!!! His name is Otani! Which means BIG valley! Oh you Japanese tricksters, pulling out the word play jokes so early…thank freakin Jesus the subtitles wanted to explain this to me. Anyway, there you have the two main characters. The ever sarcastic Otani and the sensitive yet also sarcastic Koizumi. They are referred to as the All Hanshin Kyojin – the comedy duo. And they’re FREAKIN HILARIOUS
Anyway, since I don’t want to get too crazy long winded with this episode I’ll give you the short run…that is also longish…that has screenshots…so it’ll be how I normally roll but an attempt at being brief!!!! Haha, yeah right. Well, it might happen, there aren’t exactly many boobs in this anime and for once these girls look like teenagers SO I DON’T EVEN WANT TO VIEW THEM SEXUALLY. (unlike Freezing…which…that’s all we’re all watching for. admit it)
Anywhoozle, Koizumi has never had a boyfriend and desperately wants to find a boy who is taller than her because she is conscious about her height. Then A STRANGE OCCURRENCE OCCURS!!! A conveniently tall boy who is handsome and nice appears in her summer class!!!
Most of the time in this scene however is her bitching with Otani, and then Otani getting a devilish look on his face. Later, he presents her with an ultimatum. He’ll help set up Risa with tall dark and boring (Suzuki) if she’ll set him up with her shy, boy scared friend Chiharu. Guess why….aw, she’s SHORT and that makes him find her CUTE! It’s almost like this show had themes about height or something.
So Otani stalks Suzuki (seriously) and convinces him to come on a magical pool adventure, and Risa does the same for Koizumi. Nobody seems to care about the pool but Risa and Otani…who seem like they’re having a heart attack over how FREAKIN AWESOME IT IS
Gee it’s almost like they’re compatible even though they’ve never considered each other romantically. Well the entire time Suzuki and Chiharu seem to bond while Koizumi and Otani freak out, ride slides, have pool adventures, and Otani hits Koizumi with a giant inflatable fish. Yes. He really does this. AND IT IS AMAZING
Then the funniest, most indescribably awesome and awkward scene occurs right afterwards. Lemme tell ya. Essentially both Chiharu and Suzuki shoot down Otani and Koizumi- for the exact same reason, just reversed.
Which results in both of them getting emo and giving up! But then declaring WE’LL NEVER GIVE UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ironically, the next scene they’re at a festival waiting for Suzuki and Chiharu and see how KAWAIIII they are together and give up. Best iron fisted resolution ever. Oh and there is sexual tension or something.
So Koizumi and Otani make a bet the next day – to see who can get into a relationship first! Honestly this whole episode is meant to mock most of the dynamics normally seen in shoujo, and show us that Koizumi and Otani are really compatible…but trust me. They’re way too dumb to realize that. Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay tooo dumb. Also, at the end of the episode the most boring couple ever forms!
Lemme just tell you, I love this anime. As it goes on it is one of the best animes I’ve ever seen, and in my top 3 for shoujo. So stay tuned until next week when the real plot begins. And give this episode/series a shot if you hadn’t- it’s so funny and I can’t really tell you how much it is. I howl in laughter everytime I see it, and the characters are so much fun. I’ll see ya next week!
Oki