When the cherry blossoms bloom…
Impression
Ugh…Gonzo, what are you doing? Putting aside the plot developments, this show’s already going to raise controversy from the way it’s produced. Looks like they spent the entire episode animating the start of the Hiroshima arc. I’m really hoping they don’t decide to jump back and forth between the two arcs as the story progresses, in order to give more of a backstory to events – I saw both Kanzaki and Asuka in the preview for next week’s episode, but as far as I remember, that school festival should be the Tokyo arc. Even so…surely it’d be a better idea (both from a production viewpoint and for new fans) to just start from the beginning, and go from there? Flashbacks here and there, while skipping a few scenes along the way just looks really half-assed. If they plan to keep doing this AND get anywhere in the Tokyo arc, it’s gonna be pretty rushed. And it almost looks like a different art style (complete with watercolors, easily the mark of a high-budget show) 😛 Well played, Gonzo – a town where you rage, indeed.
I suppose there’s also a motive to bring up a bit of love for Yuzuki. If there are new fans watching this, starting from the Tokyo arc really doesn’t put Yuzuki in a favorable light at all – there’s nothing stopping Kimi Machi from being rebranded as “NTR the Anime”. But in the Hiroshima arc, Yuzuki’s still that happy, genki girl that seems to love everything about the countryside – having grown up in the city, she’s even fascinated by ponds, cats and can’t ride a bike. It also shows how Haruto actually cares for her, despite thinking she’s an annoyance. At this point he doesn’t like her, but will rush to her aid if she’s in trouble – like with the bugs, and when he thought she had no pantsu on. Haruto’s even willing to chase her to Tokyo, thinking she’s in trouble – though I think he knows that’s not true deep down. You can’t usually tell what Rin’s actually thinking, but I agree when she said he had no common sense. Running across the country to chase after a girl is a bit too extreme for real life xD
We got to see Kanzaki at least. She tended to draw the short straw a lot – if faced with a choice, Haruto would definitely pick Yuzuki over her, which made for some very painful moments in the manga. I’ve always kinda liked Kanzaki, so it was nice to see her animated 😀 Haruto’s crush on her was far too obvious – he’d even rather walk to school than be seen giving Yuzuki a lift on his bike. It’s true some weird misunderstandings will happen if it gets out that you’re living with this random girl…but even without that it has its own problems too, especially when Haruto is unsure of his own feelings and Yuzuki starts suppressing hers to give him time with Kanzaki. Takashi and Akari were pretty much skirted over despite being Haruto’s childhood friends – and they sure did butcher Akari’s voice =_=
If you’re in for the drama, watch this space. The show itself is like a ticking time bomb.