Denki-Gai No Honya-San Episode 12 (Final Impressions)

It’s over. It’s finally over. and if you can’t figure out what I thought of the finale at this point..well…I’ll just have to explain it.

Remember how I said last episode was really good and how I hoped this episode would be just as good? It wasn’t. It really really wasn’t. And that’s sad. because now this show has to go out on a whimper. Then again, I guess it can only be expected from the piece of garbage this show has become. What happened? Well I’ll tell you.

So the episode starts up and Sensei’s drunk and about to vomit. Well, that’s a good start.

So after she runs off the train to vomit, they realize they missed the last train for her to get back to her apartment. (Why are these guys ALWAYS on the last train?)

Anyway, she’s drunk so Umio offers to let her stay at his place. However, his room is filled with body pillows and anime paraphernalia. So he goes to hide it. Not…entirely sure WHY as they both work at a manga store and she’s a manga artist. It’s not like she’d be offended by that stuff right? Right?

So she comes in and at first asks for a glass of water, but eventually begins to ham up being drunk and asks Umio if she can have her head stroked or put her head in his lap.

Yeah. Riveting stuff I know.

So then of course she gets up and Umio trips on her because he left his butt pillow out and was trying to hide it. However, she sees it and “confiscates” it from him.

Um. Fuck you bitch. You’re in MY apartment that I invited you to because you were drunk and vomited yourself off the train so you couldn’t get home. Now you want to take MY butt pillow? Fuck you bitch!

The second part is also stupid. It’s about the gang having a cosplay drinking party. The only interesting part about it is the fact that they’re all dressed as characters that the Japanese VA’s have also voiced from other series. Other than that…it’s stupid.

Basically they start to talk and drink, including Ero G-girl

Then Tsumorin shows up and gets everybody wasted. Awesome. And by awesome, I mean stupid.

The only thing that comes close to touching in this scene is a scene with Kameko (of course it is). Everyone else is wasted except for her and Umio wakes up. She basically tells him that she’s an outsider only taking pictures. She isn’t really involved and doesn’t feel that she really belongs. She warns him not to watch for too long or you’ll miss life. And honestly, this was actually very depressing. I do not give a single shit about Umio, Sensei Bitch, Hiotan, or Director. Kameko needs to be front and center with Ero-G Woman.  All that scene did was leave me with a bad taste in my mouth.

SPEAKING of bad taste in my mouth, just when you think the episode’s over (cause…you know, they roll credits) the owner of Umi does his morning announcement. And um…it’s weird. He makes them get into weird sexual positions, say strange things..and. um…. then he raps.

And he raps about masturbation and hentai. it’s… um…it’s kind of odd? I mean…it’s not really funny, it’s just…awkward. Were they GOING for funny? Cause it wasn’t that…..

Oh well, there’s no other way to end an awkward series than with an awkward ending. And this show didn’t disappoint as the series ends. In fact they go out of their way to let you know it’s the last episode.

As they said, the end.

This episode missed the mark SO HARD it actually hurt me physically. Last episode was heartfelt, adorable, and INCREDIBLY enjoyable to watch. It wasn’t laugh out loud funny, but it was touching. This episode was anything but. All it was about was stupid romance in the first part, and a supposed fond remembrance of the series we just watched. However, it wasn’t fond and the point is lost with a boring end, which could have been hilarious.

This last episode did nothing. It felt nothing, it was nothing. It was white noise filler to fill in the void until they could put up a “The End” Screen. and compared to last episode, that’s incredibly disappointing. There’s not a lot to say because nothing happened. So that’s what else i’ll say about it. Nothing.

Now that the series is over, it’s time for my final impression.

This series had SUCH PROMISE. I remember out of all the series that were coming out, THIS was the one I was most excited for. I saw the trailers over and over and couldn’t wait for my comedy otaku show. And..for the first two episodes, it looked like it would do just that. Then by episode three I saw the true nature of this show begin to rear its ugly head.

This show quickly devolved from a fun romp show to a romantic angst fest floundering between Hiotan and Sensei. Both romances that were not even slightly interestingly, and Sensei being a character I wanted to beat in the face with a golf cleat 9 out of 10 times.

I don’t understand why they kept showing her to us. Did they really want us to think that the fact that she’s not girly was funny? Because dear sweet jesus they drove that “joke” into the ground. We get it. She’s not girly. It wasn’t funny the first time, so why the FUCK would it be funny the GODDAMN 18TH TIME?! I knew I wasn’t going to like her the moment she bitch stole that win in episode 2. (yes i’m still pissed about that)

I’m going to point this out now once and for all.

SENSEI SUCKS.

I don’t think I can make it any clearer.

The romance (which never gets resolved by the way) is boring. Dear god is it boring. I don’t care about either of these people. Umio is good hearted but boring as fuck, and Sensei should go die in a fire.

(sighs) I guess I have to bring up Hiotan and Director. I have to say, While Sensei’s romance was boring, this romance was UNCOMFORTABLE. Not only did I not like this romance? Especially after episode 10, I felt kind of dirty around it. This whole time the romance felt awkward, forced, and I got kind of a creepy vibe from it. It’s not cute..I… ugh. I want to take a shower now.

The Ero G-Woman is by FAR the best character in the show. Every single time she’s on screen I either feel joy, warmth, or I have some kind of positive emotion. Why in god’s name was SHE not the main character. She, Sommelier, Fuu, and Kameko needed to be the main characters of the show. That’s all there is to it.

The biggest sin of this series is wasted potential. They were so focused on their fucking romances that they missed every opportunity for a good show. And that’s very upsetting. The characters I adored only showed up for about 15% of the time or were delegated to the background as ploys for Hiotan or Sensei’s storylines. And the terrible thing is? We learned more about those 4 in their 15% of screentime than we learned in the entire series about these other 4 fucking people. I STILL don’t know any positive things about Sensei. Mainly because I don’t think there ARE any.

I wanted to like this series SOOO bad. I tried. I really did. But it just dumped all over everywhere. It got its terrible boring, go nowhere romances all over itself and that is inexcusable. I could go on for hours talking about this piece of garbage, but it’s time for the final scores.

Head: 4. The concept was great, but it was spoiled by romance plotlines thrown in.

Eye: 8. no matter what, the art was good. I really liked it. It got awkward at times, but it was pretty consistently good.

Heart: 2.5: this is where this series failed the most. the only reason it gets ANY score is because of Sommelier, Fuu, Er0 G, and Kameko. However, they weren’t put in focus enough for it to matter.

This series fell so far and it’s so sad. I wanted to like it. I TRIED to like it, but it betrayed me. And it’s a betrayal I can’t forgive.

I’m glad it’s finally over Denki. Now you can finally rest in peace, and burn in hell….after I save Ero-G, Sommelier, Fuu, and Kameko.

Overall score: 3

-Hideki