Scum's Wish

[naterbug8278]

I'm not sure im like, mentally prepared for this show's ending. But thats the fun part, right? No shot I can give an intro like Inty and how he literally wanted to claim an anime girl for himself, but more power to him. I'm the one who does mainly jokes. And the only one who has not finished the show out of us three, so its more like a watchalong for me, past episode 6.

...I don't think we thought the 3-eps-at-a-time thing through, given how verbose we are.

Absolutely not. I think I have sat here writing this for a longer period of time than I used to spend on homework. So, maybe next week I'll try to cut it down.

Spoiler: Episode 1

Okay, as it has been like only 6 months or so for me since I watched the first half of this, and so like, most of this I remembered, or rather the basic structure of the episode? Except, I forgot how hard it hit. Despite knowing the content of it and being prepared, I still felt the pure emotion oozing from this intro episode, and all the feelings behind this relationship. But like, thats too much serious talk for me. I'm like the worst possible person to talk about shows with as most of this is going to be jokes. Oh, but one more serious thing, is that Hana's VA fuckin kills it. Every delivery is so good. I love it.

Her absolute love for her "onii-chan"
the absolute hatred for teacher lady, bro idk names.
All of that was just so like realistically portrayed. Not something you see much in anime, or even in some other mediums. Not that I uh, watch those other mediums. And I only expect this to grow.

And I suppose I should talk about the actual episodes content, huh? Hmm.
So, why do they have specefic shoes banned at school? Does this shit make them FASTER? By the power of anime they have turbo shoes? Like this is gym class so they prob have running shoes on, but apparently her's are just too good? Yes I focused on the wrong part of the episode but I do not care. Like, what are we going to go in depth and have a conversation about how he carressed her body very nicely and that man, Hana kinda got some stack up top, but like not really only just like a solid medium is premium level, which, to be fair, is pretty nice. Or about how I thought her underwear was cute? Or how she held in her voice to keep the immersion of her being the teacher lady for their replacement stuff? WHAT THE HELL BY THE WAY. THATS KINDA WILD. Remember when I said this is going to be jokes. I ment it. You're more likely to get a serious response in replies to your guys stuff, honestly.

One more thing, though. I'd like to point out that after she rejects Generic guy #2849, she is like "Theres nothing more revolting than the affection..." and on her walk uh, back to the school, or something? Just says "boomerang" and I only just now understood this. 6 month ago me, did not. I remember both confused, but also shrugged it off as anime characters say weird shit sometimes. But no, I GOT IT NOW. ITS BECAUE IT CAME BACK AROUND AND HIT HER. YEAH. Yeah you're welcome. I know its pretty hard to miss, but yeah I got everyone's back. Don't worry.

Side note, I would say I forgot the ED was a bop, but nah, present day me remembers. Still good. OP has a banger chorus too.

Spoiler: Episode 2

Ah, Kamomekamo Kamo is here. Illegal shoe girl, if you will. I don't know, I like her. She's fun. You know whats also fun? Hana pulling this girl in with a death glare. She was about to kill this woman. Fast forward to the next scene with blonde guy and Hana was like "I'm just possessive" That was good. Good delivery. I felt that one in my core. That was good. I liked that. No I swear I am not into that particularly but like, you know? It would be neat for a girl to be like that towards you. I swear I'm not into that. Mostly.

Alright but, Ecchan and Hana have some real good chemistry. Just seeing them together is always a plus, I could honestly watch the two of them talk for 23 minutes and it would be an excellent episode. But you know whats even more excellent. When Ecchan shoves her tongue into Hana-chan's mouth. I still cant fucking get over this bit. I mean, I actually thought there was more to it, here. But I'm likley mixing episode 3 in with 2. I didn't remember it ending that quick. So next episode is the full tongue scene? Got it. That episode is better than this one, then.

Spoiler: maybe sensitive topic

So the train thing. This reminded me of a thing I read recently where supposedly some tips were going around about...pulling this off. And, apparently a thing they do is actively do it during exam seasons. Entrance exams. Finals. Midterms. All that shit in Japan, and as Ecchan pulled out something I assume to be an entrance exam to their highschool or something. This is because exams are so generally stressfull in Japan that, girls...won't go report them to the police, as theyre too busy(Have to get to the exam venue with no time to go to the police) or stressed, don't want to deal with all the shit that would come of doing so.

And, I just wanted to share this because its incredibly fucked up. And so was this scene. Please change, Japan.

Spoiler: Episode 3

"Ecchan you know I'm straight"
"So is spaghetti untill it gets wet."

Yeah. There it is. I'm actually not sure there is much I want to go into more detail about THAT scene, but, I forgot how kinda emotional it was. For both parties. I mean, if you look past the fact that on the outside its really just Ecchan tonging Hanabi. But, there was some feeling behind it. Probably. I don't know. Also, she was like "sorry the bed is small" And, girl, I'll have you know I have slept on the same size bet with another dude before(LIke, just two bro's in the same bed together. We actually would sleep like opposite so our feet were next to each others heads. It worked. Might be seen as weird. Why am I sharing this?), and you can imagine we are probably bigger than you two, so I don't want to see you pull that card out, Hana. And with the lead into her realiziation of her...honestly being not so different from that girl who wanted advice, really hit home after. So, Bravo show. You made two girls making out important to your plot.

Uh, I'm not even going to really comment on the short hair blonde girl from Mugi's past. I'm not sure I want to even discuss the fact that two Junior high students were boning, or rather, one of them being used by the other in that manner to satisfy her lonliness or something. Unless you can come up with like a two page essay on why this was important, I'm not listening. And honestly, I wouldn't read the essay anyway. Two pages is long.

AND THEN HANA RUBBED ONE OUT FOR MUGI.
I actually fucking forgot this happened. I mean, I wouldn't say completley, as I remembered the moment it started happening. But prior to the scene i forgot it ever happened and honestly I'd like to go back to when I didn't remember. Does this make sense? I hope it doesn't. Because then I can get away with not talking about it.

Ending off with teacher lady giving that innocent smile. I'm going to be real with you guys. On episode 1 I kinda brain wiped tried to take this blind, and was like "oh yeah the teacher kinda cute" nah, it lasted about an episode. By episode 2 I remembered she was a bitch. By episode 3 I remembered I fucking hated her. So, well done, show. You're about as best girl to me as Mami is in Rent-A-Girlfriend. Except she is voiced by Aoi Yuki, so you are vastly inferior.

Man. What a ride of a first 3 episodes, honestly. Had me hooked the whole time. I repeat what I said earlier, I'm not ready for this ending, am I?

Spoiler: replies

So, I'm actually unsure if i wanted to put the replies in the specefic episodes or just add a seperate section after to seperate them from my own original posts, so for now ill seperate them, but in the future might just toss them in under it, just put like a spacer of some kind to seperate.
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I've written fan mail (like, literally put it in the physical mail)

This to me is a funny sentence. Not because you sent fan mail to the author, but because you specified that it was actual physical mail. LIke this happened so long ago that modern day have no idea people WROTE MAIL. Good job, for making me feel slightly older because I understood this.
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Episode 1 stuff:

nor the way it, as OPs so often do, straight-up spoils the who-hooks-up-with-whom of the whole series

I think with most anime, to me, OP's are very contextual spoilers. None of it generally makes any sense whatsoever untill AFTER I have watched it. Maybe if people are super anaylitical and notice every minute detail about it, they can pick out things that happen, but not me. I also tried looking at the OP after you mentioned the Ecchan bit, and honestly I still didn't even see it lol.

I think the use of "panels" to give the anime the same kind of effect the manga had, in certain moments, does not help

Weirdly, I liked them? Now I'm not going to go out of my way to tell you they were the most incredible thing on planet earth and changed the anime for the better. But, they had...charm? But also sometimes I fucking hated it so take this with about as much salt as the fish and chips I ate today had. Which, was a lot, by the way.

misremembering another key detail: Mugi removes Hanabi's skirt, not her panties

WAIT THAT SEEMS LIKE A HUGE DIFFERENCE IN DETAIL TO MISREMEMBER LOL

Same voice actress.

HOLY SHIT--Okay, first I'll mention I did peak into this post me watching episode 1, and saw you mentioned this, and it clicked. Episode 1 you could see i mentioned I loved her VA, but I didn't quite know why, I was going to go look afterwards. But throughout all of episode 2 after you said this I 100% knew it was her, and like, not that Hana sounded exactly like Chisato or anything, in fact they give off COMPLETELY different vibes of characters in her voice, despite sounding...samey. Which honestly accounts to how good she pulled off both roles. Shes very good at being different moods. That is to say, her "OKAAAAA-SAAAAAANN" when her mom was like embarrasing her, was very good. 10/10 felt that one.

Watching her without the weight of the same kinds of feelings she's experiencing (as opposed to back in 2017, when she may as well have been an avatar for me specifically), I can understand why some people are turned off by this story

My man had real life character development. You love to see it.

"Painful love" and "Rejection" are pretty much shoved down our throat in both quotes

In about the same way as Mugi's tongue down her thro-

and through character actions

SHIT. My joke was stolen!

Onii-chan (name???)

name?????
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Episode 2 stuff: (god i'm only on episode 2)

Point is, she's the bunny alarm clock thing from Renai Flops

HAHAHAHAHAHAH WAIT FOR REAL? Okay that got a laugh from me, like i dont know why it was funny. But holy shit thats incredible.

...no, the point is that I used to think she was a waste of story space

yoU WHAT? I love her. I will protect this girl she is precious and nobody will hurt her in my presence no I dont not care that you expanded upon this and said you didnt really hate her BUT THATS IRRELEVENT. Kamomekamo Kamo is best girl and nobody will take that away.

Moka/Moca (I haven't chosen which i want to use, yet)

Kamomekamo Kamo.

how out of line is Ecchan, when she kisses Hanabi?

ehhHHHHHHHHHHHHH I--thats a good question. Like, coming from me who does not know how things progress later. Like, I'd prob need to sit here and think on that. But I'll forget later what i thought so, I'm unsure if this is even important to reply to.

but I also know @naterbug8278 doesn't, so I don't want to view it (for the moment) beyond the first half of the show.

Feel free to make additional parts that include things beyond episode 6, if you and Madoka want to discuss that...question of yours if this comes into play, if you guys want to, I'll avoid anything you mark telling me not to read, or something, and I could come back and look at later. But up to you. Or, you can bring it up later once x things happens you would have been thinking of.

Also: hot, which buys it a lot of leeway.

Well, not really.

But also definitely.

Most certainly.

but to think their isn't a single one who can keep their underwear on

This is kinda one of my main gripes about the show, if that would be the right word. Everyone here feels a little older than they are, more specifically the high schoolers. Or (to crossover with episode 3 a bit) Junior Highschoolers. As I said in my thoughts about it and the girl who Mugi had some...time with.

I swear I'm not starting #teamMoca again

You might not be, but I most certainly am starting #TeamKamomekamoKamo

Most cute angel Kamomekamo Kamo!!!

Fixed it for you. Yeah, I'm keeping this bit up the whole show.
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Episode 3 stuff: (cmon man youre almost there...gotta grab some water first)

"But then why does she--"
"I said it wasn't supposed to be 'literal,' didn't I?"
"But--"
"Shh, just enjoy the saliva-swap."

I'm not what sure of that whole thing about Hanabi and Ecchan I should quote, and quoting all of it is a pain, so I'd just like to note I am tired and read that in complete seriousness and understood all of it and how this could be a very good topic of discussion, but also that was too many words for me so I'll just note that I acknowledged it.

because I was also surprised by how Hanabi says she wants to date Mugi. last night, when I watched this, I thought, "Wait, did I miss this? How? I don't have any memory of this!"

From me, the fresh blind eyes of this show, this is interesting to me also. LIke, I personally took this initally as her saying they should date. And in context that seems WAY too early and out of place, so if you're going to try and tell me this was actually an extreme subtlety about how it would be easier on them emotionally or something if they were just into each other for real, then...I'd believe you? I almost want that to be the case, because that would be amazing writing. Probably.

...did I explain that all right? I feel like I need to say more, but I also feel like maybe that would just clutter things up. I dunno. Thoughts?

...Yes? I agree on this. The whole bit about motion and stuff. Her walking down those stairs, remembering these words, thinking to herself...and then it hits her, she wasnt all that different. Her dropping the bag on que at the delivery of the line about her being alone right before she slouched down. It was good. Like for real, good direction on that scene all around. Me like.

Lastly, though, I'd like to mention that Mugi was 13 when his sempai maybe-raped his virginity away

I am immensely glad someone else said it. And I was not the weird one for thinking this was weird.

I will cover most of this in the replies"

I think we watched different episode 3's. lol.
So like, that was a lot of words in your replies to inty over there, but i'm geting tired here so lol.

Which leads us to his senpai, as you say, Mugi was a kid

OKAY THANK GOD WE ARE ALL ON THE SAME PAGE HERE.
Yeah, it occured to me instantly when they said it was Junior High. And casually tossed in that she mayhaps not fully consentually boned this guy, on multiple occasions. That's fucked up.

With that, I think I'm done. Oh god. There is no way I am doing this to this degree again next week. Or you know, maybe next week I wont watch all 3 episodes at the last minute and maybe write them up throughout the week when I watch them. Yeah. Just a thought. Be smart, me. Also, there is probably a spelling mistake somewhere in here. No, I will not proof read it.

 

[interregnum]

Did the anime cover to the end of the manga?

Yup. The anime covers the whole series.

Except the sequel volume, which I haven't read. And don't want to. (I mean, I do...but I also don't know how much it would affect the original story, so. It's about the preservation of my affection. Definitely not that I CAN'T F***ING GET AHOLD OF IT.

Spoiler: REPLIES TO REPLIES AND STUFF!

shows which don't follow the norm

One of the things I like about Scum's Wish is that it doesn't look at the bad stuff and pretend that it's okay.

Sure, it's sometimes judgment-neutral in a way that attempts to lend sympathy to the characters (which I would argue is all-in-all a good thing. but that's me). And it certainly has its fair share of not treating everything with the weight of realism (cough that-tween-kinda-raped-Mugi cough cough). But it doesn't pretend that any one of them is noble for their bad decisions. Or that those decisions are "actually good if you think about it guys."

Moca (Moka?

Per the comic:

As I say, though, the BluRay translates it differently and (as such) spells it with a "c."

I'm pretty sure the non-BluRay subtitles say "Moka." And I think that's what I'm going with.

Toradora

Just to point out: I describe Scum's Wish as "Toradora with sexytime."

But also: yes--it's a gem, and I love it. Not exactly in the same way I did the first time, but I still love it.

To wit:

Point being, whilst this show resonated with me, I'm curious how I will see things

I know I covered this in my post, but I was instantly aware of how differently I saw things. I feel like, in a lot of ways, I'm going to have a bumpier-seeming ride than I will actually settle on. Like, I feel like I'm not going to know exactly what my new-final perspective is going to be until I watch it a third time, because I'm currently having my more biased previous relationship with it stripped away. So, I'm dealing with that as much as I am re-experiencing it.

I admit i didn't think Hana and Mugi got together so early on... they really wasn't messing around!

That the anime jumps more-or-less right into the main action of the story is one of the great things about it. For as much seeming navel-gazing the character narration would imply, the characters aren't just sitting around. Everyone is doing things.

And, again, that they get to the first spicy scene at the halfway point of Ep 1 is a genius rearrangement of the source material. Talk about a hook!

I always felt she is filler, I could be wrong, I don't remember much but she was good filler all the same.

I don't think it's a spoiler to say that she's probably the least impactful character

Spoiler: SECOND HALF OF SERIES SPOILER

(apart from Ecchan's cousin or whatever that dude at the cabin who's in love with her turns out to be)

in the cast, but she does serve a narrative purpose, even given her comparatively small amount of screen time.

That said, pretty much all of the characters take a turn being put in the background for a while, as things go on. It's just that she started on the extraneous side, as well.

Call me simple minded but... probably.

Yeah, I'm decidedly on the side that, much like things with the age gaps, the girl-girl issue lands in the "shh don't think about it too much" side of the writing, where it's (brilliantly) titillating but not to be taken "literally." Ecchan likes girls, Hanabi likes being eaten out, and the details don't matter beyond that (in terms of sexuality) because it's about representing the emotional thrust of the overall story. I just think it's interesting that Hanabi so openly invokes this somewhat handwave-y aspect of the writing.

Spoiler

And she's not doing it in a fourth wall-breaking way, either. She's just so...detached, I guess, because of all her teenage unrequited everything that she skips straight (...heh) to thinking about it ethereally instead of, like, normally.

There's a discussion to be had about whether this makes it good writing or not. And maybe we'll get there. But, certainly for the moment, my opinion is that these are acceptable flaws/"flaws" that are outweighed by the effect of everything around them.

...whether that's actually a relevant response to your point or not. (In hindsight.)

Right so this was bugging me

Yeah, as I say, I think there's a lot of "um, don't think about the logistics of this, just the broader emotional purpose." Which is a somewhat ironic request, of course, since you'd think Mugi's sexual awakening being what it was would have more than a little impact on his personality/worldview and, as such, the events that follow...but here we are.

For my part, I was really thrown by this, because I both wasn't aware of nor particularly concerned with these details prior to this viewing. I'd always had it in my mind about the Mugi-to-Akane age gap (same for Hanabi, but for different reasons), but this girl from his past is one of the aspects I, in my Hanabi-focused affection for this series, just plum forget about.

More to the point, though, when either watching or reading this scene (prior to now), I was never really sure exactly where in time this was taking place, and it was too quick and (maybe) inconsequential for me to give it much thought as we moved on to the next scintillating part of the story. But I very, very, very much caught the "THIS WAS FOUR YEARS AGO," this go-round, and our protagonists are currently 17.

If, at 13, a 15-year-old girl in my school who I found even passingly attractive pretty much pressured me into sex, I don't think I'd have handled it well. At some point between "hey there, tiger" and "I'll call you," the hormones and my emotional state would have come into strong conflict and resulted in some manner of disaster. Whether I was too overwhelmed for, um, necessary aspects of participation or had a lot of fun, I'd have been traumatized to some degree.

Spoiler

Just talking pragmatics, here: I remember what happened when I found an issue of Playboy, when I was 13. If there was a girl who I was going to bang on the regular?

I'm just saying: how did Mugi not flunk out of school?

Which is a long way of noting that this might be the thing in the story that requires the most embellished wave of a hand to get past.

I'm the one who does mainly jokes.

...wait, you've been doing jokes all this time?

I forgot how hard it hit. Despite knowing the content of it and being prepared, I still felt the pure emotion oozing from this intro episode

It's still the best representation of the deromanticized aspects of unrequited love I've ever seen. And I think watching/reading this while under the influence of that feeling (whether actively or still in its wake) is like someone pulling the indescribable out of you and--through what must seem like black magic--making it tangible.

Hana's VA fuckin kills it. Every delivery is so good. I love it.

I don't think she hits the level of impressiveness that she did in Lycoris Recoil (where her performance was too good for even the incredible animation to keep up with), but she's got a lot more meat to this performance.

She's very good, is what I'm saying. I just suspect that she doesn't do "anime girl voice" as well as more popular voice actresses. Or maybe she is a mega-star and I'm total ignoramus about this stuff.

I just know Yui Yuigahama is in everything (and deservedly so), and Hanabi is not. And, y'know, maybe she should be.

Or, alternatively, maybe anime should get up to her level.

...

Um, and--scene!

So, why do they have specefic shoes banned at school? Does this shit make them FASTER? By the power of anime they have turbo shoes

That last line cracked me up. Good job.

It's a weird detail, isn't it. I bet it's supposed to be that they're more expensive shoes, or maybe her shoes from home (when they're supposed to have school-sneakers) or something like that. It's just that the kids think they make you faster or something.

Or maybe Japan has superior sneaker technology. Who knows.

Or how she held in her voice to keep the immersion of her being the teacher lady for their replacement stuff? WHAT THE HELL BY THE WAY. THATS KINDA WILD.

Spoiler

...it's the first thing I thought of.

I liked that. No I swear I am not into that particularly but like, you know? It would be neat for a girl to be like that towards you. I swear I'm not into that. Mostly.

I for one totally believe this man, and I see no reason anyone should doubt him or shame him for his coincidentally large collection of gifs that would imply the opposite of his assertions (which, again, I totally believe).

And, I just wanted to share this because its incredibly fucked up.

That's...actually an interesting point. It also explains the scene. Which made absolutely no sense to me at all.

"...okay, but you can still, like, shout at him, right?" I said to the television.

And now I know.

Kamomekamo Kamo

The google machine isn't helping me pretend I get this reference. I could just as easily have skipped past it, but...I didn't.

I'm not sure I want to even discuss the fact that two Junior high students were boning

I'd like to think the kids I knew who were doing it at 13 didn't look as...helpless as Mugi did.

I'd also like to think the kids I knew who were doing it at 13 were lying about it.

I'd like a lot of things.

Unless you can come up with like a two page essay on why this was important, I'm not listening. And honestly, I wouldn't read the essay anyway. Two pages is long.

Oh, this slew me. Out-loud guffaws.

+25

Spoiler

...wait, is this your first time earning interregnum points? You're not on my list.

You're about as best girl to me as Mami is in Rent-A-Girlfriend.

DID SOMEONE SAY RENT-A-GIRLFRIEND???

LIke this happened so long ago that modern day have no idea people WROTE MAIL. Good job, for making me feel slightly older because I understood this.

It's what I do.

WAIT THAT SEEMS LIKE A HUGE DIFFERENCE IN DETAIL TO MISREMEMBER LOL

The part about it that sticks with me is the overhead shot of her with her legs up as clothing is removed. It's sooooooo provocative, and it was so shocking, when I saw it. The exact nature of the clothing being removed didn't even matter, really. It could have been a sweater around her waist--from that angle, it was nothing but suggestive.

I mean, it didn't matter to me that there's a literal shot of her panties as Mugi touches her SPECIFICALLY OVER HER PANTIES about 10 seconds later and it didn't make a difference: my memory was my memory.

Everyone here feels a little older than they are, more specifically the high schoolers. Or (to crossover with episode 3 a bit) Junior Highschoolers.

Definitely. Which is something to keep in mind, as we go along. It'll be part of the "so, is this actually as good as we feel, or is it objectively not as good (though still very good)?" discussion.

considering this was apparently his first post

Would it surprise anyone to know that the first show thread I entered was for Eromanga Sensei?

 

[Madoka]

Would it surprise anyone to know that the first show thread I entered was for Eromanga Sensei?

That's because you knew a good show when you saw one... I mean, I ironically skipped over Eromanga Sensei for years (only watching it for the first time in what... 2021? 2020... think 2021 because you told me it wasn't trash), mostly due to the author being the OreImo one in which i figured it was just another Kirino show, which OreImo is seriously overrated. I liked Eromanga more... Sagiri is a million times better than Kirino and the side characters are good to (Go ELF!!!!). Wait... what was i saying? I... dunno, forgot now.
Still, no idea how you guys remember this stuff! I couldn't even begin to think what show got my posting to begin... though i just think i started watching shows as they aired and saw discussion on them which... as we now know, is something I somewhat enjoy (And i mean this in the fact my posts have a minimum word count, not maximum.

Spoiler: naterbug replies

I'm not sure im like, mentally prepared for this show's ending. But thats the fun part, right?

If it makes you any happier, whilst I'm not going in blind, I cannot remember the 2nd half of this show, I remember a date with the best girl happening but that's it, which is like, half-way anyways. I can't remember what happens at all to Hanabi (which I am happy about because... Hanabi's cool!) or the rest.
So I'm at least largely blind to how things end, maybe i will remember as we go but hey, it's all fun for me.

past episode 6.

I'm sure this is where my memory is cut from, it's all good!

So, maybe next week I'll try to cut it down.

My plan is simple, Watch one episode say Monday (for example), write my post (notepad!!) and save it, watch ep 2 say Tuesday, add to said notepad, repeat for the third episode, then post, boom. I wrote first post here at 2am so by episode 3, I was getting tired (man i miss the days when my body let me stay up until 4am and wake up at 8am... my body has no issues even now staying up all night but alas the following morning it will make me sleep the day away should i be so careless), hence the decline in effort.

Oh, but one more serious thing, is that Hana's VA fuckin kills it. Every delivery is so good. I love it.

She really is great. I mean, for me, she expresses Hanabi so well from her normal mode (like when she is bored in her room or whatever) to her moments she is down in the dumps, everything is so well executed!

I still felt the pure emotion oozing from this intro episode, and all the feelings behind this relationship

The best shows make one feel this!

the absolute hatred for teacher lady, bro idk names.
All of that was just so like realistically portrayed

(My names are bad, its been some time! Hanabi is the only one i recall). But I agree with this, It's one reason i love it so much and one i think grows greatly as the show goes on, Hanabi's hatred of the teacher, she isn't crazy like other shows trying to actively kill her teacher but she hates her, mostly because Hanabi knows the doesn't care about the male teacher and is merely toying with him. Hanabi's hatred probably (can't remember) never gets beyond keeping it to herself but I like her disdain for sensei. It's like if your in her shoes (weird to imagine, I know) and someone does this to the person you like, you probably would be going in guns blazing but you would hold this grudge of hate like Hanabi does and I enjoy it's just that, hate.

So, why do they have specefic shoes banned at school? Does this shit make them FASTER? By the power of anime they have turbo shoes?

I bet it's supposed to be that they're more expensive shoes

Yes! That was good, it made me laugh a fair bit. I wont lie either, this scene when i saw it had me with a blank face like "errrr, okay?" but I imagine it was just a money thing, which is still odd. Rich girl has expensive footwear = err Advantage? Or something. Quite sure that doesn't add up, I get expensive ones might offer better comfort and be more suited to the job but okay... whatever.
I'm hoping it's what Interregnum said about maybe its the school who have school-issued ones and she brought her own in anyways, kind of giving her a edge... you know what no,

Or maybe Japan has superior sneaker technology. Who knows.

This is the only answer. She brought is the newest models which offer a +45 boost to the speed stat, also offers a increase in stamina by 10% and a 5% movement speed boost, small figures in themselves but the school issue shoe is merely a +30 speed boost with no movement bonus or stamina increase, meaning she has a slight edge on her classmates... dammit japan and your advanced technology, SHARE WITH THE REST OF THE WORLD!!!

Why am i so focused on some footwear!!!

but like not really only just like a solid medium is premium level,

These size naming systems all lie to me, we all know regardless which one (size) wins that there is a ranking of greatness from the flattest (Looking at you Taiga) to the most biggest (insert any harem show or is you wanna go XXL, go watch 99% of hentai).

She was about to kill this woman. Fast forward to the next scene with blonde guy and Hana was like "I'm just possessive"

I actually laughed at this scene... let me explain - See I see Hana and Mugi's relationship exactly as it is shown to us (the viewer), a fake, A substitute for the real people they wish they was with, so seeing a girl who rightfully should have no real attachment to Mugi (beyond a basic level) snap into "I'm gonna end this tiny girls whole crush" mode was kind of funny. I know she says she is possessive but still, it's so funny seeing how don't really care for one another (much) to ensuring this tiny frail kid has no chance... that said, she does have personal reason to stop Moka.

No I swear I am not into that particularly but like, you know? It would be neat for a girl to be like that towards you. I swear I'm not into that. Mostly.

It's ironic really. See i can't imagine anything worse than a overly possessive type who gets annoyed with you interacting with... anyone, but yet... it's still something i wouldn't hate...
I mean... someone possessive over you in one way is a nice thing too, they kind of care... a bit too much sure but you can't win 'em all.

. Just seeing them together is always a plus, I could honestly watch the two of them talk for 23 minutes and it would be an excellent episode

This is my most interesting element for me. See when i first watched this series I loved Ecchan x Hanabi, a tongue exchange was out of this world for these two, and i kind of still look forward to seeing it but yet... part of me thinks in my years growing... I might be less enjoying of these two as I can't help thinking Ecchan is wrong... look it's stuff that will appear in the following week(s) episodes, I don't remember a lot but one thing stuck about Ecchan, I will leave it there.

So the train thing. This reminded me of a thing I read recently where supposedly some tips were going around about...pulling this off. And, apparently a thing they do is actively do it during exam seasons.

And, I just wanted to share this because its incredibly fucked up. And so was this scene. Please change, Japan.

You know... I never knew this. Like okay, we all know about the train molester thing, but (don't take this as a compliment to the trash people) it's annoyingly smart of them, use a time when the students are too occupied and stressed to deal with it. Still, I do hope they change this, apparently they are investing heavily into stamping out molesters but... like everything, saying and doing are different. Still, I hope they do sort it, Japan is pretty up there for having lower crime rates but this issue is beyond insane, it's unreal.
#rantover.

Why am I sharing this?

I hope this isn't some round-about way of telling us you enjoy sleeping with feet near your head... look we already got one guy with a foot fetish (oh sorry tights), can't go having another... probably.

By episode 2 I remembered she was a bitch. By episode 3 I remembered I fucking hated her.

Hehe, yeah. I wont lie, I kind of like her. Like okay, not what she is doing or whatever but as a villain (if you will), I think she is pretty good. She is morally wrong in every way, but... I don't hate it....
You know what, it's fine, I'm a fricken weird guy okay, lets just say that.

You're about as best girl to me as Mami is in Rent-A-Girlfriend.

See this confused me endlessly... Mami was the best girl in Ren-A-Girl was she not? I mean, okay, Maybe Ruka was because that scene in the hotel room (you know the one) but otherwise... Mami was straight up the best?

So, I'm actually unsure if i wanted to put the replies in the specefic episodes or just add a seperate section after to seperate them from my own original posts

I admit I didn't know what to do with mine. I kind of just will see how it goes, even in this post i was unsure and just figure i will split the replies from one another to make my life easier.

LIke this happened so long ago that modern day have no idea people WROTE MAIL. Good job, for making me feel slightly older because I understood this.

I mean... do kids know what letters are? they probably don't understand the post office exists beyond parcels.
But... I know of his fan mail story, I was told this one before when we initially thought of re-watching this show a year or so back.

None of it generally makes any sense whatsoever untill AFTER I have watched it

Yeah i think they can get away with it due to this, most of it is only understandable if it is literally a cut from the show and after it happens, I commonly echo the fact the shows offer spoilers in their OP to realise i never understood it was a spoiler... until it had happened, then we realise even the stuff was didn't look like spoilers was massively spoiling something.

In about the same way as Mugi's tongue down her thro-

Haha, this made me laugh a fair bit, well played sir!

Kamomekamo Kamo.

This mouthful is going to get confusing. I'm with Int now, I need to know the reference!!
I'm in thinking mode but my brain isn't what it used to be (... which was never impressive).

. I will protect this girl she is precious and nobody will hurt her in my presence

Mugi and Hanabi have entered the chat and would like to discuss you protection policies.

Kamomekamo Kamo is best girl and nobody will take that away.

This... this was so me last time i watched this show. No one got it but now i see someone else understands!!!

But I'll forget later what i thought so, I'm unsure if this is even important to reply to.

I wouldn't worry... yet. The one thing i do remember later is this very question is very important, but you will need to see every scene between the two to be able to answer.

This is kinda one of my main gripes about the show

Everyone here feels a little older than they are, more specifically the high schoolers. Or (to crossover with episode 3 a bit) Junior Highschoolers. As I said in my thoughts about it and the girl who Mugi had some...time with.

This is how i feel, I think of the show as a whole. Don't get me wrong, certainly this stuff probably happens but it feels like it's too much. It seems everyone in this show is in bed with someone, except maybe Moka who is about the only girl who maintains the ability to not hop into bed with someone you met for 30 seconds. I don't mind it being present with one or two characters but, everyone? nah, feels odd. Especially as we see this was present in the past too (Mugi's stuff).
I think it's weird the theme is fine but maybe over used to the point it becomes unrealistic.
Also, even adults don't behave this way. Sensei being a weird... whatever she is, sure that could happen. Hana and Mugi using one another as substitutes... eh, could happen, the rest feels a bit much.

You might not be, but I most certainly am starting #TeamKamomekamoKamo

I... I'm trying to not let my old bias resurface, please let Moka not win (yet). Surely its ironic that when this aired no one i spoke with really cared for/against Moka... now (years later), someone finally does... DAMMIT! Where was you back then!

So like, that was a lot of words in your replies to inty over there, but i'm geting tired here so lol.

Most of it was probably about the question actions between Mugi and his Senpai and how Is Hanabi hooked up with her crush (the male teacher) it would be illegal... minor and all that, and if Mugi and Female teacher hooked up, it would also be illegal... so much questionable actions ehre!

OKAY THANK GOD WE ARE ALL ON THE SAME PAGE HERE.

so yes, we most certainly are. This whole thing is messed up!

Or you know, maybe next week I wont watch all 3 episodes at the last minute and maybe write them up throughout the week when I watch them. Yeah. Just a thought. Be smart, me.

Literally me. I was so dumb in hindsight in posting but alas, we live and learn.

Holy... that reply was long.
sorry not sorry.

Moving on - Shouldn't be as long now it's just replies and not episode thoughts and replies!

Spoiler: Interregnum stuff

Except the sequel volume

Is this like a epilogue or something? Seems to me once it's done, let it stay done!

One of the things I like about Scum's Wish is that it doesn't look at the bad stuff and pretend that it's okay.

I guess... it is in the title. "Scum" says it all... and i like that!

But it doesn't pretend that any one of them is noble for their bad decisions. Or that those decisions are "actually good if you think about it guys."

I think you just summarised so many points i tried (and likely failed) to make in my last post in this sentence... huh, guess you do have a way with words.

Just to point out: I describe Scum's Wish as "Toradora with sexytime."

I... no! I mean, in greatness, maybe. It's kind of hard for me to imagine Toradora with sexy time!

But also: yes--it's a gem, and I love it.

I came to love it more over time weirdly, I guess as someone who was very "meh" to tsundere's, first time through with Taiga was never as great as subsequent watches where we know how godly she can become.

Everyone is doing things.

haha, I so hope you meant this in a literal sense, otherwise I'm laughing at a joke which wasn't even there... but you clearly meant that to be funny right... I'm not the only one thinking this is brilliant... right?

Ecchan's

Oh yeah... there was someone like this wasn't there... did he even appear more than once?

There's a discussion to be had about whether this makes it good writing or not. And maybe we'll get there. But, certainly for the moment, my opinion is that these are acceptable flaws/"flaws" that are outweighed by the effect of everything around them.

I see this discussion happening the more Hanabi and Ecchan interact actually. It's pretty much a must.
I don't think it makes for bad writing though, the opposite, It's compelling enough to look beyond whilst still being interesting.

because I both wasn't aware of nor particularly concerned with these details prior to this viewing.

I think i was like this my first time around. It's just a detail which goes over you or you don't care much on but when it's spelt out infront of you... yeah, kind of weird.
I don't normally make a fuss on age gaps (KoiKimo) as I don't think the shows intent is to tell a story about a predator or anything, same with Mugi and his teacher (I will learn names, i swear), It doesn't feel like its about her being older as much as it is who and what she is and of course, putting Mugi and Hana together. What is hard to overlook though is Mugi and his senpai friend... that (i still want answers on why that was a thing) was just rape(y).

I'd have been traumatized to some degree.

I do find this ironically interesting. Ask anyone (from 16+ or so) and they would say they would of "loved" that to happen to them, but as you say, realistically, someone in that situation would likely be traumatised or suffer some mental damage from it all in one way or another, It certainly at the least would probably take a shot to their personality.

It's still the best representation of the deromanticized aspects of unrequited love I've ever seen. And I think watching/reading this while under the influence of that feeling (whether actively or still in its wake) is like someone pulling the indescribable out of you and--through what must seem like black magic--making it tangible.

Im just quoting this because i 100% agree with everything said here.

The google machine isn't helping me pretend I get this reference. I could just as easily have skipped past it, but...I didn't.

He's dedicated to this one, we must know if we are to proceed!!! Weirdly... there is something in the back of my mind telling me i should know this...

DID SOMEONE SAY RENT-A-GIRLFRIEND???

And here you are...
At least you posted Ruka, I can get down with that i guess.

Definitely. Which is something to keep in mind, as we go along. It'll be part of the "so, is this actually as good as we feel, or is it objectively not as good (though still very good)?" discussion.

This will actually likely play into my final verdict a fair bit, Of course i can't remember most the second half of the show so if it is relevant still or needs re-reviewing, we will see/

man that took some typing!

But i think with it being just replies now (not initial thoughts), it shouldn't take 1-2 hours per post!!!

 

[interregnum]

Mami was the best girl in Ren-A-Girl was she not?

How dare you.

Spoiler: A COUPLE OF REPLIES (MAYBE I'M SLEEPY)

It doesn't feel like its about her being older as much as it is who and what she is and of course, putting Mugi and Hana together.

Exactly. It's the same with Ecchan's sexuality (and Hanabi's time with her). And, if we're applying this rule equally, rapey-sempai.

And this is what I mean when I say it's worth discussing in terms of whether or not this is good writing. That is, I don't mean to judge whether it is successful or entertaining or colloquially "good" (spoiler: I think this series is incredible). Rather, I'm wondering if (or to what degree) the writing being effective offsets or justifies the...let's call them structural flaws in the writing.

Essentially, I'm wondering how well the magic trick can succeed once we've noticed how it is done.

Spoiler

...it occurs to me that if neither of you was in the Summer Time Rendering thread, last year, the "magic trick" comment isn't going to make sense.

It's how I describe storytelling that needs to rely on misdirection to keep you thinking everything is working perfectly, so that (in the best cases) you leave feeling elated at having witnessed magic.

My go-to example is the 2009 Star Trek movie: it's one of my favorite movies, but if you resist the allure of the brilliant flow of the story, I don't think much of it makes any kind of sense. But, gosh, it sure feels like it does.

I don't mean to imply the Scum's Wish falls is a similar kind of pablum as Star Trek (2009), just that the narrative principle might be the same: is the razzmatazz giving it the shape of brilliance, or is it fundamentally brilliant and just enhanced by its razzmatazz?

 

[Madoka]

How dare you.

I think before we tread this road again, we should agree to disagree here... you like the worst girl and i like the best, It's just simple maths and you know, I am all knowing about the best girls... it's my thing. (probably... maybe... arguably).

Spoiler: Moka is still the best

rapey-sempai.

I swear this name for her would be so great - though i ask you as someone who hasn't read the source.. did it ever explain why rape-senpai and Mugi hooked up? Dunno if the anime covered it but sure it didn't and it is seriously bugging me, it is just weird!

(spoiler: I think this series is incredible)

I never would of guessed... not that i blame you... because it is.

if neither of you was in the Summer Time Rendering thread, last year, the "magic trick" comment isn't going to make sense.

I wasn't... I haven't seen the show (It was on my watchlist but i had too many shows so it never got watched - I'm trying to pickup some old shows i missed this winter considering I'm only watching like 5 shows and most of them air in one night).

is the razzmatazz giving it the shape of brilliance, or is it fundamentally brilliant and just enhanced by its razzmatazz?

I like your way of wording things!

Essentially, I'm wondering how well the magic trick can succeed once we've noticed how it is done.

For me though, this is a question i think will be answered more towards the ending, I think by 3/4 mark we can actually judge it all, at least a little better. I honestly only remember vague parts of this show beyond... Moka's day (which is pretty vivid in my mind to say the least) so I feel it's unfair of me to judge anything much (yet).

 

[interregnum]

you like the worst girl and i like the best

interregnum will remember this​

Spoiler: ASK AND...I WILL GO TO MY BOOKSHELF

did it ever explain why rape-senpai and Mugi hooked up? Dunno if the anime covered it but sure it didn't and it is seriously bugging me, it is just weird!

I've just double-checked, and it seems like the only difference between what we saw and what's in the comic is the narration. (I think.)

In the book, it's clear that Mugi was...not an active participant in the scenario: he talks about how she didn't check out her rack or her, um, lady region because he was too scared--but in the context of the same way he found her advances scared him. (Not enough to push her away, it seems--or, rather, not in a way that he felt he could, regardless of what his erection was interested in.) He also makes a point of saying that she was a really f***ed up girl, and that they were both aware that she was using him.

There may be more information to come, though, depending on the way things are edited

Spoiler: (for example)

Hanabi doesn't jerk off Mugi to completion in the comic.

He stops her, and then she says, "But I wanna!" which we also see in the show, but then the issue ends. So...I believe the scene afterwards where she complains about him cumming on her clothes is anime-original.

so I'm going to leave it at that. And we'll see (or maybe have already seen, depending on everyone's Scum schedule)

However, I will add that the parallel between Rapey-sempai and Hanabi using Mugi's cock after he's said to stop is overtly mentioned by him, in the book. So, I think we can surmise that, while he's not scared of Hanabi in any sense, he's fine to go along with something that gets him off. (Though he recognizes that this is not a good thing.)

I haven't seen the show

First half is fun. Second half is escalating nonsense.

this is a question i think will be answered more towards the ending

I agree. I think we're going to have a much better idea when everything fully plays out.

...or at least when we get to the Akane section, which is A LOT of monologuing.

 

[interregnum]

And we are back!

I can't believe it's been a whole week. A whole three more episodes. A whole [checks modest-sized notebook] four pages of notes.

And it's technically Thursday, as I click post, so...let's get into it!

Spoiler: 4

I've been more than a little dubious of the official BluRay subtitles, but we're basically staring off the episode with Akane's f***-buddy saying to her (verbatim!): "You're already awakem, so what's the harm?"

So, yeah, I'm totally gonna trust that it's "Moca" and not "Moka," you absolute bag of jellybeans.

Spoiler: 4

And don't even get me started on how you chose to use "purposefully" instead of "purposely," later on.

Spoiler: Okay--4 REAL, This time

Starting things off with one heck of a bang (...literally--but I digress), a wild Akane has entered the chat!

If nothing else, I think we can all agree that, when she's around, stuff happens. And, gosh, things happen immediately, and it all stems from the quick recontextualization of the previous episode's flighty "let's talk in the music room!" ending. Turns out, Akane's not flighty but insidiously calculating and has quickly turned the Hanabi/Onii-chan situation to her perverse advantage, setting a trap to absolutely gut Hanabi. She isn't innocently oblivious to her sexiness but utterly deliberate about--and she gets off on the power it brings her.

But what's fascinating is the reason for all this. Beyond the surface-level high it gives her to "beat" other girls, even beyond the somewhat mundane (and probably inaccurate, here) trope that she's trying to make up for some kind of insecurity, it turns out that Akane is just frustrated that Hanabi--by her measure--is pretending she's NOT a man-eating sociopath.

Spoiler

We get that clip of Akane misconstruing that Hanabi is dating Mugi just because Moka likes him. Which is totally off-base, of course, but 100% what Akane would assume.

Spoiler: THAT SAID...

Hanabi does admit part of wanting Moka to back off is that she (Hanabi) is possessive. Though it's not really what's driving her attraction/"attraction" to Mugi, of course.

And she doesn't want Mugi treating Moka like Onii-chan treats her--that is, giving her hope where none exists. (Though these two situations are opposites, really, since Moka is overt about her feelings and Hanabi is not. (Plus, Onii-chan's oblivious as f***. (And has an Oedipus complex--but I digress.)))

Yes, she's upset that Hanabi is a phony, frustrated that (in so doing) Hanabi is acting like she's above Akane. And, further, there's this hint of jealousy/fear that Hanabi is able to be desired and desire someone else without any measure of sociopathic manipulation underlying either.

And this is, like, three minutes into the episode, guys. Hoo-boy.

So, ignoring how Akane's trap sort of depends on waiting until she knows Hanabi is a certain distance away from the room before she kickstarts the conversation with Onii-chan so that she (Hanabi) can walk in at the exact right time (and she does coming sprinting into the room, so it's entirely possible that this is exactly what she's done!), I'd like to point out that Akane is definitely wearing the same clothes she wore the night before, when she went on her f***-buddy hotel date--but while the pile of clothes in the love hotel clearly shows she was wearing a garter belt and stockings, she is clearly not wearing stockings when she's at school. The show thought I wouldn't notice this detail, but I did. Now...explain yourself, show!

Spoiler

"But aren't her stockings sheer? How could you tell?"
"From my talent for noticing near-imperceptible changes in color pigmentation and certainly not from the clear, split-second shot of Akane's bare feet in her open-toe indoor slippers as when she stepped into the music room."

Spoiler

"...dude, I can hear you sweating over the internet."
"I SAID IT WAS THE PIGMENT THING!"

It also struck me, this time through, that Onii-chan is the only real male presence in Hanabi's life. So, her crush isn't just this childhood friend-type thing, it's an Electra complex, as well. Which...is a heck of a parallel between them, no?

But then we also get Hanabi and Ecchan f***ing, so I'm not surprised if you didn't notice this.

Spoiler

One point about these two:

It's kinda funny that Hanabi scolds herself about taking advantage of Ecchan when, really, Ecchan is the one taking advantage of Hanabi. Hanabi is certainly using Ecchan, but I think she (Hanabi) is the real victim in this situation, since she is the vulnerable one who gets pushed into the happenings.

Parallel to Mugi's first time, maybe?

Spoiler: 5

Speaking of Hanabi and Ecchan f***ing....

So, when Hanabi wakes up with Ecchan, is this...a different time they slept together? Because Hanabi leaves their first all-the-way time in the rain and gets yelled at by her imaginary younger self, right?

Spoiler: ALSO

In the comic, there's no "waking in the morning" scene. (At least not there, if it appears somewhere else.) We go from the sex to the walking in the rain--but then the rain scene ends with Hanabi coming face-to-face with Onii-chan and Akane sharing an umbrella.

It's a pretty dope moment.

Anyway.

I've got a couple of translation/adaptation things to talk about, but they're about the same segment of the episode, so I'm going to hold on to those for a moment and, in stead, talk about how f***ing dark the love hotel scene between Rapey-sempai and Mugi was. I mean, she legitimately says, "Hey, I owed you for all the times I made you do it with me, so this is fine." I mean...the arguments in favor of chastity sort of write themselves, with this one. Yeesh.

Spoiler

And...can tweens just, like, rent love hotels? I know there are some that are run by, like, vending machine, so there's no front desk clerk or anything, but...I mean, these two were kids. Am I being naive, or is this narrative handwaving?

That said, they do a good amount of calling back to the straw-chewing/sexually frustrated thing from the flashback where Rapey-sempai decides she's gonna make Mugi her toy (Mugi chews on a straw before calling her, her iced-coffee (complete with straw) is the first we see of her as she walks into frame

Spoiler

Her unchewed straw, for the record.

and then Mugi tosses her drink--straw and all--into the garbage after she leaves. All of which is a nice touch.

But, okay, the translation/adaptation thing:

I was really thrown by the flashback scene after we get college-Akane sexing at Mugi with her cleavage and bra strap and blowjobbing the cake cream off her finger. So, he's having sex with Rapey-sempai, and she bites him. All of which is fine.

But I was confused by the subtitles--so much so that I had to go back to the book to figure out what the show was trying to tell me with that scene.

In the anime, Rapey-sempai says, "So that's what you like?" And I'm thinking, "She wants to know if he's into...food erotica?" Like, it seemed to me that she was asking him if he wanted her to do something similarly sexy. And that seemed like a weird thing to have a moment about, even if it leads to him letting us know that biting him was her being a bit jealous.

But in the book, she says, "So, that's what you like about her?" Which is clearly her judging him for being into Akane for how overtly, tauntingly she used her sexuality to hold sway over guys. I don't know why the subtitles don't go those extra two words to specify which part of the Akane scene she was addressing. I mean...unless I'm the only one who got confused. (Or unless I'm the only one who has these particular subtitles, in which case of course I needed help.)

Similarly, when Mugi thinks about how Hanabi would have reacted, it's exactly as confusing (to me, if no one else). Because, in the anime, she says something like, "What? You have terrible taste. Die!" which, again, I thought was about licking whipped cream off each other or something. But, in the book, she says something like, "What are you, crazy? You need to open your eyes!" which clearly implies that she'd tell him he was being snookered.

But...well, whatever--because all of this pales in comparison to THE SINGLE GREATEST ENDING TO AN EPISODE EVER: "We had sex last night," Akane whispers, as she passes Hanabi in the school hallway.

Hoooooooooooooooly f***.

I remember that, at the time, I posted a comment somewhere on YouTube about how I assumed the next episode would start with Hanabi shanking Akane in the music room. Damn. What a goddamn punch in the gut. Just ice cold. I mean, I don't know if punches can be temperatures, but...it was.

And, fun fact: this moment is just a beat in the middle of a chapter, in the book. It's just a thing that happens, and then there's a dozen more pages after that. Can you even imagine?

Spoiler: 6

I don't know about you, but the biggest takeaway for me, with this episode, is...how does Hanabi have enough hair for the semi-side scrunchie look she's workin', when she runs into f***-buddy? It's a total lie, that hairstyle. You can't trick me, show.

...no, seriously, I don't have much else, for this one.

I thought the flashback to Hanabi talking to Onii-chan as a little girl but it turning out to be a nightmare was very well executed. Totally tricked me.

I actually took note of how Hanabi doesn't want to "ruin" Ecchan (and yet...) and Mugi doesn't want to "ruin" Moka (and yet...). It's not a subtle parallel, but I didn't notice it before now.

And...I totally forgot that Hanabi and Mugi agree to start dating for real. Probably because they are immediately beset by cheating. So I never gave it any thought, because we never see the "we're really dating!" relationship. There's no room for it. Not when there's so much pretentious monologuing to get in. (In point of fact: I really like the pretentious monologuing, here. But I would also argue that, as I was saying last week, this show is much more about emotional truths than anything else, so...this is fine, by my metrics--even if we know I'm usually one to wag my finger at this kind of thing.)

Spoiler: END-OF-SHOW SPOILER

But...real talk:

When all's said and done, Akane gives in to Onii-chan's pleas and, with his understanding that she's totes gonna bang other dudes while they're together, agrees to marry him.

BUT...

Do we believe her, or do we think this is (whether she realizes it or not) some kind of face-saving bluster, now that she's been (essentially) conquered by his lack of judgment?

I mean, I guess we'll see. But I want to keep that question in mind as we progress.

 

[Madoka]

Domo Desu~

Ahem, it's that times again ladies and gents, And boy is it a good week to be watching this week, stuff get real good real fast!

Spoiler: lets go!

Oh, boy have I been looking forward to this part, see i remember one thing for certain on this show, the episodes in which it not only follows Akane but the episodes which give her inner thoughts and dialogue, these episodes make me squeal more than a highschool girl being winked at by her favourite celebrity crush! This woman's prospective is god like, or maybe the writing is, who knows, I know its just so damn good to watch.

Now I just want to clarify (and mention) something before I move on. I might of mentioned before but the main element I'm looking forward is actually Akane. I have what you might call a sense of admiration with her... now look, I don't actually admire or respect her in any way, that isn't what i mean, it's just the same type of feeling for her. I think first time round i hated her with a passion but despite i don't sympathise with her at all or feel anything for her, I think in time i just come to enjoy her. I have literally no way to explain it. It's not like sympathising with the villain doing good (like Light from Death Note) or even just thinking "she had a crap life so it is what it is" because... no, none of that applies, I'm just...enjoying a sadistic character who plays with people for fun. Good, now that is cleared up, don't judge me if i start fanboying her sick ways, I'm not actually into this stuff, It just is interesting... oh screw it, I can't explain beyond this.

Onto the episode

Spoiler: Episode 4

So that opening is great. No really. She doesn't try to justify the way she is or nothing, she starts saying "Maybe i just love myself" to effectively drop down to "Feeling wanted feels good" and that's pretty much it, and guess what? I love that!! The simplicity is great. It's one of them things where you don't have to go into detail, it just works as it is. I dunno if I'm explaining this right, I don't even care, I'm just having fun!
Anyway, from here we move to the friend part, again, this is stuff other shows don't do, there isn't anything between her and that guy but the minute she see's her friend watching (who is crushing on the guy) she is just like "Oh shit" and the switch is flipped, she goes right into her bitch mode or whatever you wanna call it... god its great. But you know what makes this 10/10? "I didn't feel guilt" (whatever the full line is) - It's so abnormal from other shows, she isn't trying to justify her actions, she isn't trying to justify her move, she feels no guilt though and I dunno, chefs kiss though! I love when a character is bad for the sake of being that way, she feels no guilt, she feels no resentment either, she is just her. I am rambling... sorry, not sorry.
The scene with the dude? Meh, I did love the "I'm so over this" comment though, man Akane is something else.

"She's watching again" haha, I kind of love how she is so aware of what's going on and then throws everything up into the air, shit is truly ready to hit the fan "Lets meet in the music room"!!! It begins.

Moca got 5 seconds screen time!!


Ohhohoho, "I wanted to see her hurt expression" - It's funny really, her feelings over time might of changed but it certainly changes to feeling like a sense of superiority unlike what she suggested in the past.

I like Kanai even defines himself as boring... I'm not sure what Hanabi see's in him but he is pretty much the definition of plain. Which i guess i shouldn't be critical of, I mean, plain is average, which is better than being a dick but still, I still don't care for him. He's nice to Habani i guess... whatever.


Her thing about not crying because she never did anything... I like that about Hanabi, I mean sure, it's easier said than done but she did mostly stay on the sides... I'm not saying i agree with her on one level, but i do on another, man its easy to be conflicted with Hanabi. She does herself admit she was scared to be honest, she admits she was afraid of him not being her "brother" any more if she acted but... whatever, good stuff!

Now lets just appreciate the first place she ran was to Mugi's but i kind of like she stops herself, she doesn't want to rely on him as she puts it, truth is I think she just wanted to let him know its official now but whatever, I still enjoy seeing her as she stops herself and leaves.

Hanabi "Your no better than her" ??? No Hanabi, you aren't using Ecchan as she is using you! She is taking advantage of you, I mean yes you could argue this is a prospective thing, Hanabi is emotionally damaged and even Ecchan's smile says it all, she knows what she is doing, she took advantage of Hanabi's mood and used this to hop into her pants... Though Hanabi's instant jump to Kanai, I like the consistency.

Right, I will end my ranting there, I got carried away here

Spoiler: Episode 5

"Why does Hanabi like Kanai" - curse you show, you and your habit of making my points above feel redundant.

Urgh predator girl is back. Though, it's weird is it not that she knows of Akane's errr "hobby", I mean sure, it could be by happenchance but her wording implied it was obvious (as if everyone knew). Weirdly i only just linked that Akane would of been this guys student, I think the first time i watched this i didn't click on thinking of present day Akane banging some old dude which whilst age might be... weird, it's not entirely "wrong" (per-say) whilst now it's click, she is still a student and was sleeping with her teachers... interesting. Sure she is in college but I'm curious was this to be wanted, was it her fulfilment or was it something more? Sorry, it's hard not to imagine someone as a student willingly sleeping with some old professor just for the sake of it.

Of course Akane goes right to trying to seduce Mugi, from Motel to some kids house, she had little pride. Though come to think of it, quite sure he was a junior still then... so what? 15? c'mon, we got one dodgy one, we don't need another now! (Actually what am i saying, Akane is sleeping with her students the series through...).

Huh, so him and rape-senpai still maintain contact, fair does. Where do i sign up for one of these fucked up relationships... I mean errr... for research. I do like rape-senpai admits she is somewhat responsible for... the way he is now.

"Boring boring man" hahaha, I couldn't help laugh at this, it's just so perfect.

"Last night, we had sex" oooooookaaay... steddy on sunshine.

A little side note - I think Mugi is the worst of the main characters we follow. I always find the scenes which focus on one character and are told from their prospective really good or interesting for Hanabi and Akane but Mugi's always feel a bit dull, they aren't boring but i dunno, I just don't feel any hype or anything much at all.

Spoiler: ep6

Huh, Hanabi again contemplates turning into sensei and messing with others but her humanity kicks in, she doesn't actually like the idea of hurting people so it will never work.

Ohhhh, it's THIS episode! Okay. Right. I never cared for this episode that much, that guy who Hanabi spends the latter half with and who i still think looks a little like Mugi (Sensei's toy), yeah no, this sucks. I don't get what Hanabi even tried to achieve with this, she fails to be like sensei and thus that leaves us asking why is she even messing with this guy? Heck she is afraid of someone putting the moves on her so why go secluded places with a guy who pretty much has like 3 or 4 people who basically are sex friends? I can't figure Hanabi out during this part. It feels so forced, her actions aren't eradic as they are fake.

Ecchan... this is why i have no sympathy for her at all. I always will argue she is in the wrong, she (not hanabi) is the one playing with emotions, she takes every opportunity to take advantage of Hanabi and even forces herself on her numerous times, I... i dunno, I don't feel anything for Ecchan and i certainly don't pity her either, I just think she is the bottom of the barrel. sorru not sorry.

NEXT WEEK - MOCA DATE, finally!

Replies in another comment!

 

[Madoka]

Spoiler: replies

I've been more than a little dubious of the official BluRay subtitles,

Shame really, I'm kind of a big fan of supporting official releases of shows I enjoy but man it sucks to see so many with typo's or subs which feel off (it's sad more so when you can translate the general conversation through basic knowledge yet the official release changes the context entirely to some other conversation! - I know some comedy shows used to do this in the past to make their jokes make more sense to a western audience but this isn't comedy and they stopped doing that now as the internet has actually enlightened the world to see other cultures other than their own doorstep.).
Ahem, point is, it sucks when officials are wrong.

Starting things off with one heck of a bang (...literally--but I digress),

hehe, nice.

If nothing else, I think we can all agree that, when she's around, stuff happens.

Oh heck yeah, she is the best!

Akane's not flighty but insidiously calculating and has quickly turned the Hanabi/Onii-chan situation to her perverse advantage, setting a trap to absolutely gut Hanabi.

Only downer being she knows Hanabi is there, her plan was odd. If she let Hanabi enter sight i might let her pass but nope, she just does her own thing and knows Hanabi is present as she arrives.

Yes, she's upset that Hanabi is a phony, frustrated that (in so doing)

I never see Hanabi as fake. Hanabi never really eludes she is a "man user", the only time she ever does this is with the random dude she bores us with in the final episode for the week. I guess you could say Mugi and her but i don't see it that way, their mutual agreement doesn't really count as using so... meh.
Maybe its just me and me being bias for Hanabi but i just never saw her like Akane, even when she starts dating boring dude on the side.
Which i mean... you kind of covered yourself when you said about Moca... but whatever, I needed to solidify my point!

So, ignoring how Akane's trap sort of depends on waiting until she knows Hanabi is a certain distance away from the room before she kickstarts the conversation

... I... okay, I am glad i wasn't the only one who thought this trap didn't work in reality. Maybe if she had camera's in the halls and told sensei to wait but that would be weird, it also relied on Onii-chan confessing at the exact moment, I mean, confessing even a few seconds too early would make Hanabi miss it and ruin the apparently brilliant plan.

, I'd like to point out that Akane is definitely wearing the same clothes she wore the night before, when she went on her f***-buddy hotel date

Huh... I didn't notice that. nice spotting that one and nice work to the writers for including it, I mean we do get this explained to us on the rape-senpai date but that's another story and this just feels like they are being consistent with her spending the night out with other dudes. The downer here is, when does she ever change clothes? I mean, she seems to spend more time in someone else's bed than she does her own... maybe she is homeless and that is why she enjoys sleeping around, it gets her a room.

"...dude, I can hear you sweating over the internet."
"I SAID IT WAS THE PIGMENT THING!"

haha you made me laugh, you win again!

that Onii-chan is the only real male presence in Hanabi's life. So, her crush isn't just this childhood friend-type thing, it's an Electra complex, as well.

Interesting point. I dunno about her former friendships but she clearly doesn't have a father around and it doesn't mention any dudes... was the episode where Moca cheated with her high-tech running shoes a all-girls school? Wondering if any guys was present. Granted having male classmates and having male-influence/presence are a bit different but just curious now.

Ecchan is the one taking advantage of Hanabi. Hanabi is certainly using Ecchan, but I think she (Hanabi) is the real victim in this situation, since she is the vulnerable one who gets pushed into the happenings.

THANK YOU!!!
Oh god, I thought it was just me! Thanks for confirming I'm not insane. Hanabi is the victim, (my comments on following episodes for Ecchan aren't so kind), Ecchan uses her more than Hanabi uses her, Ecchan take advantage of Hanabi every time she is vulnerable which is a lot different from how Hanabi uses Ecchan, equally, Hanabi never forces herself on Ecchan.


Ep 5 replies:

In the comic,

It's a pretty dope moment.

I kind of like the idea of it playing out this way, why couldn't we get that in the anime version!

"Hey, I owed you for all the times I made you do it with me, so this is fine."

...Where do i sign up for this kind of thing? (Note - note rape! or minors!)

I mean...unless I'm the only one who got confused. (Or unless I'm the only one who has these particular subtitles, in which case of course I needed help.)

No it's a fair point. I was a bit confused for a second when she said it but just didn't think much of it i admit, as for the subs... I'm not using the official ones soooo I can't comment there without going back to check but mine did say "So that's what you like" (or something to that nature).

THE SINGLE GREATEST ENDING TO AN EPISODE EVER: "We had sex last night," Akane whispers, as she passes Hanabi in the school hallway.

Maybe I'm not the only one who kind of enjoys Akane's character and her weirdly sadistic ways... hmmmm.

Can you even imagine?

I dunno, I quite love the anime style of ending on that note, like it just cuts and boom, your just left here mouth wide open, no idea how to even react, ultimate crushing finisher and you just gotta wait another week (when it aired... and for us, maybe) until you see how they follow that up (not that i think they do).
Still, gotta hurt to be Hanabi right there, like, It isn't enough Sensei just stole her crush but bragging info Hanabi doesn't really need to know, damn.
Maybe this is where the infamous NTR genre came from.

Episode 6:

ow does Hanabi have enough hair for the semi-side scrunchie look she's workin'

I ask this about a lot of women in both fiction and reality, it's like they just summon hair. Not kidding, I once told this girl I work with to show me how it even works, she usually had her hair tied up and when it was down it wasn't overly long, didn't look enough to tie that's for sure... of course you can see how that one went... bloody sorcery man, they summon hair or something to suit them as they need it.

...no, seriously, I don't have much else, for this one.

Probably because my point on Mugi episode's, the parts about Mugi just don't feel as fun.
looks back

Ohhhh... nevermind, yes right, this episode is pretty meh (as suggested in my comments), I still find little point in Hanabi and this dude hooking up, it's very bland and boring.

I actually took note of how Hanabi doesn't want to "ruin" Ecchan (and yet...) and Mugi doesn't want to "ruin" Moka (and yet...). It's not a subtle parallel, but I didn't notice it before now.

That's... a good point.

And...I totally forgot that Hanabi and Mugi agree to start dating for real. Probably because they are immediately beset by cheating. So I never gave it any thought, because we never see the "we're really dating!"

It's funny that they decide to start dating for real and the cheating aside (yeah, i just said that), this is around the time they start slowly drifting away from one another, gotta love how that one plays out.
But seriously, why did the first thing both of them do was go straight to cheating... Mugi is one thing but Hanabi?

I really like the pretentious monologuing

I honestly love it in this show... maybe not as much from Mugi's side but the rest are bang on point (I'm not against Mugi for the record, I just don't think he has as much to him as the rest and it shows a lot).

As for the other spoiler... not gonna lie, I can't remember much beyond next episode, I know of Moca's date and then I don't recall lots, only odd bits.

 

[naterbug8278]

First I'd like to apologize I didn't say anything else after my initial post, as I was having some computer issues, that are still...mostly unsolved. But, I found a way to comfortably watch my shit again, so I've just been trying to get caught up on watching stuff. But I'm here, and ready for this next set. Except, I'm not and nothing actually changed and I'll be watching all 3 tonight right now and writing this up after each episode LOL.

Spoiler: IMPORTANT LAST WEEK THINGS

...wait, is this your first time earning interregnum points? You're not on my list.

Wait, surely this can't be the first time. I am immensely funny in my own personal opinion. I have like, a trillion Nat points. I'm in first place. Maybe I need to try harder.

Mami was the best girl in Ren-A-Girl was she not?

Correct. But like, mostly because Aoi Yuki. I think like almost exclusively because Aoi Yuki. Have I made it abundantly clear that I like Aoi Yuki to the both of you yet? Because, I like Aoi Yuki's voice.

...it occurs to me that if neither of you was in the Summer Time Rendering thread, last year, the "magic trick" comment isn't going to make sense.

I watched it. I loved it. I'm unsure what specifically you mean by the magic trick. I did stay caught up with it but my disucssion of the show exclusively was between me and a friend, and was not publicized. So that's unfortunate.

Right ok here we go me

Spoiler: Episode 4

Right, so the Teacher ladies name is Akane. Okay. Got it. I'll remember that.

Spoiler

That's about all I took from this episode.

Spoiler

Can you imagine? I just put that, looked at it, called it good, moved on with my day?

Spoiler

I actually liked this episode. A whole lot. But, quite frankly, I cannot think of ways to make jokes about things that happened. Because most of it was pretty seious. And Teacher Lady is still a bitch. In a good way. LIke, I don't dislike her. But that doesn't change the fact that she is a horrible person. I mean, kinda. The whole wanting to be...sought after, isn't necessarily too uncommon. I think most people want affection of some kind. But, she takes it next level. The way she is manipulating everything, and using everyone for her own personal gain. Is...good shit. I like it.

Went to eat some food for dinner. I forgot what happened in the rest of the episode. Um. OH RIGHT.

Spoiler

The Ecchan scene was pretty hot, tbh. I mean there is like serious aspects about it, and I do understand those. But that doesn't mean I want to write about them for 20 minutes.

Though, real talk. Hanabi entering her villain arc is something I enjoyed the first time. And I enjoyed it a whole lot, this time too. Mostly becasue I forgot it happened, and he decided to go square up with bitch-sensei. And honestly, I'm all for it. By episode 8 they better throw hands or something. I'm ready for Hanabi to just solid right hook teacher lady. It would be awesome, actually.

I promise ill actually like, talk about things in the replies. Probably.

Spoiler: Episode 5

Destruction Baby sounds like a band name from the 90's or something. But the point being is that has to be one of the most anime titles for an episode I have ever seen. And its in Scum's Wish. Says a lot about society.

"Mugi you're such a child"
checks notes
My man is literally what, 13 here? So, yes. He is. Why is this still a thing we are coming back to. So anyway he calls her up and they fuck. Thats neat. It being the first time he was the one to reach out was interesting to note. But also not really because while I respect ths is supposed to be something of a backstory that makes him who he is, I think its dumb.

I--you know, I'm more of a long hair kinda guy, but Bitch-sensei as a tutor kinda rocked that hair. The braid in the back with the little ribbon? Its cute. I somewhat like it more than her current adult hair.

And the pure amount of times this lady called 'onii-chan' boring was funny. And, I agree. He IS boring. BUT THEN THE MAN SAID HANA HOO-BOY OH MAN THAT WAS A SLIP ALRIGHT. I am suprised this man was able to brush it off. You're in love with a girl, she is about to smash her head, you save her, AND CALL HER THE WRONG NAME. How do you emotionally recover from that? You don't. Its simple math. My man is dead inside now. And then somehow bedded her anyway. Fuck unrealisitc nonsense! Theres no wAY SHE WOULD GO TO A HOTEL WITH HIM AFTER THAT. Immersion ruined.

Also, Mugi. If you're trying to get a girl to stay in your room, I do not believe asking her if she is a virign is the optimal thing to say. But then again, I have not spoken to a woman in ages, so what do I know.

PS. That scene at the end, I didn't forget it. I saved it for replies.

Spoiler: Episode 6

Imagine being called a brat by your younger past ghost self. I think Hanabi has some mental problems to sort through first if she is being haunted by a ghost.

So um, I guess theyre dating now. I have zero feelings about this. I mean, I do, but I'm not sure how to write words to explain it. So we can just move onto the MORE IMPORTANT TOPIC OF ECCHAN FORCING HERSELF UPON HANABI SOME MORE LETS GOO-ahem i mean no thats bad this is NTR or something. On a more serious note, I definitely am seeing the concept of Ecchans actions being...questionable. Like sure the bias that its kinda hot is there too, but it also is definitely very not good and should cease immediately.

Spoiler

No but seriously, please, continue.

Hanabi...trying to get back at Bitch-sensei is...quite frankly, pretty good. I like the plot of this. I think its pretty well written, here. We can go debate morality some other time I'm not here for that shit, I'm here for the juicy drama plot. Except that...seeing Hanabi act like that, kinda grossed me out. It was very actively fake, and I kinda hated it. In the sense that, it was perfectly done. All her actions, the way she spoke, it was purely to capture this guy. She's decided to go down that path to, well...bitch-sensei. So in the sense that I hated seeing her like that, for plot reasons, I loved it.

AND KAMOMEKAMO KAMO IS BACK LETS GOOOOOOOOOO SHE GONNA GET A DATE WITH MUGI WOOHOO. Dude how did I stop this after episode 6, when Kamomekamo Kamo is getting an episode (probably?) immediately after. I don't understnad, me.

Next week I am going to be completely blind. As we move into the second half I'm expecting shit to hit the fan. Don't let me down, Scum's Wish. But then again, your name is Scum's Wish so, it's probably going to be an experience.

Spoiler: replies

Episode 4

"You're already awakem, so what's the harm?"

So. We have different subtitles, for usre. Mine said "C'mon, if you're already awake..." (letter for letter, the dots too.) So, I've got no idea whats up with the blu-ray subs lol.

And has an Oedipus complex

...a what?
quickly google searches
A WHAT?!
Quite frankly, I think I'm more questioning that this is term, that exists. And also...that you know about it?

pile of clothes in the love hotel clearly shows she was wearing a garter belt and stockings

This is, not particularly an important thing but I just wanted to put in my two cents that garterbelts are really hot. I noticed them too, and it was like the swifest eyebrow raise of interest when I saw it. That is all.

"...dude, I can hear you sweating over the internet."

First readthrough of this I took it as using it in the sense of like, tryharding. When you say someone is being sweaty at a game, or something, and not just physically sweating from the nervousness of the fact that you caught a 0.3 second shot of her toes. But, I think it honestly works either way. That you were just that into feet that they caught your attention.

So, her crush isn't just this childhood friend-type thing, it's an Electra complex

sighs heavily.
A WHAT?!
I'm not like, saying you are wrong, I just am processing that these are terms that exist. (But then again, I think i might be more suprised if they didn't.)

I'm just...enjoying a sadistic character who plays with people for fun

You heard it here first, folks. Madoka is an M. Kinda fits the name.

I did love the "I'm so over this" comment though

This made me laugh, honestly. She was just so done. Absolutely uninteresting anymore as this guy went to town on her. I think I'd be traumatized.
---------------------------------------------------------
Episode 5

And...can tweens just, like, rent love hotels?

Aside from as you said, the vending machine ones, I'm fairly certain there is going to be a couple love hotels that just...don't give a shit? Business is business. If they look old enough, whatever. But, then again uh, he was thirteen. So, $5 on narritive handwaving.

straw-chewing

and then Mugi tosses her drink--straw and all--into the garbage after she leaves. All of which is a nice touch.

Okay, I noticed there was a lot of straw shit going on, but in no way did my brain connect these as having any sort of subtle meaning. I mean hell, my main takaway was that Mugi was drinking from a juice box while laying down, and there is no possible way he didn't spill some juice out the hole on himself. That's what my brain took away from that.

In the anime, Rapey-sempai says, "So that's what you like?"

Back on the subtitle thing, in this instance ours actually says the exact same thing. But, the idea that he is into food erotic is much more entertaining.

she says something like, "What? You have terrible taste. Die!" which, again, I thought was about licking whipped cream off each other or something

"What? No way. Please, just die. Right, you're terrible."
I...I actually don't know what to say about mine. I think I would have preferred yours. But honestly, I'll I needed to know was she was basically insulting him. So it was still funny.

But...well, whatever--because all of this pales in comparison to THE SINGLE GREATEST ENDING TO AN EPISODE EVER: "We had sex last night," Akane whispers, as she passes Hanabi in the school hallway.

"Last night, we had sex" oooooookaaay... steddy on sunshine.

Spoiler: Im sorry

I'm not even remotely sorry.

---------------------------------
Episode 6, I guess?

how does Hanabi have enough hair for the semi-side scrunchie look she's workin', when she runs into f***-buddy? It's a total lie, that hairstyle. You can't trick me, show.

Okay but--It looked real good. So, I overlooked it.

Dude I got Princess Connect Clan Battle to do, so I need to stop. This time I will try my best to actually return to this and not just show up once a week lmao.

Who needs proof reading.

 

[interregnum]

Spoiler: BLOCK OF REPLIES

now look, I don't actually admire or respect her in any way

No get what you mean. It's about her being a character that actually does the things she does. Maybe a kind of fascination or excitement over her being unique?

It's so abnormal from other shows

Uniqueness confirmed.

She is sort of the Sherlock Holmes of being a manipulative whore, though--not just in that she's hyper-observant (specific to sexuality, in her case), but also in that she's unrepentant in her self-assurance that she's the apex predator. So, I get the interest.

It's funny really, her feelings over time might of changed but it certainly changes to feeling like a sense of superiority unlike what she suggested in the past.

It's an interesting point, but I can't tell if her assertion was incorrect (whether a lie or a self-misunderstanding) or if something changes when she runs into this situation with Hanabi

Spoiler: END-OF-SERIES SPOILER

(as a sort of reflection or maybe foreshadowing of how things are different with Onii-chan)

whom she sees as being of the same predator species as she is.

its easy to be conflicted with Hanabi

I think that's her charm as a character--or, in another sense, a compliment to the author: Hanabi is as sympathetic as she is frustrating, making horrendous decisions for wholly relatable reasons.

it's weird is it not that she knows of Akane's errr "hobby"

Oh, um...huh. Good point.

Ye olde slight-of-hand writing? Or is this more along the lines of "exact reason doesn't really matter"?

It probably doesn't matter...but it's also an interesting question, now that it's been asked, so I now wonder if we've been slightly tricked.

Sorry, it's hard not to imagine someone as a student willingly sleeping with some old professor just for the sake of it.

I mean, Akane doesn't seem to do this stuff for a particular benefit, so there's probably some more complicated explanation than the typical "wants good grades" or "because it was available." She certainly doesn't like him.

Though come to think of it, quite sure he was a junior still then... so what? 15?

Oh, I don't think it's even as much as that. He might be 14, in that scene, depending on whether Rapey-sempai is a year or two years older than Mugi. (Because they only stop f***ing when she graduates from middle school--and they are totes f***ing, a this point in the flashback.)

Mugi's always feel a bit dull

Oh, totally agree. He's got the least interesting part of the story. Or perhaps as equally as least-interesting as Onii-chan--though I think his shtick will prove to be less conventional that Mugi's (if you can consider the details of Mugi's attraction to Akane "conventional") and, therefore, less least-interesting than Mugi's part of the story.

At least, that's how I feel as of now.

Huh, Hanabi again contemplates turning into sensei and messing with others but her humanity kicks in, she doesn't actually like the idea of hurting people so it will never work.

I think this is the first moment I've genuinely put together that Hanabi is a mirror reflection of Akane. I mean, I've obviously described as much already, but this might be the first time I've thought to categorize those descriptions as such.

Man, this is written pretty well, huh?

I can't figure Hanabi out during this part. It feels so forced, her actions aren't eradic as they are fake.

I think that's because she is forcing it, and she is being fake. (As opposed to the writer trying to pass off something she wouldn't do as something she absolutely would do.)

I'm not saying you're wrong to think it's not a great part of the story, of course. Though I would ask if you didn't enjoy it because...well, turns out Nat's got a good way to phrase it:

.seeing Hanabi act like that, kinda grossed me out. It was very actively fake, and I kinda hated it. In the sense that, it was perfectly done.

Which is probably where I'd fall, too.

But it's a point I wouldn't fight especially hard for, because I think this section, while good, isn't the kind of thing I want to spend time on.

I never see Hanabi as fake.

But Akane does. And, given how she sees the world, I think it makes sense that she wouldn't consider Hanabi to be, y'know, at all genuine.

Of course, we know Hanabi isn't put on an act, even in her fake relationship with Mugi. I mean, yes, she's pretending to date him, but they A) are kind of dating (kind of), and B) she's not doing it as a means of affecting anyone outside of the two of them--and they're both in on the reality of the situation.

Huh... I didn't notice that. nice spotting that one

Oh, I only noticed it because Hanabi pointed it out in the previous episode, so I remembered it for this one.

was the episode where Moca cheated with her high-tech running shoes a all-girls school?

Heh, no. And I believe it's a boy who yells that Moka's shoes are made of the speed force, once Hanabi draws attention to them.

Y'know, the bright pink sneakers. That no one noticed were not regulation shoes. Regulation white shoes.

it's like they just summon hair.

Okay, that is funny. Genuine, out-loud laugh for a good 30 seconds or so.

You get 25 points for that.

It's funny that they decide to start dating for real ... they start slowly drifting away from one another

Yup. It's exposing the flaw in...well, in some portion of their whole deal, whether it's that they should have tried real-dating from the start or that they are getting into this real stuff for the worst reasons or the excitement was only in the bizarre original design of the "relationship" or...I mean, take your pick of anything else you can guess, because they're probably all right.

Wait, surely this can't be the first time. I am immensely funny in my own personal opinion. I have like, a trillion Nat points. I'm in first place.

...this is to indicate that I thought this was quite funny, but I was really committed to using another Jane gif, and...this is as close to a second laughing one as I have to hand. Which...I can't imagine you're all that upset about. It's Jane. (...and/or Pikachu. I don't want to assume your taste.)

But, yeah, "I'm in first place" earns you another 10 interregnum points. Very good.

I'm unsure what specifically you mean by the magic trick.

If you're asking about what I mean in a broad sense, it's just what I call moments in a story that, like with a magic trick, absorb us int the wonder of what we're seeing so that we don't question the legitimacy of it.

If you're asking about what I mean in terms of Summer Time Rendering, I mean how a lot of it doesn't make sense, but the show does A LOT of trying to make you think that it does (which it pulls off with some skill...until it really doesn't (as I saw it)).

I'm more of a long hair kinda guy, but Bitch-sensei as a tutor kinda rocked that hair.

I'm a shorter-hair kinda guy (I guess...though it depends on the girl), and I agree with you.

then again, I have not spoken to a woman in ages, so what do I know.

...f***, that's really funny, too. What else do I...ah!

Yeah, that'll do.

Also: 10 more points.

I think Hanabi has some mental problems to sort through first if she is being haunted by a ghost.

Heh, I liked this one, too.

But it only gets an Ellen:

Spoiler

...what? I like my OX girls.

Quite frankly, I think I'm more questioning that this is term, that exists. And also...that you know about it?

Is this not a relatively widespread term? I mean, it's certainly not new, but maybe it's just fallen out of the popular lexicon.

Y'know, since anime is popular. And full of incest.

This is, not particularly an important thing but I just wanted to put in my two cents that garterbelts are really hot.

Ask the google machine about Gil Elvgren.

Spoiler: "I CAN'T BE BOTHERED TO TYPE SOMETHING INTO GOO--"

Yes, you can.

You heard it here first, folks. Madoka is an M.

I don't hear him denying it. Or posting a very believable trail of exonerating anime girl gifs that prove his denial totally and completely beyond reproach guys why are we still pretending otherwise.

my main takaway was that Mugi was drinking from a juice box while laying down, and there is no possible way he didn't spill some juice out the hole on himself. That's what my brain took away from that.

Dude--yes! I was thinking the same thing.

I miss juice boxes. I mean, I don't, because there was never enough drink, even back when I was kid.

But I digress.

Who needs proof reading.

The official BluRay.

But, again, I digress.

 

[naterbug8278]

Spoiler: See, I said I would reply to things this time.

Which...I can't imagine you're all that upset about. It's Jane.

Correct. I am in no way upset. Unironically a pretty cute gif.

If you're asking about what I mean in terms of Summer Time Rendering, I mean how a lot of it doesn't make sense, but the show does A LOT of trying to make you think that it does (which it pulls off with some skill...until it really doesn't (as I saw it)).

Okay yeah, I think I totally get what you mean here. I thought Summer Time Rendering was pretty amazing. Probabaly one of my favourite shows that season. When you look back on some of the things that happened...yeah okay. I see it. So, I think I was hit by that magic trick of sorts. Like,

Spoiler: Summertime spoilers

When In the gymnasium fight with Shide and Haine after they set the place on fire, my man just eradicates all oxygen from the room?? In watching it was pretty rad honestly but once I thought about it for like a microsecond it made no damn sense. Did this man just suck in all the air, Sky Dragon Slayer style from Fairy Tail?

Spoiler

If you've never seen it, then uh. The dragon slayers consume their respective element to power themselves up, Sky being literally just air. Genuine mouth breather right here.

Spoiler

couldn't find a decent gif. So video will do. Didn't pay attention that it was dub. Don't really care either lol.

Yeah, that'll do.

Also: 10 more points.

My sole interaction with females are anime women, but honestly that's far superior anyway. Also I quoted the gif just for the gif, I liked it.

...what? I like my OX girls.

No judgement here, carry on. I respect it.

Is this not a relatively widespread term? I mean, it's certainly not new, but maybe it's just fallen out of the popular lexicon.

Personally have never heard it before. But maybe I'm the weird one here. It makes absolute sense and I am not even surprised it exists and quite frankly it fits. Both the ones you used.

Ask the google machine about Gil Elvgren.

God bless him.

I miss juice boxes. I mean, I don't, because there was never enough drink, even back when I was kid.

Honestly though! It greatly begs the question why Mugi was buying a damn juice box at like the convenience store?? My man got water too, but why the hell did he get a JUICE BOX?? At least get like a bottle or something you heathen.

The official BluRay.

Just destroyed that entire person's career in a single sentence.

10 Nat points. For pure savagery.

Spoiler

...what? I never said I would reply about the episode contents itself. Am too smol brain to have deep discussions.

 

[Max4444]

...a what?
quickly google searches
A WHAT?!
Quite frankly, I think I'm more questioning that this is term, that exists. And also...that you know about it?

I thought that was a pretty common term.

 

[Madoka]

Spoiler: Naterbug Repies

I have like, a trillion Nat points. I'm in first place. Maybe I need to try harder.

I thought you donated all of these to me because you thought i was worth them?

Correct. But like, mostly because Aoi Yuki

I mean, she was god tier aside from that, but I accept your answer as well because... Aoi Yuki is pretty damn amazing (a understatement i know).

LIke, I don't dislike her. But that doesn't change the fact that she is a horrible person. I mean, kinda

First time i watched this show through i hated her very existence, despite villains being there to be disliked... I couldn't help think how terrible she is. For me this time around, seeing her actions, maybe I just see the world differently but that evil streak in her is... great. I mean, as said above, it's not something easily defined,

It's about her being a character that actually does the things she does. Maybe a kind of fascination or excitement over her being unique?

^something like that.

But, she takes it next level. The way she is manipulating everything, and using everyone for her own personal gain. Is...good shit. I like it.

You get it though, unlike my first time through!

"Mugi you're such a child"
checks notes
My man is literally what, 13 here? So, yes. He is

This actually made me laugh!

And the pure amount of times this lady called 'onii-chan' boring was funny. And, I agree. He IS boring.

Honestly, I loved how she endlessly thought how dull he was. I mean, no disrespect to the guy, he does him and all but her inner thoughts of him basically made him out to be the most bland guy on the planet, like she would rather be with anyone else, just gotta love her dedication to disliking him here.

And then somehow bedded her anyway. Fuck unrealisitc nonsense! Theres no wAY SHE WOULD GO TO A HOTEL WITH HIM AFTER THAT. Immersion ruined.

You... you did realise she will sleep with just about anyone right? She bangs some old guy just because, I'm quite sure she gives 0 fucks what he calls her. Heck, she probably finds it a turn-on if it causes more of a gap between him and Hana.

I definitely am seeing the concept of Ecchans actions being...questionable. Like sure the bias that its kinda hot is there too

Funny enough, on my first time watching this (again with the memories!) I overlooked Ecchan's behaviour, maybe I didn't completely overlook it as opposed to made it out to be a lot less severe than it turned out to be. Anyway, this time, Ecchan is public enemy number one... two... three... something, ahem, point being, Ecchan might make hot scenes happen but Ecchan also bad.

I don't understnad, me.

Spoiler - It's not half as great as you imagine.

Next week I am going to be completely blind. As we move into the second half I'm expecting shit to hit the fan

As I say a lot, I don't remember the ending much but I DO know that shit is hitting the fan as we go now, I kind of look forward to your blind take on the stuff now, I think first-time is always more fun as you have 0 idea what to expect over the re-watch (which even if you don't remember, you do recall bits as you go).

This is an important thing

Fixed that for ya.

You heard it here first, folks. Madoka is an M. Kinda fits the name.

Shh, don't tell anyone, it's something of a well-kept secret.

Aside from as you said, the vending machine ones, I'm fairly certain there is going to be a couple love hotels that just...don't give a shit? Business is business. If they look old enough, whatever. But, then again uh, he was thirteen. So, $5 on narritive handwaving.

I think i had this conversation before on AP so i will keep it short (I swear I don't look into love hotels!!), it is very easy and common for teen to get these rooms, some as you say just don't care, many again are ticket systems and don't need a personal interaction with a human and many do care... oh no wait, I mean the rest don't care. Truth is, many teenage hookers use these with old dudes, as long as someone is a adult they don't care and even for teens they... don't care if you pretend to be older.
Apparently asking for proof of age in Japan hasn't crossed their mind before.

Okay, I noticed there was a lot of straw shit going on

Hahaha, there is a sentence i never expected to read, even better when read out of context. Bravo for the unintentional laugh there, it's actually getting a good giggle from me.

Spoiler: Interregnum replies

No get what you mean. It's about her being a character that actually does the things she does. Maybe a kind of fascination or excitement over her being unique?

but yes, that!

She is sort of the Sherlock Holmes of being a manipulative whore, though--not just in that she's hyper-observant (specific to sexuality, in her case), but also in that she's unrepentant in her self-assurance that she's the apex predator. So, I get the interest.

God Tier i think fits her well.

I think that's her charm as a character

Oh, I agree completely, Its one reason i like her, it's always nice to love the overly perfect or imperfect person but Hanabi is the perfect balance of being in the middle that she isn't boring but it shows how well designed she was.

Ye olde slight-of-hand writing? Or is this more along the lines of "exact reason doesn't really matter"?

It probably doesn't matter...but it's also an interesting question, now that it's been asked, so I now wonder if we've been slightly tricked.

It honestly probably doesn't matter, it could be very easily put down to simple things like she happened to catch her in the act or whatever, I think it just clicked on with me that she was oddly implying that it was common knowledge, at least known knowledge by some.

Oh, totally agree. He's got the least interesting part of the story.

Kind of glad it wasn't just me thinking this as whilst i don't dislike Mugi, it's hard to be on point when he gets these episodes (or half episodes) and you just wish it would play the same scene but from Akane's POV,

Man, this is written pretty well, huh?

Makes you wish more shows had this level of writing + impact, make some pretty damn good discussions every week then!

But it's a point I wouldn't fight especially hard for, because I think this section, while good, isn't the kind of thing I want to spend time on.

That's kind of my view from the watching side though, it's kind of just a scene (or chapter) I don't care to spend time on... which I'm quite sure never leads anywhere anyways (but i am probably mistaken on this).

Y'know, the bright pink sneakers. That no one noticed were not regulation shoes. Regulation white shoes.

This will never grow old! Mostly because this joke only makes me laugh about RPG's where shoes apparently make you move faster.

But, yeah, "I'm in first place" earns you another 10 interregnum points. Very good.

Don't forget to exchange your points in for a prize, I'm saving 1million for the grand prize... which is still unknown... but I'm down for it as long as it isn't a photograph of interregnums feet.

I don't hear him denying it.

It makes it harder when you all expect me to deny these things you know!
... I watched rent a girl for a reason you know?

I miss juice boxes. I mean, I don't, because there was never enough drink, even back when I was kid.

100% agree. As a kid i was always like "Where's the other half", no kid had one and felt satisfied, that is something i am sure of.

Spoiler: Nater - part 2

Correct. I am in no way upset. Unironically a pretty cute gif.

I wonder if these people still do youtube... hmmm.

My sole interaction with females are anime women, but honestly that's far superior anyway.

Anime > Real
I errr i mean real > Anime ... totally.

Honestly though! It greatly begs the question why Mugi was buying a damn juice box at like the convenience store?? My man got water too, but why the hell did he get a JUICE BOX?? At least get like a bottle or something you heathen.

I'm endlessly confused why anime characters love juice boxes, no way teens are buying and living on what amounts to maybe 2 mouth-full's worth of liquid. No! Bad. Stop-it! Buy real drinks!

This Emilia at a desktop just kind of made me laugh... I have nothing more to add... other than i guess Emilia is quite cute... just saying.

 

[interregnum]

No judgement here, carry on.

Will do.

Spoiler: SCUM OR WHATEVER

her inner thoughts of him basically made him out to be the most bland guy on the planet

It's worth noting, I think, that she thinks he's boring because he's not reacting in a way she finds interesting--like, for her predatory purposes.

she probably finds it a turn-on if it causes more of a gap between him and Hana.

Oh, I think it's exactly that. Once she knows she can take something of Hanabi away from him, she is immediately back in the game.

point being, Ecchan might make hot scenes happen but Ecchan also bad.

Sounds like all my ex-girlfriends.

Well, like, maybe if you drop the "might make hot scenes" part. But the rest is definitely accurate.

it's kind of just a scene (or chapter) I don't care to spend time on... which I'm quite sure never leads anywhere anyways (but i am probably mistaken on this).

I don't honestly remember if it pays of in any way--and, if it does, if the payoff is worth it.

So, I guess we'll all find out together!

I'm down for it as long as it isn't a photograph of interregnums feet.

It's a keyring. With you name on it.

Assuming your real name is Merle.

Also, you have a total of 120 points, according to my sheet.

10 Nat points. For pure savagery.

I wonder if these people still do youtube... hmmm.

Very much do.

They've changed a bit, and not always in ways I've been fond of, but I'd be lying if I didn't say they still mostly have the same spark that made them my absolute favorites.

Spoiler

...also, Jane is still gorgeous, brilliant, and hilarious. Totally still my interweb crush.

Spoiler

And, just for thoroughness's sake, Ellen got a little plump during lockdown, and I dig it.

My sole interaction with females are anime women, but honestly that's far superior anyway.

Anime > Real
I errr i mean real > Anime ... totally.

Well, real girls are soft and smell nice. I like that.

But, then again, anime girls can be pillows which are even softer, and they also sell spray bottles of their scent.

Well...good hustle, ladies. You tried your best.

why Mugi was buying a damn juice box at like the convenience store??

I'm endlessly confused why anime characters love juice boxes

It's easier to believe if they're from those vending machines, I guess.

But if it's not Hawaiian Punch, then what's the point?

Emilia is quite cute

She really, really is.

Spoiler

...though, now that I'm thinking about it in light of recent discussion, I wonder if Priscilla isn't secretly your #BestGirl:

Spoiler: Don't Lie

 

[Madoka]

Sorry for the slow replies, a little under the weather so a bit behind!

Spoiler

It's worth noting, I think, that she thinks he's boring because he's not reacting in a way she finds interesting--like, for her predatory purposes.

Possibly, he certainly isn't going to fit her puzzle very well when we consider most she goes for are either sleezebags like herself or innocent (if you could call Mugi that once upon a time) kids who she knows are fawning over her. Where as this guy... he's just your average guy who... wouldn't even join her for a drink.

Sounds like all my ex-girlfriends.

every guy who dated can +1 this comment unless you got first time lucky and stayed together.

Well, like, maybe if you drop the "might make hot scenes" part. But the rest is definitely accurate.

I thought you was about to start telling me your actually a star on porn hub or something...

I don't honestly remember if it pays of

So, I guess we'll all find out together!

I admit my memory is certainly lacking (especially in the second half) but I cannot remember anything about this guy after one or two scenes of not getting anywhere with Hanabi.

Spoiler: End series big big spoiler

Quite sure from when they announce their plans to marry he just vanished but i dunno

Assuming your real name is Merle.

Close enough, my real name features two of the letters given there so i will take it!

Also, you have a total of 120 points, according to my sheet.

Sure its not 1,230?

They've changed a bit, and not always in ways I've been fond of, but I'd be lying if I didn't say they still mostly have the same spark that made them my absolute favorites.

I kind of liked them for their chit chat and not-so-present but still great banter. The guy who sat in the chair (randomly but comically) who i believe owned the channel and the ladies was brill. Though quite sure they brought in a new girl+guy combo who made me lose interest at some point... though that could just be me making things up, I just lose interest in a lot of youtube channels and justify it by blaming the channel.

Ellen got a little plump during lockdown, and I dig it.

I like your honesty!!

Well...good hustle, ladies. You tried your best.

okay, well played, this made me laugh, a lot!

and they also sell spray bottles of their scent.

as did this.

But if it's not Hawaiian Punch, then what's the point?

Apparently some shows would have me believe the extra thick peach is good... i initially figured this was a play on peach being "momo" and momo being a character name (peach could also have other meanings... we all know) and it was implying Momo is thicc...

Spoiler: I'm not convinced

...though, now that I'm thinking about it in light of recent discussion, I wonder if Priscilla isn't secretly your #BestGirl:

I... honestly have no idea who she is, despite the pictures. was she the villain at the end of the second(? Third?) season who attacked the mansion?

 

[interregnum]

was she the villain at the end of the second(? Third?) season who attacked the mansion?

LOL--no. That's Elsa. Who is in the very first S1 arc and then disappears until the mansion loop in S2.

Priscilla is one of the candidates to become...whatever the heck Emilia is sponsored by Roswaal for. She's there, Felt's there, Anya...um...others maybe.

 

[interregnum]

And we are back! Despite having been assigned another Korean dating show to watch! Hooray!

Who's ready to discuss the hazy middle bits of the show nobody really remembers more than a couple of details of?

Spoiler: 7

Ah, yes--the Moka episode. Wherein we discover that she's the secret hero of the whole series.

...maybe.

Spoiler: FLASH FORWARD TO EP. 9

No, definitely. She kinda rules.

Seriously, though, Moka uses her brief time as the central character to show us pretty definitively that, of all our scummy/selfish/impulsive/self-illusioned characters in the series, she's the least like the others--at least insofar as she's the most sincere about her regret over the things she's done. Right up front, she remembers dating someone despite thinking of someone else the whole time (which...is tooootally not something I relate to) and apologizes to the ether for it, sincerely and without self-pitying or wallowing. She just says, "Yeah, that wasn't cool of me," and gets on with things. Which is a sentiment that I think would kill the rest of the cast, were they to consider it.

That said...I think she owes more than a little of her shine in this episode to Mugi's decision not to fool around with her. I think her decision to just jump into the scum with everyone else (by letting Mugi f*** her despite knowing it would've been a self-betrayal to do so) sits as obviously the most in-universe forced--clearly in an inverse of every other character's decisions to do so--but it would have counted against her so much more if she and Mugi had done even just what he did with Hanabi in the first episode. So, in that sense, he saved her character arc.

Spoiler

...which should earn him some points--except Ep 8, so...nah.

Speaking of inverses, though, we've got another nice parallel with Hanabi and her fake-it-'til-ya-make-somethin' date with...um, Boy Toy Guy (did I already give him a different nickname? I don't care enough to check), which is fully and deliberately insincere, but which sees her chickening out when pressed (rather than submitting, despite not truly wanting to) and then abandoned to her embarrassment (rather than as a saving grace). Which is a paragraph I have rewritten five times and still can't express properly, but I think you get the core idea: Hanabi and Moka are doing similar but mirror-reversed things on their two dates. Because this series is really good at parallels.

Spoiler

...but can we take a moment to talk about how frikkin' nice Hanabi looked? I loooooved her outfit.

And, if we go a step further, compare her look (casual, if nice) to Moka's (fancy, though not formal).

Also: that background song when Moka's having her "I think I'm not a very nice person after all" inner monologue (the one with the harpsichord-sounding instrumentals) is pretty great. Just, y'know, to add to the Moka Ep appreciation list.

But then we get the whole thing with Hanabi and Mugi and deciding to confess when their homework is finished (which...in isolation, makes them sound like such kids), and this scene made clear to me why I never took Hanabi x Mugi seriously: they talk about being with each other almost exclusively in terms of "well, we can always get serious if our first choices don't work out!" which always read (to me) like only their situations connected, rather than them. Even when Hanabi seems to be pining for Mugi, earlier in the story, it always seemed to be as a crutch rather than a crush. So, when they promise to meet up and then become a "real couple this time guys for sure!" I just took it as more safety-net stuff, a little courage-building lip-service to push them both forward in their tasks.

Which is why, come Ep 9 (and forgive me for making this point now, but it's relevant), I assumed Hanabi was hurt at the start of the episode because he had "betrayed" her by actually getting together with Akane (as in: they were supposed to be losers together)

Spoiler

...wait, does she know that's what happened? I know she seems to indicate as much, later in Ep 9, when her inner monologue complains about Mugi knowing he's being used by Akane, but...I mean, his text could have meant that he was sorry he didn't show up after his rejection and has decided that he doesn't really want to be strikeout buddies with her after all.

I mean, it's way more artistic-dramatic for him to just have that one word response to her (which the audience has total context for), but I'm wondering if this is another instance of the show skirting realism with a snazzy trick. (Albeit a pretty minor one, if so.)

rather than by not getting together with her.

But that's me. #TeamHanabi

Spoiler: 8

Speaking of Hanabi: HEY GUYS DID YOU NOTICE THAT THEY'RE ALL LOOKING AT FIREWORKS HUH DID YA 'CUS HANABI MEANS "FIREWORKS" SO DID YOU GET THE SYMBOLISM GUYS IT'S REEEEEEAL SUBTLE.

...which sounds really snide of me, but I liked it just fine. Like, it's obvious, as far as symbols go, but it's fine. And (I think) made a lot better by the subtext of the whole thing: every one of the main cast is in some fashion concerned with Hanabi, at that moment.

So...subtle but not subtle but actually subtle.

Perhaps just as unsubtle but 10-times more impactful is this line from Hanabi (as she thinks about Onii-chan): "There's nobody better than you in the whole world."

I mean...oof. When this show wants to tell you what unrequited love feels like, it just f***ing does it. Boy, did I feel this line.

I also felt a clear separation between the "meditations on unrequited love" portions of the story and the "people make horrible decisions" part of the story for the first time, in this episode--both in terms of this watchthrough and my time with the series overall. I'm pretty sure it felt or seemed or I chose to see them as a single unit, in the past (and they are obviously connected, of course, don't get me wrong), but...this time, I see the one as "serious" and the other as "entertainment"--in that I think the "bad choices" segments are played for dramatic effect rather than any particular insight in support of the "meditative" parts.

...which may or may not be me overthinking things--but you know what isn't? Me noticing that, for all the recent talk of how boring Onii-chan is, his profile picture for his text messages is just the default "put a picture here" icon. Dude's even symbolically unremarkable. Wow.

Spoiler

And did you notice that Akane's is bunny? Because f***ing?

Oh, yeah, and Ecchan's cousin can f*** off. Why do we need him around?

Spoiler

...though I will say that his speech in the next episode where he tells Hanabi not to use Ecchan as a replacement for someone else, while it somewhat too bluntly sums up the theme that runs through every last member of the cast, did make me realize for the first time that this was, in fact, a thematic element that runs through every last member of the cast. Which is a little sad.

I mean, I realized that this was something that was going on in the story, of course, but I stupidly did not consider it as plainly as he put it. Which is the part that's so sad.

Spoiler: A translation note

My subtitles had him talking to Ecchan about his "gender" but the book has him talking about his "sex," which leads to a much more impressive series of (in English, at least) double-entendres when Ecchan notes that sex doesn't enter into it when it comes to him, and he asks if sex is the problem with Hanabi.

Spoiler: 9

Whatever else I could possibly say about this episode, it pretty much starts with Hanabi in a big, floppy hat, which is about the greatest thing ever. She looks great overall, here, but I have spoken before about my love of a big, floppy hat on a girl (in some thread...sometime), so... 10/10 would Hanabi again.

I mean, we got a lot of things specific to the Ecchan end of this story, but...there also isn't too much to get into, since it was pretty much just a microcosm of everything that's been going on in every other part of the story: "Should we do this thing that's a really bad idea and will hurt us way more than it--even temporarily--helps? No...but also f*** it, I guess." Except, in this instance, things reached the logical end of this line of progression and culminated in the hurt that was worse than the temporary help of cuddles and orgasms. Though, luckily for the girls, it seems that they salvaged the connection they shared at the core of their relationship and don't have to fear tripping over the other parts anymore--or so they hope.

Spoiler: THAT SAID...

Interesting that they chose not just to embrace in the rain (which was a supportive/comforting move) but also to tongue each other, again.

I don't have any real idea what that moment was supposed to be.

I mean, I liked it, obviously, but...

And then, of course, we leave off with Akane letting us know that the best part about being a teacher is how she gets to act like she's living in a porno. Which...is just very Akane, isn't it.

And here's something I was reminded of while watching this batch of episodes: there was a show I was watching, last year, that featured the female protagonist pretending to...it doesn't matter what, she was just pretending something so that she could spend time with a guy she had a crush on. And, when she's confronted about this, she basically says that she knows it's a stupid thing to do and that he'd probably never consider her as a romantic option, but that she just likes how it feels when she's around him, that she likes how it feels to have that crush--and what's so wrong about wanting to enjoy that?

 

[naterbug8278]

Today is thursday. I think. I have consumed Pizza. It is time for Kamomekamo Kamo's date. And also the other two episodes I guess. Will this be better than my pizza I consumed? We shall see.

Spoiler: last week stuff

It's easier to believe if they're from those vending machines, I guess.

But he brought them home in a bag! So unless Japanese vending machines dispense ba-you know what, they probably do. Nevermind.

...though, now that I'm thinking about it in light of recent discussion, I wonder if Priscilla isn't secretly your #BestGirl:

...yes. I mean mostly no. But also yes. I'm on team Emilia through and through, but I will not deny the notion of her stepping on me.

So like, I don't particularly have much to say here I just wanted to announce my love for To Love Ru. Absolute god tier. Momo is easy S tier herself. Most of the girls are, honestly.

Spoiler: Episode 7

Who spreads butter like that? AND THEN WHY WAS IT JAM ON THE TOAST LIKE 3 SECONDS LATER?

I um...Hanabi's earrings were cute. Yeah, that's all I got.

Spoiler

KAMOMEKAMO KAMO EPISODE LETS GOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...is what I would have said, but idunno. It was okay? I have things I loved about the episode about her, but like um...the date was kinda meh. That blows. I was excited for date.

The dad walking in on her early morning princess routine with no pants on and just arm fully up his shirt was perfect. That right there is realism! Have seen this sight many tmes. Though i can't say ive gone through some princess morning routine before. Yet, anyway.

Right, fuckboi is back. I actually thought this was Mugi for like a solid two minutes. I'm not even joking. Which is why I accepted his behavior somewhat but was also like "did i miss something??" Yes, I forgot his existence. Side note, who the fuck steals someone's phone like that? That is most certainly not how you get in a girl's pants. Last time I stole a girls phone from her hands I got fucking kicked in the knee!

Spoiler

That never happened, but y'know its what came to my mind.

Spoiler

Totally off topic but kinda relevant to the phone thing. One time a girl stole my phone and put it in her bra...Do you think she had a thing for me? Because, you bet your ass I just reached for it. Ain't having none of that shit!

To add more context this was years ago, I was probably like 14 or something.

So anyway, that was not Mugi. I guess. Hmm. Which in retrospect makes complete sense considering he was supposed to be on a date with Kamomekamo Kamo. Hmm. So Mugi doesn't have shadow clones. Shame.

SO uhhhh they went to the movies? The English voices were pretty good ngl. The hand holding was an absolutely shameless display. How dare she call herself a princess with those thoughts!

And then went home and nothing else happened not one bit.

Spoiler

Mugi really saw some boobs and was like "Aight we done"

Spoiler: Episode 8

...damn. Damn. I'm going to have to be serious about this episode, aren't I? I'm not even sure I can make a functional joke out of that one.

Who the hell are you, black hair guy. I have never seen you before in my life. Where did you come from. Do you literally ever show up in this ever agin? We will find out, I guess. But if you do, please stop the "UWAH OUR EYES MET" it was kinda annoying my guy. Also imagine meeting your cousin again for the first time in 6 years and just hugging her as you go "LETS DATE" ain't it, chief. The flashback over bit, was funny though. Good job. +1 point. Blah blah they talked um, okay the bit about gender labels was kinda an interesting talk. About how she loves Hanabi for Hanabi not because she is a girl, which brings up the valid outcome of him having a chance, maybe. So like, good job guy.

Dude--the hug at the park the night before. That was good. I liked that. Just like Hanabi liked that. I could feel the popup in the top left corner of my screen saying "Hanabi Liked that" It was there. I promise.

Spoiler

...which led us to the fat of the episode. Man. Mugi finally got to see some real boobs.

I don't really know how to put it into words, but I absolutely loved the end of this episode. Not particularly the idea of Hanabi crying into onii-chan's arms while we get cut ins of Mugi fucking, but the impact of the scene as a whole, just hit.

Spoiler: Episode 9

Hanabi has cute hat. That's it. That's the episode.

At the start of this episode I was like why on earth would you accept Ecchan's invitation out here alone with her, but. I mean, it made sense later? So, nevermind. Kinda.

Black hair guy did come back, but at least he didn't say the eye thing. I'll take it.

Um...Ecchan has a candy wrapper from god knows how many years ago. Do you think she washed it? I don't.

There was a clothing store named Sheeps. I don't know why this caught my attention.

Black hair guy sucks at video games. Did you see his 500 score? Ecchan at least got 1,700. Bro sucked real hard.

Ecchan went for Hanabi's belly first. Says a lot about a person. I respect it.

The scene in the rain was good. I liked.

Scene of Ecchan taking care of black hair guy good too. I like them together somewhat.

Kamomekamo Kamo teasing Hanabi was S tier, I could watch the two of them a whole episode honestly. Can we have them get together tbh.

Akane...no comment.

Spoiler

Yeah, idunno. Didn't feel anything worthy of going into a paragraph for. Or I'm lazy. Likely the latter.

I think my pizza was better than a good portion of these three episodes, but some parts were very good. Pizza is just also pretty hard to win against.
I'll also reply to stuff later probably, I got things to do.

Spoiler

those may include farming an FGO event. No I swear im not addicted.

 

[interregnum]

Spoiler: SCUMSPONSE

the date was kinda meh. That blows. I was excited for date.

What did you hope we'd get to see? I'm not in any fashion disagreeing, just curious about what you wish the date had been like. More of an emotional exchange (a la the Hanabi/Ecchan cabin trip)? Something more evenly divided between Mugi's and Moka's perspectives? Something less in-her-head and more of a third-person view of the date?

Dude--the hug at the park the night before. That was good. I liked that. Just like Hanabi liked that. I could feel the popup in the top left corner of my screen saying "Hanabi Liked that" It was there. I promise.

Just noting that this made me laugh.

I don't really know how to put it into words, but I absolutely loved the end of this episode. Not particularly the idea of Hanabi crying into onii-chan's arms while we get cut ins of Mugi fucking, but the impact of the scene as a whole, just hit.

I've said it before, but when this show wants to talk about unrequited love--oof. Right in the gut.

Hanabi has cute hat. That's it. That's the episode.

Man knows his literary criticism!

Um...Ecchan has a candy wrapper from god knows how many years ago. Do you think she washed it? I don't.

I don't, either. And I wouldn't have, if I were her.

Ecchan went for Hanabi's belly first. Says a lot about a person. I respect it.

I wonder how much of that is...tactic...and how much is that the belly, in these kinds of things, is often a visual stand-in for her lady-region.

Kamomekamo Kamo teasing Hanabi was S tier

I almost think her pain and suffering (briefly covered though it is) was worth it just for this moment. Well done, Moka. I think we know who the real winner is, in this story.

I think my pizza was better than a good portion of these three episodes, but some parts were very good. Pizza is just also pretty hard to win against.

The second half of this series has always been weaker than the first half, in my opinion, so I'm not surprised.

Not because of the "weakness" of the episodes but because pizza is hard to win against, and this admittedly isn't the best Scum's Wish has to offer.

I'm on team Emilia through and through

#RemPlebsCanSuckIt

Spoiler

The funny thing is I don't think I'm, like, madly in love with Emilia or anything. On the scale of my anime crushes...she's on the list, certainly, but not super-duper high.

But, for whatever reason, the moment someone besmirches her in any way--especially those Remist mongrels--I throw the full weight of my valor into defending her.

Spoiler

"Eh, I like Ecchan more than Hanabi."
"Really? Well, I disagree, but to each his own."
"And I like Emilia, but I don't think she's my top pi--"
"I WILL F***ING END YOU."

It's all very strange.

announce my love for To Love Ru

I've watched...two episodes? I think this was right before I started my somewhat obsessive trek through Korean television, so the timing was not great for it.

Am I missing a classic?

One time a girl stole my phone and put it in her bra...Do you think she had a thing for me? Because, you bet your ass I just reached for it. Ain't having none of that shit!

To add more context this was years ago, I was probably like 14 or something.

When I was 14, a girl stole my notebook and put her phone number in the back. And I said, "Why would I ever need this?"

She also figured out my locker combination and kept her stuff in my locker. For the full four years we were in high school. And I said, "Gosh, she's lazy. Is it that hard to just go over to her locker?"

So.

I'm going to say yes, the girl who took your phone did have a thing for you. But I may not be the best judge.