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Old 11-15-2012, 10:28 PM   #51
kaisap112
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Doppleganger View Post
It pushes the show toward harem territory, and is especially shameless given Ryuunosuke's otaku tendencies. The last thing I want to see in another anime is idealized "female otaku" character.
I might be utterly wrong here, but I'm pretty sure that Ryuunosuke's name (赤坂 龍之介 Akasaka Ryūnosuke) is very much a male name. Also doubt that a female otaku hikikomori would've made a Maid-program - a Butler-program would make sense, but not a cheery, perky little maid.
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Old 11-15-2012, 10:39 PM   #52
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Originally Posted by kaisap112 View Post
I might be utterly wrong here, but I'm pretty sure that Ryuunosuke's name (赤坂 龍之介 Akasaka Ryūnosuke) is very much a male name. Also doubt that a female otaku hikikomori would've made a Maid-program - a Butler-program would make sense, but not a cheery, perky little maid.
What you're side-stepping is that we've never actually seen Ryuunosuke in person, which leaves open the possibility for a potential twist/surprise. Why go to such lengths to keep him invisible and inaudible, if there wasn't a reason for it?

Certainly, I would much appreciate Ryuunosuke to be male, or for his identity to never be revealed in the end, acting as more or less Sorata's "long-distance" mentor and benefactor. But given Sorata's career trajectory, it seems inevitable that the two would meet up at some point. Maybe not, but I'd hardly be surprised.

I also can't ignore the recent trends in anime where "female otaku" (as opposed to fujoshi) are becoming much more common stock inclusions. When Lucky Star aired in 2007, such a character was quite rare. That isn't the case now at all.
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Old 11-15-2012, 10:44 PM   #53
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Originally Posted by Doppleganger View Post
What you're side-stepping is that we've never actually seen Ryuunosuke in person, which leaves open the possibility for a potential twist/surprise. Why go to such lengths to keep him invisible and inaudible, if there wasn't a reason for it?
Is Ryuunosuke a time-traveler soldier? *shot*
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Old 11-15-2012, 10:45 PM   #54
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Episode 06:


It was good. Not epically great or anything but it did further develop a number of characters as well as cleanly wrap the little plot arc started last week.

Spoiler: show

The pre-opening credits bit was fine. It was cute to see Nanami storming into Sorata's bedroom and finding Shiina there and then trying to interrogate her about Sorata's whereabouts, sleepy Shiina meanwhile being completely confused as to what was going on and a little bit crestfallen that Sorata wasn't there with her. I felt bad for the poor bastard that he had to sleep in the laundry room. Actually ... why did he even have to do that? Surely the dorm has a couch or two in the lobby or public living space. No? Perhaps the only thing after all besides bedrooms and the laundry room is the kitchen with that adjoining living room den. *shrug* But you'd think they'd have had a couch or something for the poor guy.


More Jin goodness this episode. We learn that Jin is planning on going to a university in Osaka instead of enrolling in Koumei University along with Misaki. I guess he feels that he has to get out of Misaki's shadow if he's to become a man worthy of her affections. One can't help but to thus feel that he is making both the right and the wrong decision. We'll just have to see how this one ultimately plays out.


Misaki swings down into Sorata's room and asks him for tips on how she can get Jin to reciprocate her feelings. This girl is so pretty, something which Sorata himself notes to her, and she is so good-hearted and sincere that it really is sad to see her rejected like this by the boy she's liked since they were children. But she lets slip something to Sorata as she musters the courage to accept his offer to play video games: despite what Jin told Sorata earlier about not letting Misaki know that he plans to go to Osaka for college, she seems to already know about it, suggesting to Sorata that this summer is her and Jin's last ... by which she may very well mean their last summer together. Sorata's mildly shocked and concerned look says it all.


We learn this week that Nanami's voice acting audition on the 10th isn't a solo audition but a group audition and that her performance could very well determine whether the other two girls make it or not. Uh oh ... she'd better be careful not to--


--wear herself out too much. Between working multiple part-time jobs, being a full-time high school student, handling dorm chores, handling Mashiro Duty, and practicing for a voice acting audition, Nanami quite literally works herself sick. This sort of development was, frankly, expected and not all that exciting from the Nanami side of things. What was interesting about this scene was Mashiro's reaction:


This caught me by surprise. I mean, it didn't "WHOA! " shock me or something. We know Mashiro's a sweet girl. But she also seems to be rather ... "out of it" at times. ^^; So it was interesting to see just how well aware she is of the (negative) impact her dependency on others is having on her caretaker, Nanami. She also exhibits that she is just as aware of Nanami's hard work as Nanami is aware of Mashiro's. This is interesting 'cause the viewer is always shown shots of others spying on Mashiro and seeing her working hard late at night, never the reverse. So it's neat to learn that the street goes both ways and that Mashiro too has noticed others' actions in Sakura Hall. And not only is Mashiro aware of her surroundings and of the effect that she is having on others, she also displays in this scene a sincere regret for causing others trouble. (This is even more strongly explored later.) For now though the greater focus isn't on Mashiro's own self-directed frustration but instead is on her earnest desire to see Nanami gets to that audition, come what may. I don't think I really need to say more since you all saw the same scene as me and clearly appreciated it yourselves. I'll just cap this bit off here by saying "good scene."

No screencap for this one but I did especially love the part where the kids wrestle Nanami away from Chihiro-sensei and get her into a taxi cab. The best part was undoubtedly the exchange between Jin and Chihiro. Oh, and before I continue, let me circle back around to a Sorata scene I skipped.


This was a cute scene. I appreciated Nozomi's cheeky meow. She knew what she was doing! In the book, Sorata notes that since Nozomi is a black cat he sure hopes that what she did doesn't mean bad luck for his chances in the competition. But of course she wouldn't bring you bad luck, Sorata! Nozomi is a sweet kitty.


So after Sorata, Mashiro, and Nanami arrive at the voice acting audition, Mashiro looking like she's about to cry (pictured above), Sorata drags her off to a nearby convenience store so they can get out of the rain. There, he notices that the newest volume of the manga magazine that Shiina is being published thru has shown up on store shelves and he remembers his promise to go shopping with Mashiro and buy a copy. But her mood is completely ruined by what's happened to Nanami. Mashiro isn't dumb. She knows that the audition won't go well. She wanted to help Nanami get here just so she wouldn't have any regrets about not having gotten to at least try, but Mashiro knew the moment she saw that girl struggling up those steps all out of breath that things weren't going to end well. When Sorata asks her if she's happy about her debut, she tells him that she is, and while we can't rely on her usual robotic delivery to indicate how happy she truly is, you can tell that there's the faintest hint of insincerity and sorrow in her words. Today was supposed to be a happy day ... but Shiina Mashiro isn't the least bit happy. Because she knows that she ruined someone else's important day.


Sorata and Mashiro head back to the audition hall, newly-purchased umbrellas in tow, and find Nanami exiting just as they arrive. Needless to say, she failed. One of her teammates is understandably upset and angrily lashes out, telling Nanami that she shouldn't have even bothered to show up if this was how it was going to be. But Sorata is Nanami's friend and a true gentleman: despite the stinging insults hurled at Nanami and sticking to her like gum to a brick wall, Sorata extends his umbrella toward her and invites her to come out of the rain and to come home with them. And, after a bit of talking, Nanami breaks down and just starts bawling in Sorata's arms. This was a good scene ... but it does have me a little worried that Sakurasou is going to push the harem angle after all. ^^; But putting those concerns aside, I did like this scene a lot. Good character development for all involved.


Arguably the highlight scene of the episode was the resolution to this plot arc. After the trio come back home to Sakurasou, Nanami is put to rest in bed and Mashiro spends the entire night by her side. In the morning, Sorata wakes up to find Jin cooking a special porridge for Nanami. He asks Sorata to take it to her bedroom. And on his way there ... we meet Torajirou. (tora is Japanese for "tiger", but Torajirou is also an authentic given name for boys.) I don't know what I liked most about this scene. Nanami's thick Kansai dialect which she doesn't hide in the slightest when talking to her stuffed tiger? The dual voices thing she does with her adorable imaginary friend? Or the fact that she discovers Sorata overheard her saying, as Torajirou, that she ought to just go for it and make a move on him / ask him out? Until this scene, I wasn't rooting for Nanami at all. But while Sorata x Mashiro remains my primary ship for this series, I'll admit that I am rooting for Nanami a little now too. This was a cute scene, whether some fans want to blame it for further harem-ifying our series or not.


Shiina's bit here was really cute too. Both art-wise (hot damn is she gorgeous! ) and content-wise. It was cute to see her extend the "Please call me by my first name" baton to Nanami. It was also cute just in general how happy she was to see that Nanami had recovered. You could really appreciate just how sincerely guilty Shiina felt for what had happened to Nanami and how she really does like Nanami despite the butting heads over Sorata they did in the previous episode. (Recall the "Sorata, here" scene with the laundry basket.)

And that's about it for Episode 06! I'll save my discussion of the sneak peek of next week's episode for below.


Light Novel:
So where are we in the light novels right now? We're about three-fourths of the way through Volume 2. There's still the final third or half of Chapter 3 and all of Chapter 4 to go before we finish. That stated, the sneak peek for next week's episode ...

(light, light spoiler)
Spoiler: show

... seems to suggest that we might be skipping ahead or possibly doing some made-for-TV stuff, I haven't found out yet. Sorata's little sister Yuuko doesn't show up in any of the color book art at the front of the books until Volume 05, so like, either they went that long without showing her in front-of-book book art but she really does show up in Volume 02 ... or else we're skipping ahead ... or else we're doing made-for-TV content. And the reason for suspecting the latter is that by the time Yuuko does show up, it's February. They're all in winter clothes and one of the color pictures shows one of the characters making Valentine's Day chocolates. So like, yeah, there's no way we're jumping from July to February just like that.

I'm not going to skim Volume 02 too carefully right now but I will share a few things I've happened upon just now while cursorily glancing through.

Spoiler: show
The cell phone message from his little sister:
Spoiler: show
In the book, Sorata's little sister doesn't leave a message for him on his cell phone. Rather, she calls him (page 56), he picks up, and they talk. The same general idea we saw in the anime (she wants him to come home for the summer, he says he can't come home) is still there, but added to it is Yuuko's suspicion (upon hearing Sorata mention Shiina by name) that her onii-chan is staying at school because of a woman. Further added to the scene is Sorata then telling Yuuko that the reason he can't come home is because he's adopted a cat and he has to take care of it. When Yuuko says "Bring her home with you! I'd love to pet her!", Sorata tells his little sister that it isn't just one cat but seven. Yuuko doesn't believe it and calls him a liar. When Sorata insists that it's the truth, his little sister is like, "Onii-chan, that's not normal. ¬¬;" She asks him to send pictures via cell phone as proof, prompting a spin-off conversation where Sorata asks her if she has a cell phone, she explains that she doesn't (their dad won't allow it), she asks him to send them to their mom's cell phone, and finally when he tells her that he can't do that while they're still talking on the phone she tells him she'll hang up and he should send them right now. So he does. Then she calls back. And is like, "You're cursed, Onii-chan."

Their cell phone chat continues and we learn that Sorata seems to not like his dad much / be on poor terms with him right now. Sorata asks how their mother is doing, you see, and when Yuuko tells him that both parents are doing fine Sorata snaps that he didn't ask about their dad and he doesn't care to know how the old man is doing. So, there's that little bit of character development waiting to be explored in the future.

He asks his little sister how much she's grown and she plays the part of a typical onii-chan complex little sister. She ends up divulging that she's grown 5 millimeters (which Sorata mistakes at first for 5 centimeters) and gets angry at Sorata when he seems disappointed. He then says to her (not going to translate the pun painstakingly) that it doesn't really matter for girls if they're a little on the small side, but the way he says it in Japanese could also be taken to be a sexual innuendo meaning "girls don't really care if [I presume the guy's dick] is a little on the small side" so he immediately feels the need to clarify that he's talking about physical height and Yuuko takes this opportunity to tease him by shouting "MOOOOOOOOOOOO~OM! Onii-chan's telling me perverted things on the phooooone!"

Yuuko then tells Sorata that their dad is there and he has something to tell Sorata. So she conveys it for him: "I won't hand my daughter over to you! You're disowned!" The word for disinheritance in Japanese is 勘当 which is a homophone for 感動 "moved (as in 'moved to tears')". Yuuko asks Sorata what their dad means by this word and asks her brother if he's crying. To which he replies "I feel like crying right now, a ha ha."

Sorata wraps up the phone call here by telling Yuuko once again that, for a variety of reasons, he won't be able to come home this summer. He jokingly wishes Yuuko a good life and to take care with their mom and dad. She replies that no matter what happens she'll always be her onii-chan's ally. And then they hang up. (page 62)

Running into Aoyama at school while waiting for Shiina:
Spoiler: show
In the book, they talk quite a bit more. I didn't read it too closely 'cause I was searching for the part where Shiina comes back having aced her tests, but I did catch that Sorata asks Nanami to move in to Sakurasou with them after he learns about her situation. So J.C. Staff relocated this to the park scene, I guess, for whatever reason. Page 73 for Shiina's test bit btw.

The park scene with Shiina and Aoyama:
Spoiler: show
This actually takes place in the school hall if I'm not much mistaken. (Aoyama comes up behind Sorata after he talks with Mashiro -- there is no Jin scene like in the anime -- and then it bleeds seamlessly into this, so if they did leave campus it must've been like a one-sentence line I missed.) Mashiro recognizes Nanami by her voice -- she was one of the voice actresses Kamiigusa-senpai used in one of her anime productions. When Sorata then introduces Shiina to Aoyama, this is when Shiina tells Sorata to call her by her first name (page 75).

The bit at the kitchen table with the giant melonpan:
Spoiler: show
This is the opening sentence to Chapter 2 on page 86. More specifically, it's the entirety of Chapter 2-1. (Remember: the chapters are broken down into numerically indicated subchapters.)

Aoyama being appointed the new Mashiro Duty delegate:
Spoiler: show
This is what ends Chapter 2-2 and opens Chapter 2-3.

Thumbed through it mega fast but a lot of the exact same material from Episode 05 (laundry room scene, bathroom hose scene, Ryuunosuke's Maid-chan telling Sorata about the basics of game design) are present here.

Misaki paying a visit to Kouhai-kun and asking him for advice (Episode 06):
Spoiler: show
This happens in Chapter 2-4.

A letter from Mashiro's "special person":
Spoiler: show
This scene got cut out of the anime, it seems. Chihiro asks Sorata to give Mashiro a letter that came for her in the mail. It's from an "Adele Ainsworth" and Sorata figures from the name that it must be some guy. (Don't ask me. I hear "Adele" and I totally think "woman." ) When he gives Mashiro the letter and asks about the person who sent it, in her excessively succinct way she tells him that the sender is "a special person" and follows it up with the clarification that it's "someone I love." Sorata has the wind knocked out of him by this and decides against asking further. Chapter 2 ends soon after.

Sorata's application and Nozomi:
Spoiler: show
The bit we saw with his application and Nozomi the cat stepping on the computer mouse opens up Chapter 3 of the book.

And then like I mentioned to start with, Chapter 3-1, 3-2, and the first half or so of 3-3 takes us through the remainder of Episode 06. I was skimming it pretty damn fast so there might've been further original content omitted from the show but if anything I got the impression that J.C. Staff actually padded the events some what with showing Nanami at work dropping the ice cream scooper or at rehearsals with her classmates. And to be honest, those were fine scenes, so no harm and no foul there, I say.

As for the mysterious Adele Ainsworth ... well, Episode 06 ends around page 224 (with Mashiro asking if Nanami is alright now) but the conversation continues onto page 226 with Adele's identity revealed. Click to find out or wait til next week to see if they reveal it then, it's your call.
Spoiler: show
Adele was Shiina's art teacher in England. 70 years old.

Anyway, I don't want to read past here myself 'cause I want to be pleasantly surprised by the events of next week and beyond. But there at least is your light novel status update for this week. We have six episodes which have in turn covered 6.65 chapters of the books, maintaining J.C. Staff's ratio of roughly one chapter per episode pretty nicely. This seems to further put the nail in the coffin for the idea that this series will end in twenty-four episodes, covering all of the books, covering all of their content (no cuts), and maintaining a reasonable pace. It just can't happen. Not like this. So whether we're going to be Sword Art Online-ing this series or not, who can tell. I guess we'll find out once we get closer to Episode 24's broadcast date.
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Old 11-15-2012, 10:46 PM   #55
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lilbluecorsola View Post


Is Ryuunosuke a time-traveler soldier? *shot*
If you go that route, it's Shiina who gets shot.
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Old 11-15-2012, 11:43 PM   #56
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Quote:
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Sakurasou in the news...sort of.

Spoiler: show
I can't read that thread, but the reports indicate that it was the top topic on 2ch today. Apparently, JC Staff altered a scene in Sakurasou 6 versus the source where Sorata fed Aoyama porridge, but it became a Korean dish. Since many of the animators are Korean, this was probably done for budget considerations, but it stimulated a racial nerve ending and the Japanese coast exploded in anger.
There are so many greater changes made to the story already by J.C. Staff that it's pretty fucking shameful of the otakus to be "GLORIOUS NIPPON! "-ing over this one minor change. However, they are correct that the dish was completely changed. In the article you linked, the page that they indicated (page 213 in the novel) mentions that the dish had the aroma of a dashi (a fish-&-kelp soup stock used for its naturally high MSG content to bring out the full flavor of the ingredients), specifically a soup stock made from katsuo, the Japanese name apparently for the skipjack tuna. Then it goes on to mention that the contents of the dish Jin had prepared were a simple gruel / rice porridge. Here, I took that page and I indicated the relevant bits w/ translation notes for your use. As we see in the show, it's clearly not a fish stock-based soup seeing as there's a small gamehen in there. (You wouldn't use a fish stock with poultry. You'd use chicken broth.) And there isn't much visual indication that it's a 粥 (traditional Japanese gruel) either. Yes, we can clearly see what looks to be rice that's stuffed inside of the gamehen, but as for the soup itself, it ... well, it looks like chicken soup, not rice porridge. So the fans do seem to be right that J.C. Staff changed the dish.

But still! It bothers me that according to your sources the Japanese fans are raising holy hell over this edit in Episode 06 yet they seem completely non-phased by ...

(light novel spoilers for episodes we've already seen but whose content got cut or modified)
Spoiler: show
... the fact that J.C. Staff totally gutted the character backstory-developing cell phone chat Sorata had with his sister (which they instead replaced with him getting an angry cell phone message he quickly silenced) ...

... or the fact that they concocted Ayano's visual presence so early in the show (in the novel Sorata is always asking Shiina who Ayano is, having never met her, and there never was a scene with the two of them discussing Shiina's manga at a diner) ...

... or how about the fact that they used that diner scene as a replacement for the first novel's big climax where Shiina's computer crashes, everyone's worried she's lost all of her data, but then Ryuunosuke comes to save the day?

How come they aren't upset about these changes but a Korean soup shows up and it's fucking GUNS AT THE READY!? This is just stupid. I really, really fucking hate how xenophobic many Japanese people are and I especially hate it when it crops up in otakudom and affects us fans.
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Old 11-21-2012, 12:55 AM   #57
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If another episode like episode 7 airs again, I'm dropping this show. The only possible saving grace was driving time with the animator, and those occupied a total of, like, a minute of the episode. There's absolutely no excuse for this.

Though Doppel, you'll LOVE this episode. It went into that harem territory you desired, and the best thing about it is the newest member of the harem is (episode 7 spoiler)
Spoiler: show
the main guy's little sister.
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Old 11-21-2012, 01:40 PM   #58
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Looks like I'm not going to get to check it out until next week since I have to head out here soon and CrunchyRoll's release still isn't up. Didn't click on your spoiler box (obviously) but based on what I saw of an Internet 16-second commercial for this week's episode, and based on what I know from peeking at the books, let me say this. Not sure whether it'll change your mind though about dropping the show.

(safe to click if you've seen the sneak peek for Episode 07, the episode which aired this week)
Spoiler: show
It looks J.C. Staff is being increasingly more bold with doing made-for-TV stuff. I haven't read the final bit of Book 2 but from what little I did skim of it at light speed, I didn't notice any conversations using "Onii-chan," "Sorata-nii," or variations thereof, so like, I would assume that Yuuko doesn't physically show up at Sakurasou at all in Volume 2, meaning that what happened in the show this week was 100% made for television.

That stated, if your complaints with the series are about Yuuko being a token imouto with an onii-chan complex, then I'm pretty sure that's in the book as well. You see hints of it in the cell phone conversation I translated last week and you see even more obvious signs of it in some of the color artwork for future volumes (like Volume 5).

I don't really like that J.C. Staff keeps deviating from the source material like this. I don't mind the occasional deviation or edit. Like how they temporally rearranged things for the sake of making Episode 01. I actually really loved their Episode 01 quite a lot and approve of all those rearrangements. But when you completely rewrite the climax of the first volume ... and when you edit out a major conversation in Volume 2 only to then concoct a meeting between those two people which never happened in the book ... that's when I start frowning heavily. Some writer on their staff must be trying to prove that he's the next Urobuchi Gen, the next God's gift to anime screenplay writing, and it's like ... dude, just stop. You're not fixing things by writing these changes. People loved the books that the original author wrote, not the rewrites that you wrote. So let his writing shine in anime form. You're being paid just to adapt book text to TV dialogue and scenery. That's it. So do it right.

Last edited by Talon87; 11-21-2012 at 01:43 PM.
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Old 11-26-2012, 01:43 PM   #59
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I have to post this minute. I just saw the hand puppet. This is bad. This is Kare Kano Episode 19-level bad. WTF, J.C. Staff. I was pleased with how pretty Sakurasou had looked up until now but if I'd known you were going to run out of money and have to do shit like this then I'd rather have done without. What the fuck. Did you guys learn nothing from the Kare Kano fiasco? FANS HATE IT WHEN YOU DO THIS SHIT!

But you know what? I don't think it's a budget problem. And I'll tell you why. Because if it were, if J.C. Staff was running low on cash, why would they animate a 90% made-for-TV episode? They wouldn't. They'd be cutting material from the books, not adding more. They'd say "oh shit we were gonna do 25 episodes but instead we're gonna have to only do 20 for now, sorry" or something. The very fact that this made-for-TV episode exists and is otherwise pretty suggests that the hand puppet isn't there because they're running out of money, no! It suggests that some moron on their staff thought that this would be a great idea and the other powers that be lacked the authority to tell him "Fuck no. " And that is pretty terrifying.

If this happens again, I admit I may have to drop this charming series too: not because I don't like the books' story but precisely because J.C. Staff is proving that they aren't the same J.C. Staff who made ToraDora.

And with that, I unpause.
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Old 11-26-2012, 02:41 PM   #60
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Okay, finished. Episode 07 ... hoo boy. This was a textbook harem anime episode. That means it has all of the charm, all of the blegh, and all of the cliches/unoriginality of a typical harem hijinx episode. There were parts I found mildly cute and amusing, many little parts, but I can appreciate why an episode like this might make bbb want to drop the series. He's said many times that he doesn't like certain things which showed up in this episode in full force.

For myself, however, the episode was disappointing for entirely different reasons.

One, never fucking EVER insert real-life imagery or video into an anime unless it's historic. And even then I'd prefer they animate (say for example) JFK's inaugural address rather than put the live action video inside of an anime TV screen. But never, ever, EVER do fucking hand puppets or pictures of real-life roses with cigarettes inside of them. It isn't art. It's horseshit. Don't do it!

Two, a lot of the events which took place in this episode make me think that J.C. Staff repurposed a New Year's chapter from Volume 5 and turned it into a summer chapter. (For starters, that fortune-telling scene! EX FUCKING DEE at how out of place that was for a summer temple visit. That is such a New Year's thing to do!) I haven't had a chance to confirm this yet. I will later. But for now, assuming I am right, this pisses me off for two sub-reasons. Sub-reason A, I don't like that J.C. Staff keeps making unnecessary changes to the story, especially when they're changes for the worse. Leave things the fuck alone! Sub-reason B, it convinces me that we're not going to get to see this story in its entirety. And that instead of getting that treat, we're going to continue to get a hodgepodge of material from throughout the books followed by a made-for-TV ending. In short, this episode worries me that the ToraDora dream is over, that we're not going to get to see a largely book-accurate television adaptation with a straight-from-the-books ending.

I can confirm for you that next week's episode is where we were originally headed next after Episode 06, i.e. it's the remainder of Book 2.

Last edited by Talon87; 11-26-2012 at 02:48 PM.
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Old 11-27-2012, 06:18 PM   #61
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Light Novel:
I promised I would identify whether this week's episode was made for TV or not. Well, I can confirm you that ...

Spoiler: show
it sure as heck is. So let's get started, shall we?

Volume 5, the first thirty-five pages or so are stuff I skipped because I didn't want to spoil myself in case we do ever make it that far with the anime. It's Sorata, Mashiro, and Nanami discussing Christmas and some other things. I skimmed through these pages looking for the words "Onii-chan," certain they'd show up once Yuuko did. After thirty-five pages of this I exited out, looked for the first black and white picture that had Yuuko in it ... and found it was like five or so pages away from where I'd given up. So I opened Page 35 back up, pressed on, and sure enough what happens is that Sorata and Mashiro (who are out and about) run into Yuuko on page 38 of Volume 5.

Yuuko asks Sorata if he's managed to forget who she is and starts boasting about how that's understandable considering how much she's grown in the past year. He retorts that he hasn't forgotten her and if anything she appears to have shrunk a little since the last time he saw her. The giveaway comes next: Mashiro doesn't know who Yuuko is (page 40, 「空太、それはなに?」 "Sorata, what's that?") and Yuuko doesn't know who Mashiro is (page 40, 「よ、呼び捨て?」 "You, you call him by his given name?" followed by page 42, 「お、お兄ちゃん、このものすごく綺麗な人は誰?」 "O-Onii-chan, who is this incredibly pretty person?"). So yeah. They don't meet in the books until Volume 5 around the 40-page mark.

I do like in the book how Sorata introduces Shiina to his sister as his (after a pause) "friend" from school, to which Shiina replies "We're not friends," to which Yuuko replies "You, you mean your relationship goes beyond being friends?", to which Shiina replies "Our relationship goes beyond being master and pet." Similar to what they said in the show, but I like the book's "more than" phrasing better.

Apparently in the books the girls had talked on the phone before (not at length; I gather Yuuko was calling for Sorata and Mashiro happened to pick up) and so there's a cute exchange here where it dawns on Mashiro that Yuuko is "the woman from the telephone" , which makes Sorata chastise her for phrasing it like she's his wife and Yuuko is his mistress, and then Yuuko retorts to Shiina "Y-you're the telephone woman! ", her emphasis on "woman" (transcribed as オンナ in the book when Yuuko says it) translating moreso into "bitch" than into "woman." ^^; To this Shiina orders Yuuko to stop clinging to Sorata, similar to what we saw in the show.

Anyway, I'm going to skip way, way ahead now since really all I wanted to establish was two things, the first of which was that J.C. Staff cheated by introducing Yuuko so early. Clearly they did. Now what I want to establish is that they repurposed material from Volume 5 (beyond what we've already seen as the girls met one another) and morphed it into the material used in Episode 07. In other words, I'm on the hunt for a probable New Year's visit to the temple with Sorata, Mashiro, Nanami, and Yuuko. So let's go hunting!

Skipping ahead as far as page 249 (yeah, I teleported), Yuuko is still at Sakurasou.

Skipping back to page 66, looks like I spoiled myself a bit. Not sure whether this takes place at Sakurasou or the Kandas' house but ...

(stuff that hasn't aired yet and may never air, who knows)
Spoiler: show
Sorata, Mashiro, Nanami, and Misaki have dinner with Sorata's father, mother, and little sister Yuuko. While that's going on, Sorata's mother comments that it looks like Sorata's managed to find himself a wife (she is referring to Nanami), causing Sorata to spit out his green tea in his sister's face and for both of them to ask what their mom is insinuating, Nanami gets all flustered, etc. Sorata says "And besides, that's rude to Aoyama! " to which Nanami says in a quiet voice Sorata barely hears, "I don't think it's rude ". lol

There's a pretty cute and amusing cat fight between Mashiro and Yuuko on pages 69 and 70.
Shiina: I can't live on without Sorata.
Yuuko: M-me too!
Shiina: I'll show you that I'm the one who needs Sorata more.
Yuuko: I-I need Onii-chan just as much!
Sorata: Hold it, hold it! Sit down and calm down! Okay, Shiina?
Shiina: I've though it over, and I'm going to have to completely refuse.
Yuuko: Yeah, we're totally calm!
*Sorata gives up and Shiina turns back to face Yuuko*
Shiina: Every day, Sorata prepares my panties for me.
Sorata: O-oi, Shiina! What the hell are you telling her!?
Yuuko: Well I ... every day Onii-chan would wash me in various places in the bathtub!
Sorata: YUUKO, HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND TOO!?
Nanami: Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeh~, in the bathtub, huh? When she says "when we lived together", she must mean when you were in your 3rd year of middle school and she was only in her 1st year. I think that's way out of bounds, if you ask me ...
Sorata: No no no, we only bathed together up until the end of elementary school, so don't go leaping to crazy conclusions like that! And don't you go confusing them either, Yuuko!
Shiina: Every day, Sorata wakes me up. And he combs my hair, and he blow dries it for me after I get out of the bath ... my pajamas, my undies, my school uniform, Sorata washes all of these for me. And he makes me homemade boxed lunches for school.
Yuuko: Th-that much!? Well I ... I used to sleep together with him every night!
Sorata: No no no, not every night!
Nanami: Heeeeeh~, but you still slept together every once in a while ...
Sorata: No, you've got it all wrong, that was back when we were still in elementary school too!
And it goes on like this. I wish we'd seen this in the anime. Considering that J.C. Staff relocated Yuuko's arrival from Volume 5 territory to Volume 2 territory and considering their pacing thus far (~one book chapter per week) we probably never will. =\

Hmm. Looking semi-thoroughly up thru page 155, I don't see any indication that anyone went to a temple for a New Year's festival. I dunno. It may well be that that was genuinely a made-for-TV scene that had no basis in the books whatsoever. *shrug* Regardless, I don't see any signs of any temple visits in any of the seven main volumes I have access to right now.

In conclusion:
  • did J.C. Staff change when Yuuko shows up? Yes.
  • did J.C. Staff change further details pertaining to Yuuko's visit? Yes. (Not the least of which is (spoiler from before)
    Spoiler: show
    Sorata's parents meeting Mashiro and Nanami
    .)
  • did J.C. Staff change when the gang visits the temple? Unknown. May be made for TV, may be changed from when it happens in one of the books.
Guess we'll just have to cross our fingers and hope for the best. In a best case scenario, they only changed the fact that Yuuko meets the gang earlier than she does in the books. We could still have the (spoiler from before)
Spoiler: show
"meet the parents"
episode later. And we could still be on track to get all the rest of the books in glorious animated form. But if I do manage to find evidence of the temple visit existing in one of the later books, and especially if it happens in the winter rather than in the summer, it won't bode well for us getting all of Sakurasou animated.

Last edited by Talon87; 11-27-2012 at 06:20 PM.
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Old 11-27-2012, 09:23 PM   #62
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Well look at that. Is someone gaining a similar hatred of JC Staff that I am? Though it looks like Suigin's reasons are different than mine, and it probably isn't even hate. I simply hate them for the stock generic harem scenes and bad jokes they say over and OVER in all anime they do nowadays (except Shana III surprisingly). Hell in LB, it seems like JC is trying to make you hate Masato.

Anyway, the real reason I posted. I watched episode 8 of Sakurasou. Thankfully there wasn't much JC Trash this episode (there was still an uncomfortable amount of it though). It was a pretty good episode. The ending scene was the high point of the episode for me. Though other than the ending, nothing else really stood out for me. Good or bad that is.
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Old 11-27-2012, 09:23 PM   #63
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I actually liked the puppet part :P.

Episode 8, might be my favorite one so far? Not really sure, I might be biased because I really liked the ending.

Spoiler: show
Not much time, might edit this post later. I really enjoyed the ending and how Sorata didn't succeed so much on his first attempts at game design. Not sure how I feel about him choking like none other after all that practice, but it's good to see that he's working at something. Character development and whatnot.
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Old 12-04-2012, 07:39 AM   #64
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Oh my god. Episode 9!

Spoiler: show
Akasaka Ryuunosuko is now my favorite character in the show. He even made tomatoes look tasty to me! We need more of him and less of Rita, in my opinion.

What I don't understand is why Ryuunosuke's voice actor is female - wouldn't a male voice have worked just fine? Or is he supposed to be younger than the rest of the cast?
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Old 12-13-2012, 02:24 AM   #65
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Watched Episode 09 yesterday and 10 tonight. Would love to post more at length about then, but for now some brief thoughts.

Spoiler: show
Episode 09:
Spoiler: show
Ryuunosuke finally shows up in the flesh. Very nice. He's a great if stock character, and I love the voice Yui is lending him. Wonderful work on her part.

Rita is interesting. Didn't expect her to be such a bitch though. ^^;

I'll be interested to see the author tackle the question of whether Shiina is right to rob the world of her art or not. Obviously we know the author will ultimately side with Shiina making manga, but I'm interested to see how he argues for it.

I think it's safe to say Ryuunosuke is a dude, Doppel, although one never knows.

Misaki is cute. Nyappollon, a little less so. ^^;

Episode 10:
Spoiler: show
Good lord, this author really wrote Rita into being a real person! Ugly and beautiful, a victim of circumstance and yet a self-made victim too, a fake friend of Shiina's and yet someone who really did value the time they spent together, ... I could go on, but suffice to say, the author showed that Rita has a lot of ugly but realistic baggage. +2 points for writing such a character and not being afraid that the audience would reject how she could simultaneously hate and yet love Shiina or how she could simultaneously wish for Shiina to fail and yet wish for Shiina's success.

Ryuunosuke is such a trap looks-wise. It's the hair. Beautiful long hair on a generic anime face --> "Guuuuurl? :3" hahahahahaha

Pretty clear the author plans to set up Ryuunosuke with Rita. Seems odd for either party to like the other yet though. Hopefully this is developed gradually.

Jin's scene with the student council president seems to be setting up for some Jin or Misaki+Jin developments.

Hurt Shiina in rain = ;_;

Great animation.

Good episodes both. 7 was a hiccup we're all best off forgetting, it seems, as 8 was good and so too were 9 and 10.
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Old 12-24-2012, 02:49 AM   #66
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Episode 11:

Spoiler: show
1. Akasuka in dress = confirmed trap?

2. Heavy foreshadowing from Jin going to Osaka and Misaki's reaction about time and distance not being a factor into love. Will we see Mishara go back to England or about to go back, with a confession from Sorata?

I don't know how to feel about Nanamin. I'm getting annoyed with the constant semi-tsudere from her and the lame love triangle. Put simply, I guess I ship Sorata x Mishara

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Old 12-27-2012, 06:15 AM   #67
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Is this anime dead to UPN or something? ^_^;

EP. 12:

Spoiler: show
Fairly predictable. I imagined Sorata would end up chasing her to the airport and basically confessing to her, but I never imagined it would be so soon! Mashiro was freakin' cute the entire episode, especially at the end. I think it was a bit lame for Nanamin to basically suddenly throw her support behind Sorata x Mashiro and then the writers suddenly shoe horn in this background character confessing feelings for her... but okay.

Overall good ep, and Talon called it on Akasuka x Rita. This show is cute and has (for the most part) decent pacing and character development. Can't wait for next week's.
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Old 12-27-2012, 12:06 PM   #68
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Quote:
Originally Posted by deoxys View Post
Is this anime dead to UPN or something? ^_^;
Don't get ahead of yourself there, bud. (Have you been reading the light novels raw? ) I just was busy last week and did not manage to watch Episode 11 before coming home; and then Episode 12 aired this week and I am not able to watch anything on a computer (besides YouTube on my cell phone app) this week, so ... no, the anime is not dead to UPN. Char has said he quite likes it, Kaisap has said she quite likes it, I quite like it, ... I don't think you realize that there is a line here, good sir, of people who have been enjoying the program before you even discovered it. ^^;

Anyway, fanboy catfight aside, I am glad you are enjoying it. Wish more people were watching. It's not quite as good as ToraDora yet ... but then again, ToraDora's three most epic moments came in Episode 19, 21 (?, can't check right now), and 24, so like, I am more than prepared to cut Sakurasou some slack for not being quite up to ToraDora's high bar yet. If we strictly compare Sakurasou against the first half of ToraDora, I'd say the series is doing very well.
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Old 12-27-2012, 02:04 PM   #69
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I'm still watching this, up-to-date with every episode. Just haven't bothered to make any commentary about it.

It's actually the only show I'm keeping up with right now besides the Pokemon Anime (which I'm watching because it's the league battles right now). :P

EDIT: Do we have any place to discuss the Pokemon Anime itself? Also I might put my thoughts for the latest episodes of Sakurasou later.
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Old 12-30-2012, 08:41 PM   #70
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As promised, I'm going to catch up with this sometime tonight.

I should also bring up something interesting brought to my attention. Remember that Korean dish controversy early in the series? Apparently Japan hasn't forgotten (much like the Kannagi nonsense) and it's gotten worse. Read the bit about the reviews; I don't put a lot of stock in Amazon.jp, necessarily, but it's something to think about before the actual DVD sales are finalized.

It's curious. As Talon pointed out, Sakurasou is reminiscent of Love Hina and LH wasn't super popular in Japan, but popular enough. Still, it was dull compared to the shine America took to it. Now, with all the negative publicity for Sakurasou, perhaps the disparity in popularity is now similar...?
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Old 12-30-2012, 08:50 PM   #71
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Not going to let the opinions of hundreds of racist Japanese get in between me and my Sakurasou goodness. I really don't think the Korean animators meant any harm by swapping out the rice porridge (which is hardly "Japanese", oh ffs get over yourselves, Japan! お粥 is simply their word for rice porridge period, not a magically uniquely Japanese variant on the simplest soup ever!) for the Korean chicken dish, but even if they did, Japan's reaction to the event was inappropriate both in nature and in degree.

Obviously J.C. Staff will be reanimating that scene for the Blu-Rays though. -_-; It'll be interesting to see whether they have both an original version and a Japanese-sensitive version or if they just scrap the original and act like it never ever happened.
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Old 01-08-2013, 01:39 AM   #72
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Episode 13 came out a half hour ago, here are my thoughts:

-Shiina is moe as fuck
-Shiina is mai fuckin waifu
-Shiina is mai fuckin waifu
-Shiina is mai fuckin waifu

Spoiler: show

Sorata is an idiot. I see where this is going... Sorata got rejected from the game designing once again and sees Shiina "slacking off" by wanting to cook for him instead of focusing 100% on her work, when in reality he is oblivious to see that she is falling in love with him. Meanwhile, we get Nanami stepping up to the plate and asking Sorata on a date... (eugh)...

This is beginning to feel like Fruit's Basket all over again
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Old 01-08-2013, 03:26 AM   #73
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Episode 13 was painful as fuck to watch. Sorata freaking out over every little thing has gone from annoying me to strait pissing me off. The joke is fucking old. It wasn't funny the first 100 times. It sure as hell isn't funny now.

Also (episode 13 spoilers)
Spoiler: show
Sorata yelling at Shiina was painful to watch too. I mean, it wasn't a bad scene, but it was still difficult to watch. Especially since she has become one of my reasons for sticking with the show.

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Old 01-09-2013, 07:41 PM   #74
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Who just watched Episode 11? I just watched Episode 11.

Spoiler: show
Mashiro in her cat costume is ridiculously adorable.

Nanami in that scrumptiously unorthodox tan and black French maid outfit is ridiculously gorgeous.

The guy who likes Nanami seems like such a weak recipient for her. It's nice that he earnestly likes her, but her getting him is like being awarded a consolation prize. ^^; They either need to develop him a whole lot more or else give her some new guy to wind up with.

Rita and Ryuunosuke are fun to watch, but what's a little uncomfortable (or depressing ^^; ) for me is that I had their exact same relationship with this one really gorgeous blonde in middle school. I always figured she was just fucking with me. Now I have to wonder if I was mega-blind ...

Misaki's older sister shows up at long last! She's quite pretty, but she's also quite a look-alike of Misaki! Shame on Jin for breaking her heart too. But at least this story might still have a happy ending for Misaki. (Also, awkwaaaaaard @ the part where the older sister tries to play off her proposal to Jin as a joke after he rejects it. ^^; )

Ryuunosuke is such a trap in that maid costume.
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Old 01-09-2013, 08:54 PM   #75
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Just finished Episode 12. Very good.

Spoiler: show
I thought the drama with the show they put on was executed very well by J.C. Staff, though I've no idea how it goes in the book.

That scream of Shiina's.

That airport hug.

That "Is this ... love?" on the airport roof. (Shiina's hair! Gorgeous!)

Rita x Ryuunosuke, awww. lol @ him not giving her his e-mail, but LOL at her disarming him with that kiss! Reminds me of the guys in Bambi, how they each get bewitched by the females, one at a time.

Misaki x Jin is looking pretty good too, with Jin having finally given her that necklace. He's still yet to formally tell her how he feels about her.

OH HO HO, Sorata's hero and Chihiro have some past history together? (And am I detecting quite a bit of sexual tension? Seems like she liked him but he went to places she couldn't follow, or something? Guess we'll find out!)

Hooray for the Nanami x Sorata's friend thing coming to a head, with Nanami flatly rejecting the guy. Feel bad for him, but it would've been dumb and unrealistic if at this juncture she'd said "Yes! ^.^" Now we'll have to see if he's going to be more properly developed or what. I kind of doubt it. It feels to me like his only purpose was to ask Nanami out so that she could reject him so that the audience could be like "Ohhhh shit " for Nanami since it shows that she's pursuing Sorata despite knowing he likes Mashiro, she likes him, and Nanami doesn't stand much of a chance against Shiina.

Now I wish I'd caught up last week. ^^; Episode 12 felt like the end of a book, so that means Episode 13's gonna feel like frustrating introductory material. ^^; Oh well.
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