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Old 08-07-2015, 07:06 PM   #1
Talon87
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Himouto! Umaru-chan


"Himouto! Umaru-chan (干物妹!うまるちゃん) is a Japanese manga series by Sankaku Head. It began serialization in Shueisha's seinen manga magazine Weekly Young Jump from March 14, 2013. An anime television series adaptation by Doga Kobo began airing in Japan from July 9, 2015." - Wikipedia

Kind, smart, and popular, Doma Umaru is a 16-year old girl admired by everyone in town. But when she returns to her older brother Taihei's apartment, Umaru turns into Umaru-chan: a hamster hood-wearing, manga-crazed, Internet-addicted, game-guzzling, TV-marathoning, junk food-devouring slob.


... How do I even begin to describe this show. When deoxys first introduced us to it, I responded that the plot premise sounded awfully similar to the '90s classic Kareshi Kanojo no Jijou, a.k.a. His and Her Circumstances or Kare Kano. But on inspection, Himouto! Umaru-chan soon revealed itself to be almost nothing at all like Kare Kano, despite the shared premise of a girl who is model high school student by day and lazy slob by night. As you can appreciate from the image above, perhaps the greatest difference of all between Umaru-chan and others in the genre is its energy level. Hoooooooly shit, its energy level. Umaru-chan is off-the-walls nonstop energy -- whether it's a little hamster girl bouncing off the walls, whether it's the many faces of Umaru-chan, or even whether it's just dialogue. The show is incredibly, incredibly spastic -- and I mean that in the best possible sense.


Doma Umaru is what you would get if you took Yuuki Asuna, turned her into an imouto character, transplanted her to a comedy series, and gave her a hood-wearing chibi form. She can easily be enjoyed as a stand-alone character but taken as an imouto she is like a 10-tesla magnet for those who've got a soft spot for little sister types. By day, Umaru is graceful, elegant, like a modern-day princess. She feigns ignorance of manga and anime, displays her prowess on the piano, and trounces athletes in their respective sports with little effort. But by night, she becomes Umaru-chan, a hedonist if ever I saw one. While it's fun to wonder what will happen with the secret life Umaru is keeping hidden from society at large, there's much more fun to be had in simply enjoying Umaru-chan's antics. Her rude mouth, her gluttony, and many other negative character traits provide entertainment in their own right, without need for contrast against her more positive character traits. The contrast simply adds a layer of icing to an already delicious cake.


Taihei is Umaru's older brother. It's his apartment that she moves into one year prior to the beginning of our story, and Taihei witnesses firsthand as his little sister devolves from an angel into a little imp. Worried for Umaru's future, Taihei determines to rectify Umaru's path in life. But it isn't so easy when Umaru, master manipulator that she is, uses a variety of tricks up her sleeves to force Taihei into giving her what she wants.


干物妹 Himouto is a portmanteau of 干物 himono and 妹 imouto. The latter of course means "little sister," but what of the former? 干物 can either mean "dried fish (or shellfish)", read himono, or it can mean "things dried in the sun (esp. clothes, dyed cloth, etc.)", read hoshimono. There is also a special phrase, 干物女 himono onna, which means "a woman who, while young, has abandoned love." So it would appear that the portmanteau is going for the 干物女 understanding while swapping out 女 woman for 妹 little sister, and that the phrase in turn derives its meaning from 干物's association with dried-out goods.

I'm not sure how this title matches Umaru, though. From what I've seen so far, Umaru doesn't really seem to be "dried out" -- she's at peak energy levels -- nor does anything about her seem to indicate that she's given up on love -- on the contrary, she seems to have a moderate Onii-chan complex and indirectly engages the object of her affections in a variety of ways. Himouto is fun to say, and I wish the pun made more sense because then I'd be able to enjoy it all the more. Until I can figure out what the author was trying to go for, though, the kanji choice is going to nag at me.


Himouto! Umaru-chan's all about the adorability. You've got the adorable girl with her adorable look in that adorable hamster hood. You've also got adorable animation. The way the characters are drawn feels very warm and friendly, very inviting, but also very simple and cute. You'll be going "Aww! " about as often as you'll be laughing.


It's also all about the many faces of Umaru-chan. I mean that quite literally: Umaru-chan has dozens of different facial animations in just the first episode alone, and nearly every last one of them will capture your attention. Her face is like a lava lamp: always evolving, an absolute pleasure to watch for hours on end. I'd bet hundreds that Umaru's animators are having a blast with this show. She has to be an absolute delight to draw.


Umaru puts the "imouto" in Himouto!. From the first episode alone, it seems clear to me that while Umaru is intended as bait for lovers of little sister characters, in universe she herself harbors an Onii-chan complex towards her older brother Taihei. After all, what reason could a model student have for moving in with her older brother in the big city who lives in a cramped apartment? While Umaru often bickers with her older brother, she also frequently betrays desires to spend more time with him, to share her enjoyments with him. I think that Umaru's Onii-chan complex is itself further bait for imoutokons. In this sense, it kinda puts me off since it's distracting in its heavy-handedness. But taken less cynically as a simple character trait of Umaru's, I'd say I find it endearing. Whether Taihei deserves the love remains to be seen, but at least for now it's kinda cute that the one person who doesn't treat Umaru like an angel is her very own.


This post is somewhat untraditional for me. It blurs the line between an unbiased thread OP post that I normally shoot for when making new threads and a biased, more review-ey post that I tend to aim for when reviewing individual episodes. I tend to try my best to leave spoilers out of thread OP posts, whereas spoilers in an episode review post are hidden inside of UPN's spoiler tag. This post has a handful of small Episode 01 spoilers sprinkled throughout it, and I apologize if I've upset anyone for doing that. But Umaru-chan's a weird beast to write an OP post for. Too little review-ey thoughts and it probably would've ended after the paragraph about the title's etymology, while too many more spoilers and I would've probably preferred to spin the second half of this post out into its own Ep01 review post. In the end, I've opted to burden you with my biases, Dear Reader , and create a thread OP post that provides my take on a few things like the animation and the themes. Hopefully I don't bias you or give away too much, and you can enjoy this series to your fullest.
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Old 08-07-2015, 07:31 PM   #2
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So in other news ...



There's an Umaru-chan Nendoroid going on sale this September for Ľ4444 plus tax. That's about $35.77 in US dollars, plus tax.

I wish Nendos weren't so expensive. ^^; They're cute, and I wouldn't mind having a couple to decorate my bookcase, but $50 is a lot to ask of me for an ornamental figurine.

This Umaru-chan Nendoroid, though, is the real deal. While many Nendoroids come with at least two different faces, the Umaru-chan Nendoroid comes with a whopping five. Three's the most I'm used to seeing, and I don't think I've ever seen a Nendoroid with as many as five faces before. Then there's the bonus items. Lots and lots of Nendoroids have only one bonus item, be it some rolled-up paper to hold in their hand or a stuffed teddy bear. The Pokémon trainer Red one came with a number of bonus items, but that was mostly Pokémon -- and it made sense, anyway! Well, Umaru's make sense too, but man if the count's still not impressive. She comes with a bottle of Coca-Cola (with removable cap!), a bag of potato chips, a box of Takenoko no Sato cookies, a vacuum-sealed bag of squid, a thing of cheese strips, and a frickin' PS Vita to top it all off! Unbelievable. Basically the arsenal of items she had in the Ep01 sketch where she dimmed the lights and had an anime-watching session plus a PS Vita for good measure. Considering that many Nendoroids with this much customizability retail for $80 or higher, the Umaru-chan Nendo is quite the steal.
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Old 08-07-2015, 11:23 PM   #3
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Surprised there wasn't a thread on this sooner tbh

I'd read the manga for a bit, and when I heard, or rather read, that this was coming out this summer I was pretty happy. As for the episodes, I've yet to watch 5, but so far it's been charming.
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Old 08-12-2015, 07:57 PM   #4
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While Talon already gave a shortened definition of 干物女 himono onna, it doesn't really explain what a "himono onna" really is. Here's an article that explains it a bit more intact, and if you don't really feel like reading, here's Urban Dictionary's defintion:

Quote:
Originally Posted by Urban Dictionary

Himono-onna

japanese slang meaning:


"dried fish - woman".


Girls in their twenties whom outside their home puts on a lively face, but as soon they get home, they change into their shirts and their hair are tied up like a samurai-style topknot, and they might even scratch their ass. snack in one hand, and canned beer in the other. on weekends they don’t go to blind dates, when they don’t have work they eat and sleep and eat and sleep and not a single guy around them." -- from Hotaru no Hikari (jdrama).

So with this the portmanteau makes a lot more sense, as Umaru most certainly displays all the traits of a himono onna, except she's still a young high school girl.



Episode 6 just came out, so I'm going to go ahead and watch that and then I'll report back with thoughts.



Also, this




I wouldn't be caught dead wearing this thing in public ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
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Old 08-12-2015, 10:24 PM   #5
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Well you're supposed to wear it at home so *flings hands in the air*

Also sad that I forgot about the Umaru Nendoroid OTL
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Spoiler: show

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Spoiler: show

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Spoiler: show

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Spoiler: show
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Old 08-12-2015, 11:22 PM   #6
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Alright, back from episode six. Fuuuuuuuuuuuck, I love this show so much. I can't remember the last time I watched something that gave me a big grin on my face almost the entire time.

Spoiler: show


Alright, I need to get this out of the way: Umaru x Kirie, OTP, I ship it so hard.

Okay, now that that's out of the way, on to the episode. Overall it was really good, while not the strongest of the six thus far by any means and not much took place, it was still really good, and I think that says a lot about it. Overall it was super cute. Was definitely feelin' some kind of angry big brother vibes at her sneaking out and getting soda, but you just can't stay mad at her. The Metal Gear Solid references were hilarious, too.


Once they got the curtain, man, that whole scene gave me some feels. I really could relate to Umaru feeling isolated and alone. It became clear she only bugs her brother because she doesn't have anyone else to talk to, and I really, really get that feeling of wanting to share accomplishments with someone (even if they don't necessarily care) if only to vindicate them and feel somewhat worthy, and to not have someone to share that with, well, you definitely feel like this...





This poor cutie patoot.


The feelings escalated when Umaru's brother seemingly forgot her birthday. Regardless of her friends wishing her a happy birthday, it didn't fix the sting that you feel when someone super close to you doesn't, and the way she acted in response was totally on point. Also, poor Sylphyn! D:

Basically this, minus the hate


Bonus God-tier Umaru cosplay set



Kirie-chan is best girl, let it be known. Peace.
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Old 08-13-2015, 02:15 AM   #7
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I hate her so much, she's such a piece of shit

Spoiler: show
I really like the show, though.
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Old 08-13-2015, 11:30 AM   #8
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This show's a thing, eh? I originally passed it over because it looked like a 3 minute short, but file size says otherwise. I guess I'll add this to my shows to watch.
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Old 08-13-2015, 11:34 PM   #9
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I'll watch some of this just because of this thread ;o
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Old 08-15-2015, 08:51 PM   #10
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I'll watch some of this just because of this thread ;o
Caught up...it's watchable. Kinda cute, somewhat reminds me of myself :P. Not great, not bad - I'll likely keep up with it though.

Spoiler: show
Is every friend going to have a crush on the brother or what? :O
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Old 08-17-2015, 01:05 AM   #11
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Caught up on this. It's better than I thought it would be. Nothing super special awesome, but I still enjoyed it well enough. I was afraid this would be like Ore no Imouto, but thank god it isn't. Sure, main girl isn't exactly a great person, but she's still infinitely better than fucking Kirino.
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Old 09-22-2015, 10:09 PM   #12
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Huh. I figured a cool kid's anime thread would have been more active. Oh well. I'm keeping up with the show and I'm enjoying it. It has a pleasant warmth to it. Not super funny or anything, but it has enough diabeetus to make that not matter.

I think Doppel should watch episode 11. He would fucking love it. (episode 11 spoilers
Spoiler: show
The entire episode is nothing but food scenes


The show is interesting enough to make me want to read the manga, which I'm reading alongside Cromartie! It updates often enough to hopefully not make waiting for updates painful. I just hope the manga doesn't end up doing nothing for 100+ chapters like Ika Musume ended up doing.

EDIT
Spoiler: show

Last edited by big bad birtha; 09-23-2015 at 12:00 AM.
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Old 09-23-2015, 05:00 AM   #13
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Wanted to write Talon!post for Episode 02. Got busy. Show got Ilya 2wei'd. orz

Will try to catch up before 2016. ^^;;
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Old 10-04-2015, 03:13 PM   #14
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Finished both the anime and what is translated of the manga. For the anime, nothing really changed as far as my general thoughts go. Anyway, the Umaru anime deserves a 7. One thing that surprised me is just how sweet of a character Sylphin is. They make her out to be annoying, but she's just so damn charming. Even if her eyes and mouth are weird!


Compared to the manga, it's surprisingly less abridged. There's more "filler" content, but some of the scenes are also more satisfying. Most especially the Christmas episode. Each chapter of the manga is only 9 pages long, which doesn't leave much room for anything to happen. Though one good thing is that my fears were alleviated. Most chapters have some kind of development or make progress in some way, so we're not treated to 100+ chapters of nothing happening. The development after the show ends starts to get alot better, so I'm hoping we get a second, possibly third season.
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Old 10-12-2015, 11:54 AM   #15
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So who is tastier, Umaru, Umasou, or our very own Umaikeiki?
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Old 10-12-2015, 04:56 PM   #16
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Depends which way you swing. Do you like himoutos, ankylosaurs, or übermenschen?

Still sad that no one afaik ever subbed that movie for you guys. It's a pretty solid kids film with grown-up appeal. And tears.
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Old 04-25-2016, 01:18 PM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Talon87 View Post
Wanted to write Talon!post for Episode 02. Got busy. Show got Ilya 2wei'd. orz

Will try to catch up before 2016. ^^;;
Well this didn't end up happening. I re-watched Episode 02 on two separate occasions, months apart, just to refresh my memory for the post I wanted to write. But each time the Ilya 2wei phenomenon took place, where I was parlayzed by just how much I wanted to gush and share ... and then the post ended up never happening. I'm still hoping to give Ilya that red carpet treatment, and so for now I'm keeping Ilya 2wei tabled, but I've decided to go ahead and yoink the red carpet out from underneath Himouto! Umaru-chan's feet if it means I discuss it at all. So with that stated, let's dive back into this show half a year later ...

Episode 02:

Spoiler: show
I enjoyed this episode a lot. I like Ebina, and the episode does a good job of both exploring how moe she is while at the same time tackling the elephant in the room: her unordinarily large breasts.

I ship Onii-chan x Ebina pretty hard. Definitely my preferred ship involving Onii-chan, better than Onii-chan x Umaru (which I would've thought would be the pairing the show was going to drive for the hardest given its opening setup). I don't see this series ever going in a serious direction with romance, though, and so unfortunately this pairing is fated the same outcome as any of the romances in Minami-ke. *sigh*

Episode 03:

Spoiler: show
I didn't expect Motoba to be a closet lesbian, much less one with a massive crush on Umaru. It's a little surprising given we already had the blue-haired gird, Sylphie or whatever her name is, but I guess it's a pleasant surprise since it releases Sylphie from the role of the secret lesbian with the crush and allows for Sylphie to just be pure comic relief, divorced of any ren'ai.

So what about Motoba? Well I guess I like it so far. I've only just watched Episode 03, for the first time in my life, so I've no idea where the show is going to go from here. Just that Motoba believes Umaru has a little sister named Komaru (love that pun, btw ), that she's been stalking Umaru for the past week, that she has a big crush on her, etc. All the basic things Episode 03 just showed us. Oh! And that she considers Ebina to be her rival.

Let's finish off with the pun. Umaru says she has a little sister named Komaru. The pun works on two levels:
  • komaru 困る means "to bother; to disturb," an apt description for Umaru in her hamster form
  • ko 小 in front means "small," so "Komaru" is literally "Little Maru" or (hop skip and a jump) "Lil' Umaru". Which works because she's supposedly Umaru's little sister who is the spitting image of her only younger.
I like it.
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Old 05-02-2016, 07:27 PM   #18
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Somehow I forgot to watch the post-ED credits scene of Episode 03. Just wheeled around to watch that while eating dinner.

Episode 03:

Spoiler: show
This was a really cute and fun scene. If I didn't ship Onii-chan x Ebina so hard, this would be prime fodder for Onii-chan x Umaru -- or at least Umaru @ Onii-chan, since he clearly doesn't reciprocate in that way. Divorced of shipping, it's a cute scene about siblinghood.

I thought that maybe Umaru was watching a version of The Grudge made to be less scary for the easily-scared, and only several tens of seconds later realized that these changes were probably the result of avoiding copyright infringement. But yeah ... those pinwheels ... ^^;
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Old 05-04-2016, 03:56 PM   #19
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Through Episode 05. The show is cute fun. Nothing too great. I enjoy the cultural references (like The Prince of Tennis one in Episode 04 or the Pokémon ones in Episodes 04 and 05), but the show is ultimately like a thin glaze: sweet and without substance.
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Old 05-04-2016, 07:24 PM   #20
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Episode 06 was cute. I ship Umaru crushing on Onii-chan but not the reverse. Would still say my OTP in this show is Ebina x Onii-chan. I appreciate Kirie but I can't say I share your ship, Deo. ^^;

Spoiler: show
The Metal Gear Solid references were cute.

The retro gaming boom reference was cute. Smiled at the part where Umaru blows the NES cartridge to fix it. Such a universal experience. :')

Didn't Taihei's wife in Life look like Ebina? ;o

lol @ the author's tongue-in-cheek humor about how easy the mangaka life is / how it's the fast track to getting rich. That dream is surely to our fandom what video game design is to most high school boys taking a computer programming course.

Neat that Umaru's birthday is officially known. I don't know of many anime characters whose birthdays we know to the date. Not just by watching the show, anyway.

If the show is going in chronological order, though, we are blazing through the months. It was just Golden Week a few episodes ago. Then it was summer vacation last episode. Now it's already the end of September.
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Old 05-04-2016, 08:17 PM   #21
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Episode 07:

Spoiler: show
The final scene before the ending credits takes us in a surprising direction: Onii-chan takes the long way home, recalls a distant memory with Umaru, and eventually realizes that the memory is from his own young childhood, that his and Umaru's roles were switched, and that the Umaru person in his memory ... was an adult version of Umaru. His own mother. So the implication is that Umaru, when she is in her Princess Mode, is an exact replica of Mrs. Doma. More importantly, Taihei somehow confused himself with Umaru (role-wise) and his mother with Umaru (identity-wise). I doubt the series is suddenly going to turn grimly serious, but this was still a rather surprising development that came out of nowhere, especially given the serious treatment with his terrified eyes and gasp of air as he made the connection.

This episode reveals that Kirie has an older brother. It also reveals that Onii-chan's coworker, Bomber, is that older brother. Given that Umaru confused Bomber for Onii-chan when she was still half asleep, this might explain why Kirie acts the way she does around Onii-chan. It isn't because, like Ebina, she has a crush on him. It's because she's struck by just how similar he looks to her own older brother.

And speaking of Bomber, there was a cute pun in this episode's reveal. I don't know that we even knew his name before Episode 07, but shortly after Onii-chan reveals that the guy's nickname is Bomber, we cut to the family's nameplate outside their home. And it clearly says 本場. Because you've been primed by just hearing Bomber (Bombaa in Japanese), you see this and you might read it as Honba. That's one way you can read these characters in sequence, and it works because the pun evolves from it as follows:

Honba --> Bonba --> Bombaa

You voice the H, you elongate the terminal vowel, you slide the n into an m, and you've got it: Bomber from Honba. But as your brain processes this in a matter of seconds, Bomber talks to his as-yet unrevealed family member ... and we discover that this is the Motoba residence. Moto is another way you could read 本 here (although a Google search for 本場 もとば seems to suggest that Motoba isn't the most common reading, nor that 本場 is the most common spelling for that popular family name), and so now the pun evolves as follows:

Motoba --> Honba --> Bonba --> Bombaa

Or in the reverse, as presented by the episode:

Bombaa --> Bonba --> Honba --> Motoba

Basically, the fact that Bomber is Kirie's family member is hidden within the layers of his very nickname. The episode reveals the truth so quickly that I think only the sharpest, most Japanese minds would have figured this out before the reveal. But I like it a lot.

We still don't know the status of Sylphy's and Alex's relationship, but I'd say to place your bets on them being older brother and younger sister. So the parallels between Sylphy and Umaru continue, with Umaru having probable feelings for Onii-chan and Sylphy almost certainly having feelings for Alex.

I suppose it's somewhat more common than I realize, but right now my attitude towards the following is that it's silly: the fact that Onii-chan's coworkers are Umaru's classmates' older brothers. Like, c'mon: what a small fucking world. That Taihei would just so happen to be working in the same office as Kirie's and Sylphy's older brothers ... oh please. But hey, whatever, it's fine. Cute lighthearted comedy is cute and lighthearted. Doesn't have to be super realistic. It's already asking us to believe that no one besides Taihei can tell Umaru apart from Komaru.
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Old 05-05-2016, 10:30 AM   #22
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Episode 08:

Spoiler: show
Alright, alright: I ship Onii-chan x Kanau now instead of Onii-chan x Ebina. I was resisting it, but now that Kanau has gotten her own episode scene and it's been established that she isn't just a pretty coworker with a crush on Taihei but she's known him since they were kids and had a crush on him this entire time, she definitely earns my support. Also long hair for the win. Ż3Ż

The revelation that Kanau is both Taihei's boss and his cohort from high school makes an earlier scene kinda weird though. Remember that scene from Episode 04 or thereabouts when Taihei freaked out at the idea of Alex, currently his kouhai at the company, one day surpassing him and becoming his boss? Well then how come Taihei isn't bothered by Kanau being his boss? I mean, after all, she is the same age as him and presumably brings the same amount of experience to the table that Taihei does ... The same way it'd be weird for you IRL to have your high school friend be your boss, don't you think it'd be weird for Taihei? And before you say "No" or "Everybody's different," keep in mind that we already have evidence that Taihei doesn't respond well to the idea of someone below his level becoming his boss in the future. (See: his response to Umaru's comment about Alex.) True, Kanau was never below Taihei's level, but still. Lemons and limes here, I feel, not apples and oranges.

The cultural references continue this episode. Ones that I noticed include:
  • Gaki no Tsukai
    • they changed the name to Gaki no Chikai
    • they referenced Gaki no Tsukai's annual tradition of having a New Year's special that runs right up to midnight
    • they specifically showed one of the most famous traditions of the GnT New Year's special, where Tsukitei Housei (previously Yamasaki Housei; name change, he got adult adopted) gets slapped really hard across the face by a macho man
  • Christmas Eve in Japan is a romantic holiday, with the expectation that lovers will spend the night together and/or guys will ask girls out to dinner
    • the fact that Taihei has no special plans for Christmas Eve tells Kanau that he 99% likely doesn't have a girlfriend
    • the fact that Kanau is there likewise tells Taihei that she doesn't have a boyfriend
    • pile onto that the fact that she is clearly coming onto him hot and heavy, and it's not just that Kanau wants Taihei to ask her out: it's that she specifically wants him to ask her out on this night of nights, Christmas Eve, the night for lovers in Japan
  • other obvious ones, like kotatsu, New Year's shrine visit, New Year's horoscopes, and so on
Holy crap @ the part where Onii-chan gives Umaru a 500Ľ coin (approx. $5) to donate to the shrine and she pockets it right in front of him and exchanges it for a 5Ľ coin (approx. 5˘). What the heck. It's not like $5 is that that much money that she should object to Taihei "setting it on fire" by giving it to a shrine, and besides: you stole it for a nickel!? Man. Umaru is super cheap.
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