hontou ni
24Aug/0513

SHUFFLE 03-04

As if to address my BoA (basis of attraction) concerns, ep 3 responds with Sia's backstory of her first meeting with young Rin. Despite the short encounter, little Rin did indeed prove himself to be sufficiently charming for ensnaring Sia's young heart. I found the umbrella-hunting/sharing scenes particularly sweet and was actually convinced that Sia did have some good reasons for liking Rin. Still, I held some reservations about series since I was not too hot about the god/demon premise.

But came ep 4 and I was totally sold, silly premise or not. I was simply won over by Primula appearing in Rin's shirt how much I enjoyed the Nerine-centric ep 4. Nerine really shone in this ep as she reveals the demon blood in her by taking out the 'garbage' together with the gym, DragonBall Z style. A startling but nice change from her bashfully cliched 'Rin-sama' mode. I was rather surprised that her backstory was not elaborated upon. However judging from the single flashback in this ep (stuff-toy machine), her story is probably inexplicably linked to Primula and I'm looking forward to how the storythreads will converge.

Thoroughly enjoyable. Ep 5 rant up next.

Related posts:

  1. SHUFFLE! Memories 5
  2. SHUFFLE 06
  3. SHUFFLE! 23

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Filed under: Da Capo Second Season, SHUFFLE! Leave a comment
Comments (13) Trackbacks (1)
  1. Mumoto
    September 1st, 2005 - 01:45

    Hey how can you write such long stories for every episode?

    I have a blog too but I usually keep it pretty short, first of all because I’m not really good in writing reviews in my own language nor in English and even though I remember alot from the episode I still don’t know much to say lol, I guess it’s kinda hard to keep it spoiler free ^^;;

    But what I do notice there are always a few days between your posts :P so it seems that you either don’t watch much anime everyday or you just skip some things.

    Keep writing…. :P , I’ll just spit out a few lines and add some pictures ;o I want to watch anime without rewriting the whole episode XD

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  2. crimson
    September 1st, 2005 - 04:59

    stripey is busy with some big preparation over his side!
    Thus, the weeds frequency increases a bit.

    Based on my impression, stripey writes what he feels or thinks about an anime after watching it. Some of them are phrased in a funny way which makes reading them fun. That’s right!
    THE SECRET IS TO USE WORDS TO REPRESENT YOUR LOGICAL IMPRESSIONS AND FLEETING EMOTIONS. No formal writting textbook will reveal to you that. You have to be careful not to use a thousand words just to describe 1 picture though.

    Anyway, some of these thoughts might also coincide with some of us readers so it’s like a way to see if there’s similarity in after thoughts after watching an episode or if there’s some similar overall impression for a series.

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  3. Mumoto
    September 1st, 2005 - 06:58

    Well I can understand that but it seems like you need to have something in you to be able to do that, I just suck ;p

    But my lazyness is part of the reason why I can’t do it, I always give myself the choice ‘More free time and more anime watching or nice story on blog’ guess what I always pick lol.

    Only the ’2 years of anime’ post on my blog has been a bit of story, but I can’t really describe stuff lately, especially the past 2 weeks, I just feel weird … tired / forgetful… .my brain is dying or something lol.

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  4. Stripey
    September 5th, 2005 - 09:51

    Mumoto: Thx for the encouragment, Mumoto. :) I’m starting to suspect it’s an age thing.. seems like one has more things to say (aka long-windedness) when he gets older :P This blog may well degenerate to ol’ grandpa tales very soon :P And yeah it’s impossible to keep it spoiler free so I often go full blast with spoilers :P That is after adding a filmsy tag to keep out spoiler-sensitive folks :) Enjoyed reading your blog (added you! :P ) keep blogging! :)

    Crimson: Thanks crimson for manning my comments in my absence :) Yeah you are right. I just write wat I think although I do struggle quite a bit to put in words my thots/emotions. (Eloquent prose ain’t exactly my strength :P ) Years ago, Zyl gave me a review/blogging pointer which I practice even now. Just focus on the one thing that stands out/affects you most. I’ve come to understand that often it’s not the words but the conviction and strength behind these words that sets writings apart. I’m still a loooong way from learning to harness that literary power. :) Which is why I’m not giving up blogging. yeah! update soon. DCSS 8-9. Well better late than never I guess. :) Thx again Crimson by continuing to frequent this weed-infested blog. Housekeeping to occur soon :)

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  5. Mentar
    September 5th, 2005 - 11:24

    A big “aye” goes out to you, Stripey. I can’t even recognize Junichi anymore. What the hell are they doing?

    I also don’t understand how they are planning to build the drama arc for the rest. Even more new girls? For what purpose? Who is really interested in them, now that the Junichi/Nemu linkup has been shakily reaffirmed?

    I don’t get it.

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  6. Stripey
    September 5th, 2005 - 12:01

    I haven’t seen ep 10 but I was thrown off my Junich/Nemu’s hasty reconciliation in ep 9. I totally share your sentiments. Wat of the harem premise now? And where can Kotori fit in the grand scheme of things? I really fear for Kotori after wat they did to Junichi. If FEEL mangles her character, they must surely deserve (in your very own words :P ) death by wet-towel flogging.

    SHUFFLE is shaping up much better and is the REAL fix for my harem (series) needs this season. Loved Asa’s Ep 7. :)

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  7. Mentar
    September 5th, 2005 - 12:03

    Asa won’t win ;_; … but she’s a real treat to behold. By far the most interesting girl in Shuffle! IMHO

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  8. Zyl
    September 6th, 2005 - 01:45

    Didn’t enjoy DCSS much either.

    And indeed Asa is my favourite character and it’s highly unlikely she’ll get Rin. Might follow SHUFFLE via Asa-centric like my Lunamaria-centric GSD posts – when I get access to ADSL again. Another two weeks to go! ;_;

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  9. Humbert Humbert
    September 7th, 2005 - 07:23

    Mentar: I would take your questions as a good sign. It acts like a hook, keeping me interested to see what will happen next, and where they’ll take the series.

    Stripey: Perhaps Da Capo was never a harem series to begin with, I’ll let the link do the talking:
    http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=690877&postcount=1007

    Whatever DC:SS is, I’m content to just sit back and enjoy the ride. Personally, I’m enjoying DC:SS much much more than the ever so banal and rediculous (not in a good way) SHUFFLE. SHUFFLE had me churning “Oh please…” every few scenes. That show is just not working for me.

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  10. Stripey
    September 7th, 2005 - 10:42

    Humbert: Thanks for the link. JJM512 made some very valid points indeed. :) I guess the point he raised about DCSS not being a harem series largely depends on one’s definition of the terms. My liberal definition is that Junichi is a harem lead because he is the love interest of many girls in the series (season 1 at least). His unwavering devotion to Nemu does not absolve him of that status. It does however elevate his harem lead standing since he’s one of the very few who had the decisive maturity to choose based on his love for the girl rather than a self-inflicted mindless meandering by most other leads who claimed to be confused by the love of many.

    I also have to disagree with S2 being largely like S1 since the feel is totally different for me. Even though both heightened dramatic tension via conflict, Season 2 achieved this through Junichi/Nemu’s misunderstanding that highlighted the immaturity of their love. And it frustrates me to see the couple whose love was tempered by the flames of hell (in season 1) to regress into juvenile second-guessing and petty quibbles. The conflicts of S1, on the other hand, were borne of Sakura/Nemu’s intense love for Junichi. Both were highly initiutive about each other’s love for Junichi and knew that that the ferocity of one’s love would utterly smolder the other’s chances. I could not help but empathise with the helplessness of all involved and yet, at the same time, marvel at the wonderful love of Junichi/Nemu/Sakura. Compare this with the frustration I feel for Season 2 and I could not help but lament the mangling of Nemu/Junichi’s characters during the seasonal transit.

    Of course as of ep 10, it’s rather unfair to pit the incomplete S2 against the fully developed S1. I only hope Kotori’s character was exported intact. :)

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  11. conrath
    October 17th, 2005 - 22:11

    I agree with the wierd jun’ change, and i think its because a different studio is handling them… let me check that right now… while my slow internet is loading i’ll say even if it’s the same studio i beleive it is a different cast having heard that somewhere in a comment on Matthew’s blog on a early episode, and the change in art style speaks for itself

    Studio for original Da Capo: Circus

    Crew, Cast, and Characters

    Role Person
    Design Tagashira Shinobu
    Director Miyazaki Nagisa
    Script Ikeda Mamiko

    Studio(s) for DCSS Circus, feel

    Role Person
    Character Design Takashina Yuka

    Aha, (Info taken from Animenfo.com), the character design person was different, and it seems they don’t have the script writer from the first season either. So something in the spirit of the original DC might be missing in this one

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  12. Stripey
    October 19th, 2005 - 02:13

    I can’t agree with you more that something’s missing :P I also found out from Matthew’s that the entire crew was changed from female (S1) to male (S2) [needs verification :P ]. This is proof that women excel in to the emotional realm as shown from DCS1′s *current* superiority over DCSS. I pray DCSS gets better but as of now, I’m just hoping for quicker subs so that I can get current on the series. :)

    On another note, thx for not giving up on this weeding blog. :) Updates soon :)

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  13. conrath
    October 21st, 2005 - 16:11

    oh me, i was just bogged down by school starting again with my new ap classes and honors, i hadn’t time to do much anime for a while XI, now its evening out a bit

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