Hitohira 1-6 « hontou ni

30Jun/0711

Hitohira 1-6

cheek stroke no jutsu

This series made a small blip on the Yuricon Mailing List which I use as my yuri anime equivalent of NORAD early warning. Its radar signature became larger with Hashihime and Kurogane having posted positively on it. The confirmation signal for target lock was received via Kabitzin. I've just sped through the first six episodes, have enjoyed it and can't wait for Starlight to finish fansubbing this series.

tsukamaetta~~

It's love at first sight - or at least that's how I explain Mugi's otherwise inexplicable decision to join the Drama Research Club. Nono is completely captivating and AFAIK Ayako Kawasumi's second leading yuri role since her doramatic performance as Chikane Himemiya in Kannazuki no Miko. Completely agree with Hashihime's praise of Kawasumi's performance as 'godly' - there is great gentleness and strength.

There is also an evilness which has been used to great comic effect (elsewhere too e.g. Kazumi Yoshida in the Shana-tan specials). Nono's blase touchy-feely behaviour with the hapless Mugi reminded me a bit of Shizuru Viola in terms of her smoothness and she basically seduced Mugi into joining her club. Weirdly, her creepy mode, together with the hair style and sotto voce style of speaking, reminded me of PPD's Ichijou! orz

I was slightly disappointed that the signs of yuri in Ep 3-4 faded considerably after the initial burst in Ep 1-2 but it returned with full (if subtle) force in Ep 5-6. Firstly, it becomes pretty obvious that Nono and Sakaki had and still have pretty intense feelings about each other. While Mugi is not the brightest person ever, she does realize that Sakaki had a special place in Nono's heart - telling how she wonders if there is still any life in the Nono x Sakaki pairing; rival watch!

The above scene was really enjoyable - there's definitely the yuri element with Mugi turning red over her pleasant memories of skinship with Nono. Poor Kai's own embarrassment shows how timing can create a mistaken impression - both are red-faced but about totally different things. LOL

Nono-sama x Mugi FTW!

Posted by Zyl

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Chalcahuite
June 30th, 2007 - 15:50

I only saw the first episode raw, and I found that I only enjoyed it once I started imagining that Nono was trying to buy Mugi’s soul. Seeing as how I don’t think I could have maintained the illusion past the first episode, I didn’t watch any further.
But if you’re covering it, I’ll see how it turns out and maybe marathon it once it’s all subbed.

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Watchman
June 30th, 2007 - 21:37

Nono-sempai’s method of convincing Mugi to sign up gave me a major Iono-sama d

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suguru
June 30th, 2007 - 23:55

I think they’re just teasing us with Mugi x Nono…I’m guessing in the end it’ll be Mugi x Kai and if we’re lucky Nono x Sakaki. Kawasumi Ayako does do evil really well–the evil Kazumi moments in Shana-tan always make me laugh.

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Zyl
July 1st, 2007 - 11:24

Chalcahuite, I think it should turn out well – given that Kurogane has even compared it to Simoun!

Watchman, was it the ‘I’ll treat you kindly.’ ?

suguru, hopefully it won’t be just teasing and that Kai’s really just a side character. IMHO the dynamics do work better wrt to Nono x Mugi. I just that Ayako Kawasumi should team up Rie Tanaka and both voice really evil (but gorgeous) villains. What a joy that’d be!

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Kabitzin
July 2nd, 2007 - 15:11

After watching how Nono burns for Sakaki, I think Mugi is just a rebound girl. It must be frustrating for Kai considering he’s working his game so hard, but Mugi is thinking more about Nono. Takashi has it bad too, but at least Kanna deeply yearns for him.

I get the feeling it would be tough to be in a relationship with Nono… Between the constant physical punishment and the frequent snide remarks, you’d have to have some pretty thick skin.

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Watchman
July 3rd, 2007 - 01:03

@Zyl: I feel like they owe Fujieda Miyabi royalties for that one. Immediately reminded me of Erica’s eloquent summary “Iono goes super cool and hits Eto with her magical lesbian powers”… It *was* pure awesome and win anyway though. ^_^

@Kabitzin: Nono certainly has a waspish enough tongue when angry, but I’m less sure about the physical side. Thus far (ie. ep 6) she’s only ever certifiably “gone physical” on Risaki-neesan, and she is a little weird in that regard anyway.

Dunno if it’s just somewhat dodgy character design (but that would be an altogether too banal and simple and explanation and no fun at all… [speculative mode]), but Risaki seems to be strangely physical in general. As in her disturbingly low threshold for hitting people, although she seems to have thus far limited that to what might be termed “close associates”. That’s downright weird behaviour, especially as it’s made obvious Risaki isn’t as such a mean or vicious person – indeed quite the contrary; it’s almost as if it just had never occurred to her it isn’t a normally accepted means of interpersonal communication. Sort of like a cat that never quite caught the idea humans don’t tend to appreciate it if it uses its claws to make a point (a friend of mine has two of that type…). Kind of makes you wonder just *what* kind of upbringing she got… [/speculative mode]

Then again Nono seems to have a major dogged streak and it seems as if it doesn’t occur to her that backing down from a confrontation might even be an option, pretty much regardless of circumstances. Kind of like mustelids, which tend to just plain refuse to back down regardless of the size of the animal they’re facing – with the result wolverines can usually chase beards and small wolf packs off kills, and tiny weasels will furiously face down adult humans.
Or in this case, Nono unhesitantly fighting it out with Risaki who’s not only a fair bit bigger, but also almost certainly a far better practiced brawler (what with having a reliable practice target in her long-suffering brother).

A most forceful personality for sure; I’ve little trouble imagining her browbeating the karate club into doing the stage repairs with sheer intensity. Poor impressionable Mugi is going to have to grow a fair bit of new spine (the old one being, apparently, closely related to soggy noodles) pretty fast if she wants to keep up.

Nono-sempai is officially 4tw. She might even be a bad enough dude to save the President.

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Kabitzin
July 3rd, 2007 - 01:13

I agree that it’s hard to see Nono brawling like Risaki, but Nono does seem to be an opportunistic physical fighter. Like the kind that would kick you in the kidneys when you weren’t looking T__T.

Of course this fear that she instills in others is very useful.

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Watchman
July 3rd, 2007 - 01:31

“You cannot win. But you must fight, because you can lose.”
- ancient Celtic hero epic

Opponents who just plain refuse to quit or back down can be very troublesome in that regard. Even if they ultimately lose they can cause unpleasant amounts of hurt in the meantime.

Granted, Nono seems to be *very* good at gaining the psychological upper hand when angry, but Risaki seems to be immune to it when sufficiently… motivated herself.

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Erica
July 6th, 2007 - 19:20

Zyl, you almost make this series sound interesting. I found the first episode stultifyingly dull, myself and stopped watching altogether. Can you just clip together the yuri scenes and send me a copy so I don’t have to sit through the rest of it?

Cheers,

Erica

Hungry for Yuri? Have some Okazu!
http://okazu.blogspot.com

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Kabitzin
July 6th, 2007 - 21:39

Haha, you could just watch the beach episodes (5 and 6) for tension and all that. From the looks of things, Nono will be the main source of yuri-vibes.

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Zyl
July 8th, 2007 - 15:42

I’ve just been totally seduced by Ayako Kawasumi doing yuri predator. ^_^;;

I have a vague impression that the ending will be rewarding and I’m gambling that it will worth wading through the rest of the series just for that… will have more to report when the subs are out!

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