Hatsukoi Limited 10-12

It was good to see that Olympic candidate talent deteriorates in the absence of training; how I hate characters who get by purely on the strengths of their natural talent and constipated teeth clenching. Thank goodness the swim team relationships have been more or less resolved with the plot devices of A Challenger Has Arrived and Loved One's Words; they were my least favourite pair - can't even remember their names.

Wimbledon aside, I've also been holding back on watching these final episodes of Hatsukoi until I could see, among other things, how the Kei x Kusuda tsundere relationship was going to work out. They're hardly the besto couple candidates but I enjoy their bickering in the same perverse way that I enjoyed the depiction of soul-destroying matrimonial slow death in Black Heaven. Which is also why Kusuda's outburst and Kei's response (taking Doba-chan's return advice and apologizing) was such a spectacular moment; the centre cannot hold and things will have to change hereon.

Hatsukoi Limited 5-6

I agree completely with Kabitzin that Episode 5 was the least enjoyable so far. Mainly because I had precious little sympathy for Meguru. It's just such a crying shame to waste her Olympic-level potential like that. And because I was kinda stumped by the contradiction between (P1) Meguru likes Takei-senpai because he doesn't ogle her breasts and (P2) Meguru wants Takei-senpai to see her as a woman (which would necessarily involve some ogling of her breasts at some point). I suppose the above could be resolved with path dependence theory but I'm just waiting for Takei-senpai to turn out to be a DFC connoisseur.

Thankfully there was some precious Saki-nee time and, just like how saying your favourite chara in MariMite is Sei is like saying that the sky is blue, Misaki Time is always good.

The divine comedy of Hatsukoi Limited

In accordance with the Shizu-sama Doctrine, I was going to check out Hatsukoi Limited anyway. But I kept putting it off for various reasons. High school romance hijinks are not exactly my cup of tea. My answer to the opening question in the opening moments of the series was a grumpy Nope! But... there's always a but ain't it?

Contra Omo, girls looking like 'walking boners' may indeed be 'par for the course in the shounen romance genre' but it's still an area where QUALITY happens. Your Honour, the prosecution submits Exhibit A. (Aside: I know how some people were put off by how some of the girls in Bible Black literally had walking boners but I thought it was marvellous. Shin, are you with me!?) Visually the girls of Hatsukoi are very appealing and my boner is definitely not tsundere about it.

To pick on Omo out of context, I hardly see the comparison to School Rumble as a positive endorsement. No surprise since I count myself as part of the tough and maddening crowd. The comedy has been great. In terms of situation comedy, the admixture of logical development and sheer ridiculousness was perfectly balanced. In terms of comic style, the exaggeratedly depictions are hardly elegant but the oeuvre, encapsulated by the first episode's title of Beauty and the Beast, does (completely agree with Omo here) feel fresh. The timing of both, where it mattered, have been impeccable.