hontou ni » Ichigo Mashimaro

Mermaid fail, Encore passes, Dash FTW

Zyl — Sat, 23 May 2009 02:04:16 +0000

Seto no Hanayome

Koji Oe wouldn't mind a second season. I'm not so sure. I felt that, wrt the OVAs, the franchise has lost some of its charm.

The reintroduction of the cast was somewhat tedious and the thing I particularly took exception to was how Gouzaburo has reverted back to Nagasumi-hatin' - this takes away from his reluctant acknowledgment of the latter as his son-in-law. It would have been so much more interesting if Gouzaburo could have transitioned to become conflicted (as full acceptance right away would be both implausible and less fun).

A few further gripes. The meido cafe was completely predictable, you just knew that things would end in utter devastation. On the introduction of new charas, Saru's sister was a lot more fun than the seaweed girl from the latter half of the Gi OVA.

But my main reservation is the whole one step forward, one step back vibe; it points to stalled dynamics, vicious cycles, gags getting old and stale, School Rumble syndrome if you will. Seto no Hanayome hasn't plumbed those depths yet by far but the OVAs were not a promising glimpse into its future.

Ichigo Mashimaro Encore

Erica's review pretty much covers everything of significance so instead of regurgitating my agreement, as a fellow member of the Cult of Miu, here's the screencaps of the scenes she mentioned:

The role assignment in the afterlife was really appropriate. I don't really know my Japanese mythology that well - who would Miu be?

This really was proof of friendship. First, Chika actually bothers to reply. Second, her reply above was such a dry witty putdown. No wonder Miu sees her as her best friend.

Best 'we are lesbians' line.

Nobue-nee-sama joins the ranks of Minami Kana, Bruce Springsteen and Suntory coffee-based drinks.

However I've never really liked Matsuri. While she makes a good partner with Ana to contrast against the Chika-Miu duo, she's just so pathetic. I struggle between feeling sad for her and shaking her while shouting 'Get yourself together!' whenever she blubbers. And there was quite a bit of Matsuri in the park scene and then the Who's Better Best Friends!? competition (though Miu's mockery made the latter quite entertaining).

Pani Poni Dash!

I shared Washi's surprise at 'how familiar it felt.' The premise was nonsensical but (1) even the cast commented so, (2) it was as good an excuse as any for how hilarity ensued, and (3) the kick the can contest didn't make sense in of itself but it provided the context and structure, making sense of everyone's actions during the OVA.

Characters were reintroduced and familiar gags were replayed with a verve and flair that had plenty of justified confidence that the memorable cast was indeed memorable. This velocity allowed the madcap events of the contest to speed through the time of the OVA, all the while with a wink, a twinkle in the eye, a tongue firmly in cheek as the ending unfolded with its multiple twists and turns that had a surprising bite, a LOL flavour and texture followed by an 'Ah I should have known' aftertaste sprinkled with otaku references, udon torture, Jackie Chan and Al Pacino (Heat?). And lots of eye catches and fan service.

Who are you calling plain?

Good stuff. I certainly wouldn't mind another OVA like that.

A small note on the etymology of Funga

Zyl — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 21:32:44 +0000

The Miuness of Minami Ke caused me to revisit one of my favourite moments in the Ichigo Mashimaro OVAs, as I felt the three sisters comedy was very funga. I first heard it used in Ichigo Mashimaro OVA 1 when Miu shouted it as Nobue-nee was speaking to a potential employer. And then Nobue-nee uses it to terrifying slow-burn effect in the following scene (complete with a terrific scream BGM):

The other anime where I heard it was from Tsukasa at the start of Lucky Star OP. Although I have no idea what in the blazes funga means, I'd love to see it proliferate in the world of animu. Unless, of course, the Ichigo Mashimaro use of it was already a homage to some other anime series?

BTW I'm quite surprised that the episode summary cum comprehensive screenshot coverage of the Ichigo Mashimaro OVAs has been fairly thin, at least by the usual suspects. Would really appreciate it if anyone could point me to something along the lines of the above-mentioned.

With the exception of ThirteenSugar's entry on the first OVA at THAT and Billy's summaries on OVA 1 and 2 at MelonBread, I haven't found a detailed screen cap and episode summary posts on the third installment of the OVA series. Also see reviews over at Okazu and Karura's comparison between the manga and the OVA.

Stress Testing the Okazu-Hetero Criterion

Zyl — Fri, 09 Mar 2007 22:38:36 +0000

It's odd to hyphenate the words "Okazu" and "hetero". I hasten to ground this in a primary source - Erica's post about how she responds to a yuri series - if the relationship was a heterosexual one, would she still go "Cool..." or "HAWT!" Given that I am pre-disposed to accept her assumptions about norms and aesthetics (except when it comes to Ikkitousen *puke*), I also think the Okazu-Hetero Criterion is an excellent heuristic.

Except when it comes to the first Ichigo Mashimaro OVA which Erica also enjoyed. Ok, there's no overt romance but IMHO it would still be unbearably creepy if Nobue was an oniichan instead of an oneesama. In the former case, even if Chika, Miu, Ana and Matsuri had also made the gender switch. There's just something about the way that I've been socialized that gives a lot more leeway to female-on-female touchy-feeliness. Which further reinforces my belief that Oneesamas are win.

Such an oyaji. LOL

Enmity and Amity.

Noto Mamiko as Ana is PRICELESS.

Hell hath no fury like an oneesama who has had her job application form sabo-ed.

Lolipop, lolipop, loli, loli, loli...

Yo~~~~

Oh the perils of smoking... not lung cancer but lighting up a second ciggie before you've finished your first. And dropping your MILD ~~SEVEN~~ EVEN ash into your can of ~~Suntory BOSS~~ VOSS coffee while you're still drinking it.

Well, Nobue does press Miu's yuri button... Miu challenged her with 'That's not manly!' when she didn't push the Launch button but, of course, Nobue replies 'I'm not a guy.' Amen.

B33R IS LIFE!