Kami-sama no Memo-chō – 03

In a tough season to pick series to blog, Kami-Memo is another series that’s right on the knife’s edge for me. Neither the second or third episodes have engaged me nearly as much as the first.

It’s hard to put a finger on just why that is – it’s not as if there’s any one glaring flaw that stands out. I’m just not nearly as interested in what’s happening on-screen. It’s often the case that mediocre studios (with apologies to fans of JC Staff) sink a lot into making a memorable first ep, but can’t sustain it. It’s too early to proclaim that the case here, but it’s a real possibility.

On the positive side, Narumi at least stepped up and showed some moxie this week, which I was hoping would happen. It was he who came up with the plan to outsmart the Yakuza, and he even threw himself into saving Meo on his own when there was no help on the way immediately. The downside of that is that the Yakuza was outsmarted by an inexperienced 16 year-old and pretty much got the butts handed to them in a street fight. Is that realistic? Probably not. In fact, it’s still hard to credit that Narumi could blithely insert himself into the middle of a Yakuza was and come out no worse off than with a band-aid on his face.

One of the things that appealed to me about the first episode was that Alice’s dialogue was really, genuinely interesting and deep. She said things that really made me stop and consider, and that doesn’t happen with anime too often. She seems to have slipped back into a more straightforward role, supplying moe and the occasional pithy insult, and with that some of the really interesting cool and style that the premiere had in spades has dropped away. In the premiere, this show felt unusual – the last two eps have felt pretty standard.

I can’t say this particular mystery was uninteresting, but it didn’t seem to have enough legs to carry two episodes. The twists and turns became a bit tiresome by the end, and again the behavior of the Yakuza – coming off as bumblers more than menaces – strained credulity a bit.

So where does the impetus to keep going with this show come from? Min-san might potentially be an interesting character, and she played a larger role this week. She’s pretty stock, but at least a different type than the others in this cast. Maybe Alice returns to the thought-provoking level she occupied in the opener. Maybe Narumi build on this arc and becomes a genuinely interesting lead. It’s too early to drop this show, but the competition this season is strong – I really want to see things pick up next week or I’ll be facing a tough decision.

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7 comments

  1. A

    I felt the same way after this episode. Episode 2 was OK but it kind of fell apart in episode 3. I hope this show can find its feet.

  2. l

    Wow, things picked up real quick. Suddenly Narumi rise in rank to Second Brother and Vice Admiral in one shot. However my feeling are probably the same with Enzo, for some reason or another I just can't seem to get some sort of click that I could said this is an amazing episode. However unlike Enzo view of the future, I think the episode will pick up soon. I'm guessing the reason they rushing for Narumi maturity is to get the story going. Perhaps not much material to work at as an assistant but 2nd person in charge on NEET detective and Yakuza-like. Things will picked up, I'm confidence in that at the very least.

    Dropping this huh, well compare to power of 5 loli and Dantalian(YES-saying girl). I would rather drop this or Dantalian. At least the Dalian YES-saying is quite cute.

  3. t

    While not memorable I'm not close to dropping this.

    I'd drop kami sama dolls,blood c,sacred seven,dantalalian before I'd drop this.

  4. l

    @totoum

    I believe the reason why Enzo is dropping any anime is due to them being in the same day slot(in this case is, Friday )

    Too be honest I do feel there are other anime better drop off than this, blood-c particularly. However the only other anime in the same Friday is Dantalion and Ro-Kyu-Bu. I only vote for Ro-Kyu-Bu to stay, for Dantalion and this anime frankly still unclear of their interesting meter.

  5. Well, I'm giving it at least one more ep before dropping, just out of consideration to the excellent premiere. But Sacred Seven and Blood are even more in peril, and RKB I've dropped from even watching after ep 4.

    I like Dantalian, it's GAINAX, and it's an RC show, so that's not going anywhere. And I confess, with the exception of the first half of the third ep, I really like Kamisama Dolls so that looks pretty safe. Plus, it's on a good day of the week…

  6. l

    Enzo : RKB I've dropped from even watching after ep 4.

    lkaze: *SHOCKED* *KABOON* 🙁

    (loli power of 5 lost_

    Jokes aside, I'm pretty sure you had a very good reason. Though I disagree, I guess I'll have to accept it. 🙁

  7. Just wasn't working for me, I'm afraid.

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