It’s looking to me like JC Staff used all their ammunition in the first episode of Kamisama no Memochou. Nothing since then has captured that indefinable something that made the premiere work. At this point I’m going to drop if from the blogging rotation – not because I dislike it, but because there’s just too many good shows to blog on the weekend.
It’s not as though there’s anything offensive about Kami-Memo as it exists. I don’t get angry at it, I don’t hate any of the characters and it isn’t grossly stupid. It’s just not very interesting right now. While the premiere had a compelling sense of style and some very clever dialogue, the subsequent eps have felt very routine and anything but extraordinary. Is this simply a case of JC Staff finding their level? Could be. It’s not as if they’re incapable of doing pretty good series, but their efforts do tend to bleed towards the generic end of the scale more often than not for me.
As for the episode itself, it had the virtue of being focused on ramen, which is a personal passion of mine. It also focused on Rin, who is one of the livelier and more interesting members of the cast. But while a treat for fans of underboob, it didn’t manage to produce much of a spark. Narumi is still a doormat, for starters, which I’d hoped we’d see marked improvement on after the last arc. The mysterious customer and the underwear salesman didn’t represent much of a mystery, really, except (as Major had the sense to ask) just why Rin didn’t recognize her own father just because he was wearing sunglasses. I’m fine with a light-hearted mystery for a change, it’s just that this one wasn’t all that interesting.
And that, in essence, is the problem and why I’m dropping Kami-Memo. I’ll probably watch for a few more weeks and who knows, maybe something of that first episode magic will draw me back into blogging it. I should have known something was wrong when “Colorado Bulldog” was dropped as the ED, but I ignored the warning signs…
Arabesque
July 31, 2011 at 12:03 amI could apply what you wrote for this episode as my position on the show thus far. Scary how much I agree with it.
Anyway, since my net connection is the equivalent dial-up nowadays, I only watched till the third episode, but that was enough for me to just but the show on hold. Really, after a month's worth of content, if I find that I'm forcing myself to watch this, then it wont end up as an enjoyable experience.
Certainly, there are hints of Gosick, Durrr and Eden of the East, but the amount of water is making it hard to get a good taste for the actual flavors.
admin
July 31, 2011 at 12:28 amWell put. I definitely think Drrr is the target vibe here, but it just doesn't have the panache after that first ep.
totoum
July 31, 2011 at 10:44 amWhat I find interesting is that the first episode was an anime original story while everything since then has been following the LN/manga
If this is just what we're going to get from the source material I wish JC staff would have just done what they did with Shigofumi:Take the premise and characters,disregard the rest of the original source and create their story.
But I still love the chara designs,the soundtrack as well,so there's still that.
Come on JC staff,make me eat my words,I'd love it if you could blow me away next week!
admin
July 31, 2011 at 4:18 pmYes, that's exactly it – I'd love it if they could make me love this series again. I really want to, there's no ill feelings at all.
Very interesting about the anime original story – didn't know that. Maybe the next "flller" ep will be as good as the first one.
lkaze
August 1, 2011 at 2:54 amI don't think I have anything against Enzo dropping this series(unlike a certain loli of 5)
Anyway from what I heard from other source(people comment) , once the show get into the juicy part of the story it will be fabulous. My only concern is "will we able to see it this lifetime?"