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The more you watch Minami-ke, the more you realize this is one of those series where folks just aren’t destined to get together…
I’m just a little disappointed that we haven’t seen more of Makoto/-chan this season, though by the looks of the preview we’ll at least get one more appearance next week. But we did get just a little Hosaka this time, which is just a little bonus after his bonanza appearance last week. On balance this episode was just a little bit less stellar than that one, but I give the series just a little slack because that was one of the best episodes in nearly 4 seasons. While there was just a little Chiaki and Haruka this week, we did get just a little bonus by seeing some new potential pairings we haven’t seen before – though I’m not optimistic any of them will go anywhere. This is Minami-ke after all.
This is an area where the manga readers will have the advantage of me, because I’ve been reading it on-and-off over the years (I never found it quite as charming as the anime, though it can be hilarious) but even though Minami-ke is a series that offers impressive – almost frighteningly so – continuity, a couple of the developments this week seemed pretty much brand new.
- Hitomi x Fujioka (the boy, not the bear). As far as I know that’s completely out of left field, though there were flashbacks showing they’d interacted before.
- Maki x Hitomi. Is this yuri goggles in Minami-ke? I don’t see how Maki turning bright red and fainting can be anything less than unambiguous, but I didn’t have the slightest clue that was coming.
Again, this is one of those series where everyone seems destined to love the wrong person – that could even be argued to be the main joke, really. Even so, apart from the age difference (I’m guessing two years) Hitomi and Fujioka would seem like a good pair even if they didn’t eerily synch with each other right down to their bladders. They look like a matched set, first of all. They’re both neurotic, and both in love with someone utterly clueless. As for Maki, I don’t even know what to make of that development, but it’ll be interesting to see if it goes anywhere. In terms of pure neuroses, though, it would be hard to match up with Riko – she’s just a little bit of a mess, and her unrequited crush on Fujioka has her in quite a pinch.
As for the daisy-chain Haruka started with her movie tickets (I’d actually be much more curious to see “Spicyman”) – well, I guess I should say Takeru started it – rather than bring anyone together all they seemed to do was angstify the situation even more. And in the end it looks like no one ended up using them anyway – Hosaka and Reiko surely paid their own way – but they did lead to the added bonus of Natsuki’s hilariously awkward attempt at parenting with Touma (for the record, I don’t think he would really have hit her). I’d have loved to have seen how she responded if he’d gone through with what he was about to say. My money says Haruka knew exactly what she was doing when she gave those tickets away – once a banchou, always a banchou…
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terranearth89
March 5, 2013 at 3:14 amI'm liking how this series treats the characters as fully-fleshed human beings rather than just comic ciphers. The strong sense of continuity with the previous iterations helps a little too.
At this point, I'm liking it better than the original.
terranearth89
March 5, 2013 at 3:28 amI'm liking the way in which the characters are being fleshed out a little more in this series, as opposed to being comic ciphers. The strong continuity with previous iterations helps.
I'm wondering if the manga is the driving force behind this change, and if so, if we'll see actual concrete character growth, which would be interesting.
Also, how on earth does Makoto hide his habit (not to mention what must be an extensive wardrobe) from his family? Is he another one of those independent schoolchildren with psychic abilities?
Highway
March 5, 2013 at 4:58 amIs Kana actually in love with anyone else? I thought she was just too baka to be interested in anyone. This episode did make me go look up a Minami-ke relationship chart to see if Maki had a known crush on Hitomi, because I sure saw that as well. It also seems to make a bit of sense in what I know of the show, she's just not as overt with it as say Riko or Fujioka or Hitomi.
I personally liked this episode more than last week's. I can't really say why, but I thought it was great: Hitomi's plan for letting someone know you like them, getting her hopes up about the movie with Natsuki, but only finding out that he was giving her two tickets, Haruka squashing the idea of asking Takeru about a man's perspective, Fujioka's repeated sidelong glances at Kana while being grilled about the girl(s) he likes… Just about everything worked for me.
Beckett
March 5, 2013 at 7:20 am"Is Kana actually in love with anyone else? I thought she was just too baka to be interested in anyone."
Exactly. Any relationship chart on this show should just have a big sign next to Kana that says "THE BUCK STOPS HERE."
admin
March 5, 2013 at 10:58 amThat's actually right, of course – Kana pretty much seems too dense to notice anyone specific, though she did seem very interested in getting Haruka to talk about what sort of guys she liked.
foon
March 5, 2013 at 5:17 amI thought Hitomi and Fujioka were very cute together. Too bad she isn't into younger guys (though, to be fair, it would be pretty weird for a high-schooler to be dating a middle-schooler, particularly if they didn't already know each other from before).
You refer to Natsuki being in love with someone (other than Hitomi), but I don't remember him showing any interest in anyone…am I forgetting something?
"[Riko's] unrequited crush on Fujioka has her in quite a pinch."
I see what you did there.
Highway
March 5, 2013 at 5:38 amI thought Natsuki had eyes for Haruka. That's why he was disappointed and confused when she gave him two tickets, not just one to go with her to the movie.
foon
March 5, 2013 at 5:47 amI thought that might be it, but I wasn't convinced by the ticket thing. If he does have a crush on Haruka, he's far less obvious about it than any of the other characters are about their crushes. For example, he showed no sign of being into Haruka during that barbecue last episode, despite the fact that they were together for an extended period of time.
admin
March 5, 2013 at 6:14 amI thought it was pretty self-evident that Natsuki had a major crush on Haruka. And why not – half the cast does.
ishruns
March 5, 2013 at 6:59 amAkira, Natsuki, Hosaka, Makochan like.
Fujioka, Takeru (probably), Plain Yogurt don't.
Yeah that's half the cast but I think in terms of important male characters its like 3 like to 1 doesn't (and he's less likely than them to fulfill his love)
That last line about Haruka knowing exactly what she was doing, is that because she likes to create chaos or something or an indirect rejection to Natsuki.
litho
March 5, 2013 at 12:31 pmIt's scary how accurate Hitomi's "intuition" can be. She always knows what Natsuki's thinking. Too bad she just doesn't know who it's about.
Eternia
March 5, 2013 at 1:40 pmAaah, Hitomi's psychic power. The joke about expressing feeling is the best.
Too bad Natsuki didn't said it. I don't see a problem with telling your own little sister "I love you." There are many forms of love to begin with.