Wow, this series definitely has me conflicted to say the least.  I find it pretty funny more often than not, but there are times when it crosses a line I’m not totally comfortable crossing.  Last week’s episode was free of such instances but this one certainly wasn’t.  I definitely think there’s a niche on the schedule which Chio-chan no Tsuugakuro fills which no other series currently is – the goofy misunderstanding comedy with the occasional comic home run – so I really want to stay with it.  But…

While it was way better, this Spring show that filled the above niche for me was Hinamatsuri – so it’s fitting that Andou-san is such a Nitta clone.  And the first chapter this week was really funny, just like the Andou chapter last time.  I’m happy to see he’s seemingly going to be a regular, maybe even a sort of co-conspirator with Chio, because they have a very nice comic chemistry.  Unlike Nitta of course, Andou isn’t a real hoodlum, just a pretender – in a sense playing games just as much as Chio is.  That makes it a little easier to laugh at he and his “Starry Night” (d’aw) henchmen.

It was the B-part that definitely has me a bit squirrely about the series.  There’s the matter of the panty shots, first of all.  They’re not that gratuitous in terms of frequency (did we have any at all last week?) but when they happen, they stick out like a sore… well, butt.  They just seem out of place in this sort of series, rather crass and calculated.  But be that as it may, that’s not new.  The whole business with Kushitori-sempai (Taichi You) was new.  And while there were definitely elements of the kabaddi gag that were very funny, her role in it was kind of iffy for me.

I guess it shows how out of it I am, but I’d never even heard of kabaddi before this.  A strange sport it looks indeed, and the visual spectacle was a great sight gag.  But this whole idea that it’s okay for girls to molest other girls (or guys, for that matter) for comic effect – that’s just never worked for me.  Can you imagine if a guy had done to Hosokawa-san what Kushitori did?  And of course, everyone smiles and forgets all about it in the end.  It’s a comedic choice, and one that calls into question the judgment of the series as a whole for me.  Yet still, I (again) laughed an awful lot this week.  So I guess all I can do is give it one more episode and see if I feel strongly one way or the other…