Senpai wa Otokonoko – 03

I think the ship has probably sailed for me with Senpai wa Otokonoko. I want to like it, because there’s a need for the right show doing the sorts of things this one seems to want to do. Unfortunately this isn’t it.

There are a lot of things wrong with the execution here. Any of them individually might not be a deal-breaker for me, but collectively? The chibi thing, small (no pun intended) as it is, really annoys me. And speaking of annoying, Aoi is incredibly annoying. A pretty awful character, quite frankly. And the attempts at drama feel very heavy-handed, which undercuts their emotional impact.

Most of all, this series just doesn’t ring true. I don’t buy any of these developments, even if individually some of them are feasible. Makoto’s mom being as horrible as she is? Sure, that happens. Dad being completely understanding – and finding a school to indulge all this is secret? A real stretch, though he was certainly refreshing compared to how most manga dads would handle having a son like Makoto. Aoi is being painted as noble for a completely selfish impulse (that Makoto owes to to her to be what she expects him to be, because it turns her on). And that reminds me uncomfortably of Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso.

It’s not all bad. I do genuinely feel for Makoto in his situation, and Ryuuji at least seems to be doing his best to be a real friend and think of Makoto before himself. There’s some intrigue in this triangle as constructed, theoretically. But the execution (writing and visuals) just aren’t up to the challenge, at least for me. I may check out next week’s ep but for blogging purposes I think I’m probably closing things down.

Giji Harem – 03

By contrast, I thought Giji Harem moved in the other direction this week. Not that this episode was brilliant or anything, but it was the clear best of the three so far for me. It leaves me feeling better about the show than I did before I watched it, anyway.

One thing I would note is that this episode probably found Rin interacting with Eiji as herself more than the first two. I’m not surprised that worked better, because Hayami Saori is better at conventional acting than at being a chameleon. If a different seiyuu had been cast that might not be the case, but it is what it is. I’ve never not liked Eiji and Rin together – they’re fine. It’s just that the whole operation has felt a bit flat. I liked a lot of their shared scenes this week:

• The dating book
• The caricatures
• The hair conversation
• The yearbook, leading into the button exchange

All of it seemed to have a little more spark to it. And Rin is getting more and more direct, as the subtle approach is clearly not getting through to a lunkhead like Eiji. It all builds to that business where Imp-chan and Tsundere-chan put letters in his shoe cupboard, and of course he’s thrilled to get them despite the pretext. And that bit where she suggested he should be with someone younger and he thought she was recommending lolicon was genuinely amusing.

Again, nothing great here, but perhaps a hint at what a successful formula for Pseudo Harem might look like. I’m comfortable saying this one ends up on the Patron Pick ballot, almost for sure.