Takano-san, approved!

*EDIT* After having it pointed out by Danny over at Novastorm and rewatching to verify, I just realized…the animation in this episode totally sucked. It wasn’t spectacular in the first episode either, but wow…what the hell happened lol. I guess I was too busy with the episode content wise I suppose.

The second episode of YoakeYori (alliteration ftw) begins by introducing Feena in all her seifuku glory. Having arrived and settled into her new housing, Feena gets ready for her first day at school. In typical fashion, Feena gets placed in the same class as Tatsuya and Natsuki. Oddly enough, there is no attempt to hide the fact that Feena is the Lunar Princess as it is told to the students right from the start.

The first half of the episode is pretty typical “A day in the life of…” progression. Feena is modeled as the perfect girl: top notch studies, skilled athlete and a beauty (to paraphrase Natsuki).

Having just had gym before the lunch period, the very hungry Natsuki, Tatsuya and Feena trio find themselves with no food and not enough time to get some. Enter Mia who, ignoring her hime’s orders, comes to the school. However, she brings food with her, so she is quickly forgiven. Toss in some Takano-san brand comedy, Tatsuya dubbing Natsuki “Master Carbon” for her ability to burn any food she makes and of course some random chibi and that we’re on to some more relevant plot progression

Being a princess Feena often has public duties to attend to, much to the dismay of Tatsuya, who has clearly fallen for her at this point. Feena struggles to balance her diplomatic and personal lives as Tatsuya tries to find some way he can help Feena. Unable to come up with anything major, he decides that all he can do is be there for her whenever she needs him, good times or bad. This is all done in a melodramatic and angsty style…which is completely ruined when Tatsuya’s habit kicks in and he pinches Feena’s nose XD

Thoughts

I liked this episode a lot better than the first. As I expected YoakeYori is shaping up to be a typical love comedy anime with the potential to go harem depending on Natsuki and the other girls.

I don’t know if it’s just a coincidence (hoping not) but it seems like male leads in harems are getting less wimpy. Kyon, Saito, Yuuichi and Tatsuya, to name a few, seem to be breaking the typical wussy mold that male harem leads usually fall into. Tatsuya isn’t exactly a playboy, but he’s clearly not afraid to speak his mind (ex. his critiques Feena’s seifuku look).

The pacing of the story seems to be doing fine so far. This episode saw Feena’s introduction to her school life, complications due to her political obligations and some nice FeenaXTatsuya development. Now if only Natsuki went psycho Kaede on us we’d have one hell of an anime XD Although we all know by now that childhood friends typically get screwed over…figuratively of course

The major complaint I have for YoakeYori, so far, is third party characters. The story is centering on Feena and Tatsuya and all other characters have been relegated to background scenery. Mia served only as a deus ex machina to Feena’s hunger, Natsuki seems to be distant competition at this point and I don’t even remember the names of the green haired clarinet player, Natsuki’s brother/father or Tatsuya’s sister. Takano-san is the only other character who is getting meaningful screen time, and I don’t even think he was in the game XD

And, as mentioned in the above edit, the animation wasn’t exactly stunning this ep. With the exception of the one scene where Tatsuya and Feena bask in the moon, the animation shorcuts were painfully obvious. The overuse of chibi in the classroom scene coming immediately to mind. Hopefully this is resolved in the eps to come.

However, despite its many flaws, I’m going to stick this one out. I knew nothing about this anime coming into it, my decision to watch it was based solely on the main bishoujo Feena. But after two episodes I think there’s enough potential for goodness to keep watching, and if nothing else it’s a good way to waste 22 minutes on a Saturday morning XD.

This season is very much a rehashing of old ideas, tried and true. With two remakes and a flurry of typical harem-esque anime, I wasn’t expecting anything groundbreaking in terms of originality. I think this type of season couldn’t have shown up at a worse time. With shows like The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi and Hachikuro II fresh in our memories, the genericness of the shows this season are screwing them over doubly. With the exception of Kanon and Death Note, almost guaranteed successes, the other series don’t have anything particularily revolutionary to offer. And so, in the wake of a megalomaniac tsunderes, aliens, espers, time travelers, and pseudo-loli centric drama this bulk of this season seems to be failing to impress the majority.

So maybe it’s just me…but I’m absolutely loving it. Current fall standings:

1. Kanon
2. Death Note
3. Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru
4. Negima!?
5. Yoake Mae Yori Ruri Iro Na
6. Lovedol ~ Lovely Idol ~

Kujibiki Unbalance and Gift Eternal Rainbow have yet to be rated due to a lack of subbing =(

I’m going to have to disagree

FFF (Fap Fap Feena) gathers intel.

Katana wielding bishoujo <3

This has to be the weirdest fetish I’ve seen

And of course…random chibi!

~ Shirukii ~