A Kimikiss Interlude
March 25th, 2008 by Shirukii
We interrupt your regularly scheduled blog entries to bring you this news:
MAO-NEECHAN FTW!
FUTAMI FTW!
So, Kimikiss ended, and even though I didn’t blog it, I wanted to post on it because of a very rare occasion: The girls that I picked “won”, both of them. My predictions about these things tend to fail hard, so for me to get them both right is worth celebrating.
Admittedly, Kimikiss started going downhill near the end of its run. The writing seemed bland and the drama was weak, nothing compared to its early glory which had me on the edge of my seat, a la True Tears. However, it was a respectable show all in all, not the award deserving series that I made it out to be last year, but better than most. The concentration on multiple relationships one upped it over your generic harem/romance series. The ends were generic and pretty much what you would expect, but I stand by the pairings they ultimately chose.
Mao was much more fun to watch with Kouichi as opposed to Yuumi, who was such a generic and boring character that I constantly kept forgetting her name throughout the show thanks to a lack of stage presence. When Mao wasn’t CRAWLING IN HER SKIN and lying to herself with her surrogate relationship with Mr “I’m Too Cool for School” Kai, she was a fun and energetic character. It’s a pity she fell into the former behaviour pattern for the better part of the series.
Futami and Sakino was less clear cut though, I liked both of them, the scales tipped to Futami because she’s your classic recluse genius, there’s just something about a girl who can unravel the mysteries of eigenvector problems and teach me fluid mechanics that always gets me. Her logic at the end failed pretty hard though, luckily Sakino was there to snap her back into shape. Largely offset by her awesomeness in that episode where Aihara gave his last plea on her doorstep though, “I’m not crying ;_;”
Anyways, that’s it. Just wanted to bask in the victory of my successful predictions and offer some closing thoughts on Kimikiss.
~ Shirukii ~
18 Responses to “A Kimikiss Interlude”
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Since I couldn’t decide between Futami and Sakino for who would end up with Aihara, a threesome ending would have been nice, but I guess it’s not an option.
I can see that there are erm….spoilers for the last episode of Kimikiss.
I need to watch the last 17 episodes….(yeah I’m only on episode 7)
All I cared about was Eriko. I was in the same nice boat as everyone else who wanted Mao to fall off a cliff =(.
“I’m Too Cool for School”
You know it’s bad when you’re skim reading and read that as “Too Cool for Spicy.”
@Shirukii: Shall I bring the champagne? ;D
Oh man oh man Hoshino got owned. Big time.
Oh no! I was hoping for a Nice Boat ending too! I haven’t seen this episode yet, but true tears owns it anyway. I can imagine a still kiss from them if this was played in real life, LOL!
@Shirukii: …*your* predictions tend to fail hard? I bet $20 on a Futami/Don Pachi pairing. I know that I’m eternally a sucker for the non-canon pairing, but… orz
@totali: …your post left me with “Magical Girl Mao” images. I’d complain, but whatever it takes to rid my mind of *chickencon*… X_X
Wow, Yuumi is definitely a strong minded person, to have a stupid boyfriend like Kouichi who constantly talks about Mao, anti-confessed in the final of the school festival, and spends her last day in the city by visiting the park where Kouichi confessed to her for the first time…all without a shed of tear :o
@Shirukii: Shall i do a quick dancing for you?
@Michael:>> “Oh man oh man Hoshino got owned. Big time.”
I suggest you to rewatch the episode again before you say that.
@albert_2mb: I am with you. In just about a few last episodes of Kimikiss i forgot about Mao and Eriko but I saw Yuumi as an great character.
@ Skh: Sadly, it never is. The closest we ever got was Shuffle, where they repeatedly stated that polygamy was allowed, but never capitalized on it =(
@ Avisch: Interesting, you stalled before it started to dip in quality. I don’t know if I’d recommend you continue if the early episodes didn’t interest you that much.
@ totali: I never understood the Mao-neechan hate. Sure she went into full on angst mode in the latter half of the series, but she was so awesome for the first part!
I wonder what Kai’s Shugo Chara would be like.
@ Pyrrhusonline: Please do, it’s not often that something like this happens. Though…maybe, just MAYBE I’ll get True Tears right as well.
@ Michael: Indeed. A handshake, haha, sucks for her. At least Sakino stole one last kiss from Aihara in her rejection scene.
@ Blissmo: No more Nice Boat ;_; only School Days justified such an ending.
@ W4: lol, but remember, my predictions are my serious hopes of what will actually happen, and not influenced by my increasing love for chickens.
@ albert_2mb: I wanted to see her cry, it would have at least shown she was capable of emotion. I wanted to see her break down in agony, it would have been infinitely better than her just sitting there lifelessly in the park.
Though, I suppose she resigned herself to Mao-neechan long ago, knowing that Kouichi was in love with her. I’d like to think that many nights were spent in tears when that happened, just never shown on screen.
I’d like to think that many nights were spent in tears when that happened, just never shown on screen.
Yeah, I think so too. Man, when Kouichi stood up in the bonfire and told her “We need to talk.” her eyes are just so.. “ah, finally..”. That was the saddest moment in that episode, IMHO..
It would play the sax really awesome, OBVIOUSLY!
I’m only 1/2 happy. I really like the whole Kazuki x Eriko thing. Even though, it’s very predictable but it’s very nice and emotional to watch. On the other hand, I really don’t like Kouichi and Mao that much at all. Seeing Asuka being alone is OK but not Yuumi. That was too sad for me T__T. It’s bugging me for the past two day. I mean what the hell is the whole point of Mao’s “baton pass” thing. It was a nice scene but they ruin it. I’m sorry, Shirukii but when it comes to Kimikiss I can’t really agree with you in term of Mao at all. I don’t hate her, but I just like Yuumi way better than her. Mao and Kouichi are the only two people that I think didn’t change any of their personalities for better. In fact, they gets together at the end because of the happy memories in the past. Look at Kazuki’s relationship. Asuka may got reject but she and Kazuki will definitely still have a good relationship. On the other hand, Yuumi may accept the rejection but her relationship with Kouichi won’t be the anything close to Kazuki’s relationship.
That’s why I have to give a credit to Kazuki that he handle is situation really well unlike Kouichi who is total dumass. You won’t agree with me at all in this one. If I have two friends who are going out and have a good relationship, I will never interupt with their relationship even though I like my friend’s girlfriend. And even if she has some feeling for me, I still won’t push anything further. You can called me a wimp or whatever but I will feel guilty for the rest of my life that I take a girlfriend from my friend which is the opposite to what Mao did. I understand where is she coming from so I’ll give her 1/2 credit. However, Kouichi has no excuse. I mean, what is wrong with Yuumi? Absolute nothing !! Once again, if I have to girlfriend and I found other girl that I like more. I still won’t do anything with it. I’m so pissed right now that I have to be harsh and say that what Kouichi did is similar to what Makoto (from School Days) did except maybe less intense because Yuumi doesn’t deserve that kind of treatment at all.
It was kinda cool that they show both sides of love triangle. Kazuki, Eriko, and Asuka somehow improve/change their personalities for better compared the beginnig of the series. And look how they ended up, he got a good girlfriend like Eriko and still manage a good friendship with Asuka. Yuumi manage to gain some courage throught out the series. On the other hand, Kouichi and Mao didn’t change a damn thing about their personalities. They struck in the past and ended up hurting other people’s feeling like Yuumi and Kai and they end up happy together. Sigh….how can I ever accept that ? I will accept that Mao is about 1/2 right and 1/2 wrong in that situation. But I will never forgive what Kouichi did !! Congratuation, Kouichi. You are now #3 of my most hateful protagonist in anime history next from Shinji (from Evangelion) and Makoto (from School Days). I hope one day that Yuumi will turn into Yangire (like Sekai from School days) and beat the shit out of you !! Burn in hell, Kouichi.
I think by the last few episodes the outcomes of the couples were pretty clear. Still, though, what I can’t get over is that for the most part, until the last few episodes, it did seem like that Kouichi and Yuumi actually really fit each other really well. That was undone with astonishing and, in my mind, unjustifiable speed. It really DOES make Kouichi a far more suspect character in which his actions from the first 3/4 of the show are massively called into question.
Now, if the show had been really gutsy and asked us to explore that–this would have vaulted Kimikiss into the ranks of The Great Animes. Because, of course, real teens do that, often oblivious to the damage they do. School Days came closest to doing it, but only with excessive drama and violence. But this is ultimately supposed to be a feelgood show…except that the Mao x Kouichi ending was disconcerting more than comforting. It didn’t show us quite enough to make me HATE, like the prior commenter, but this was one of the huge dangling threads that they decided to stop before it got out of hand, before we could think about it too much. Like I am right here!
@ albert_2mb: Indeed, I felt sorry for her, but I still can’t say I liked her all that much. Such a boring personality.
@ Totali: Good point, why was I expecting anything deeper from a Shugo Chara crossover, lol.
@ kenshin514: I agree with your point about Kouichi and Mao not having grown a lot in the series. While they experienced the pain of relationships and grew to understand their true feelings, the fact that they’re together will forever trap them in their childhood memories, which on one hand is kinda nostalgic, but on the other very stagnant.
I’m at odds with your hate for Kouichi though, I thought he made the right choice. He loved Mao, not Yuumi, for him to make that clear was a good call, infinitely better than stringing Yuumi along only to cheat on her with Mao in the future, or even worse, stick with Yuumi, never chasing after the one he truly loved. It’s kinda sad, but you can’t help falling in love, and to deny yourself happiness for the sake of not hurting someone else isn’t fair to either of you.
@ Mike: True, it could have used a bit more buildup. But the signs were there, Kouichi was pining for Mao for quite a while now, distancing himself from Yuumi, you could tell things weren’t right between them, ever since the filming of their movie began. Their breakup and Kouichi running to Mao did seem kinda sudden though.
It’s surprising Hoshino didn’t cry! She should and she could but she doesn’t. Instead she’s grateful she was given a chance. Hiromi (True Teas) has a lot to learn from her: Let the guy pick the girl for once!
I have the same sentiments as Mike with regards to Mao x Kouichi. The signs, in my opinion, came a bit late… it only became evident after Kouichi found out Mao’s feelings for him. I would’ve liked it if there have been more hints given about Kouichi’s reluctance or doubts regarding his relationship with Yuumi. But no, we were made to think that he was so secure in that relationship. And Mao’s confession was all it took to change that, to crumble what was supposedly a strong relationship =/
Mao’s confession became the catalyst for Kouichi to realize his true feelings, so it’s like the decision was more of ‘reactive’, as opposed a decision that came from a careful thought process of keeping in touch with your real inner consciousness. Nonetheless, I admire Kouichi for sticking up for his decision to choose Mao in the end, unlike a Bakayuki.
Unlike you, I feel real sad for KimiKiss coz I was rooting for Asuka in the other triangle, right from the start. But Eriko x Kazuki is fine too. I’ve come to like Eriko throughout the duration of the series :3
Ugh, I don’t like Kouichi and Mao together at all. I don’t think Kouichi would have ‘fallen in love’ with Mao if she didn’t open her big mouth and tell him she liked him. Ever since then he couldn’t get it off his mind, and along the way it felt like he had to fall in love with her as he distanced himself from Yuumi. Before then, he was happy with Yuumi, and I don’t feel like he was lying to himself at all because there was never a sign that he felt that way towards Mao since her return at the first episode of the series.
I’m glad Kouichi told Yuumi though, even though it was obvious to her. That’s all I can say about Kouichi, for I felt I lost some respect for him or something. And Mao’s like whatever. I know she meant well by trying to distance herself away and trying to support Kouichi and Yuumi, but it only made things worse and really proddled Kouichi into falling in love with her.
As for the triangle involving Aihara, I couldn’t decide between Futami or Sakino, so I would’ve been pleased with whoever he ended up with.
And even what’s his face hooked up with Kuryuu. That was sweet, albeit a last minute pairing.