Amagami SS 8

Kaoru Good End Get!

I must say right off the bat that I appreciated that Kaoru is a lot like me; she can sleep through anything. Only someone close to my level of hibernation skills could fall asleep while kissing someone. This is the point when I stop and accept anyone who says: “So, what was with your prediction at the beginning of the arc? You’re as bad at predictions as Miyano Mamoru is in the Zombie apocalypse.” To which I can only admit that I was wrong, and that Mamoru was pretty awful during the Zombie outbreak. I mean, are martial arts skills really going to be useful in the outbreak? It’s kind of like shooting water. So my prediction didn’t come true, but I was pleasantly surprised by this finale. It was slow paced but the pacing was deliberate and like the end of Haruka’s arc; full of confessions in high places. I think that will be a recurring event in each arc; the confession in the last episode at some high up place. I was a little disappointed at the lack of a ten years later scene, but the scene of him sneaking into his house with Kaoru was pretty damn funny too.

I have so many captions for this image, and none of them are appropriate.

I had a problem with Haruka’s arc; you didn’t see enough of her feelings compared with Junichi’s. This is to be expected with a first arc but I appreciated the time dedicated to understanding Kaoru’s feelings more in this arc then I did the two minute bath towel crying scene in Haruka’s. Because Haruka’s feelings were never apparent until that last few minutes it was hard to root for their blossoming love in the way that rooting for Kaoru and Junichi’s love is so easy. I really liked the writing in this episode (well, the translation and what I can tell from my knowledge of Japanese). I especially liked Kaoru’s confession, I just thought that her whole speech to Junichi was really nice and I appreciated Junichi understanding how embarrassed she must have been afterwards. She said that she liked dragging him around and before she knew it he was dragging her around, which is probably the best way to describe a friendship that became a romance that I’ve ever heard. She was worried about defining their relationship, but wanted her feelings to reach him no matter what.

I like this screen because this doesn't look like Junichi. It's just as Kaoru says, gross.

Umehara and Keiko are a serious set-up squad. I don’t quite know why Kaoru had to be in her uniform but you have to give Keiko points for understanding a man’s perks. Umehara could have thought of something a bit better than a paper cut but he knew that Ni-nii was a sucker so he probably could have just kicked Junichi in the knee and told him to go to the infirmary and he still would have. I am unsure but I believe that the Visual Novel is an eroge (don’t quote me on this). If it is the people who have played the VN must have got a real kick in the teeth when Kaoru fell over asleep instead of the hanky panky. I’m sure Junichi hasn’t been that disappointed with lack of hanky panky since episode 2 of “House of Five Leaves”; or maybe that was just me. The next arc is the underclassman, which makes me think that maybe Junichi will get to be the S for a change. What’s really weird though is that it looks like the next arc takes place during summer. I thought that the whole point of this series was getting a girl in the build up to Christmas. That’s like having a Die Hard movie that takes place in summer instead of at Christmas, OH SHI-

I don't know who this person is; but I want to hear her say: "Nishishishi~"

I think if I were to compare the Haruka arc to the Kaoru arc; I would have to use the metaphor of Street Fighter X Tekken. Kaoru is the Street Fighter X Tekken to Haruka’s Tekken X Street Fighter; they’re both similar styles of the same genre with the same character list, but Capcom>Namco. Everyone and their mums know that Capital Communications is superior to the Vietnam Corporation. By the way, you can definitely expect, when this series ends, me to use this fighting game metaphor for each arc. At that point I’ll probably have to explain what my favourite fighting game is; but it’s just so hard to nail one down. I love BlazBlue as well as Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter, Soul Calibur, Tekken and King of Fighters; okay, except King of Fighters XII, I still can’t believe that I paid sixty dollars for that garbage. Wow, and here I thought I’d cut back on the random references. I blame Toronto. I know that loads of people (bloggers included) use laptops as their main computers, but I hate it. I’m using a laptop right now since I’m away from home and comparing a laptop to a desktop is like comparing Hirano Aya to Sakamoto Maaya. Wait, never mind; laptops are actually useful, OH SNAP!

/ 5 Commentsleave a comment /

• bakuhasu says:

  August 21, 2010

  LOL ! and FIRST!

  good review man! definitely love the Kaoru arc alot more than the Haruka arc (had to search that up because it's been ages since the last episode finished)… But yeah as I had always said, THIS ARC IS SOOOOOO GOOOOOOOOOOOD compared to the one set before.. Just saying that I think this arc functions more of a standard romance (standard in my books) than probably any other arcs (probably not Tsukasa and Rihokos). Verry enjoyable episode indeed, agreed on the absence of the epilogue, and the confessional scene was one of the highlights to remember that is Amagami…

  Thanks for the weekly report! and as always….

  TRIP D's OUT!!!!!!

  Reply
• Decre says:

  August 22, 2010

  Great review, I'm impressed with all your views and references. I mean, I have to agree, this was DEFINITELY what I had imagined the ending would be like. To be honest though, I think this ending was 100 times better, AT LEAST.

  I really liked the tugging around reference, and the atmosphere was really amazing. I never thought that seeing snow falling under your feet would seem like such a romantic/beautiful idea, but I was blown away by all the neat extras.

  I lol'd at the falling asleep while kissing, and Kaoru finding his tape. I agree, I kinda missed the 10 years + portion from the Haruka arc, but at the same time, they added that little extra saying how they look forward to all these new things that will open up to them now that their relationship is on a new level.

  All in all, I have to say, I love Haruka, but I think that is for her cute/random/weirdness. But this arc was BY A LANDSLIDE the better of the 2.

  I can't say that I'm looking forward to seeing the Underclassman arc, but I'm not going to thrash on it quite yet. She never really seemed like a character that would have any way of standing out, so I'm just skeptical about it for now.

  Keep on the great reviews!

  Dec~

  Reply
• Bass says:

  August 22, 2010

  Nishishishi. Is that girl at the end Panther?

  Reply
• Larkin says:

  August 22, 2010

  The arc is all right on its own terms and it hits the right buttons when it ought to, but as usual, the original version is better.

  The drama with her mother was much better integrated in the game. It’s much more important than in the show since it serves as sort of an analogy to their romance plot. She doesn’t get over it in one day, he has to comfort her more than once (actually hugging her now), and in his bed, she compares her need for him to her mom’s need for another man in her life. I would have liked to see that instead of irrelevant fanservice cameos by other characters.

  The downplaying of this theme was doubly disappointing because certain lines of dialogue left in the show support it. Notice that Kaoru describes the issues of her developing feelings for Junichi and her mom getting remarried in the same terms – they come all of a sudden and she doesn’t know what to do.

  They don’t just kiss (mouth-to-mouth) thrice either (if anyone thought that was too few). After the accidental kiss, she later forces one on him again with better results. Another happens because she has a stalker while on the job and they pretend to be a couple to drive him off. Yet another one happens because they want to understand each other better. (My point is the show condenses or skips over so much so it can’t help but feel rushed).

  According to my sources, the game doesn’t detail what they get up to in bed, only that “neither of them get any sleep that night”.

  The final scene of her best ending path in the game also ends with her taking him to meet her mom and stepdad. It’s a shame they ended the episode when they did. I blame the cameos. A Meet the Parents ending would have been hilarous, better than Still Frame and Voiceover.

  Reply
• Kyokai says:

  August 23, 2010

  This arc was much better than the Haruka one, though I was looking forward to an epilogue too. I won't be following the next arc episode-wise rather marathon it when it's done. Biggest reason of it being the next arc character having one of the most annoying of voices. If I don't like the episode, I might just skip the arc altogether.

  Also, how can you survive without a laptop? I think I would freak if something happened to mine, which has really become an extension of myself.

  Reply