Joshiraku 06

SQUAWK! SQUAWKSQUAWK! SQUAWKSQUAWKSQUAWK!

Well, well, well. This episode was so much better in comparison to its previous one, in terms of action and the funniness of the jokes. I’m so glad that they pulled a few anime-related references and then some references that Western viewers could also understand. I was watching it in the same disappointed mindset that I had while watching Joshiraku 05, and was pleasantly surprised when Joshiraku 06 turned out to be much better. Like the case with Hyouka, I will not be covering Joshiraku 07, so I will most likely be skipping it. If I have time, I might be able to compile it with Joshiraku 08, but don’t bet your money on it!

Four Wows

It seems as if they took that stunt from the previous episode seriously, because Gan really did graduate! The other girls take advantage of their sudden “four-ness” and revel about how wonderful it is to be a foursome. There are a lot of great jokes here – and the fansubber did a great job of placing “five”s and “four”s into the words as English puns. I made the mistake of calling Joshiraku a 4-koma manga in the last post, but what do you know, this time, Joshiraku’s parodying a 4-koma!

Alright, so I’m incredibly proud of myself for being able to understand this joke without any research at all. Kigu’s all blushing and happy in the previous panel because she’s gained Ebizou’s third (or second? I can’t remember) button. In high school culture, that button is the closest to the boy’s heart, so it’s basically a love confession. Marii’s got Shintarou’s (the mayor of Tokyo, by the way) fifth button, which is closest to…you know what.

Tofu will certainly be glad for this next part, since it’s all a K-On reference! (K-On is a 4-koma, by the way.) Being in a 4-koma gets Tetora excited that they can be in a manga magazine, “like those high school girls who play light music.” Here comes a series of panels with K-On!’s iconic text and the girls’ dreams all get crushed when they realize even the most darkest topics can be moe-fied with cute text and girls.

You haven’t forgotten about Gan though, have you? The rest of this section is pretty straight-forward; Gan gets revenge by locking the girls in the dressing room, they go around trying to wake each other up just in case falling asleep might kill them, and Kukuru comes to the conclusion that there has to be a fifth person there so that all corner of the table are occupied. It’s all thanks to Gan, right? Nope: Mask-chan (they gave her a name!) comes to the rescue.

Musashi Scenery

I’m just going to stress in every single image about how awesome Kukuru’s hairstyle/clothing are.

This section is most likely the only downside to the entire episode. The episode could have gone without it and there really would be nothing to have been risked – basically, the girls all decide to meet up at Musashi station but end up going to four different Musashi stations. It seems that Tetora finally snaps and when Gan runs into her, the former goes into a rant about lonliness and superiority. Basically this part made me stare at the screen thinking “What the heck did I just watch?” for a second until the next eye-catch appeared and the episode continued on.

The Servant’s Vengeance

Is this even considered appropriate to be posted here?

Gan manages to return to the Rakugo clique, but now she’s being treated as an underclassman! Kigu makes sure, as Gan’s senpai, that Gan would know what Kigui wants even if she doesn’t verbally demand it. But it seems that Gan’s finally snapped and she ends up dominating everybody, much to the surprise of the ever lucky Tetora, who managed to escape that embarrassing fate.

Can you name them all?

Gan attempts to run for mayor (or some other council position?) but ultimately fails, so they’re prepared to throw out all the campaigning stuff. Kukuru refuses to throw the doll out until Gan actually win an election (they claim that the former is a rather traditional girl,) so Gan ends up enrolling herself in the Solar System election by raising her glasses towards Venus. (A pure coincidence.)

She meets the former prime minister of Japan – apparently he’s been involved in a lot of scandals – and when Gan doesn’t know where to find the money to run for election, so he suggests selling the planet. She calls him a traitor and punches him, killing him in the process, and a bunch of astronauts appear and celebrate her victory. Back on planet Earth, when Gan realizes what she’s got herself into and is forced to deal with “the rising pulse of the solar system,” she crashes. Hey, at least they can throw that creepy election doll out.

Rating: I liked this so much better than the previous episode, I’ll be generous and give this episode an 8.75/10. Besides that awkward hiccup about the Musashi Stations in the middle, the first and last sections of the episode were fabulous. The first section showcased the characters and their interactions nicely, and the last section brought back that awkwardly raw humor that made me like Joshiraku in the first place. Overall, this episode was very enjoyable – and poor, poor Gan. I hope she’ll get over the trauma by the next episode!

When you look into her eyes, you can see the Solar System.