I’m kind of surprised that he only lost a tooth.
Talk about not putting up a fight.
And saved by the girl he likes. With his pants down. That’s got to be humiliating.
What I love most though is how she’s more embarrassed than he is. The two of them are so adorable.
Friends and Rivals
The highlight of this show for me, however, is not the romance but the friendship. Sentarou and Kaoru have a very interesting relationship. Kaoru wants to one-up Sentarou, but I think what he really wants is just to play together with him.
And he gets to. For all the complaining Sentarou did in the first episode, he came to accept Kaoru quite quickly. He’s even calling Kaoru his friend.
That was a sweet jam session by the way. Makes me want to pull out my melodica and start jamming! Or get an actual piano and / or a guitar…
Christians
Ooh, we have an anime with Christians that aren’t either hot nuns or vampire slayers!
A few stray observations. First, what’s with the veils? Do they actually wear these in Japan? Second, why are they just standing there and praying instead of singing? Normally they would do one at a time.
Finally, I like the fact that it’s a song I know (“What a friend we have in Jesus”). One of the things I find remarkable about the church is how you can walk in pretty much any church off the street and feel right at home. (Well, mainstream Protestant ones at least… don’t get me started on those three hour Baptist services…) I’ve been to services in Spanish-speaking churches and it’s exactly the same, and I doubt it’s much different in Japan either.
Kaoru seemed to think there was some deep secret behind why the priest told Sentarou to wear a crucifix all the time. I bet it’s just because he gets in trouble a lot and needed a reminder.
Love
Yay! Sentarou gets his own girl. I really couldn’t see him and Ritsuko in that light at all. Now the only love conflict is whether they’ll choose girls or bros.
The really impressive part was the surprise and mild awkwardness that kaoru felt when he found out they were Christians . That was a pretty good potrayal .
Agreed, that was well done. It’s like in America when we discover that people we know are Mormons. (sorry, Mormons, don’t take this the wrong way, we love you)
I’m still wrapping my head around him losing a tooth even though he was kicked in the chest…
Anyways, very nice points about the friendship and the Christians. I like the extra layer of realism this show has. Overall, I’m really liking the series and am surprised it’s as good as it is. I wasn’t actually expecting it to be this great. And yes, awesome jam session.
I think he lost the tooth because he was knocked over and hit the ground with his face.
The show feels very realistic due to all the details they put in.
What do you think does the fact that a character is a Christian imply for the Japanese viewer (if there is any common implication)? Is it just that these people are somewhat odd in their peer’s perception?
It’s funny btw that Ritsuko has the same seiyu (Nanri Yuuka) as Saorin and both characters are Christians.
If you are interested in Christianity and Japan you might like the movie Ai no Mukidashi/ Love Exposure (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sG13M1YwoVg ). It’s awesome!
I think it’s mostly that they’re somewhat odd, but also they have a somewhat exotic appeal. Otherwise I’m not really sure. Based solely on watching anime, I don’t think they have a very clear idea of what it means.
And I didn’t realize they have the same voice actors. Their voices sound so different, the actor did a really good job!
I want to watch this movie now, but the panty shots, bondage play and groping in the trailer are scaring me off…
Love Exposure is a fucking great movie and arguably one of the best films of this decade. I don’t use those words lightly.
The main reason I can think of not to watch it is that the film can be shockingly violent at times. There’s a moment about a third of the way through the film that is amazingly cathartic but also absolutely horrifying. If you can get past that part without turning off the DVD player than you have a pretty good chance of adoring the movie.
It’s a pretty long film as well, but it comes on two DVDs so you can easily split the film over two days if you really wanted to.
Ok, you guys have convinced me. 🙂 Love Exposure has been added to my queue.
Regarding your question about the veils, I found this Catholic site that discusses the episode: http://otritt.wordpress.com/2012/04/19/kids-on-the-slope-catholic-anime-edition/
“Yes, this takes place in that small slice of time when Japanese women were wearing chapel veils instead of hats or full-blown Philippines mantillas or other Japanese headgear.”
Oooh, thanks! Just what I was looking for.