Welcome to Winter Watch, a look at the latest anime season. From the Onegai Teacher! franchise the story of Kaito and Ichikacontinues.
Episode 3: Senpai Says...
Summary: Kaito keeps imagining bad things about what happened with him an Ichika the night before, so he decides to skip school because he's so embarrased. Ichika doesn't understand why he's staying home so she starts to worry. Meanwhile, Kanna starts to worry about Kaito, as well, and goes to see how he's doing after school secretly, but ends up being followed and recorded by Remon's 8mm camera.
Air Date: Jan. 25, 2012 / Available on CrunchyRoll for Free Users: Feb. 01, 2012
Run Time: 23:41
Warning: This article contains spoilers. We recommend watching the episode HERE first.
I've been trying to wrap my mind around the idea of Ichika and Kaito as a couple. It does seem obvious that's where the creators are pinpointing the two protagonists towards. Aside of Ichika's physical appearance, I still don't understand the attraction. On the last episode, Kaito wanted to confess something to Ichika, but she stopped him by asking him not to say it. It is revealed in this episode that the thing that Kaito wanted to say was that he had feelings for her, but Ichika misunderstood his intentions. Ichika believed that his confession was related to her secret of being extraterrestrial.
Believing he had been rejected, Kaito misses school out of embarrassment. Worried Kannavisits him after school thinking that he was sick. Mio and Tetsuro are also worried about their friend, but when they get to Kaito's home they spot him going out with Kanna. Mio, Tetsuro,Remon and her 8mm camera follow the couple for the rest of their day. At the same time Ichika tries to find Kaito to keep him from telling everyone her secret.
In reality, Remon and her creepy laugh manipulates this one-sided love triangle, or pentagon to be exact (Mio > Tetsuro > Kanna > Kaito > Ichika). Throughout the whole episode, everyone follows each other for the rest of the day and the majority try to confess something. The ongoing gag is how Ichika believes that if her secret is revealed MiB (Men in Black) will come for her and dissect her. The creators clearly made the story an attempt to be funny but in reality some of the jokes fell short... again.
I guess this is a good time as any to mention how much I enjoy the theme song of this show. The beginning credits are ingenuously made by using a visual analogy or film being recorded. Putting aside how much I like the beginning of every episode, the animation is a big part of the storytelling especially in this episode. The hue tones change depending on the setting or the character's daydreaming. I appreciate the non-discernible change of tone.
Verdict
Three episodes in and this "character study" does not cease. I feel like I am still being introduced to these characters and the story is progressing slowly. Plus, some of its attempts at humor only makes it easier to brush off. Still, I am giving Kurosaki a chance because of his previous history in anime. I have to give the creators credit for setting in a very good cliffhanger for this episode. This is a very pretty anime, Remon continues to be creepy, in a funny way, and Rinon continues to be the cutest thing ever! At least it's better, right?
-- Geo (sora_thekey) 24/7 geek! -- Follow me on Twitter: @sora_thekey
It's definitely going at a slow pace, but I'm enjoying this show. It's something I can just watch without having too pay too much attention to little details, I can just sit back and enjoy it for what it is.
As for why the guy fancies the alien red-head chick; she's hot, she lives with him, cooks for him and is generally kind to him, what other reasons do you need? Plus she's kind of kissed him on a few occasions already, so there's that.
@Newten: Yes... I would fancy her too but LOVE? Oh and don't get me wrong I am enjoying it too... I just expected something to happen by now!
@sora_thekey: Well he never said he's totally in love with her, at least I don't think he did. Either way, gotta feel bad for Kanna, poor girl.
@Newten: Feel bad for Mio. In this one-sided love pentagon she's the only one who's getting no love!
@sora_thekey: Yeah, and she's so adorable too. It's a horrible vicious circle of unrequited love.
@Newten: Mio reminds me a lot of Mikuru from Haruhi and Remon reminds me of Kuroko from A Certain Scientific Railgun. No love for those four characters.
That pentagon of love. I guess Remon is the only person who is not in love. This was a good episode. Looking forward for more.
Yeah, when Mio went all serious that caught me off guard. It looks like this anime could get very serious and sad in the end, but it could also be fairly light hearted (like how the episode ended with Kaito and Ichika making small talk to lighten the mood).
So.. they went for the old "two characters mistake what each other was saying/doing and only the audience knows the real story". On the other hand it was fun seeing all the different characters daydream about what they think happened.
As for the love triangle between Kanna, Ichika and Kaito. I found myself biased toward Kanna, even though she is the typical childhood friend.. Same could sort of be said about Ichika, who is the super-caring girlfriend, but SHE'S AN ALIEN. o.O Anyways, something about Ichika makes her come across as a bimbo to me. Maybe this is part of some larger set-up?