Welcome to Winter Watch, a look at the latest anime season. The third series by the creators of the Please Teacher franchise finally reaches the point I, personally, was waiting for.
Episode 8: Senpai's Pinch
Summary: Kaito and his friends are going to the town’s festival. Ichika sees it as a learning experience, Remon is using it to gather more footage, and Kanna wants to get closer to Kaito. But plans change and hearts are broken when an unannounced visitor shakes things up.
Air Date: Feb. 29, 2012 / Available on CrunchyRoll for Free Users: Mar. 7, 2012
Run Time: 23:43
Warning: This article contains spoilers. We recommend you watch the episode HERE first.
Explain how it's possible to fall on top of a girl that was standing next to you after an earthquake? Sorry, I'm getting ahead of myself... The Okinawa arc is over, so the characters are ready for a summer festival. Filled with yukata fun and a lot of food, Ichika enjoys her premiere experience in one of these town festivals. Of course, the fun doesn't last because Remon has an idea which will get her some very interesting footage for their film. The group takes a field trip to a "haunted" temple where they see ghosts and alien ships. Before going up there, Remon splits the group into pairs, conveniently two of the pairs are potential romantic couples.
There are a few things that I would like to highlight about this episode. Mio got a haircut, and with that a more confident personality. This changed her into a character I could finally appreciate. I am not saying she was a bad character before but now I am rooting for Tetsuro to look her way. I mean, c'mon Tetsuro! Mio looks cute with short hair, plus she is interested in you. Add the fact that Kanna only considers you her older brother, and after the earthquake in this episode you landed on Mio and kissed her!
Another interesting point in this episode is that Remon is older than she looks. "Senpai" just took on a whole other meaning! Apparently, Remon is probably just as old as Manami (Tetsuro's older sister). Manami helps Remon with her trip to the temple by being the ghost that scares Tetsuro into falling on top of Mio and kissing her. Seriously, who does that?! That's not the point.... Remon has been in school for many years now. The question is, why is she forever 17 years old?
On their trip up the temple, Kanna and Kaito are paired up, but to Kanna's dismay Kaito blatantly proves more interest in his senpai rather than her. I feel sorry for Kanna because it seems that she will be left out of this love triangle between her friend and her senpai. In the last episode, Rinon was freaking out for something that had happened on Ichika's ship. Apparently some sort of distress call alerted their home planet to come and pick up Ichika. That's when Kaito hears Ichika scream and abandons Kanna to go and help his senpai.
Verdict
I know this series is first and foremost a drama, but sci-fi elements are prominent into the telling of this story. We finally get to see some alien lasers and Rinon be mind-blowing when rescuing Ichika from the alien ship that was taking her back to her home planet. What was awesome about this episode? Everything! We get romance, despair, action and Rinon. I wonder what everybody thinks of Ichika now that they know she's an alien?
-- Geo (sora_thekey) 24/7 geek! -- Follow me on Twitter: @Geo_sorathekey
Tasty japanese food makes me jealous. Being part of a love triangle, not so much. Pretty fun episode. So Remon is.... an adult that stays in high school and pretends to still be in school so she can mess around with high school students. I'm sure there's a better word for that... oh right, FUCKED. I'm guessing they're saving the explanation for a future episode.