Listen to What Your Father Says! #12 — STOP GODDAMNED SINGING

March 27th, 2012

 

There sure aren’t trying to end on a high note, are they?

Impressions:

What’s funny here is that the dual cliffhangers were both resolved in under 10 minutes. Sora sits Hina down, explains death (badly at that), and then Hina’s over it. Total elapsed time spent on that: 3 minutes. The stuff with the letter just turned out to be one of Japan’s trademarked misunderstandings and nobody ever wanted anybody to go anywhere. At least they got to throw in numerous flashbacks. You know how awesome those are. There was also some nonsense about Raika and yet more misunderstandings which lasted approximately 15 seconds from introduction to resolution, so you know they’re breaking out all the big guns to send the drama to a fever pitch here.

That left the entire second half for "Wow, my sister was great" and yet another tone deaf rendition of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star in addition to what can only be described as a wall of cacophony while the entire goddamned cast showed up to watch the disaster unfold. And then a party for him for supposedly working so hard while Hina spent the entire time screaming about cake so they could end the show with the entire cast screaming its title before going into a particularly bizarre montage about moving out and back to the original house. Wasn’t the only substantial arc in this entire misbegotten show about how it was impossible for them to leave his apartment? Fan-bloody-tastic.

 

Final Thoughts:

This was a great big mess of watching porridge dry. Nothing ever happened, it did it slowly, and it just repeated itself in a cycle. It’s like they thought the premise was enough for the entire series and then blew the rest off. Even if the melodrama was compelling in any way, repeating it ad nauseam, it sure as hell wasn’t anymore. Life’s hard for Yuuta but he’ll do his best for his family. Life’s hard for Sora but she’ll do her best for her family. Life’s hard for Miu but she’ll do her best for her family. Here comes the mean middle-aged woman to ruin things in a two episode arc, but wait, the power of family heals things. Repeat that and whammo. There’s ten goddamned episodes with the premise alone sucking up the remaining two. There’s not enough focus on comedy for it to be funny and the characters sure as hell never grow beyond the cardboard cutout stereotypes that they were in the first 5 minutes of meeting them so there’s little reason to feel even vaguely attached or interested to them either.

It’s unremarkable in any single way and utterly boring. That’s worse than being bad. As least being bad leaves an impression. All this has are the occasional moments when it awkwardly tries to throw in some skin to lure in the desperate through the seemingly endless baths, but you can get far more bath for your buck with Hidamari Sketch any day of the week. Whenever it threatens like something’s about to happen, it resolves it in the next breath, before going right back into the treads of "life’s hard, but gotta do my best for my family." It doesn’t do anything well enough to be recommendable for any reason, although not to sound like a broken record, but it doesn’t do anything at all. What are you supposed to say about a show that practically embodies unambitious rubbish?

Posted in Listen To Father | 7 Comments »

7 Shouts From the Peanut Gallery

  • Jack says:

    Damn. Looks like I was wrong about the parents not being dead.

    To my credit, and that’s what I’m here for, they never sold me on the parents actually being dead. It just seemed so fake with all the useless fanservice and quasi-sadness that never struck me as authentic.

    Easily the worse non-“Flash” show of the season and 2012 thus far.

  • CAPTAIN MAR-KLAC-VELOUS says:

    well this one series really quite really worth my watching it.

    indeed time to tell hina about the parents & well drama emotion crying come in on it.
    sora on swing here nimura to check on sora give also mention of yuuta & raika.
    walking on rain 3 sisters with hina look ok give miu mention hina promise bunny that hina won’t cry anymore.
    sora still hmm on letter seeing yuuta heading out so follow yuuta on cemetery.
    with sora assume yuuta might but relax yuuta want all 3 to stay.
    oh here aunt & glasses famliy member here to say yuuta & 3 sisters can stay together.
    yet the aunt said it “atonement” from 15yrs ago after all ok.
    some walk then talking mention yuuta’s sister leading back yuuta’s parents days.
    when yuuta’s sister arrive as mother-father-brother-grandfather-grandmother & sister.
    after recalling that yuuta got idea while hina is drawing something.
    yuuta & sora enter Street Observation Research Society when yuuta mention raika saying & that i’m their father.
    raika said the hat is correct so next one yuuta ask raika to be wife?! yea the hat said yes.
    parents day for hina with hina bit might be sad but here yuuta with raika-wife, sora, miu & everyone for hina.
    more twinkle star (indeed it’s like arc words) after parents day done all ok.
    now for cake give yuuta got lock-out like fred flintstone with doing wilma-saying on CAKE!!!
    all wrap up & now moving back to 3 sisters house.

    oh my indeed really give this is truly those must-watch anime to watch yea if even pull a s2 squee myself for it & hey pull a raika’s spin-off series (of course i know there those who want it) & yet i know if also get english dub thank you very much indeed.

    overall this is really worth it to watch.

  • Outrunner says:

    Okay and now that the prologue is over, the routes start right?

  • max says:

    My thoughts exactly!
    Glad I’m not the only one who thinks how much of a mess this show was.

    And that twinkle-twinkle little– ugh…

  • cutemi2 says:

    Episode 13, Extra Episode is out with Swimming