天下制覇

I guess at least they spread the angst.

Impressions:

A bit more even than last week’s, but I’m still not finding it particularly funny and they seem bound and determined to try to wring out as much melodrama and angst as possible. This week not only had family member suicides, but also introduced that ever wonderful standby, bullying. Which despite anything you might have assumed from the first ten minutes of last week’s episode, is apparently a brand new and upsetting thing to her. Uh, okay? And another (supposedly) unsympathetic female too, who actually makes a pretty damn good point about what Kotoura does? Isn’t it a little early to be repeating yourself? It’s not mixing the two sides of the show any better either. Who could have ever possibly suspected that hamfisted teenage angst would not mesh well with lowbrow comedy? It’s a shock to all, I’m sure.

So… meh. I think I’m all angsted out in anime for a while and this show’s writing is nowhere even close to good enough to pull off the kind of nonstop sob story that it’s desperately going for. Good emotional manipulation requires a whole lot more finesse than this has thus far shown itself capable of. I can enjoy myself (after a fashion) making fun of production cheapness or inane plot developments. Attempting to tug on my heartstrings with the subtlety and grace of a team of drugged-up hippos on an ice floe though? Not so much.

Preview:

Karaoke.