What They Say:
Summertime is swimming time, and Hinata’s set on swimming in a woodsy river spot within walking distance, with all the girls in sexy swimsuits! However, it doesn’t go quite as planned…
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
As the girls have decided fully, after a little storytelling from Hinata’s father, that Mt. Fuji is on their roadmap, we had a good episode where we saw Aoi struggle with the all important part of getting permission. It’s been good to see her outgoing and engaged with friends, but as she’s gotten more into the climbing, she forgot some of the basics of what you have to do as a child – even a teenage one – in getting permission and asking for things like this. We’ve mostly been about the kids, so it’s nice to have some time with parental involvement and helping the kids to grow up a bit and think about more than just themselves.
This episode shifts gears to a bit of different summertime fun as Hinata, wanting to take advantage of the summer season and all its pleasures, intends to go to a great spot she knows for some swimming time. It’s a bit of a walk just to get to the area, but when she and Aoi arrive, it’s totally worth it. Instead of the usual beach or indoor place, they head to Azuma Gorge where there’s a stunning river to play in surrounded by beautiful trees and plenty of other things to grab onto. It’s the perfect kind of natural place to go. When Hinata shows it off to Aoi, Aoi does realize that it is a great place to bring everyone to. Unfortunately for Aoi, Hinata says they should all bring their sexy swimsuits when they do. That’s a struggle for Aoi who only has her school swimsuit.
The show does have some fun as she struggles with what a sexy swimsuit may be, and we also get a bit of a delay in getting back to the river due to a storm that causes the river itself to be unusable for a bit. But when they do eventually get there, the real fun kicks in as all of them, outside of Hinata, have a struggle of some sort with where they are. They want to have fun but also have the problem in that the water is quite cold, which adds to it. So what are the girls to do? Or rather, what are the animators to do since they want to show the girls off in sexy swimsuits? Well, that’s what outdoor spas at home are all about. The show keeps making these small diversions into the realm of attempted fanservice and it all comes off pretty weak and out of place for the show and its style, which is frustrating.
In Summary:
I do enjoy that the show doesn’t spend each episode on a climb or even climb related things. This one gives us some nice time in seeing a local area that even locals may not be aware of and it’s definitely a thing of beauty, though not quite as useful to them as they first thought. There’s some fun in the natural aspect of the episode, but the show continues to push more fanservice in it this season than it really warrants and that, in the end, detracts from the real pleasure and enjoyment one derives from the show. The first season was fantastic and this one has a lot of great material, but it’s dragging itself down in an attempt to appeal to the simple base desires.
Grade: B
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Sony KDL70R550A 70″ LED 1080P HDTV, Apple TV via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.
