Inaho is up on deck to reveal her past when it comes to Takeru, who really gets around.
What They Say:
Like Rain on a Sunny Day
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Takeru’s life at Tenbi Academy is one that continues to be difficult, but he’s starting to get the hang of thing even after all the weirdness that he’s seen. He is interested in what the school is all about when it comes to Maken’s and Elements, but it’s still not something that he’s really gotten a handle on. Which is why it’s cute that this episode gets going with a gym class that deals with the group working with their Elements. Seeing the instructor use the Element to surround her body and prepare her for a fight with one of her students works well, especially when they do make it clear that you can do all of this without a Maken since it’s just utilizing what’s very much in front of you.
That’s not the main focus of the episode though as things are squarely about Inaho and her relationship with Takeru. There are some very cute scenes from when the two were younger and had met that shows them as good kids who got along well. That’s all translating to the present as well since Inaho certainly has her crush going with him and is doing her best to be the right kind of girl for him. And that means silly and simple montages such as the two shopping, which in turn features a whole lot of panty shots of her. It’s so hard to watch all of that too. *cough* The two do have some nice quiet time together though as the episode goes on in a very nicely set piece where they talk in under some cover in the middle of a rain storm that brings back lots of memories for her.
Amusingly, Takeru does get called out for his obliviousness by some of the other girls and it’s actually difficult for one of them, which is a good sign. With a few girls having feelings on different levels for the young man, seeing them deal with it differently when it comes to others is good since it’s not the thing where it turns into a fight, anger and so forth. For Takeru, it does get him to wake up a bit which is nice, but he still retains that layer of nativity to him that allows him to exist in this awkward situation. The relationship between him and Inaho is cute and well handled overall, but there’s still that edge that wishes it wasn’t included in the series and that it focused on just a couple less girls in order to get to the good stuff. Which is more steamed out scenes, of which we get a few this time around. Yum.
In Summary:
Maken-Ki has definitely lost some of its energy from the first episode or two as it’s progressed, but there’s still plenty to like here. Takeru as a lead is still fairly bland and oblivious, though you can see why the different girls are into him for very different reasons. And they’re not competing for him against each other in a way but rather going after him because of their own reasons. It’s not to keep him away from another girl or to be spiteful, which is a helpful change from some other shows. But there’s also nothing that’s really standing out at this point and saying you must watch me outside of the appealing character designs and bright colors. The show started off with a neat hook but has largely squandered it. It’s still fun and a light guilty pleasure, but I had hoped for more at this point.
Grade: C+
Readers Rating: [ratings]
Streamed By: Nico Nico
Review Equipment:
Sony KDS-R70XBR2 70″ LCoS 1080P HDTV, Dell 10.1 Netbook via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.
