The fallout from the previous episode hits and it’s all very self conscious teenage material.
What They Say:
Kaito and Ichika try to act like nothing has happened but it proves hard. After school, Kaito is picked up by a dark haired beauty. Ichika’s imagination goes into overdrive and she becomes fiercely determined to save Kaito!
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
With Kaito and Ichika having gotten closer in a way that kind of surprised and scared both of them, they’re now dealing with the fallout from it in the way that people of this age do, even if Ichika may not be from this world. Kaito tries to comfort himself by at least thinking he didn’t admit that he loved her while she tries to just remind herself to play it normal as she’s older than him and has to handle it properly. The two of them have a comical kind of tension between them at this point, made worse by actually living together, and it’s just a big part of how they’re both feeling throughout the day at this point. While others don’t know the specifics, it’s easy to tell that something is definitely off with both of them, but especially with Kaito as he wears his emotions and feelings on his sleeve more openly than Ichika does.
The two of them do try to be cute and get their friends to offer suggestions about how things look, though of course they use cute names to mask that it’s about themselves but that doesn’t fool anybody. And that kind of back and forth stuff between their friends and each other is what dominates the episode as it goes on. It feels like it moves rather slowly as the two have awkward moments together and as their friends realize just how cute the two of them are together and how that awkwardness just makes them more endearing. Or at least that’s the feeling it’s trying to give, but it doesn’t really come across well that way. While it is easy to see that Ichika and Kaito do click well together, their overly shy nature at this point and the way they’re dancing around things just feels kind of off.
It does go in some amusing directions at times though, such as when Manami shows up and takes Kaito out for an afternoon of shopping and fun. Shopping at a lingerie store which lets things get sexy a bit and then catching a Highschool of the Dead movie which is just plain fun to see. It also lets Ichika’s mind run wild with what the two may be doing when they’re off together which lets the show get extra sexy for a little bit. Of course, there’s an amusing twist about who Manami is that comes p eventually, but it’s the kind of thing that’s just dragged out a bit in order to make a silly sequence of events that drives Ichika to the point where she’ll interfere, thinking that she might lose Kaito to her. It’s kind of blunt with what it’s doing, but it’s not a surprise either as the show paints in plain colors. At least in terms of story, as the actual animation continues to have some great colors for its backgrounds.
In Summary:
Ano Natsu de Matteru doesn’t do anything terribly original here or in a way that makes the standard story events interesting, but it does hit all the right marks in order to get the basics done and be fine with it. The show is one that I feel like you could easily give it a lot of grief over, but it’s hitting the kinds of things it’s expected to do. It’s just not proving to be terribly engaging to me. I like the visual design of the show and the overall mood that it’s creating, but it hasn’t made me like the characters. And yes, that includes Remon, as she’s just too much of a predictable stereotype character. There’s nothing inherently wrong with the characters, but it’s not made them compelling or interesting to find out about, especially since they’ve been wrapped up in such basic silliness and without delving into what makes them who they are.
Grade: B-
Readers Rating: [ratings]
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
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.
