What They Say:
Yonomori Kobeni is a high school student who leads a pretty normal life… and then the day of her 16th birthday arrives. Despite having very little presence, her fiance, Mitsumine Hakuya shows up suddenly along with her sister-in-law, a little girl named Mitsumine Mashiro. Without any prior explanation, they begin their peculiar life together. Kobeni’s older sister, Yonomori Benio, who has has a sister complex and is a bit of a pervert is thrown into the mix and things get even weirder. Kobeni’s life is no longer normal.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Despite unassuming beginnings, Konoha’s little story from last time has become quite a potential for plot developments, and there’s plenty more to work through now. Konoha opens by formally introducing herself to the audience, noting that she wouldn’t have even been a supporting character until moving into the city and making her high school debut. As with any good story of an attempted high school debut, though, it becomes clear that those kind of eccentric characters can’t just change who they are, and that carries much of Konoha’s role to keep the comedy as strong as possible in its simple capacity.
The only one not around to learn of Konoha’s secret among the main cast is the very object of her affection and the source of the animosity between Konoha and the others, Benio. Although Kobeni is just trying to be a good person and keep this situation from getting out of hand, Benio can’t stand to be left in the dark, and needless to say her imagination is such that saying less only causes her to blow it out of proportion in her own head. There’s a great deal of time spent on Benio thinking of all the different (entirely unreasonable) reasons that could be causing Kobeni’s fairly normal behavior, and although it gets a little repetitive, it continues to be one of the strongest aspects of the show, and Nadeshiko serving as her constant foil is always a welcome half of the dynamic.
Most of the humor is derived from misunderstandings, actually, which generally isn’t my favorite kind of humor and isn’t used incredibly originally, but it’s still executed smoothly enough that there’s nothing to really ruin the mood. Although she was the one supporting character in the show from the very beginning, Mayura hasn’t gotten as much time to shine as most of the newer ones, but this episode does a bit to remedy that, and she’s refreshingly sharp (as Kobeni points out), especially compared to the stars of the episode. As I’ve mentioned, I’m very done with hearing characters with perfect bodies complain about getting fat, and as there’s a lot of that, it’s possibly my least favorite thing about the episode.
In Summary:
The Konoha story continues, and with it advancements both in Benio’s obsession-induced delusions (not unlike Konoha’s own thoughts toward Benio) and in the “love triangle” forming around the main characters and this new addition. There’s no shortage of cliches, but it continues to bring fresh enough aspects to how it plays out to keep it enjoyable to watch regardless. The fantastical side of the plot is a big part of that, but even just as a way to set up the kind of story that could happen in almost any setting, it works more successfully than some. There are still some moments that make me roll my eyes, but in the end it balances out, and the more positive traits tend to work well enough that they leave me looking forward to more.
Grade: B-
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Toshiba Satellite L655-S5191 PSK2CU-1C301U Notebook PC.
