A mysterious group of Minami-ke fans seems to have coalesced and are looking for experienced help.

Perhaps our salvation is finally at hand?

Hmmmm, watched the first two eps........ I can't say I don't dislike the, um, skin level (though I don't think the eldest set of boobs follows any rules of physics)... but the facial deformations didn't resonate with me. High point was the door-opening moment in the onsen during the first episode ....

The big problem is that, at no point did I feel inclined to smile or laugh. This is regrettable. I do believe it is the timing and execution rather than the situation or the content. That would be a director issue...

That said, it isn't *TERRIBLE* ... just somewhat disappointing so far.

And the walking animation in the OP and ED is just bad anatomy physics. I figure its worth 2 more episodes before I make any final call for myself.

... your tone won't help you in convincing other people you know.

Anyway I wish you people to look back at October 2007. At that moment an unknown series called Minami-ke premiered, and after seeing the first 3 episodes most people saw it as being nothing more than a Lucky Star wannabe, and an Ichigo Mashimaro rip-off. My point? First impressions are misleading, don't give up on it :p

that's the point. although it may not be the production teams intention, the result is the slice of life comedy having to rely on it's slice of life appeal, because the comedy has become so weak. which is pretty sad since comedy was the big draw in S1.

there was a good amount of anticipation for this especially from the manga readers and fans of the authors other works. the thing with S1 is that right from episode 1, you knew the director had it down packed -- everything from the timing and transitions, to the voice and sound direction, was perfect. and it continued to deliver for the rest of the series. S2 on the other hand started with a bad first impression, which it's going to have to work very hard to make up for.

I'll contest that "most people" saw Minami-ke as a wannabe or rip-off of *anything* (a few posters on a forum don't constitute "most"). Those who thought that at the time don't usually think much in the first place -- they just want to label something so they can stop thinking again. :)

Minami-ke is based on a manga with no connection to those other series. The middle sister has some attributes that remind one of a certain I.M. character - but five minutes of observation *should* lead one to realize "no, not the same".
Minami-ke wasn't "unknown to me" because I usually research series that I plan to watch long before they air. I haven't given up on it -- I'm just agreeing with those who think the series has some comedic timing issues that cause some of the humor to fall flat. I plan to watch at least the next couple of episodes before I decide if my time is better spent on other diversions.

If I tell a story, it usually falls flat. If a friend of mine tells the same story -- its a party hit with people laughing their heads off. That's the sort of problem I'm seeing in the initial episodes. This is sad because the onsen episode could have been a yin-yang wonderment of switching between onsen and antics.

I was taught that when a person starts throwing insults and do what you are doing, that they basicaly are losing the argument. There is a simple solution to your problem, learn Japanese so you don't have to wait for Subs. It is simple, Okawari is not as good as the first season. Even the groups that like to "rescue" abandoned series are not touching it.

I also have Okawari on my folder of just watch because I am bored.

I wonder if the people reading the posts like to be 'constantly' reminded that the show 'sucks' or it's not even worthwhile for somebody to bother subbing it. :rolleyes:

The discussion has gone tangent for a while. It's not about the show itself, but whether somebody should pick it up or not, or the reasons why some group/people have 'dropped' it after one episode or two. What started as a 'nice' comparison between this season and its predecessor (which I find normal) has deteriorated into 'realizing' why some people 'hate' this show (whether objectively or subjectively). I think there's a big difference between the show's flaws and a personal opinion, but that shouldn't be an obstacle for a feasible discussion. (I personally don't want to discuss about the show when everything I read is mostly complaints).

well, it seems like someone is trying to sub the show. They are still short on people.
Most likely they might be doing a reverse translation from chinese scripts.

Just curious, what makes you think they're using other peoples work ? At the very least you should probably view it before you go insulting the people doing it :p

He's not really insulting anyone... its a case of working with the skiils ya got. If your forte is Chinese/English.. then working from chinese scripts makes sense (especially if you can't find a translator capable of taking dictation from slangy casual dialog and turning it into passable english).

As long as they credit the sources, I don't see any problem (aka Open Source or hobby etiquette).

because believe it or not, it is easier to find a Chinese-English translator than a Japanese-English one. It is just my opinion, there have been many shows that have been done that way. I was not trying to be offensive, just pointing out another possibility for the show to be subtitled.

Well I was mostly teasing, hence the ":p". But I do think it should probably be viewed before jumping to conclusions. Doing a translation of a translation pretty much assures it's going to be inferior quality than a direct translation. At any rate it's probably best to avoid starting any rumors about people.

@Vexx: Sorry if you thought if my comment was directed to you. I always enjoy reading your posts, it was directed at someone a few posts back that most people will recognize. My fault for writing the reply in a page I loaded 2 hours before :p

Anyway, continuing with your reply, I think that the main problem is that everyone is taking the original Minami-Ke as the official interpretation of the original material, and leaving Okawari very little ground to work with. What if both the original material and the first adaptations are slice of life comedies? What if the producers of the second season don't intend to produce a comedy at all, and we are all misinterpreting their intentions? I think it is kind of pretentious to judge the series only after the first chapter because of this. Maybe the jokes fell flat on us precisely because they don't intend this to be a comedy like many people have said before, and making their own series which differs from the first season, making it their own creation and not a copy paste of a winning formula. Every new adaptation is an opportunity to experiment with new ideas, and it is better to be open to this. That was my main intention when I said that it would be wiser to hold judgment.

Truth... it may be that this *is* intended to be "more realistic" --- more of a human foible character study than an actual "haha" comedy. But that said... it just seems like in a number of instances in the first two episodes they were trying to set up classic comedy routines and timed it poorly.

I think my only real problem so far with the series is artistic -- I didn't like the "fisheye" moment in the dressing room, for example. I'm simply not a fan of the "horror-stricken" deformation style (just after our blonde idiot sees Kana Heaven at the door :) ). Bits like that -- which I'll readily admit are my own preferences. I like the general art style and the character designs (frankly, I think a muscle-toned Kana is nice looking) -- though the Haruka Boobs of Floating (real boobs don't do that, though they do have their own "degree of freedom" that is accentuated in water) and the Chiaki Living Ahoge have me rolling my eyes. If they're going for an accentuated style the 'living ahoge' just really doesn't fit in. And some basic anatomy study seems in order for animating Haruka's "girls".

No. No, he isn't. Not at all.

sorry, but minami-ke okawari, isn't excelent as the first season is.... But it's very good:)

I can overlook the color and design changes of the characters, but I can't overlook how badly the director is botching the comedy timing. And yes, I do know Japanese. What I can see would have been a gut-wrenching hilarious episode from start to finish directed by Doumu, is instead me making a couple smirks here or there, but mostly grimacing at a situation that should of been hilarious when directed by Asread.

One thing I find curious about all this talk of comedic timing, etc. The source material is a manga. In other words... you read it at whatever speed you feel like reading it. Of course, yes, timing is important to comedy. But I can't help wondering if this particular complaint is a bit overblown.

Any comic artist will tell you that "timing" is just as important to designing the frames in a comic strip (or manga). In that case, the frame choices themselves are a substitute for the timing.
But in adapting written material to a motion medium like anime, one *has* to use the sensibilities of comic timing... hell, even if you're *reading* a story out loud to someone, timing becomes important.

Speaking of which, if anyone want's to see an example of what I think is the best timing ever, try to youtube the clip of the Tonight Show where Johnny Carson has on the expert tomahawk thrower.

In fact here

Perhaps the most important part of timing is to allow someone to absorb a sequence of events fully if the hook is funny in itself and then to deliver the punchline.