[Pocari_Sweat]

Spoiler for True Tears and Hanasaku Iroha comparison:

Originally Posted by Triple_R

Spoiler for True Tears, and how it relates to Hanasaku Iroha:

First of all, that diagram is not entirely accurate, and as a proud supporter of Shinichro/Noe I take exception to it. Shinichiro did not always see Noe as "just a friend" (in fact, the two were officially dating for awhile), and nor did Aiko see Shinichiro as "just a friend", for that matter. I mean, Aiko passionately kissed the guy on the lips, for crying out loud! So this diagram does a considerable disservice to the very real and sincere romantic conflicts of True Tears.

Well the diagram (which I saved on my PC many years ago) is based at the conclusion of True Tears and not when the series was running, so in my opinion it's a good representation of what the relationships statuses were when the series ended. By the end of the series, the perceptions of each of the characters changed by the end of the series. In my opinion, although Shinchiro may have thought of Noe as his girlfriend when they were going out, by the end of it, Shinchiro realised his feelings and thought of Noe merely as "moral support" and a friend despite how harsh it may been on her. Same with Aiko, she may had a crush on Shinchiro during the series run, but by the end, she gave it up and is trying her hardest to make the "fake relationship" she had with Miyokichi actually work.

That being said... Ko is totally being set-up to be a male Noe. After this episode, I'm 90% sure that Ko will end up being to Ohana what Noe was to Shinichiro.

Which is good news for Tohru/Ohana shippers, but is probably very bad news for Ko and Minchi.

Ohana found Ko very helpful in a "personal growth" way in this episode... just like how Shinichiro found Noe in True Tears.

However, at least Ko might have a different viable romance option, unlike what was the case with Noe...

Agreed. I really like your analogy as Ko being the male equivalent of Noe. This whole anime suddenly turned into True Tears except gender reversed.

However, as we are still early in the series, it is difficult to say whether we will get the same conclusion as True Tears because it is obvious that the director and writer are both playing around with the relationship game to keep viewers on their feet.

Originally Posted by Kaoru Chujo

Leave out the stupid humour of the management consultant and the novelist, though, please.

Agreed. I don't want no "Sunohara" in my animu, let alone two One of the reasons that I can't rate this episode a 10 because I find those two so annoying that I'm finding it hard to ignore them... and it's not like I enjoy hating them either, unlike say Kyuubey. This is alongside some nitpicky issues I had with this episode but it isn't really worth mentioning.

Originally Posted by Haak

Everything was perfect except Ko getting royally screwed over. I don't even know if there was a misunderstanding or not, but Ko's pensive expression makes me think he's starting to doubt his relationship with Ohana. Please don't give up Ko. For the love of God if the writers keep screwing around with him I'm going to throw such a shitstorm like you've never se-WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING IN THAT PREVIEW, TOHRU?!?!

*Is loading the gun*

I'm very sorry, but despite me feeling sorry for you, I also can't help but also enjoy your torment . My apologies I have a feeling that the director and Okada got the reaction she wanted and probably has a massive trollface at the moment

Originally Posted by Reckoner

I don't know. I didn't hate the episode of course, I gave it an 8/10, but the reason I didn't rate it any higher is because I felt the episode was a tiny bit awkwardly composed?

The whole Ko subplot just feels too thrown in there. Not only that, but it seems its trolling the audience. I never like trolling.

I don't know though. I was entertained, but I'd be lying if I didn't say that I was a little underwhelmed?

Well supposedly next episode is supposed to be good as well.

At this rate, I might be supporting some love triangle drama to spice up this show a bit.

I can understand this predicament. Not everyone enjoys the whole "relationship conflict" which can leave an underwhelming feeling. Heck, I dislike it most of my anime because love trianges/rectangles/pentagons etc are usually handled very poorly. Although it just may be Okada bias for me, I do feel she does it -much- better than most anime writers.

As for the relationship trolling... I'm fairly sure that this was planned and intended. As mentioned above, both the director and Okada have their trollfaces on atm

Originally Posted by Roger Rambo

I'm actually seeing a comparison to Super Dimensional Fortress Macross of all things!


Ohana/Hikaru Ichijo: A young, inexperienced person starting a job that brings about a new chapter in their lives.

Tohru/Misa Hayase: A seemingly gruff and callous coworker for Ohana/Hikaru, whom they dislike initially, but turns out to have a much softer side. Interact with the main character meaningfully on a regular basis under working conditions, growing closer.

Ko/Lynn Minmei: The childish romance interest of the Main character, from before they took on their new maturing career, which has substantially limited meaningful contact with each other. They slowly start drifting apart despite strong initial connection.

You know, as a fan of the original Macross series, I can't help but laugh at how -somewhat- right you are, despite being somewhat of a ridiculous comparison . It did however, take Macross MANY episodes for the change in character perceptions amongst each other. But then again, this was an era where "3 or 4" cour length animes were the norm.