[IRJustman]

Originally Posted by Meophist

Getting back to the episode itself, it's a record low for Ayu's Uguu~ count, being at one for this episode.

To be more serious, I found the snow to be animated beautifully again in this episode, paritcularly at the beginning and when Shiori picks it up. I want to see the ten-meter tall snowman now

Ayu: Not exactly enough of her to pass out the uguu~s this time around.

Shiori: I really liked how they handled Shiori this time around.

Spoiler for Shiori...:

is deliberately keeping a lid on her particulars this time around. In the Toei issue, we knew who she was from the outset. I wonder how soon we'll learn she's Kaori's sister from her or that she's NOT Kaori's sister from Kaori herself (or whether she even HAS a sister). In the original series, this story more or less simmered until it came to a full boil in ep 9 or so (I forget and I'm at work, therefore no ). THIS time around, however, I think we may be sitting on a powder keg or even an FAE here in terms of reaching a climax. Or at the very least, a (lit?) stick of dynamite.

Spoiler for Makoto:

Wow, they wasted no time at all getting her into the "ero hon" kick. Relatively speaking, they didn't get to it until considerably later in the Toei series, probably also about ep 5 or so (ep 5 is considerably later in Toei's version as opposed to Kyoto's version, bear in mind).

Though the bathroom scene was what stole this particular show for me for comedic value. especially the antics which immediately ensued afterward, as well as how the background music went from sixty-to-zero nearly instantly when Yuuichi found out that the "available" bath was... erm... not?

Spoiler for Sayuri and Mai:

They took this one a bit deeper last time. They only really touched on it in Toei. This particular encounter is a bit more mundane, yes, but sometimes, knowing a bit more about their day-to-day will help enormously down the road when they need to clobber you over the head emotionally.

Not to mention, Sayuri is really well-animated this time around. You really do feel like she's really well-refined. Not to slag the Toei release since I saw it first and enjoyed it, but in retrospect, the feeling from '02 just isn't the same since seeing the Sayuri from '06.

This one really takes the cake considering it's a major foreshadow...

Spoiler for Makoto and Mai:

Mai either seems to have deeper intuition or perhaps even knlowledge of Makoto, as evidenced by what she said to and about during their encounter at the school near the end of the episode and during the show's outro. In the Toei issue, I don't even recall them interacting much at all apart from the "ghost" scene in the school. This was a really nice touch on Makoto's AND Mai's stories, especially given Mai's particular fondness for wild animals.

Well, those are some of my thoughts on ep 5, such as they are. Enjoy!

--Ian.