(L) Mashiro-iro Symphony

[KyriaL]

Its nice to see some calm male leads like Uryuu once in a while, as most generic male leads are the type who are occasionally rash and can't make up their minds. However Sakuno's style of speech is on a level, annoyingly slowwww, and monotone-ish.\

But it sure must be very odd to see people talking to themselves at supermarkets.

[Mahou]

Originally Posted by KyriaL

Its nice to see some calm male leads like Uryuu once in a while, as most generic male leads are the type who are occasionally rash and can't make up their minds. However Sakuno's style of speech is on a level, annoyingly slowwww, and monotone-ish.\

But it sure must be very odd to see people talking to themselves at supermarkets.

The good point of the slow speech is that one has a better chance to understand it than the usual fast(er)-pace of jp. speech . Personally, I like the these kind of characters unless they prove to be really bad by other actions or traits.

@supermarket: I whisper to myself when I do my routine-grocery shopping Mainly the things I put in my basket so that I can tick off that item on my "mental" shopping list or at the end to see if I have most things I wanted.

@Sakuno: I wonder if there's a reason why she called Shingo on the mobile that breakfast was ready on episode 1. Maybe it's just her way because she seems to have this innate quiet voice. It's at least the first time I've encountered such a scenario in anime (and VNs).

[Marina2]

Originally Posted by elior

can somone do a avi picture of airi face at the end?

avi of her funny face with the tears in the end supermarket i mean

Here you are.

Avatar (crying face scene is not suitable for avatar. It is too wide to make a square.)



So, I make them as normal gifs

Spoiler for Gif (480 *320):

Feel free to use them, everyone.

[ookamigirl]

Airi still stubborn about guys in her school..
That cat thing is so totally cute #^-^#
Shingo got himself buried under all kinds of different obligations.
Guess we can expect some flaring emotions between Airi & Shingo even more in the upcoming episodes.

[Master Assassin]

... It'll take time for Sena to mellow out as a character, not to mention the overall pacing of the story, but... damn. I feel like already putting her on a bounty for her head...

[Candyshark]

Ok just caught up with series and I have to admit loving it so far. Chara design is nice I have no problems with pacing or a fact that nothing is new in the show.

The only thing that worries me is that Shingo left the biggest impression on me. Perceptive, approachable, depedable, fast learner and his friend isn't some kind of pervert or goofball.
Loving the bits of him and his sister conversating.

Compared to majikoi I'm not familiar with source nevertheless i enjoy it far more. Somewhat interested in checking the original but if I develope any kind of foundness towards characters it will be hard to "read" it.

That furball is creepy.

[Flower]

Okay ... I thought ep 3 was very good indeed. Very well done and very realistic portrayal of the characters who are so normal imo it approaches being delightful!

8/10 vote for ep 3 from me....

[KLGChaos]

Can't get into this. Tried watching episode 2, but my dislike for Sena after the first 10 min just skyrocketed. She's not even a tsundere really.. just a bitch. Doesn't help that it's so cliche ridden and typical. >< Think I'll hold off until it's finished before I watch it... hoping Sena isn't the end girl, but it's probably going to happen. I'd rather have the maid (she's funny), the sister or even the cat thing.

I guess I'll be sticking with Boku wa Tomodachi and C3 as my main animes for this season, and maybe I'll take up Majikoi, though I hear the story on that is confusing if you haven't played the VN (and even if you have). I read the manga, though, which I enjoy.

[hyl]

Spoiler for spoiler episode 4:

We get to learn Airi's secret and the reason why she acted the way she did in the previous episodes. Also it skipped quite fast through the study session at Airi's place and celebrating Airi's birthday at her place was nicely done in the anime.
What i really liked about this episode was how the relation between Airi and Shingo is starting to develop in this episode.

Not everything in this episode is about Airi though (eventhough it's over 70%) , we still get to see Miu and Sana a little. Eventhough the circumstances are slightly different than in the game, we still get to see Sana's true colours(pun intended, because the anime itself is adding "iro" at every episode title) and Miu in her part-time job "outfit"is still cute.
I have mixed feeling how the the anime is so far almost completely focusing on Airi, but i think the anime will begin to develop the rest of the heroines a little more. Because the next episode will be about Ange.

Spoiler for edit spoiler episode 4:

Oddly enough, there is no cliffhanger this week

Spoiler for edit episode 4:

Well i did like this episode alot, eventhough Airi is not my favorite character in the game. They really handled this episode about her very well. The atmosphere is really great and the music complemented the emotions that was felt in this episod nicely. I also think that Airi is getting more likeable in this episode for the people who did not play the game.

[Midonin]

Spoiler for Iroiro 04 - Lifestyles of the Moderate and Idolous:

My doubts were cast the moment Airi showed up in the supermarket before any of the rest of the cast, and this episode pretty much confirmed a large reason for Airi's insecurities. She's lower middle class, middle class at best, and yet attends the prestigious Yuijo. Of course she'd want to keep her image up. Luckily, she's among people who see Airi as Airi, no matter how rich or poor she is. That tears down a large part of her tsuntsun, but she's still not going to admit it. (Not until episode 12 at least). Seeing her invite Sakuno to the study session as a cover was a lot of fun to watch, seeing her flailing and trying to cover what everyone else could clearly see.

Though they're still calling each other by their last names, so there's a few walls to overcome.

Looking forward to the Angie episode next week. A series is only as strong as the sum of all its cast, after all.

[relentlessflame]

Spoiler for Episode 4:

For all intents and purposes, this really concludes the first "arc" of the anime, and starts developing some of the story's main themes. Particularly, I expect this will really clarify Airi's attitude these last few episodes and her main reason for feeling so vulnerable around Shingo. It's not simply that she's falling in love with him (as you might expect if you saw her as a simple tsundere), but it's mostly the fear that he could ruin the image she's worked so hard to fabricate and project, because he had already seen her honest, vulnerable side. So she put up a defensive wall to try to keep everyone -- but him in particular -- out, thinking that she had no choice but to keep being the perfect principal's daughter the others think her to be. Of course, it didn't work, because of Shingo's own personality -- he hates conflict, and will accept anything in order to resolve it, even putting on a fake smile and being dishonest to his own feelings. So eventually his persistence paid off, and thanks to the accident of having her secret exposed, she was able to get over a bit of her fears that others wouldn't be able to accept her for who she is (at least as far as her group of friends goes).

The only thing I will say is that Airi needs to learn to keep her voice down if she doesn't want rumours to spread. The other girls all noticed that she was sitting at their table, so it's not like they wouldn't be curious about what she's saying too... True to the predictions, though, as Airi warmed up to the other school's students, the rest of the girls followed, so a lot of the tension/conflict from the last few episodes has been resolved.

The scene with Miu and her job outfit again drops some little hints about the Nuko-bu that are left dangling for now, but I the main point was Sana's "transformation". If Airi is a nice person who was only disapproving of guys out of fear they'd ruin her "pace" and threaten to expose her secret, Sana is... well, she's something of a man-hater, especially if they cross the line and get too close to her precious Miu-senpai. Shingo has officially been blacklisted. Here too, they're mostly leaving it dangling for now, so I'm sure they'll come back to it later.

But anyway... I guess the moral of the story this time is basically don't be so stand-offish and you might find that there are people all around you who care for you more than you think. It's a story about friendship and trust, and Airi is very fortunate to have such good friends surrounding her. The way that was shown in this episode was all sorts of heart-warming and sweet, which is exactly what I expected for this show.

I had guessed they'd do an Ange episode at some point, but I had figured it might come a bit later. I guess it makes sense though, as this is clearly a chapter closer, and next week should be a bit of a break.

[Mahou]

Spoiler for Episode 4:

And ... gone is Airi's wall of defense, at least the major part of it . You might think that it's still a way to go because Shingo and Airi use the last name of each other, which is true to an extend, but it's still a big step forward as they leave out "-san and -kun". I guess it's obviously not best friend level, but somewhere between friends and classmate you get along with quite well.
Anime-Airi in her homely clothes looks more normal than the VN-counterpart.
The dilemma of what people expect of you and your own "duty" to not betray the expectations.
This will be off-topic: To give it a look from another angle, it's been said that in Japan it's important how others view you. If you have a job your neighboors tend to think good of you. And as such, there are examples of when a husband loses his job, the family fakes the situation by making the man leave the house in appropriate clothes until work hours are over whereas he spends his real time in a pub or elsewhere, just to maintain the good reputation.

I did not expext Miu in that costume, though. Maybe it was shown in the preview at the end of ep. 3 as I had not watched it. So I guess with her blushing when they sit on the bench, her flag is either set or about to be set .
@Sana: So that's her true "color"? I cannot say I like it. The scene of revelation was changed from the VN which isn't bad as the result is likely the same.

For a romance-fanboy like me an awesome episode with many "awww"-moments, *lol*.

[winhlp32]

Spoiler for Episode 4:

- Hmm...so far in my opinion Manglobe's adaptation of this anime is way too...subdued. A lot of the humor and quirkiness from the VN has disappeared.

- I think with tighter pacing they could've added stuff to give certain scenes more depth. The whole thing with Sana felt like it just came and go.

- Airi left a really nice impression this week. Very adorable. I liked how some beans and two bite-sized meat made her lunch "luxurious".

- Shingo is becoming a very swell dude. He just laughs at everything.

- I like the montage of the birthday party where they just quietly insert scenes of Sana violence.

[relentlessflame]

Originally Posted by winhlp32

Spoiler for Episode 4:

- Hmm...so far in my opinion Manglobe's adaptation of this anime is way too...subdued. A lot of the humor and quirkiness from the VN has disappeared.

- I think with tighter pacing they could've added stuff to give certain scenes more depth. The whole thing with Sana felt like it just came and go.

Spoiler for Episode 4 (with very limited game comparisons):

Personally speaking, although I like the game's approach, I also like what they've done with the anime here. I think that "quirky romantic comedies" are sort of dime-a-dozen in anime, but by taking this tone and approach the anime feels a bit more pensive and sentimental, which makes it a bit more unique. And while I did appreciate the quirky humour in the game, the most important thing to me is the romance, and I think this approach is suitable for focusing on that without having a giant "mood swing" later in the show (as is typical of anime adaptations in this genre -- it's all fun and games until suddenly romance/drama).

I guess the only problem is that this more subdued tone may not "stick out" for people immediately, so people have to be willing to invest a little bit over the long haul to see where the show's going.

As for the scene with Sana... I think the way it was handled made sense in the context of this episode that was really focused on closing the Airi chapter. Yes, they could have played it up more, but it would have distracted from the central theme/focus of the episode. I like Sana a lot, but I was okay with this in the end. Overall, these last two episodes have covered an awful lot of ground without managing to feel rushed overall (at least to me), and that's pretty good for me.

I should say that my favourite visual novel adaptations are usually the ones that don't try to combine too much stuff from too many routes, but instead mostly stick to a route and let it play out with limited additional stuff from other routes. So if they decide to play down some of the other content and focus only mostly one route here, I think I would be satisfied. In the end, a 12-episode anime has no chance of supplanting a 30+ hour game anyway (some things inevitably have to give), but I just want them to handle the parts they do handle well.

[ars89]

Spoiler for ep 4:

So that's what Airi's reason was. Glad it worked out in the end. Oh man Inui blocked the Miu path.

[amoirsp]

Originally Posted by ars89

Spoiler for ep 4:

So that's what Airi's reason was. Glad it worked out in the end. Oh man Inui blocked the Miu path.

I would have jokingly stated that it's like a certain block but that's not quite accurate either.

At least the allocation usage of the minor character was done evenly without creating any distortion but this does make me wonder what possibilities exist other than the likely primary route.

Funny how it seemed like a 180 that made sense. As you noticed, Sana was the only active Yuijo student that can be used to communicate with (other than Angie I suppose, but she runs a maid role which semi-defaults incorporation) or be in local proximity of almost any given event because she has more links to the characters in terms of basic communication. Then you get this ep 4 incident but that is more due to character specific reasons.

What I meant by local proximity was lunch seating arrangements or who's next to who when walking home. Sana's the one next to Shingo in majority cases. (Of course the answer is to be next to Miu and nothing else in those cases but that's not really correlated with the episode 2 conversations.) I'm implying that it's interesting how the Yuijo girl that initiates and integrates with the boys the most actually has the most distaste. (Again from what's shown it feels more due to character specific reasons and not really a general things.)

On a random note, do the other characters have specific BGMs played? Miu's was obvious but I can't remember anyone else having one.

Funny how this anime would fall under romcom since no rom really manifested and there is no com at all.

Relentless mentioned some closure, so I'm curious about route implementation or character focus in future episodes and how that will be integrated without deviating.

[Khalil]

After four episodes I've got to say, that this must be the most generic and bland anime I've ever seen, not even Hoshizora he Kakaru Hashi reached that level - at least the otouto-route trolling was sort of fun.

[relentlessflame]

Originally Posted by Khalil

After four episodes I've got to say, that this must be the most generic and bland anime I've ever seen, not even Hoshizora he Kakaru Hashi reached that level - at least the otouto-route trolling was sort of fun.

I respect your opinion, but I personally think it's sort of refreshing that this show isn't relying too much on gimmicks and instead just focusing on a calming, heart-warming atmosphere and character development. I guess I've seen enough of these shows by now that something just basically plays out like the game is fine by me, and even preferable to some of the other approaches I've seen. Of course, I totally acknowledge that everyone's mileage may vary, as they say.


Edit: Unrelated to the above, but to the latest episode...

Spoiler for Episode 4 BGM + extra observation:

I just want to add that the BGM in Episode 4 was really nice, and way it was mixed into the episode was particularly well done. Listen in particular to the timing of the melody in the birthday cake scene, and again in the reminiscing/"it's unfair" scene; if you were to turn off the voices, and just listen to the music, it practically tells the story on its own. That's what I like to hear.

As one other observation, I think Miu's comment during Shingo's "my weakness" talk was very poignant and well-placed. Here he is explaining to Airi how he forces a smile to try to make peace (which Airi didn't catch on her own), but Miu saw right through it and is worried about him ("I hope Uryuu-kun isn't too tired..." i.e. "I hope he isn't pushing himself too hard..."). It's a stray little comment, but the placement in that short montage (and in that context) is very well-done and actually says a fair bit (about Shingo, about Miu, etc.) in so few words.

[Vena]

Originally Posted by relentlessflame

I respect your opinion, but I personally think it's sort of refreshing that this show isn't relying too much on gimmicks and instead just focusing on a calming, heart-warming atmosphere and character development. I guess I've seen enough of these shows by now that something just basically plays out like the game is fine by me, and even preferable to some of the other approaches I've seen. Of course, I totally acknowledge that everyone's mileage may vary, as they say.

By the nature of what has been the dominant staple for harems/romance over the last couple of years, this shows actually feels 'fresh' in spite of, if not because of, its very basic premise, gradual pacing, and 'realistic' characters.

Its not redefining the genre but going by older, more sentimental definitions that would fit in an 80s movie, and a style that many haven't really experienced in a long time.

That said, I am happily enjoying this show's refreshing atmosphere and male lead, I even like the complexities that were revealed about our (probably) main heroine. More or less, I think I know where the plot is going and unless they really throw a curve ball at us, its probably going to be an Airi route.

[Master_Yoma]

Airi finely opened up after every one found out her secret

But what was Miu wearing cat ears with black wings