(L+CR) Bokura wa Minna Kawaisou

[Kanon]

I can totally relate to Ricchan, and it pained me to see Usa misunderstand her completely. A lot of people can't seem to comprehend that some people enjoy being alone and find social activities tedious. The reaction Ricchan had when she met her old friends is the same I have when I meet people I haven't seen in a while. I play along but I want the conversation to end as soon as possible.

I'm very sociable at work (where I need to be), but on my free time, I want to be left alone.

[FredFriendly]

Originally Posted by bakaouji

Felt the same and what's worse, there's absolutely no chemistry between them to speak of and it makes me wonder why I ought to cheer for a milksop like Usa at all. I feel nothing when I see them walking next to each other.

Prior to episode 4 I could sympathize and empathize with Usa, having also been a victim of falling hard for "the woman of my dreams." But all that sympathy fizzled into the wind with the advent of episode 4, and, unless Usa has some kind of mystical revelation about his own conduct, and gives up his stalking ways, the only cheering I will be doing is for Ricchan to stomp on his hopes, dreams and desires, and grind them into the dirt (metaphorically speaking, and hopefully literally, too).

As it is now, Mayumi is the character who is carrying the show for me and watching her drastic mood swings, as well as the occasional close-ups of her wonderful facial expressions, is the strongest reason for me to tune in next week for another episode.

[FlareKnight]

Yeah this episode really defined my issues with Usa so far. Feels like I'm watching training for a professional stalker or something .

I can certainly appreciate coming out of the last episode he felt like he had a good chance. But at the same time intentionally ignoring hints that a person wants to be alone, constantly listening in on conversations, and is just a bit frustrating to watch.

For whatever reason I look at the series and feel no motivation to care about his chances with Ricchan. It's a rare time when I pause to ask if this guy has anything else going on in his life than chasing after this girl? In a series like that that kind of focus shouldn't be a big deal, but yet it is.

[HandofFate]

04 decent episode.
I think people are giving Usa too much of a hard time.

People always complain about MCs being wishy-washy and just being passive the whole time doing nothing for 20 episodes. And then having 5-6 girls fall into his lap for no reason at all.

Instead of waiting for Kawai to maybe come to him herself (0 chance of that without outside influence), its like getting a nervous animal get used to her surroundings.

Kawai says she's fine with being alone, but she doesn't like that people sees her as being a loner. She does have a complex about it, but coupled with her frigid nature, she's not going to be making any changes in her life even if she wants it.

People have a right to be alone sometimes, but generally its not healthy to push away all human interaction. Ricchan is one step away from full blown hikkomori status. At the least, she is displaying a mild case of it.

The 'cool loner' meme isn't portrayed as cool, but as a joke, because the guy is just sitting in the corner by himself thinking he's fine by himself, but ends up losing out on relationships in life, in both friendship and love.

[Haak]

I think there's always a fundamental misunderstanding of where introverts come from and I'm very surprised that this show managed to be the anime that depicts that misunderstanding so accurately. I'm so glad the episode didn't peddle the tired cliché in anime that it would be better for the introvert to just be more sociable. Ricchan is happy the way she is. It's not like she's some sort of shrinking violet and she can maintain perfectly natural conversations when it matters. She's even advanced enough to fake sociability when it comes down to it, but it just so happens that she prefers to be alone. What's so wrong with that? As someone who's also an introvert, I sympathise completely with Ricchan. Human interactions can sometimes be tiring. It's not unhealthy to prefer internal stimuli as long as you're capable of interacting with others when you need to. It's just called being different.

I'm glad Usa finally learnt his lesson, though his character could definitely use a bit more layers considering that so far his only concern has been Ricchan. Doesn't he have anything else going on his life? Come to think of it, I don't even recall Usa interacting all that much with his own classmates so is he even one to talk about sociability?

Despite some problems though, I'm finding myself enjoying this show more and more. I find the characters generally humorous and likeable thanks to their quirkiness and I think I've actually finally gotten used to the dissonance since it didn't even enter my mind throughout the entire episode!

[Itlandm]

You know what bothers me most about this episode? The certainty that next week it will be mostly forgotten. The episodic nature of this show bothers me. It is like everyone (except the little old lady!) has a mild case of Alzheimers. They have learning experiences, but they don't really learn from them. They may remember something for a little while or now and then, but it doesn't really stick. Is it too early to expect any character development by 4 episodes?

On the bright side: The colors! The beautiful colorful style of this anime brings a smile to my face, and I rather enjoy the opening song as well. I'll probably watch it no matter how stupid it becomes, because it is pretty, and occasionally amusing. It is just a shame about the lost potential for plot and character.

[Master_Yoma]

Wait Usa and Shirosaki sleep in the same bed and oh my Ritsu really gets into reading being completely out of it miss the light 3 times

[Shadow5YA]

Originally Posted by FlareKnight

Yeah this episode really defined my issues with Usa so far. Feels like I'm watching training for a professional stalker or something .

I can certainly appreciate coming out of the last episode he felt like he had a good chance. But at the same time intentionally ignoring hints that a person wants to be alone, constantly listening in on conversations, and is just a bit frustrating to watch.

"Good chance"?

Are people forgetting that Sayaka intentionally misled Usa to misunderstand Ritsu's introverted nature?

What Usa did was a trainwreck just waiting to happen after Sayaka led him on last episode.

[Arya]

Count me among those who found the episode enjoyable as much as one of the introverted ones that find tiring (or useless) at times to relate with others.
Personal matters aside, I can understand how Usa could have sounded the stalker here, he hid himself behind a vendor machine But we have to remember that part of this behavior is due to Sayaka who misled him in the first place. I'm not saying that he is innocent, but that I think his true self is more similar to the one waiting beside her in silent for several "green" lights than the one in full stalk mode. He waited and worried without invading her space. On the other hand I can condone him a bit of eavesdropping, since she is so introverted that it would be hard to understand her.
Anyways, he corrected the wrong path he took to follow the more logic one (if it will be effective is yet to be seen), asking about the books. Not counting that it is not an easy way to take if you are not well versed in reading.

Anyhow ... Kawai is always adorable, as much as the visuals

[FlareKnight]

Originally Posted by Shadow5YA

"Good chance"?

Are people forgetting that Sayaka intentionally misled Usa to misunderstand Ritsu's introverted nature?

What Usa did was a trainwreck just waiting to happen after Sayaka led him on last episode.

In what way did this contradict what I said? Talking about his subjective impression not the objective situation .

[FredFriendly]

I don't understand why people are claiming that Usa learned his lesson when, at least at the end of the version of episode 4 that I watched, he was still forcing himself on Ricchan, invading her space, trying to make conversation with her when she clearly wanted to be left alone to read, and pretending that he wasn't doing it on purpose. If he had learned his lesson, he would simply have left her at the traffic light and gone one his pathetic way home by himself. He doesn't have to "watch out for her" or "protect her," afterall, she's alder than him, and she's no doubt been doing the same things for years, and she's still alive and doing well.

Originally Posted by FlareKnight

In what way did this contradict what I said? Talking about his subjective impression not the objective situation .

It doesn't, as far as I can see. It just seems that some people are trying to excuse and forgive Usa's behaviour and dumping all the blame on Sayaka. If doing those things was contrary to Usa's conscious, he wouldn't do them just because of some prodding from Sayaka. In fact, he was exhibiting stalking behaviour even before Sayaka made her first appearance.

First evidence of stalking behaviour: 0 seconds after the OP of the 1st episode he is watching her over the tops of books in the library. Ten and a half minutes into the episode he tries to see if he can see her through her window from outside. Two minutes later he's stalking her while she walks down the hallway reading a book. Where is Sayaka's influence in these instances?

[SuitUp]

^
The only thing I can say is: dude, chill.

[GundamZZ]

Originally Posted by FredFriendly

It doesn't, as far as I can see. It just seems that some people are trying to excuse and forgive Usa's behaviour and dumping all the blame on Sayaka. If doing those things was contrary to Usa's conscious, he wouldn't do them just because of some prodding from Sayaka. In fact, he was exhibiting stalking behaviour even before Sayaka made her first appearance.

As an typical anime watcher, I agree that a guy should sit back. He should wait for the right girl to come to him. In reality, a more eager guy is more likely to get a girlfriend. It is why some people complain that bad boys get all the girls. The jerks don't get embarrassed, so their have higher success rate.Usa is not born in the harem anime. He has to go all the way to win the heart of a girl. I recall the game of chasing after called is called nanpa in Japan. In a political correct term, this act may be called harrassment.
Back to anime discussion, it seems anime/manga likes to explore the life of strangers living in same household. I think the genre might started with bunches poor manga artists living together.

[Utsuro no Hako]

Usa's behavior in this episode definitely verged into stalking, but what annoyed me most is that he won't let Ricchan read. There is nothing in the world more annoying than being in the middle of a great story, and somebody comes up to you and starts talking because, hey, if you're reading a book you must be bored and not have anything to do. No, Stalker Boy, she's reading the book because the people in there are five times more interesting than you, and she only stopped because she couldn't concentrate with all your yapping.

I can't help but compare this to Shinonome Yuuko Loves Short Stories, which has a very similar set-up, but in that series the first thing the MC does after realizing Yuuko likes books is start reading so he can discuss them with her. Usa, on the other hand, hasn't shown the least bit of interest in anything Ritsu reads, and instead he tries to strike up conversations on pedestrian topics (quite literally in fact).

[Hitenma]

Originally Posted by HandofFate

People have a right to be alone sometimes, but generally its not healthy to push away all human interaction. Ricchan is one step away from full blown hikkomori status. At the least, she is displaying a mild case of it.

Ugh ... So in short you look down on people who are unsociable.
That's exactly the reason why Ritsu doesn't want to be seen as a loner. Because of judgement from other people.

Originally Posted by HandofFate

Kawai says she's fine with being alone, but she doesn't like that people sees her as being a loner. She does have a complex about it, but coupled with her frigid nature, she's not going to be making any changes in her life even if she wants it.

The only thing she needs to change is to stop giving a **** about what other people are thinking.

[larethian]

After episode 3, I bought the available 5 volumes. The jokes were a hit and miss, but I really enjoy the slow-paced developments between Usa and Ritsu. Ritsu's development is something to look forward to imo. A surprise series for me.

[Daysun22]

Originally Posted by larethian

After episode 3, I bought the available 5 volumes. The jokes were a hit and miss, but I really enjoy the slow-paced developments between Usa and Ritsu. Ritsu's development is something to look forward to imo. A surprise series for me.

so, is there actual development between Usa and Ricchan? or just Ricchan? because I feel like the story can get pretty dramatic if it wants to

[revive4563]

Episode 5

I dropped this once but I'm glad that came back to Kawaisou. I had grinned creepy while watching this episode.
To tell the truth, Ricchan's cuteness was not working for me until episode 4. Since i don't like tsundere so much.
But in this episode, she is super cute...
When Usa read her book, she was so curious about his impression of the book. This is a real geek's reaction.
And that attitude established her character at last.

Ricchan was super cute when she was talking about the book gleefully.

[sikvod00]

Good grief, these characters are insufferable. If I had never interacted with a female before seeing this anime, I'd assume most of them were violent sociopaths who get off on the misery of others. This is a perfect example of when "edgy" comedy just lapses into mean-spiritedness. But I guess it's OK because Ricchan had plenty of cute, blushing scenes. Anime, why do you do this to me? /rant

[SuitUp]

Originally Posted by sikvod00

Good grief, these characters are insufferable. If I had never interacted with a female before seeing this anime, I'd assume most of them were violent sociopaths who get off on the misery of others.

Well, to be fair, maybe only half of all females are violent sociopaths who thrive on the misery of others, or at least that's the impression I got dealing with 2 exes and their mothers