(L) A Channel

[Pellissier]

Originally Posted by jedinat

Well I didn't particularly like K-on! and Lucky Star, lol... but I loved Ichigo Mashimaro, which was the anime that started it all I think. I guess I'm a bit disappointed in this anime because I was expecting more after the first episode... and instead it seems to have backed off. (starts off with Tooru running around with a bat and just seemed generally more crazy and humorous... and more yuri subtext!)

I actually can't think of an anime being close to Ichigo Mashimaro, many are similar in their concept, but IM has a "fifth element" the other series don't have: someone actually watching over the main characters, other than being part of their daily adventures. In K-On , Lucky Star and A Channel such a character doesn't exist. They have friends, but no one is watching over them. It's also part of the very premise because in IM they're elementary students, in the other series we have high school girls, but even in Mitsudomoe or Kyou no Go no Ni the protagonists are kid yet they don't have a caretaker of sort.

With this being said, I'm pretty much in love with the approach taken by A Channel. The atmosphere is always kind of warm and fuzzy, each character has her own distinguished whimsicalness and you can feel the closeness between the four friends, especially now that Tooru has opened a bit more towards Yuuko.
The interactions between the girls are cute, so are their actions (whichever they are), the characters are sympathetic. This, combined with a fresh, colourful and exquisite design of characters and backgrounds, makes for a fully enjoyable experience.
This is one of those few comedies (approximately not more than 2-3 per years) where I feel the need to rewatch any single episode at least once, to take another ride even if I already know the direction.

[Miraluka]

Watched the last episode, wow, the fire scene was really amusing to see .

[Sparvid]

I'm with Run on the "hot drinks shouldn't be sold in the summer"-front, to avoid mistaken purchases!
Not that it has happened to me or anything...

[Midonin]

Spoiler for A Channel 07 - A/V Channel:

This week's episode is brought to you by Hamaha(manukunukupua), the speakers that are guaranteed to probably not explode.

Karaoke. A sport where theatrics are allowed, and encouraged, where friends and strangers alike bear witness to music, the thing that makes the world go round. My favorite of pastimes, even though I've done it all of twice. Seeing it in this episode means more songs per minute than anything else you'll see this season. Even Satou gets in on it. Karaoke alone would make for an amusing episode, but the festival half was pretty fun too, with Tooru eating Yuuko's candy apple, Run's unreal ring tossing skills, and the fireworks that prove friends are where the heart is.

Wonderful episode.

[Miraluka]

Spoiler for Darker than Black reference?:

[Raiga]

Spoiler for Ep7:

So many warm and fluffies, I felt I was bathing in fresh laundry.

... that was a weird analogy.

Anyway, a very heartwarming episode. I loved Run and Tooru's duet; it was very sweet. Also, Nagi's singing is EPIC.

[ID555]

Spoiler:

Laughed my ass off when Satou started singing. His 'ikuZE'

[ars89]

Spoiler for ep 7:

Karaoke was fun. Like how Nagi had to sing more songs in order to eat the fries. Lol at Satou-sensei showing up next door. Festival was nice. Like how Tooru ate Yuuko's candy apple. That candy carving does look addicting.

[andyjay729]

Spoiler for episode 7:

Would YOU trust Run with matches?

Never heard of candy-carving before, not even in anime. Already I wish they had it at my local county fair (and my local county fair has fried chocolate bars and frog legs!). And now I can't wait for the fair...

I thought all their singing was pretty epic (Nagi's sounded like Akira's enka songs in Lucky Star).

[Raiga]

Originally Posted by andyjay729

Spoiler for episode 7:

Never heard of candy-carving before, not even in anime. Already I wish they had it at my local county fair (and my local county fair has fried chocolate bars and frog legs!). And now I can't wait for the fair...

In case anyone's curious, it's called "katanuki" in Japanese. Apparently it can also be played with cardboard, but they were using pieces of sugar candy in this episode.

You can read more on katanuki (and buy your own!) right here.

[Kagayaki]

for some reason, this was the only thing I could think of the entire candy cutting scene...

[Peanutbutter]

How many songs will there be in this series?

For all the different songs, none are particularly memorable. Nagi's Enka song here may just pique my interest.

[Kaoru Chujo]

Originally Posted by Peanutbutter003

How many songs will there be in this series? For all the different songs, none are particularly memorable. Nagi's Enka song here may just pique my interest.

I thought they were looking at music CDs as an additional revenue stream, but looking at the official site, it seems that the insert songs come on a CD with the special edition BD/DVDs of the episodes they appear in. So far we have 11 songs. The OST -- which will not include the insert songs, it appears -- will come out on 25 June.

In fact, I like the songs, myself. They are almost all at a higher level of musical enjoyment for me than average character songs. Mina-chan and Uchiyama Yumi (Nagi) are actually good singers, Ao-chan has surprisingly done a pretty good job (with technical assistance to keep her on pitch?), and Kaorin is at least average for a seiyuu-singer.

[Pellissier]

What an heart-warming episode we had again. Especially the whole karaoke scene was fantastic, so fascinating yet rich of subtleties (such as Run standing on Tooru's side because she understood she was afraid to sing).

One thing that this anime does particularly well, and I should commend the production for it, is that it really brings to life its four heroines, by not making them one-dimensional.

Run on one hand is your classical airhead, extremely cute but incredibly dense. And yet you can see her literally growing and become a mature older sister for Tooru, helping her, comprehending her and providing all kinds of support she needs (both material and psychological).

Tooru at first glance is a quite creepy girl with an obsession for Run, and apparently hostile to everyone else except her. But if you get to know her well enough, you'll see that she's actually a smart girl troubled by her own limits and plenty of insecurities. In addition, while seemingly cold and mocking (someone said Yuuko? ), she does have a big heart.

Yuuko looks just like your classical model type. Tall and slender, happy go lucky attitude and self confidence. In reality you can see how far away she is from that depiction. She's actually quite worried of what other people think of her and tends to prefer a second opinion before doing something. In addition she's a scaredy cat, which is in total contrast with her apparent strong self confidence.

Nagi instead may be negligently labelled as the average girl. Nothing particularly standing out, wears glasses, looks bored. What's important though, is that she does stand out in her own way when she's with her friends. She looks as the wiser member of the group, not showing hesitations to become straightforward for the sake of the persons she cares of.

To put it extremely shortly, appearances are deceiving. A Channel is a proof of it.

[Midonin]

The +A Channel shorts included with the DVDs are pretty cute. The first volume's include Tooru trying on her school uniform (and Run trying on her middle school one...), and the gang catching a horror movie. Which, of course, leaves Yuuko terrified.

[andyjay729]

Are the DVDs already out?

[Midonin]

Spoiler for A Channel 08 - A Cover:

Towards that free sky, without sadness
I want to spread my wings and fly

Okay, that song didn't appear anywhere in the episode, but the title of the song that did - "Tsubasa wa Nai Kedo" (or "We Don't Have Wings"....perhaps Run is from Gretgard? I'm getting sidetracked) was a nice way to wrap up a somewhat nonstandard episode. Run and Tooru got into a fight, but through food and friendship, made up. A heartwarming episode. The rest of it was amusing too, with moments such as sacrificing Yuuko to Kitou-sensei, and Yutaka and Miho playing Greek chorus and observing Tooru's friends. A nice way to pass the time.

Next week: Halloween! (Everybody scream.)

[Kaoru Chujo]

Ep8 was another enjoyable episode, giving us more feeling for all the characters, including Tooru's classmates and both women teachers. Loved the last part, and enjoyed the insert song by Run and Tooru (Fukuhara Kaori and Yuuki Aoi).

This show isn't going to change the world, but it hasn't yet failed to be an enjoyable watch. And it seems to paint its world in deeper and deeper colours as it goes over it again and again.

[Raiga]

Spoiler for 08:

Count me fully on board the Kitou/Satou ship.

I gotta admit I'm a sucker for the simple heartwarming stuff. Even if the production committee is blatantly toying with my emotions, I don't care. It was warm and fluffy and adorable. ^w^

Also, Tooru drowning her sorrows in juice... the thought popped into my head as a joke at first, and then Yuuko actually said it. XD

[Soconfused]

what weird thing to revolve an episode around, I almost thought it was going to be some kind of joke, but they just ran with it. I guess that's what kids call fights these days.

Still a very enjoyable episode.