[Triple_R]

Originally Posted by zarqu

Pretty much everything has been done already.

That's debatable, but it's a long debate, so let's put it aside. Let's go with what you wrote here for argument's sake.

Even if "pretty much everything has been done already", some things have been done a lot more commonly and often than other things have.

Using an element or idea that is very rarely exploited or referenced is a lot more interesting, in my opinion, than using the oldest and most tired anime tropes in the book.


You know, if I had come into this thread and saw the usual spread of 10s, 9s, 8s, etc... for an Anime Suki episode thread, and read just the usual level of praise, I'd have thought nothing of it.

But people back on the first few pages of this thread were talking about this episode as though it was the boldest and most daring thing ever (i.e. "outrageous", and similar terms, being thrown around a lot). It's no more bold or daring than an unusually well-produced Backstreet Boys CD, perhaps with some unusual artwork for the CD Jacket to be fair.

Some experienced anime fans like Reckoner and I aren't offended, really, by the imouto fetish of anime. We're simply tired of it. It would now actually be more daring for anime to have a major brother and sister combo without romantic/sexual feelings for one another.

I have seen a lot kinkier stuff than any mainstream anime could ever deliver. You could also argue that Karen chose to be aroused by the simple brushing of teeth.

That would just make it sad, as it would mean that she was faking it.

Originally Posted by Sol Falling

We say that it's focus is on Koyomi's relationship with Karen. However much it functions as fanservice, Koyomi and Karen's relationship moving towards elements of explicit and/or self-aware/self-conscious romantic attraction to each other is pretty significant.

Only if it's allowed to actually go somewhere, or result in significant interpersonal conflict later on. If it's not, it has little to no meaning.

It has implications regarding Koyomi's relationship with the rest of his family, as well as his relationships with other girls, as well as his committed relationship with his girlfriend.

That committed relationship with his girlfriend is precisely why I don't find it interesting. I really doubt this series is going to seriously challenge the Hitagi/Araragi pairing (although I'm prepared to be corrected on that if readers of later novels know something that I don't - feel free to PM me if I'm wrong here).

The conclusion at the end of the episode is that Karen and Koyomi have gotten a "little bit" closer. How much is that "little bit", and how will it affect the rest of the story? Saying that this episode featured "no plot" or was "pure fanservice" can't be correct, because the development here will have actual impacts on the rest of the story.

That's probably an assumption on your part, Sol. It may well have no significant impact on the rest of the story.

However, to write these scenes off and say they have nothing to do with the overall greater picture of development is simply inaccurate.

How do you know that? Seriously, how? If you know something from the later novels that I don't know, then please PM me about it.