[Pocari_Sweat]

This episode was absolute gold. Easy 10/10 and par in quality to the episode 6. From the Market Rangers to Vice-President's backstory to Wien being GARmode, this episode was amazing from start to finish. It managed to give me both lolz and it also tingled my sentimental side both in the way the cast is having loads of fun and the VP's backstory.

Once again, despite the first episode of a character's respective arc appearing somewhat lacklustre (it's largely buildup, tension and peripherily frustrating to an extent) it always comes back with full force, shattering that notion completely making out a full-out recovery. The final episodes of it a character's arc have always been amazing to the point I believe the first episode being "weak" was is intentional - save the best for last notion. Why do I believe that. It happened 3 times already for a one cour series which hasn't even finished. It happened for Wakana's Arc, it happened for Sawa's and now it happened for Wien's. Concurrently airing Jinrui has been following this trend too which will always deliver a spectacular 2nd episode and that series has superb too.

I don't know about others, but I absolutely love how genuine and unpretentious Tari Tari is. It knows when to do drama (whilst largely escaping melodrama or forced drama territory), it knows when to be lighthearted & lowkey (without being insignificant or "derpy" aka moeblob) and the current Wien arc shows that Tari Tari knows when it needs to be campy. I've been praising how restrained this show has been, and I still find that notion largely true. However, due to Wien's abnormal personality (it's not a bad one though!) restrain does not go hand in hand in Wien. This episode showed how Wien and camp go hand in hand, but not only that how Wien, camp and GAR complement each other so well like French cheese and wine compliment each other. In other words, it was downright genuine that Wien's arc was campy because it fits his hero-like personality. He took that punch in the face like a boss. He took that kick to the gut like a boss. And since this is an anime with a musical theme, he gets up and the cast decides to re-tribute the villian by the power of song Macross style. F***ing love it. I must mention though that this campy style would have not worked for any of the other cast member. Could you imagine a camp style Wakana arc? That would just be a repeat of Hanasaku Iroha episode 3 and completely destroy the mood. Good thing PA Works learned from their mistake!

But of course that is not all. Wien may have taken the spotlight this episode, but supporting it is the middle portion of this episode that focuses on the Vice-Principal. Tari Tari knows it does not have many episodes, so it decides to get in early and develop the ever growing tension in VP's character from the start and it's being accentuated now. This is because we all know what the finale is going to be. It's most likely going to be spectacular fireworks involving the VP, the school chairman and Wakana's completed song being sung. And like I said before, save the best for the last. It may be a old traditional technique, but it always works like a charm. And Tari Tari unlike many shows that starts its pilot episodes with a bang only to fizzle out in the middle, does not make this mistake.

And one last thing, largely to the critics who complain about the series being predictable and generic. Aside from a few golden gems, how many "ambitious" titles in recent years are flawless in execution . To me, it's half a series - Madoka Magica, not perfect but reasonably close. Fate/Zero is in no way flawless, but it is indeed excellent and regardless will still be revered as one of the top series of 2012 if not the top one for some people. But for me, Tari Tari is up there. Despite being simple and safe, it is near-perfect at what it does. It's doing almost virtually everything right in my eyes. It manages to do avoid feeding romance/yuri shippers, avoid shafting male character development (which ironically was a complaint earlier in the series to which I admit I believed it too), give adults and parents sufficient character development which almost never gets done these days, is genuine, is dramatic with restrain, comedic without being overly slapstick and campy for when the price is right and is staying true to its musical theme. I can name one other slice of life TV series in the last 5 or so years that was like this, and that was Usagi Drop. And that is what Tari Tari is. The "Usagi Drop" of slice of life/moe/coming of age/drama anime.

You've only got the final stretch to go Tari Tari. And you've been planning to save the best for last. You learned from your mistake in Hanasaku Iroha. The yellow brick road is nearing its end. End spectacularly and you might even knock off True Tears as my favorite PA Works anime. And people who know me know how much of a True Tears fagfanboy I am.