(L) Tari Tari

[DragoonKain3]

Bah, male cast was pretty much non-existent this episode. Next one though will seem to rectify this.

As for this episode, I actually liked it a lot. I think Tari Tari is the biggest reason why I can't enjoy Kokoro Connect... that it just goes to show that even the most mundane things can be made more interesting than a quirky plot. I found Kona's determination to get her club going and have her sing before the end of high school much more interesting than KC's body swap gimmick.

[Vena]

A good second episode though it was a bit faster than the previous episode. We burned through the formation and display of the new chorus club (there's plenty of hints thrown about about the school's staff and relations with Sakai's mother), and this did make it feel like a bit of a rush at first because I had been expecting this to be our long term goal but by the end I was more than happy. The quick pace was rewarded with a very satisfying conclusion (and layover into the ED, where I've noticed the males have little prevalence) and now I have to wonder where the show will head and where the two boys will come into the story. The only complaints I have, I might have more or less on a later re-watch (love the music, makes it worth watching multiple times), are that the "members" of the new chorus club were blatantly transition characters (but that's par for the course with the pacing, and wasting time on them would be a waste, though they did start to form a personality and character out of Konatsu's brother, so I think this is just me being overly picky), and that the boys feel like they are part of an entirely different story. Wien is in his whole own world and I laughed when he was having a conversation with no one while everyone else was talking, and I liked it when Sawa took command and became a boss (she tries hard for her friends). She's the fairy grandmother, getting everyone to work together, behind Konatsu's motivational drive that gets everyone to do their best and drop their outer shells. (They didn't make much of a big deal about the supplementary classes between Sakai and Wien, but I expect this to become something a bit more relevant later.)

I'm loving the dynamic between Sawa and Konatsu, and Wien continues to put a smile on my face with his light hearted culture shock.

The art continues to be top notch though the two minutes of still shots and panning shots were obvious but its forgivable when the rest of the time and characters continue to be active and theirs a lot of delicious fluidity in the scenes where they are merely talking. Talking is a free action has always been a cutting corners point for anime but this show continues to largely avoid the lips flapping, nothing happens routine.

I'm still shipping Wien and the Fedora, he needs to wear that hat.

[Guardian Enzo]

Originally Posted by DragoonKain3

Bah, male cast was pretty much non-existent this episode. Next one though will seem to rectify this.

As for this episode, I actually liked it a lot. I think Tari Tari is the biggest reason why I can't enjoy Kokoro Connect... that it just goes to show that even the most mundane things can be made more interesting than a quirky plot. I found Kona's determination to get her club going and have her sing before the end of high school much more interesting than KC's body swap gimmick.

Agreed on both fronts. If the guys are just props, let's dispense with the notion that they're actually main cast members and be done with it. If they're actually going to matter, hopefully it starts next week.

I don’t want to belabor the comparisons of this show and Kokoro Connect – they’re obvious enough without me harping on it, and I don’t want to seem as if I’m beating up on KC, whist still has a chance to be a good series. I do find it fascinating, though, just how much more of an impact Tari Tari is making despite being a completely derivative premise. Unless you’re going completely off the grid like Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita, you can’t build a really good show without going from the ground up – and that’s with the characters. And the three girls (mostly) and two guys here seem much more alive than the ones in KC. Despite the fact that they aren’t really doing anything all that interesting, I’m much more interested in watching them. The cast has a lot to do with that too – in Kokoro it’s an older cast than sounds a little forced and weary, but this group does a better job of convincingly bringing actual high-schoolers to mind.

[EroKing]

Episode 2


Pregnant teacher is lulz


Shipping Konatsu x Sawa for obvious reasons

[Qilin]

This was a fairly enjoyable episode, except that it moved a bit too fast for my taste. This could have been better spread out over more episodes. For instance, the sudden change in Sakai's attitude towards Konatsu's choir feels a bit disjointed when juxtaposed with her outburst in the last episode.

That said, I kind of like where this show is going. Though after gaining the acceptance of the vice-principal (hopefully), I wonder what's next for them. Is it finally time for the male cast to shine? What this show needs is more Austria-kun.

Anyway, anyone know how many episodes this show will have?

[Haak]

Yeah it was a bit rushed but enjoyable nonetheless. I do hope the guys will be more involved from now on.

[Om Nerabdator]

singing is great,animation is great, characters are ok and the vice principal is...ack >_>

[winhlp32]

Episode 2:


- ^^ Untan 2012 edition.

- Too bad Saimoe doesn't allow male characters, or else I would've nominated "Weeeen" for moe-est character of the year. I want to protect his naive uguu-kawaii-ness from the ways of the world. Like pregnancy, butt smacking, and better books.

- On the other hand, Sawa is becoming a bit of a Mary Sue. From archery to singing to horseback riding to locating pregnant teachers to just having plenty of confidence in general, is there anything she can't do?

- I wonder they'll give us Makoto bath service every episode? Makoto is the new Yuno...until Hidamari Sketch returns in Fall. Makoto needs a toy duck.

- I thought this episode was nice and honestly, this seems to be more my cup of tea than Hanasaku Iroha was. The principal seems to have his eyes on Sakai so I thought he may be a key, serious character. But then there was that line about how he's the kind of man who waxes his bicycles, then I thought "P.A. Works man. Par for the course". The fact that he has Hanairo's Sui's hairstyle made him all the more comical in my eyes.

[Silverwyrm]

"weird clothes" he said....he's in high school and he didn't notice how damn hot she was was!?

Anyways, great episode, felt a little rushed, but so was what she was doing int he first place. Guy's didn't exist, hopefully they return.

[Pocari_Sweat]

Watching through the ep now, but Jesus Christ ... Kontasu is like walking humanoid of moe. Quality moe though and not the derp kind. From that uh flasback back when she was a loli to icecream licking to the unlimited face works. Those faces man... some of them are on par to even the infamous "Minkoface" from that horrid Iroha episode from the Takako/Enishi arc.

Now onward to finish the rest of the ep.

EDIT: That Icecream licking is sooooooo gonna get a gif...

[Kanon]

Another nice episode.

Not only was the club formed in one episode, they already performed in public too! That's some fast pacing. I don't mind it. I'm more interested in what will happen from now on than in how they recruit members.

Sawa is so lovely~ She has a lot of style, she is smoking hot and I love her personality. She's a very good friend to have. She has been very supportive so far.

Going by the opening and the few hints thrown in this episode, I'm guessing Sakai's mom used to attend the same school and was the music teacher's BFF. She was also the one who wrote the song Konatsu chose to perform. I'm sure she was very talented. I'm looking forward to learning more about her.

[Pocari_Sweat]

Originally Posted by Kanon

Going by the opening and the few hints thrown in this episode, I'm guessing Sakai's mom used to attend the same school and was the music teacher's BFF. She was also the one who wrote the song Konatsu chose to perform. I'm sure she was very talented. I'm looking forward to learning more about her.

I forgot who it was but someone already mentioned it. See the OP towards the end. It confirms your hypothesis.

[Vena]

Originally Posted by Qilin

This could have been better spread out over more episodes. For instance, the sudden change in Sakai's attitude towards Konatsu's choir feels a bit disjointed when juxtaposed with her outburst in the last episode.

Don't forget that they only have 13 episodes and if they have some deeper story to tell, getting past the "team building" needs to happen sooner rather than later. I'd expect it to be done by Ep. 4 (Ep. 3 will be Lonely Boy, and Ep. 4 will be Wien).

As for Sakai, I thought it was fluid enough. She had an outburst against singing but she's not asked to sing. Sawa gets her to just be a good person (and they are friends it would seem, Sawa and Sakai, not to the same degree as Sawa with Konatsu but still better than strangers) and put her name on the list without asking anything more from her. When Konatsu pulled out the music from the past (either Sakai's mom's or the teacher's) you saw Sakai warm up a bit and even the teacher lady warmed up a bit. Getting a happy memory from the past can do that. She's still not singing, though, so its not like we suddenly pulled a complete 180 on what she'd said last episode.

[Kakkou]

Well, this is certainly more enjoyable than I thought. The performance going off well so soon was surprising, but in a good way. The song itself was pleasant to listen to. Hopefully the next episode will be what gets the guys involved in the main story and not just being... there.

Also:

Originally Posted by winhlp32

- Too bad Saimoe doesn't allow male characters, or else I would've nominated "Weeeen" for moe-est character of the year. I want to protect his naive uguu-kawaii-ness from the ways of the world. Like pregnancy, butt smacking, and better books.

- I wonder they'll give us Makoto bath service every episode? Makoto is the new Yuno...until Hidamari Sketch returns in Fall. Makoto needs a toy duck.

I agree with this 100%. It'll be sad if there isn't anymore otouto service after this. They've started a possible pattern with episode 2, so may as well keep running with it.

Spoiler for otouto service:

[Qilin]

Originally Posted by Vena

Don't forget that they only have 13 episodes and if they have some deeper story to tell, getting past the "team building" needs to happen sooner rather than later. I'd expect it to be done by Ep. 4 (Ep. 3 will be Lonely Boy, and Ep. 4 will be Wien).

Even so, I still think the episode went by too fast. While it may have been in pace with the series as a whole, there's no way of telling that yet. As things stand, I'm content with judging the episode without considering the bigger picture.

Originally Posted by Vena

As for Sakai, I thought it was fluid enough. She had an outburst against singing but she's not asked to sing. Sawa gets her to just be a good person (and they are friends it would seem, Sawa and Sakai, not to the same degree as Sawa with Konatsu but still better than strangers) and put her name on the list without asking anything more from her. When Konatsu pulled out the music from the past (either Sakai's mom's or the teacher's) you saw Sakai warm up a bit and even the teacher lady warmed up a bit. Getting a happy memory from the past can do that. She's still not singing, though, so its not like we suddenly pulled a complete 180 on what she'd said last episode.

While that might be the case, but the episode did not make that distinction clear. The very fact that the episode glosses over such details strikes me as bit jarring. It's the show's job to justify such inconsistencies, rather than the viewers themselves.

[Vena]

Originally Posted by Qilin

Even so, I still think the episode went by too fast. While it may have been in pace with the series as a whole, there's no way of telling that yet. As things stand, I'm content with judging the episode without considering the bigger picture.

Fair enough, opinions will vary and we'll just have to wait and see how this all comes together later.

Originally Posted by Qilin

While that might be the case, but the episode did not make that distinction clear. The very fact that the episode glosses over such details strikes me as bit jarring. It's the show's job to justify such inconsistencies, rather than the viewers themselves.

I don't know how much the show needed to explicitly do, per se, since the main tension we were left with last episode was Sakai not wanting to sing/be a part of singing for some unknown reason and questioning why Konatsu was so fixated on starting the club after running out of the other one. By the end of last episode and start of this one, Sakai sees (and even asks if she's been doing it for a while) Konatsu's desire/talent to sing and then Sawa shows Sakai the hurdles Konatsu has been trying to overcome from her stage fright. That right there, since Sakai was unaware of the latter point and saw the former, would be enough to justify the swaying of her heart that we saw this episode since at least half of the tension from last episode was answered or given form for Sakai (and don't forget, she didn't exactly jump at the opportunity and at best offered only her name but nothing more). The other tension, about the unknown reason, you can see her change her attitude when she hears the music and this ties into the past and whatever happened. Like I said, though, she's not running off to join them to sing so half of the tension left from the first episode, while being addressed, hasn't been resolved.

But perhaps I am simply too lenient?

[Pocari_Sweat]

So now that I finished the ep, and I stopped going gaga for Konatsu moe, here's my serious verdict. The pacing was too fast. Wakana basically stop being bitchy all of a sudden and how did Konatsu all of sudden get so many choir members? It did what it took Chihayafuru portrayed in 5-6 episodes, which imo in that show was the "perfect pacing" in regards to setting up a club and getting members.

Also the music teacher was way too soft given her rather bitchy behavior in episode 1. I donno, I felt like some characters had too drastic of a personality change, particularly Wakana and the music teacher. Well at least the two guys, Konatsu and the music teacher are the same as ever.

The pacing actually reminds me of the brisk pacing Sakamichi no Appollon had just last season, which could have been a masterpiece if not for the pacing. Though Tari Tari was never going to be a masterpiece, I'm seeing the same problems here. Tari Tari is starting to give me feelings of "a what if" scenario already. Blergh, I'm getting Hanasaku Iroha butterflies again.

The ending scene was really nice however. Though I still question if you should had something that "dramatic" so early. Felt like it would fit in nicely at the end of arc.

Regardless, this is still way superior to the other competitor Kokoro Connect so I'll still be following this, but I won't lie and say I wasn't a bit disappointed. Guess if all fails, I'll just watch for Konatsu moe. LOL! And oh, glad this is ACTUALLY a music anime (with lots of moe ofc, which I won't deny).

[winhlp32]

Originally Posted by Kakkou

Spoiler for otouto service:

This anime knows what the audience wants.

[Pocari_Sweat]

Originally Posted by winhlp32

This anime knows what the audience wants.

Yep. And it's trolls you by giving you the complete opposite of what you want...

[Qilin]

Originally Posted by Vena

I don't know how much the show needed to explicitly do, per se, since the main tension we were left with last episode was Sakai not wanting to sing/be a part of singing for some unknown reason and questioning why Konatsu was so fixated on starting the club after running out of the other one. By the end of last episode and start of this one, Sakai sees (and even asks if she's been doing it for a while) Konatsu's desire/talent to sing and then Sawa shows Sakai the hurdles Konatsu has been trying to overcome from her stage fright. That right there, since Sakai was unaware of the latter point and saw the former, would be enough to justify the swaying of her heart that we saw this episode since at least half of the tension from last episode was answered or given form for Sakai (and don't forget, she didn't exactly jump at the opportunity and at best offered only her name but nothing more). The other tension, about the unknown reason, you can see her change her attitude when she hears the music and this ties into the past and whatever happened. Like I said, though, she's not running off to join them to sing so half of the tension left from the first episode, while being addressed, hasn't been resolved.

But perhaps I am simply too lenient?

Well, your explanation sounds fine, but my problem with it is that the previous episode, as well as this episode for that matter, hardly dwelt on Sakai's reaction to Konatsu's passion for singing. As such, the transition between the two episodes just felt off. Maybe I am being a little nitpicky here, but it's still something that limited my enjoyment of the episode.