Kashimashi Episode 9 Discussion/Poll

[Catgirls]

Welcome to this week's Episode of Kashimashi ~Girl Meets Girl~.

Thread Guidelines

• No telling or asking for RAWs.
• Try to keep Manga spoilers out of the anime thread. If you need to in reply to someone with a reference to the Manga, either PM them or use Spoiler tags (see example below).
• Discuss your expectations of the episode if not aired.
• Be polite to your fellow forum members.
• Try to keep the discussion on topic and future episode spoilers out of the thread whenever possible.

Spoiler Tag Usage

Using Spoiler Tags is easy. Using this...

[spoiler=Hazumu and Yasuna]Hazumu and Yasuna are both men.[/spoiler]

....will get you this...

Spoiler for Hazumu and Yasuna:

Hazumu and Yasuna are both men.

[monster]

It would seem that Tomari and Yasuna have become best buds, or maybe I'm just imagining this.

[riznar]

I think they're merging events from the manga in order to speed the anime along...

While I'm glad they aren't dragging it out...but I really really love this series and kinda don't want it to pass.

[Kaoru Chujo]

I love the growing understanding between Tomari and Yasuna. There were some close-ups of their faces when they were talking together that I found strangely moving. Together they can help Hazumu over her inability to choose anything, particularly cotton candy and them. Have both! I thought this was a good subdued take on the festival episode. Hazumu in a yukata was nice. And what about that "yukata" worn by Jan-puu? I liked the fact that they disposed of Asuta and relegated him to the Namiko-sensei ero-trash-bin. But maybe that's just me.

EDIT: Interest in this show seems to have plummeted since its move to an independent forum. I wonder why. Harder to find the forum? The novelty wore off? Just a little too weird a concept for a larger audience? The romance isn't enough to sustain more people's interest?

[BBOvenGuy]

Originally Posted by Kaoru Chujo

Interest in this show seems to have plummeted since its move to an independent forum. I wonder why. Harder to find the forum? The novelty wore off? Just a little too weird a concept for a larger audience? The romance isn't enough to sustain more people's interest?

I suspect that a lot of people came to this series expecting a lot more "action," and are now disappointed that it's turned out to be more of a story about thoughts and feelings.

It's not just this show, either. The people I've seen grumbling about Mai Otome give me that same impression.

[riznar]

Originally Posted by BBOvenGuy

I suspect that a lot of people came to this series expecting a lot more "action," and are now disappointed that it's turned out to be more of a story about thoughts and feelings.

It's not just this show, either. The people I've seen grumbling about Mai Otome give me that same impression.

What action could you expect out of this show?
Unless you mean hawt yuri action...well with how forward Yasuna can be I'd expect that if they weren't also teeth-rottingly innocent.

I half understand the grumbles about the lack of combat in Otome. I know it's not about the fighting and I prefer it this way, but occasionally I want to see someone get their ass kicked.

Edit: Or it could be that no one has anything to complain about, I don't think I've heard a single bad thing about this series...whereas people are complaining constantly about Shirou from F/SN and Otome in general.

[BBOvenGuy]

Originally Posted by riznar

What action could you expect out of this show?
Unless you mean hawt yuri action...

Well yes, I deliberately chose the word "action" because of its multiple meanings, and in a show called "Kashimashi Girl Meets Girl," that's the type implied. Personally, I prefer the way things have turned out, but then I'm a writer and an old guy, so my opinion isn't necessarily one that a lot of viewers might share.

And in Otome, I've seen complaints about the lack of "action" in both senses of the word.

[riznar]

Heh...I kinda wanna see Tomari & Hazumu kiss, all this offscreen stuff is starting to bug me a bit. But I like how things are going so far. I really like how they can freaking talk to each other. This is not "Another anime where the characters sit around not talking about their feelings."

This kinda applies to episode 7, but more to anime in general. But I'm the type who'd rather see a full blown sex scene, or no fanservice at all. I can't stand when things tiptoe around the line...which is probably why I dislike Ken Akamatsu's works in general. Though I did like the love hina manga...

[Eclipze]

Originally Posted by Kaoru Chujo

EDIT: Interest in this show seems to have plummeted since its move to an independent forum. I wonder why. Harder to find the forum? The novelty wore off? Just a little too weird a concept for a larger audience? The romance isn't enough to sustain more people's interest?

Actually, I was confused as to why a sub forum for this series was made in the first place.

Spoiler:

Sure, I love this series. I've enjoyed every episode so far, and it has a charm that makes it different than most anime series. Perhaps because the general feel of the anime is "girly". I dont know.

The reasoning I've read as to why a subforum came about, was that the series managed to generate 400+ posts just after 2 episodes were aired. Is that really a good reason to start out a sub forum? I do not know either.

Plus, it is known that such an anime has a specific target audience, very likely similar to the likes of Zettai Shounen and similar styled animes. This is a romance + yuri anime, not harem, not shounen, not mecha. The 3 mentioned genres are shows that have the main lead in popularities, and Kashimashi doesn't belong to any of the 3.

So, how did nearly 490+ generate in the first place?

[Kaoru Chujo]

I feel slightly guilty, since I raised the idea in the main forum. I wondered how many posts were needed to justify starting a forum. I think the mods had already thought of starting more individual forums. I don't know if my musing had any influence or not. I was just honoring the anime. Actually, I find the separate forums a little inconvenient. But when you've got massively popular series, I guess they're a good idea.

I think you're right about genres. Romance is not the most popular genre here, and that's what this really is. Why did it get so many posts at the start? It's the yuri, man, it's the yuri.

[Catgirls]

Originally Posted by Kaoru Chujo

I feel slightly guilty, since I raised the idea in the main forum. I wondered how many posts were needed to justify starting a forum. I think the mods had already thought of starting more individual forums. I don't if my musing had any influence or not. I was just honoring the anime. Actually, I find the separate forums a little inconvenient. But when you've got massively popular series, I guess they're a good idea.

Yeah, I've been wondering a bit about the drop in interest in this show as well.

I believe one of the decisions to make a sub-forum for this show was due to the high volume of traffic the original thread was receiving. There were quite a few replies in a short amount of time and a LOT of views. I’m sure there were other factors into its creation, but there did seem to be a rapidly growing interest in the show when it was a thread of its own. A sub-forum seemed (and still does to me) logical. It looked to be a rather popular odd little show.

I wonder if this “restricted” forum had a hand in the decrease of posting/viewing? I also wonder if more people are merely passive fans of the show and would rather not post about it … either because of the show’s content (gender blending) or because theshow is incredibly simple in nature.

The decrease in interest could also be attributed to the genre (as you two pointed out already) or because people simply lost interest. I do think that the staggered release of the fan-subs has slowed down the interest a bit (not complaining, just noting ). It could also be that many people feel the same as Mr. Paper does in this post.

I'm glad this show has a forum of its own and I think the reasons for creating it were solid.

Anyway...this is all off topic to Episode 9 and since the show is just about done, the relevancy of a separate sub-forum is somewhat moot at this point. Maybe I’ll make a separate thread on this subject once the show has ended. If anyone has any feedback (good or bad) about our use of this restricted forum (i.e., not being able to make your own threads), drop me a private message.

Thanks. Cheers.

Edit: I'd also like to point out that if you go to Blogsuki, and click the "Series" tab, you'll notice that Kashimashi is the 4th most popular blogged series at the moment (Mai-Otome is #1, Fate/Stay Night is #2 and Shakugan no Shana is #3). There is a lot of interest in Kashimashi and for it to be up in the class of those other three shows says a lot I think.

[Catgirls]

A sub for Ep 9 is out.

[riznar]

*laugh* Temporary fansubs, that's great.

I was thinking the drop in interest might be due to the inconsistancy with the groups fansubbing this...

[Catgirls]

Originally Posted by riznar

I was thinking the drop in interest might be due to the inconsistancy with the groups fansubbing this...

Yeah, I think that has a lot to do with it, but we're fortunate that people have Subbed the series this far. I’m not so sure a series of this type will see an R1 DVD release anytime soon. But who knows...maybe someone like RightStuf would pick it up.

[Ansible]

No need to feel guilty, Kaoru Chujo-san. I wish every series could have a subforum. I've always found the animesuki forum policies a bit restrictive, with one giant thread for a series, its pretty hard to find information, and replying to a post that is early in the thread is kind of pointless, so posts worthy of a topic in their own right are pretty much buried. Just my opinion; a wide open policy has probably been tried and disaster ensued I guess.

Anyway, I like having the ratings on each episode, and when I'm still on ep 9 and all the raw watchers are discussing ep 10, I don't have to wade through their comments, and depend on them using spoiler tags. Besides, Kashimashi *deserves* its own discussion even if its not as popular as something like Otome.

BTW, I thought ep 9 was great! It seems they are really diverging from the manga alot now, at least I don't recall a lot of this ep from it. But as usual, its good! I just realized that it will only have 12 episodes, I'm curious to see how it all ends.

[Akuma-sama]

I'm almost afraid the ending will be a total rush job... it's a tough choice they have:
12 episodes won't be enough, or at least won't be enough to go over the whole

Spoiler for Manga:

30 days to live

thing. Hell, we're not even sure how long the manga will last.
26/24 episodes, though, we'll probably be seeing some fillers, which might or might not detract from the story and be dissapointing.
Considering the humor in this series is sending my hand slapping against my forehead at least once per episode (damn you Asuta!), I'm nearly afraid.

That being said, this episode was pretty damn good. I don't recall Yasuna and Tomari overhearing Hazumu's little speech about not wanting to choose in the Manga, but it was a nice touch that only supported things that DID happen in it.
And Hazumu shows that, no matter the sex, the main character of a Harem anime will always have the "I love them both, I cannot choose" syndrome. (Fortunately, she isn't waving a bokken around, or I'd be having Ranma flashbacks... "Oh, my lovely ponytailed goddess, how I, the pink flower of Kashimashi high have waited for-URK--" "Stuff it, Hazumu."

...going off topic, shutting up now. Next episode looks fun!
Oh, and the ED was sung by Tomari? I wonder if we'll get a Yasuna/Tomari/Hazumu version soon...

[Pellissier]

Not a spectacular episode, but with some meaningful happenings, the bound with the past was poor in the first place (I mean: shocked by the fact of having not being able of eating the sugar candy? , so how many shocks have I had when I was little ? ). But, since this was meant to bring a link to Hazumu's eternal indecision, then it became meaningful.

Nice touch of the episode: Yasuna and Tomari with the pink and white sugar candy for Hazumu. Both of them. It's like they're a completion for Hazumu, I really can't see (or better, I see with sadness) the three of them to separate.
And I like very much how Yasuna and Tomari gets along, they should be enemies, but instead they show such a mature behaviour. Thumbs up for both of them, their interactions so far are definitely my preferred, by the way

Other note: I must say that the show kinda fails when it tries to go on the comical side: it may have worked on episode 1, 2, maybe 3... but since then the gags involving the sensei, Asuta, Hazumu's father has gone near the unbearable. They're as annoying as Winner-kun's voice in Karin, and who's watching that show will understand what I mean.
It's better if the show itself stay focused on the romantic/dramatic side, since the results are so brilliant.

And then, the 12 episode matter. Another case of blatant wasted potential, there would still be room for a lot of events, unless they're planning some Ovas or a season 2, but I don't know the manga (neither I want to) so I'm just speculating a bit.

All in all, it's an 8/10 I'm giving to this episode.

[molitar]

Question. Who's fansubs? I have both Gnu and Doremi and Gnu does a nice job with their font coloring for the different speakers. But is the quality as good? Is the translation accurate? Which one is better?

[Conri]

I have to agree that lack of posts is partially due to inconsistent fansubbing and the restricted forum, however...

Kashimashi is a quiet and relaxing show. It's not like F/SN or Mai-Otome where the creators build up as much suspense and mystery as possible over the identities of characters and what's going to happen next. Even the major conflict of the show--will Hazumu choose Yasuna or Tomari?--is subdued because Yasuna and Tomari aren't the jealous, possessive extremists that can often be found in love triangles. I find it refreshing, but not something that inspires hundreds upon hundreds of posts.

Only three episodes left! I hope the ending wraps the show up well.

[Sorrow-K]

Originally Posted by Eclipze

Spoiler:

This is a romance + yuri anime, not harem, not shounen, not mecha. The 3 mentioned genres are shows that have the main lead in popularities, and Kashimashi doesn't belong to any of the 3.

The three genres you listed are the ones in anime that have by far the most mediocrity. Even though I don't think Kashimashi is the greatest thing ever, I'd rather it get attention then the overwhelming number of crappy titles in those three genres.

With that said, I didn't think this episode was great. It got to a fairly intriguing plot point and then resolved it in the softest possible way. The result: equilibrium hasn't been changed in any way. And the rest of the episode wasn't great.

The comedy was slightly better in this episode... but it's still no where near the level required to carry the series. As a comedic piece, I wouldn't rate Kashimashi overly high, and this episode didn't do much to change my mind.

Originally Posted by Kaoru Chujo

I liked the fact that they disposed of Asuta and relegated him to the Namiko-sensei ero-trash-bin. But maybe that's just me.

I'm the opposite. I hate the fact that he's been relegated to a joke character (and not a very good joke either), because I thought he was one of the more interesting characters in this story. I was disappointed that they were so quick to write him to the side-lines, but now they're going out of the way to make him as one-dimensional as possible. Disappointing.

About the only thing of interest to come out of this episode is the way Tomari and Yasuna's relationship is developing. It's a very intriguing, yet uneasy truce that could potentially turn into a strange friendship and (if I let my imagination run wild for a second) possibly something more. Other than that, this was probably the worst episode to date, IMO. It was the inconsequential comedy I initally expected from this series, but the other episodes have delivered something more than that.