- Genre : Slice of Life
- Studio: C-Station
Are you guys watching the Winter Olympics? Apparently someone skated and choose to take advantage of the popularity of Yuri on Ice! I didn’t see it but I can picture it and it’s amazing. Whether you are soaking in all the competitive goodness or like me, working late and getting home way too knackered to turn on the TV, extend the excitement by watching highly skilled contestants, some might even say masters, take on the Winter Games.
Let’s be honest, this show is clearly not for… vegetarians! Another week, another technically appealing but narratively weak episode. This one really felt like a setup for what’s going to happen next week rather than a self contained story. I was disappointed they didn’t choose to extend that beautifully haunting mood they ended on last time. I’m also starting to suspect this show may be sponsored by the meat lobby…
This week started with a flash back and still shot of pork hot pot before the credit. Then Rin was alone in the unheated library and somehow received a package which turned out to be a portable grill. The only piece of dialogue we get is Rin mentioning that it’s smaller than she thought it would be and I gotta say, that had to be one of the most relatable moments ever. The amounts of bags I ordered thinking I could carry all my stuff around just to end up with barely usable clutches…
The nice brunette girl drops by and we get a short description of the grill with a full on meatarrific dream sequence of potential grilled food and how they could eat them. Honestly so much meat you guys. I’m not sure how starved these poor girls are but they are craving some protein. Not a single vegetable in sight.
Rin mentions she bought some treats for the nice pink hair girl and Yay nice pink haired girl is sleeping on the floor of the library, like one does. Nice brunette girl gets replaced by nice pinkette girl and the girls eat the treats and eventually start talking bout the grill and how they could use it to grill meat. At this point the nice pink haired girl gets inspired and decides that they should go camping. They finish eating the treats.
Can I just take a second to say that although the budding friendship between the nice purple haired girl and the nice pink haired girl is very sweet, I am still a little disappointed they chose to completely sand off Rin’s edge. I believe she could easily have let her guard down a little but kept some bite. I liked her as slightly caustic and occasionally sarcastic. Now she’s just the quiet socially awkward nice one. There’s nothing wrong with it but since everyone is pretty much a variation of the nice girl next door, I thought it was nice to have a bit of contrast. It gave more opportunity for the girls to play off each other in interesting ways. As it is, the girls feel a little 2 dimensional and just too samey to me.
So now the girls are in a car with pinkey’s super-hot sister on their way to get food and pinkey reminisces about something that happened with the outdoors club as she eats. We get a flashback of the girls sitting in the club room, listing the types of camping you can do then one talks about a secret lake here you can get legendary delicious fish to grill. Pinkey and Rin got to the grocery store and we look at meat for another few minutes. Pinky buys some deep fried ready-made meat and they get some raw meat to grill later. They find out snaggle tooth nice girl from the outdoor club works as a cashier, everyone is happy and to the campsite we go.
In the meantime, glasses nice girl is scouting camp locations I think and she spots some old guy camping and frying up a steak, then he lets her taste some. Back to the campsite, the girls head to the grounds while big sister buys a chai and quietly drinks it. Rin mentions that there are ghost stories about the place and pinky falls. Roll credits. After the end we get another minute dedicated to the joys of sobaudon.
Honestly, there has always been a lot of food in the series, but this episode was just insane. Not only was there either a glamor shot of food or someone gleefully eating in almost every scene but 90% of the food was just straight us meat. I felt like I needed some kale just from watching this. You cannot expect your heart to keep up with a diet like that! I know this doesn’t have anything to do with the story or the anime, but it was odd. I’ve seen episodes of Food Wars that had less emphasis on food.
I’ve actually described the entire episode in pretty explicit detail. Nothing else happens. I was really left with the feeling that the entire thing was just meant as a way to introduce the actual nighttime camping adventure of the next episode, so I can’t really say much about it on its own. I really hope we get another one of those soft calm, slightly poetic ones and I think I’m good on anime raw meat for a while.
Predictions:
Plot: You know what – you only regret the things you don’t do – pay attention producer spies: There actually will be a ghost!
Character: all the *other* girls will have a scene together
I wonder if AstralGemini, Leap and TPAB, will also go BOLD with their predictions. I know for a fact TPAB has some crazy instincts about the show so I hope he does!
Watching all that meat actually has the opposite effect on me: it’s as if I absorbed too much through the screen. I wanted some grilled bell peppers (my cliché grilled vegetable), but they were nowhere to be seen.
If there’s a ghost, I’m sure a nice camping experience will help him/her pass on.
I haven’t eaten meat in a decade, so that may explain the difference in reactions
So much grilling going on…HAHAHA! This episode might as well be food porn for some viewers out there.
It’s also weird that there aren’t even vegetables even if they’re used as garnishes or side dishes. What’s up with that?
You know – I found out a while ago that the super weird Senko Boys had in fact been paid for by a huge art supply retailer – maybe the meat lobby thing has some truth to it…
Meat lobbies in anime? Hey, that could happen. You’d be surprised with all the commercial sponsors even though Japan doesn’t go overboard like they do in America. Haha!
Not so sure about that….
Oh no. Maybe they are obsessed with commercials across the Pacific. Haha!
From what I read anime is almost entirely thinly veiled commercials
A lot of mainstream anime could fall under that. It could be ones based on games, toys, or manga. Now your statement reminds me of an episode of Jonny Bravo where there’s a Pokémon/DBZ parody where the main character says “Buy our toys!” Over and over.
Well…not a sports fan as you know, so no…no watching the Olympics for me. But that said, I did see the scene you were talking about Irina from Yuri on Ice. I have looked it up for you and you can find it here: https://youtu.be/f0CMJLyZ5ww
Always going the extra mile! Thank you Raistlin!!!
No problem at all 😊😊
I don’t even eat meat, but this episode made me want to grill some up, even though I don’t have a grill, it’s winter at the moment and it was snowing when I watched this episode.
And I agree with you, the older sister is the best!
Oh nes – the meat lobby got to you too!
Thanks I’ll check them out. P.S. I just wanted to say thanks for being so supportive of all my posts on my blog, you’re like the only person who actually bothers to ‘like’ my reviews and it’s kept me going in spite of the voice in the back of my head that tells me to give up because no one else is reading my posts. You rock!
Really – Oh that’s going to change soon. Your reviews rock and I know a lot of people will enjoy them when they find them!
Yup….that is definitely going to change soon….😊😊 I really like the way Cactus Matt writes reviews. Highly original and best of all very well written. Definitely will follow along with that blog 😀
Damn right it will.
I guess I’m out of touch when it comes to supporting newbies haha~
The chunks are potato (the larger ones) and garlic (the smaller ones). Personally, I loved this episode, probably my favourite one so far. I love that Rin is allowing herself to accept the friendship of others in spite of her usual predilections to spend camping time alone. Man, I just really love this show and look forward to reviewing it on my blog once the season is done.
You and AstralGemini seem to be on the same page. If you haven’t been following his reviews you will likely find a kindred spirit there!