Hey Guys we’re back! Well I am, I’ll see if I can convince Matt into joining me again… Wild horses couldn’t drag me away!
Anywho, here we go again, mini show, mini review, but unlike Matt I’m going to stick to that and not go all fascinating and analytical on you!!! It’s 50/50 with me, either you’re going to get analytical discussions or you’re going to get me drooling over cute girls and fan service.
The art style was different, can’t say I have a preference though, you? It was different but too similar for me to have a preference. I did like the visual of Ekoda standing nude at the side of a railway track in the blistering sun–very evocative image, very artsy. Artsy seems like the right word.
Aside from the art, everything else felt pretty much the same to me. I mean Ekoda sounded like the girl we got to know last week. We may have caught her in a slightly more vulnerable moment but otherwise, no real personality difference to me. I didn’t like the VA as much as the first one but there’s no doubt the writing is consistent enough that it absolutely felt like the same character–which is good.
One thing that was a bit different was that this episode did seem just a little judgemental there. It made her seem sad. We all have those sad moments, especially when it’s late and we’re feeling insecure–despite the actions of this episode more or less just being her plucking her eyebrows (something I can’t relate to as I don’t do it myself) I very much related to her quiet contemplation and overthinking things as simple as which way to face her ‘partner’ in bed.
That’s ok though. We all have our sad little bits too. Hey, Matt said the same thing. But I wrote it first!!!!
Ha! See!!! Told you I would keep this in line. Now I love writing these itty bitty reviews. Keeps things flowing and snappy but I’m curious to know if you guys enjoy this format? Let me know in the comments. I know I enjoy them too, the less work the better… haha I’m so lazy.
This said, Ekoda-chan is still an interesting and rather unique offering. I’m looking forward to next week. Signing out!
Visually, I liked this episode a little better than the first.
Judgemental? Not sure. Maybe. You’re going to wonder sometimes, especially when the guy isn’t particularly bothered about talking to his wife right in front of you. I got less a feeling of right/wrong from this, and more one of what now? (The future’s too bright, I gotta wear shades.” 80ies song, forget by who.)
I think she seemed sadder or more bothered by the situation which was a change from ep1
I agree with that, but I can sort of identify with the situation. I’m a drifter with no clear goal or prospects, so when you live in this world there are going to be moments like this. It’s not the same as frustration. Take Ekoda plugging her eyebrows, while the current guy’s talking to his wife on the phone. You know what’s what, and that’s not the problem, but there’s always the contrast. There’s a life in your bed, where you’re a comparatively marginal existance, and you sort of wonder if you have something like that – a core, a centre, a life. And that’s where the sun imagery comes in: you stare into the future with resolve, but can’t really see anything in particular – it’s all just blinding brightness, but no shape.
Other people have ups and downs, too, but when it comes to drifters like me (and maybe Ekoda chan, if I’m not totally off), then those moments are always sort of existential. When you have a goal, you want to do something, you fail, you get frustrated, you try again, you improve: that’s a carreer of sorts; a development. But if you have nothing to actively strive for, the same thing is nebulous and just sort of there. It’s not quite the same feeling, but it’s really similar.
It’s hard to explain, but think the episode captured that feeling pretty well, actually. (Or I just attached myself to the imagery, maybe.)
That’s pretty much what I was trying to say by a weaker moment.
We will see where it goes.
Occasionally, there has been a social bias that women need a steady relationship in order to find true happiness that isn’t as prevalent for men so I was wondering if the show was injecting some of that into the subtext. Even if you don’t beleive it, it’s hard not to occasionally buy into it.
I’m not a woman, but I’m aromantic. The bias is there for men as well, with the difference that they’re granted a play-around-until-you-settle-down reprieve with less censure. I guess I didn’t see this episode like that , because the follow up was more general than romantic.
The sleeping-position inner monologue is perhaps the thing that comes closest, I’d say, but that too rang true for me: when you’re aware of social meaning of bodylanguage and there are only so many ways you can position your body, but none of the meanings quite fit. That’s very relatable to me, too.
Again, I’m really just talking about my reactions to the show. It’s not like I can’t see how this could go wrong, or even that the writer or director hold that bias.
It could be interesting to explore the bias and the pressure it puts on people to brush career or personal growth aside in favour of family.
I know it’s still very frown upon in Japan to be single past a certain age
Yeah, but I’m sort of in the undecided middle, you see. It’s not family over carreer/personal growth; it’s the very idea that life either needs to be grounded in stability, or have a goal to strive for. I’m not ambitious, and I don’t really want to achieve anything, but at the same time, I’m not really finding the idea to settle down with a family very appealing. I just take the days as they come, and time being time I change, but I don’t think of it as growth. Gain some, lose some – so to speak.
But, see, if you care for none of that, what’s left? At times you just wonder. I’d say, I’d wonder, too, if I had a goal. “Would I be better off, were I different,” strikes me as a fairly universal question anyone can ask at any time, regardless of their circumstances.
True
Gonna be an interesting ride, this one. . .
It has promise