Eggcuse me, how would you like your omelette rice?
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Summary:
Blonde loli and net idol Aoi-chan turns up at Maid Latte, much to the delight of the clientèle but Satsuki’s horrified; Aoi-chan is also her brother’s kid who is a spot of trouble with the family and has come to stay with her for a few days. Aoi-chan is rude about the fanboys and the cafe employees but Misaki only responds with a kind firmness. Takumi arrives and Aoi-chan wants to conquer this high level male to prove the power of Aoi-chan attractiveness but gets brushed off repeatedly. When the evening kitchen staff fail to show, Takumi shines even more by coming to the rescue with dazzling cooking skills.
Wants to be High Priest but predicted to be Back Row Demon King
Aoi-chan continues to escalate the provocations and Takumi forcefully begins to demonstrate the implications of such fun n’ games. Misaki sees what looks like Takumi forcing himself on Aoi-chan and punches him but also slaps Aoi-chan for going too far, saying that Aoi-chan is cute enough, even though he is a boy. He is crossdressing to indulge in his love of cute and frilly stuff but also out of spite to prove that he can make himself attractive to the people who had mocked him before.
Pinker Than Pink is the new Black
Aoi returns to the store in pretty boy school uniform mode and his fashion sense and tailoring skills can no longer take how Misaka’s style (or lack thereof) is wasting her potential. He drags her to go shopping but quickly understands how poverty has shaped her dress sense. The message is rammed in even further when she apprehends a snatch thief with an aggressive judo throw. Aoi-chan refuses to give up though and makes her an outfit so that she doesn’t have buy one. Everyone is full of praise at how cute Misaki looks but she, being not used to it, is uneasy and takes it out on Takumi, who is sent flying through the roof, when he makes one of his usual praise-wisecracks about how her embarrassment turns him on.
Reaction:
In Impz we trust
Misaki and Takumi’s trap radar was really powerful as both realized Aoi-chan’s secret identity the moment they met “her”. And, like the folks Aoi is referring to above, I wasn’t that surprised or bothered. The paradoxical dynamic of seeking affirmation from but also despising one’s fans was also fun – not sure what Aoi-chan would make of how Some of us would even find that being a trap actually *increases* Aoi-chan’s attractiveness to them LOL.
What did bother me was how quickly the series has introduced a new character before consolidating the Misaki x Takumi progress thus far but I’m pleased we got to see more of Misaki’s kind and tolerant side as well as Takumi’s darkly mischievous side and Iron Chef cred. I was a little put off by Misaki punching Takumi the closing moments of the episode as it was an over-reaction and very cliched – reminded me, in a bad way, of Ranma x Akane dynamics. Hopefully this type of physical “comedy” won’t happen too often.
I also liked how Satsuki got more character development especially how she is a safety valve for the tensions between her brother and her nephew. And her high stress and big delight shows how much she cares about her extended family, much like the way I loved how Konata’s interactions with Yui and Yutaka in Lucky Star brought out her family person side.
What Others Are Saying:
Mr Kettle, I have a Ms Pot for you on Line 1
- Kurogane felt that the anime adaptation improved on the manga. Good news if this continues to be a trend.
- Mint said: “It was cool to see Misaki take a break from the all the RAAAGE against boys.” *nod nod*
- Divine thinks it is only a matter of time before Takumi drills through to the heavens of Misaki’s feelings. From what we’ve seen so far, especially from the ED, I think Takumi (like Arima from Kare Kano) will probably turn out to the more complicated and issueful one.
- In the interests of balance (to bloggers expressing enjoyment), excepting the omelette rice scene, SPIRAL called this episode was a waste of time.
This post was written by...
Zyl – who has written 233 posts on Sea Slugs! Anime Blog.
I have a penchant for Bishoujo, Oneesama and Yuri character dynamics. Genre-wise I enjoy drama and satire; tilt-wise I am terribly weak against self-consciously arty farty styles and reference humour. Sieg Lunamaria!
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
LOL well I didn’t say it was a complete waste of time, but it WOULD be assuming Aoi never comes back as a decent character in the plot.
Hopefully Aoi-chan will continue to add something interesting to the mix. I did find myself thinking that he’s not as interesting a trap as, say, Mariya or Mako-chan though.
Just what we all need, more traps…I saw through it right away. And so did Usui, because he is a man’s man, and he kicks ass. Only the manliest of men can cook (like me). Pretty much, this episode proved that I kick ass.
Does Glo’s The Legendary Cafe do omelette rice takeout?
The trap was so obvious, but I did like how it went from being a stupid cliche trap plot to an interesting juxtaposition on gender stereotypes. I also liked the part where Aoi mentioned that those were all once Satsuki’s old clothes. I would hazard a guess that when Satsuki was a loli-imouto she wasn’t that much different from the Satsuki of today.
Do meido-cafes serve anything besides fried rice, tea, coffee and parfait? Seems like kind of an odd menu, since most of those things don’t go well together.
Usui is so unbelievably talented; I loved that cooking scene. I did find that Aoi was introduced pretty quickly, but it made for an interesting episode! Misaki’s over the top reactions towards Usui seem to be there in order to prolong the romantic tension… ah well. I guess it’ll make it more special when she isn’t so violent towards him. (On another note, OMG my first trackback! >_<)
I wish I could crack an egg one-handed too.
Like the rest of the cafe staff, I’d love to see more of Misaki’s dere side. Especially when she has expressed thanks to Takumi over these past episodes – so sensible and cute!
WHO SAID YOU COULD USE MY TRADEMARK PICS-IN-A-SPOILER TECHNIQUE?!?!
Now I have learnt the final secret of your technique! :3
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