Oh look at what my cute traps have snared!
Summary:
When Elizabeth and Francoise started humping her legs, Ryoko finally realized they were traps
Ringo asks Ryoshi why he likes Ryoko. He admires her coolness and her strength, how her exterior and interior don’t really match (and, thus, is a tsundere fan) but, most importantly, how she works hard to become strong. A request from a student turns out to be a trap and a Neko Neko Knuckleless Ryoko is captured after being zerged by vastly superior numbers of Onigashima High School delinquents.
Just as the gang boss is about to sexually assault her, the Otogi Bank rescue team arrives, following Ryoshi’s hunting dogs who are on to the scent of their new favourite friend to the abandoned factory anime review hideout. Ryoshi camps and snipes while Ringo passes Neko Neko Knuckles so that Ryoko can tank with her electrical stun gloves. Taro and Liszt also provide direct melee support with reluctant man touching and tasering respectively. But just when they think Ryoko has taken out the gang boss, he revives and disarms her. It’s up to Ryoshi to finally succeed in his umpteenth attempt to look cool in front of Ryoko and land to knockout blow while proclaiming that he will be the only to succeed hunting Ryoko. As they leave, wondering why Onigashima would target Ryoko, the blonde bishie Final Boss grins. After the ED, Ryoshi reverts to his usual useless Don’t Look At Me mode.
Reaction:
I also call weak sauce on this episode
After last week’s great start, I AM DISAPPOINT. I don’t demand my light entertainment animu to make 100% sense but what happens should at least have internal consistency. I gave a free pass to Ryoko and Ryoshi being deceived by the fishy and unvetted request but, given how we were told in Ep One about Otogi Bank’s fearsome reputation and supposed professionalism, it was just unsightly to see how imprudence and/or arrogance was implied of Ryoko – she did not to bring her Neko Neko Knuckles for a confrontation with someone who had already been described as violent.
I didn’t mind that the hoodlums took so long to find where Ryoshi was camping but the extended dialogue between Ryoko and Ringo, with time enough to pet-hug with Elizabeth and Francoise, strained my suspension of disbelief to breaking point which promptly snapped with the screencapped scene above which was just too freakin’ convenient – Where was the electrical discharge? Why didn’t her vaunted technology work on the boss? Ditto the boss’s revival – this time it was Ringo who was portrayed as negligent - she had been cuffing the other hoodlums after they were incapacitated but it was just too convenient that she forgot to do so after the boss was down.
In mitigation, two plus points in the small details included how Liszt spotted the rock disarm from the first episode and assigned Ryoshi to sniper duty as well as Arai’s absolutely salacious invitation to muse about what Otohime was going to do to Toru (Mazui sub 09:30-34).
I bring you future tidings of the horror of your wannabe boyfriend fapping all over your DFC
Ryoshi’s declaration of I WILL PROTECT YOU followed by him getting clobbered was pretty funny the first time as I actually agreed with the pipe wielding hoodlum’s YOU FAIL AT ACTING COOL IN FRONT OF GIRL punchline. But Ryoko’s Asuka-esque flashback was alarming as it presaged some sort of angst-laden flashback (oh please not in snow) and the inevitability of her to agreeing that YES I NEED YOU TO PROTECT ME (which is depressing in so far to the way he plans to protect her for good, see below).
I was absolutely fine with Ryoko’s epiphany that letting someone watch your back (i.e. being able to be a teamplayer) was ok and not a sign of weakness but Ryoshi’s I WILL PROTECT YOU ending up as I WILL MAKE YOU MINE was both creepy and cringe-inducing in all the ways that Hinano, Crusader and Impz have previously smackdowned about. I suppose it was an attempt to follow-up the interesting inversion of Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing (Ryoko wrapping herself in a wolf’s skin to look strong) with a parody of Peter and The Wolf (with Ryoshi as the hunter and Ryoko as the liar) but, even allowing for metaphors, the declaration of intent to hunt Ryoko down like an animal set off the klaxons of wrongness ringing at full volume in my head.
What I’ve seen in this episode has caused me to drastically lower my expectations (actually more or less abandon ship) with respect to the romance element of this series. Will try not to get all bitter and jaded already and to do my besto to enjoy the rest of the series for Ryoko and Neko Neko Knuckle action, fairy tale mangling and Satomi Arai’s narration.
Related posts:
- Okamisan and Seven Companions 10
- Okamisan and Seven Companions 07
- Okamisan and Seven Companions 12 (Final)
This post was written by...
Zyl – who has written 204 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!
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Does the school the kids go to in Ookami-san not have a dress code? I don’t understand Ryoko’s outfit at all – its a disgusting cross between a sailor uniform and a cocktail dress. It’s retarded. I also don’t like the unneccessary emphasis on her “flat chest” – who gives a fuck? When I was in High School I didn’t go around making fun of girls for having flat chests, shit to me a chest was a chest, and I’d be happy to fondle it, flat or busty. Fucking Japanese; they make a main character that can punch harder than men (not realistic) then they focus on her chest that is flatter than a man’s. Is she actually a fucking man who lost his dick in a freak accident?
I’d guess that Otogi Bank members are exempt from uniform rules but, personally, I like Ryoko’s outfit. I like very much.
Please include what happened since then to change your mind when you publish your autobiography.
Her punches have more power than a man because of the technology behind the Neko Neko Knuckle. And then they had to show how Ryoshi’s bare knuckles had more power than Neko Neko Knuckle. Now that was one of the things that drove me slouch in much unhappiness.
I was disappointed with the mid-fight chat/heavy petting exercise too, and I almost thought they were going to go to a nearby vending machine and get drinks for a minute.
The things I enjoyed were that they also worked in another wolf angle with the girl who cried wolf (and set up our heroine), and another inversion with the sheepish Ryoshi being revealed as a wolf in a couple instances (or wannabe horndog, rather… he took off his underwear while he was stalking her? Rather cocky, no?), even though he went back to sheep mode immediately. His declaration also put me off a bit, but he’ll be okay alone in the long run as his prodigious forearm strength was surely not won solely through slingshot use.
I got the impression that the elastic was from some discarded underwear from street trash. Yeah but it was still a bit strange.
Looks like that sling’s not the only thing he’s been shooting with while hidden…
I’m basically just watching for AYAKO and HOCCHAN now. Episode two was straight-up terrible.
This series is positively packed with voice talent including the ever popular KugiRie and currently red hot Aki Toyosaki. Personally I’m looking forward to hear what they do with Yuko Kaida.
Surprisingly, what got on my nerves the most this time was the narrator. I know, I’m slow in this but nothing she said was necessary or wanted. Ookami-san’s uncertainty and inner dialog were both painful to watch. Other memembers of the club appeared and most of them seem to be a likable bunch. Hurrah!
If this proves unwatchable, there’s still Occult Academy
Kuroko Voice is Besto and the supporting cast still needs fleshing out imho but thanks for your comment – always interesting to hear how different viewers react to different elements in such different ways.
ookami lost too quickly, she should have moped the floor with almost all of those guys given her reputation
Good point! It was weird given how they built up her combat ability in the first episode and then nerfed it in this episode.
This would have been a lot more cringe-worthy if everything that took place in this episode was Anime original but it looks like it was faithful to the source so…許す, somewhat. One thing which I’ve grown to loathe in any kind of work is the exact element you described above – plot contrivance. Making up Ryoko to be the cool fighter she is only to set her up for a downfall with a blatantly careless mistake (i.e. forgetting her Neko Neko Knuckles) just so they could emphasize her vulnerability feels like a lazy, convenient short-cut more than anything else. Reminded me of how BiriBiri was set up to be reckless and brainless just so Saten could have a moment of glory in highlighting the importance of friendship. Argh! Oh well, can’t have everything go too brilliantly, eh? >_>
Show is faithful to the (rather crappy) novel so far. Indeed, the anime team is doing a pretty good job of making it more watchable, so I can’t really blame them for any major issues.
This helps to explain things. Thanks. The deterioration btw the first and second was still disappointing though and, given that the source is “rather crappy”, it doesn’t bode well for the rest of the series.
IT GETS WORSE! I personally hated the first episode, so I’m surprised that the second episode is even worse than the first. WOW!