The third episode of Futakoi Alternative is greatly slowed down in pace, and actually feels like a mystery. In fact, this episode seems to hammer home that not all harem time is fun time. Rentarou is working a case for Mai, an old acquaintance of his. Turns out Mai, Rentarou’s teacher in high school 3 years ago, wants Rentarou to spy on her twin sister Ai. Naturally, this puts everyone in an awkward situation. Ai has been hard to contact, and Mai is worried. Ai goes to Rentarou with a case of her own, however. Ai wants Rentarou to help her find her lost cell phone, but it’s just a wild goose chase. We get a flashback of how happy Mai and Ai used to be with Rentarou, and this parallels Rentarou’s current situation with Sara and Souju. Unfortunately, things spiraled out of control when Ai made the mistake of asking Rentarou for a kiss. Much of the episode dances around this past pain, and it’s not till the very end that we learn what Ai did to ruin the carefully crafted balance. Mai makes a point of telling Sara and Souju what happened, and she points out that she and Ai are also very different on the inside, just like Rentarou’s assistants. There’s also some weird trippiness involving the Emerald Mountain brand of canned coffee that is worth searching all of Japan for. Could it be a metaphor for something?
It’s about time someone tackled Rentarou’s central dilemna: what do you do when both twins are so lovable. Looks like the question’s been posed before for him, and he didn’t give the right answer. Sure harem shows are fun to watch, but damnit people, feelings really get hurt in these series!!! I told Ender that the only solution I can see is if Rentarou moves to Utah and marries both Sara and Souju. That or… Aquarion!
I noticed that Mai has the same funky lower-rim glasses that Yukino in Mai Hime wears.
2 Comments
It’s your goal to somehow squeeze an Aquarion reference into every entry you make from now on isn’t it? :P
Kabitzin, you really try hard to make me retry Aquarion, right?
I mean, the orgasmic mecha copulation in the first ep got my trembling hand to close the media player back then… are you sure you want to take responsibility for mental disorders of mine should I ignore these warning signs??
Concerning FA3: I sooooo love this show ^_^ … and Sara/Souju are so uber-moe that it’s hard to put into words. With FA alternating between hysterical-fast (1, 2 and 4) and contemplative-slow (3 and 5), I can’t recommend this show highly enough.