Kuragehime 11 – Every Problem Is Solved With Magic (END) (?)

This is a cool looking shot, but I’m not sure if that’s how the reflection would work . . . :p

Then again, I suppose it fits in with Kuragehime‘s world, which is just kind of going along and doing whatever. Personally, I’m not totally sure how I feel about the ending; it would certainly be easier to judge if I had any indication whether the show would get another season. In America, shows are (over)covered to the point where you pretty much know almost right off the bat whether a show will get renewed or get the axe. Don’t know if it’s the same for Japan, but maybe not for such niche entertainment.

Kuragehime 10 – She Don’t Wear Jelly

I’ll take “Scenes in anime that make you question your sexuality” for $1,000, Alex.

So I’m still wondering what sort of resolution we’ll get with Kuragehime. Shuu has seemingly shut the door on Inari after a joke on her end that goes too far for his tastes, and is ready to go abroad for a while. Kuranosuke and Tsukimi have completed the first of their jellyfish dresses, but of course they have to get it noticed first before they can sell it. (And how would they keep up with the demand afterward?) And, uh, I guess someone is moving quickly on obtaining the apartment building since it’s all covered up now! Yikes!

Kuragehime 9 – So Much Misunderstanding

A bit of kyaa~ for the KuraKimi crowd. :p

I wonder how closely Kuragehime is hewing to the manga? Asking because with two episodes remaining, I’m not quite sure how much will be resolved! The romance is all in a tangle (though I don’t expect the issues with Inari to remain when the show ends), and the situation with the apartment building is still in a fairly perilous place. It’s pretty tough to make that much money in such a short amount of time, no matter how hardy the entrepreneurial spirit.

Kuragehime 8 – The Joys of Being an Entrepreneur

Damn, Chieko definitely has some skills!

Impressed as always with Kuranosuke; the guy’s quite sharp and has a solid mind for business. It’s not really a stretch to imagine him becoming a decent figure in the fashion world someday. He has family backing (and the money to go along with it), fashion sense, the smarts to zero in on how to market something, charisma, the force of will to stand up for himself and others and so on. They’re still a long way from being able to outright buy the apartment building, but if I were one of the Nuns, Kuranosuke would give me the confidence that it could be done, even if it is clearly a longshot, to say the least.

(But who knows how the dress-making idea will turn out?)

Kuragehime 7 – Blackmail Fail

I dunno, going by anime rules, I think “second base” means you’re married and have kids.

It’s probably a good thing that the blackmail attempt fell through, because getting the necessary money to buy the apartment building that way probably would have caused a whole host of problems down the road. Keiichirou definitely would not have taken that shit laying down. That’s short-term thinking, Kuranosuke!

I do wonder if there will be a real clash between Kuranosuke and the Nuns any time soon since he is sweeping them along so quickly with the plan to buy the apartment. They’re still fairly passive, even when their home will almost surely be taken away from them. And they’re not willing to part with their collections, either (or Chieko isn’t, anyway; I guess she and the yaoi author have the only things people would want to buy!), although they don’t protest too much when Kuranosuke makes his way to the storage area. (I wonder what sorts of treasures will be hidden away in there? :p)

Kuragehime 6 – Didn’t Sublime Sing About This?

After Eden of the East, you can never be too careful about these things. Good on Shuu for checking to see if he’s still all there . . .

Oh, Evil Career Woman. Surely your plot would have borne fruit had you snagged any other budding politician. Unfortunately, you got the one with emotional trauma and a Yamato Nadeshiko fetish. See, Shuu’s pops is totally the kind of guy Evil Career Woman would have wrapped around her finger. (Side note: Has Shuu’s dad aged at all in two decades? We didn’t see his face, so maybe he had fewer wrinkles or something, I dunno . . . same hair, though!) Then again, I guess there’s the scandal of a politician banging someone who is looking for project support. Conflict of interests are Serious Business.

Kuragehime 5 – Dressing for Battle

Haha, I like that Mayaya instinctively knows all these fashionable poses after putting on those clothes. But Nicole Richie? Really? Kuranosuke couldn’t have chosen a better socialite model for Mayaya? I would feel insulted. Or maybe they have a different view of Nicole Richie in Japan than we do in America. In that case, I would feel bad for the Japanese.

Anyway, I approved of the Nuns actually going out and doing something in this episode after being so lazy and easygoing in the previous one. . . . Well, I guess I should say trying to do something, since they failed so miserably here, but trying and failing is better than doing nothing, since you can always learn from your mistakes if you try and fail. And the mistake here is a mistake of preparation. Not just in looks (although, looking at it realistically, Kuranosuke is of course correct — you have to make people stand up and notice you, and not give ‘em a chance to discriminate based on appearance), but also in argument, I’d expect. (But maybe that’s just me discriminating based upon looks!)

Kuragehime 4 – V-V-V-Virgins?!

I don’t know about all of you, but I’m absolutely shocked — shocked! — that Shuu is a virgin. Almost as shocked as Louie was to find gambling at Rick’s in Casablanca.

Maybe he did realize that was Tsukimi in the last episode, though. He didn’t seem particularly shocked to see her with her glasses on (the Clark Kent Effect is not a go here), and there was of course his run-in with Tsukimi later in the episode. The guy’s come to terms with the fact that his crush is a big ol’ geek rather than a Yamato Nadeshiko extraordinaire . . . or, at least, that she lives with a bunch of geeks. Maybe he’s still holding out hope for her.

Kuragehime 3 – She’s All That

Anyone else hear the loud “SYMBOLISM” alarm go off in your head when the building redevelopment storyline was introduced side by side with Tsukimi rejecting her makeover? :p

So this is an episode full of makeovers and rejection makeovers and normalcy clashing against the weird. Kuranosuke wants to beautify Tsukimi because he believes every woman wants to be pretty; Tsukimi freaks out about the makeover because she wants no part of that shit, and because she thinks the Nuns would burn her at the stake if she showed up back home looking all dolled up. I guess only witches are good looking! Seriously, though, I am sort of skeptical at the moment, because this is the set up of like five billion teenage comedies where the nerdy girl is SECRETLY BEAUTIFUL and totally nabs the hunky guy who finally sees her inner beauty when he is turned on by her outer beauty.

But at the same time, I’m only sort of skeptical because Kuragehime has been smart and fun so far, and it is pretty darn early for condemnation. I am fully in the benefit of the doubt corner right now.

Kuragehime 2 – Bribery Is the Best Policy

I’m 100 percent convinced that this part of the OP is indeed a reference to the 1973 movie Emperor of the North. Even watched the movie myself to confirm it! (By the way, it’s not a bad flick at all — can’t really go wrong with Ernest Borgnine as a crazed railroad conductor who bludgeons hobos to death with a hammer, and Lee Marvin as a competitive hobo who will ride on one of Borgnine’s trains at any cost.) Once again, good on Taka for catching that reference and inadvertently giving me another good movie to see!

Anyway, jeez, noitaminA is sure taking quite a few breaks these days, isn’t it? But you can’t rush quality, so I won’t complain much. This episode pushes the awkwardness between the “hipsters” and the “nerds” to a higher level (I like E-Minor’s comparison of Kuragehime‘s characterization to one of those teen comedies where most characters fit into a certain group and then their traits are exaggerated to fit the group). Kuranosuke is completely outgoing, curious about other people and totally ignores all those social barriers people like to put up, whereas all the nerds are utterly insular around anyone but each other and consumed by their particular interests.

. . . OK, maybe that second bit isn’t that exaggerated!