Following on from the last episode, Tatsuya tells Feena that he loves her. Together, they approach Karen for her acceptance. But Karen warns of the dangers that might follow. Basically, major chaos. Karen does not accept at all. But after grand speech by Tatsuya, Karen offers to consider and test Tatsuya. Method : Kendo match between Tatsuya and Feena. Feena is pissed, but Tatsuya accepts.

So cliche. Can’t Feena just lose the match on purpose

Since Tatsuya won’t give up, Sayaka gives her approval, and together with Mai, will support Tatsuya all the way. Meanwhile Feena is traumatised and does not leave her room, asking her mom if the decision is hers to make.

Natsuki apologises for the rubbish she said in last episode, but Tatsuya thanks her instead. Mock battle between Feena and Tatsuya. Yet Feena does not hit Tatsuya. Tatsuya’s not too happy about it, until Takano appears offering advice.

Takano takes over training, being the trainer of the royal forces. (HUH!?!)

Tatsuya takes leave from school, and goes to the mountain for training, leaving Feena feeling the blues in school.

Talking to Natsuki, Feena expresses regrets for what she has done, and for hesistating. If she kept to her princess duties. nothing would have happened. Tatsuya in the mountains, remain confident that Feena would be serious during the match.

In class, toyama offers a funny manga to cheer up Feena. She offers that as long as Feena and Tatsuya have a good relationship, all will be fine. The president of the Earth too offers her advice, that everybody just wants Feena to be happy.

Mia and Mai helps out at the restaurant in place of Tatsuya. Everybody’s totally confident of Tatsuya and Feena.

In the end, Feena decides to be serious. Fight on!

Same result as mock battle at start of the week. Except Feena smashes down a killer blow. Feena wins, though tatsuya blocks the blow.

But the both of them will not give up… bla bla bla cliche cliche cliche blah blah.

Karen will now lay her life down for the two of them to be together, seeing her their will is strong, blah blah blah.

In the cool night, Feena finally tells Tatsuya that she wants to be with him, and that she loves him. Just as they are about to kiss though, they are interrupted by Mai’s voice. This pisses off Takano, such a rare scene! But soon, they all disappear in 3 seconds

Thoughts

I didn’t really understand what was troubling Feena. I blame it on a poor story.

Sorry for the not very good write up… but it’s hard to do one when the anime bored you to death.

Seriously, in addition to better artistes, they need better story writers too.

Next up will be intervention by wreathlite i think. That should entertain me more

Images obtained from Your-mom

Even as the King of the moon looks through video of Feena’s homestay, he is interrupted by a report from Feena of her homestay. But even as the King asks that she take care of himself, the King brings up the topic of Feena’s fiance. Feena retorts that she has already rejected him, and things don’t end on a good note.

Back on earth, things are awkward over dinner. Feena announces that she’ll be staying at the embassy from now on, although Mia could stay, cause she’d make the embassy cleaners jobless. But even as Mia mentions about the cup that Tatsuya bought for her, Feena says that she wouldn’t be needing it.

Tatsuya ends up in a daze in school, and in his part time work. Feena too, accidentally mentions Tatsuya when addressing Karen. Even though Sayaka and Karen sympathise, they believe that they are doing the right thing.

Walking home with natsuki, tatsuya claims that he is all okay. But arriving home, they see Feena arriving too, having not been around for a week. Tatsuya and Feena can only stare at one another, secretly feeling joy. Entering the house though, they meet Urugen inside, Feena’s fiance. Mia accidentally spills tea on him, and we see his disgust for earthlings. Feena treats him coldly, and he returns to the embassy to wait for her.

A kendo fight between Feena and Urugen also reveals his contempt for feena.

That night, Natsuki talks to Tatsuya through the windows, and convince him to grow some balls to chase Feena. His resolved form, he runs out of the house to find Feena. Along the way, he convinces Sayaka and Karen separately about his resolve and what he can possibly do as just a student.

Finally he confesses his love

Thoughts

Ha. Actually, the final scene was better than I make it sound to be, even if it’s filled with clichés. Even the music was quite well done for the entire episode.

BUT. THE ANIMATION! OH MY GOODNESS.

Sorry, just ruins everything.

Anyway, good to see Tatsuya totally changing. What next? Tatsuya fights and kills Urugen and brings peace to earth and moon?

(btw… so what exactly is writhlite, we still don’t know)

The series starts off with a bang with negotiations not going too well between Earth and Moon. Shouting match goes on until the Earth’s president calms everybody down. Back in her office, the president admits that things are not going too well, and hope that Princess Feena has a good homestay. At the same time, she receives a report on mysterious UFOs, origin unknown.

Meanwhile, Feena and Tatsuya are acting kinda lovey dovey with each other. Everybody around them notices that something is not normal. Tatsuya even has dreams of Feena kissing him. At the same time, Wreathlit is following the pair around, and she receives instructions from a mysterious source that a relationship between Feena and Tatsuya cannot happen, otherwise Earth/Moon is doomed.

Things that happened include Feena picking up Tatsuya’s dropped eraser in class, Feena accidentally putting her toothbrush into Tatsuya’s cup, High-five-ing each other while serving in the restaurant.

Finally, while having icecream at the park, Feena is about to share her icecream with Tatsuya, when she warns that Tatsuya’s icecream is about to drop. Tatsuya ends up spilling it on Wreathlit who appears from nowhere.

Wreathlit ends up walking home with Tatsuya and Feena, to get her cap cleaned. Wreathlit continues to get messages about breaking up Tatsuya and Feena, something she’s reluctant to do. She ends up spacing out in the middle of a road crossing, where she’s nearly knocked down by a car. Just as she’s about to blast away the car with magic, Tatsuya comes and knock her aside, saving her.

Reaching the restaurant, they hear clues of Jin about to be thrown out of the restaurant, and carries wreathlit to one side.

In the restaurant, Wreathlit continues to look moody, but Feena correctly (or wrongly, depending on your POV) guesses that Wreathlit is just hungry. Yet later that evening, Wreathlit just disappears, taking her hat with her. This kinda upsets Feena. Tatsuya comforts her by pinching her nose once more.

However, the going-ons between Feena and Tatsuya does not go unnoticed. Mai thinks they’ll be all executed. Takano is worried. Wreathlit of course is dazed.

In the end, Sayaka confronts Tatsuya, reminding him that Feena is the moon’s princess. In the end, Tatsuya utters out that he does not like Feena at all. At the same time, in a meeting, Feena’s defence minister sees her drinking out of a cup that Tatsuya gives her. She says a simple statement of, “All you do is talk about him, you have to realize he’s an earthling… “

Later at night, Feena is seen returning home. Tatsuya is happy to see her, but they do not acknowledge each other at all.

Thoughts

Remember that Tatsuya once said that all he could do is welcome Feena when she returns home, yet he didn’t even do it this time.

It’s not that the Clichés were lousy or what, but this production still feels very much like a cheap one. Maybe it’s this moon/earth scenario thing that’s making it all worse.

Still curious about wreathlit, and why can’t moonling and earthling be together.

So it’s vacation at the beach. Jin plays the role of the perverted one, and gets hammered by first natsuki, then karen. In the middle, Tatsuya and Feena gets attacked by a shark, which turns out to be takano instead, and thus Takano promtly gets buried in the sand.

Takano mysteriously digs himself out of the sand, and arrives with a boat, inviting everyone to go sailing. They don’t go far before it sinks, and they are stuck on a “deserted island”. Everyone panics, except for Feena who calms everyone down, even as Takano reports back from scouting that they is nobody around. Hence… a vacation on a deserted island. Feena continues her swimming lessons with Tatsuya.

Even as everybody is partying drunk, Feena and Tatsuya are chatting at one deserted corner. Tatsuya mentions his admiration for Feena, and that she has inspired him to continue to reach for his goal of visiting the moon. Tatsuya then recounts that he had promised a girl before, that he’ll visit the moon, but he never got her name. Feena reveals that she’s actually the girl. (yeah. tatsuya only realises it NOW)

Anyway, in the end, everything was arranged by Takano, and the deserted island wasn’t really deserted. So all that is well ends well.

Thoughts

Sorry about the very brief review, but this episode doesn’t deserve more.

Boring.

I’m only interested in seeing Wreathlit now.

]]> http://anime.tedfox.com/2006/yoake-mae-yori-ruri-iro-na/yoake-mae-yori-ruri-iro-na-ep-03-2/feed/ 0 http://anime.tedfox.com/2006/yoake-mae-yori-ruri-iro-na/yoake-mae-yori-ruri-iro-na-ep-04/ http://anime.tedfox.com/2006/yoake-mae-yori-ruri-iro-na/yoake-mae-yori-ruri-iro-na-ep-04/#comments Fri, 03 Nov 2006 12:13:49 +0000 tedfox http://anime.tedfox.com/2006/yoake-mae-yori-ruri-iro-na/yoake-mae-yori-ruri-iro-na-ep-04/ Flying cockroaches are THE WORST! Luckily, the princess hates them too.. which means…. that the big guns gets brought in to exterminate them.

The start of the episode sees sayaka talking to her boss about Princess Feena’s mom. Apparently she was good at building relations between earth and moon, and finally, they were going to go ahead with the planned space station to be built together. It was unfortunate that she died so early though. Things get awkward when the boss calls Sayaka her daughter.

Going back to the riverside, Tatsuya and Natsuki talk about how they used to swim in the river when they were kids. Feena comments that she would love to join in, making Tatsuya surprised that she can swim. Before she can answer, a dog is seen struggling in the water. Before anybody can react, Feena jumps in and swims towards the dog. But yup. she can’t swim, and Tatsuya is forced to jump in after her. Jin who is passing by is thrown in by Natsuki as well, but suffers a leg cramp. Jin is thus washed down the waterfall even as Tatsuya rescues Feena, but nobody realises.

Just as Tatsuya is about to give Feena CPR, wreathlit appears and with a bolt of magic, wakes Feena up, spurting water all over Tatsuya. Tatsuya asks Feena not to always do dangerous things herself, but that she can depend on the people around her too.

Back home, Tatsuya finds Takeshi in his room together with Takeshi’s assistant. First, they show Tatsuya a clip of him attempting to do CPR. Even as he is aggrieved, Takeshi shows him a video of all the girls during the time where they were bathing. Of course, Mai catches Tatsuya watching ecchi stuff. Even as Tatsuya is bashed, Feena enters with Mia, catching Mai and Tatsuya in a compromised position… with Takeshi MISSING.

Later, Mia happens to ask about a locked room, since she has total desire to go clean it. It’s actually Tatsuya’s father’s study room, and out pours a story of the father. The father seems to be a japanese indiana jones, and Tatsuya and Mai are simply excited about his adventures.

Of course, Mia desires to start cleaning, but the Flying cockroach makes its appearance. And it just happens that everybody is terrified, especially since there are terrible rumours about it on the moon. Everybody flees, but nobody realises that Mia had fainted and remains behind. In the rush, Tatsuya and Mai falls down the stairs, leaving Feena as the only one capable of rescuing Mia, and she does it Rambo style.

Mia is found, but soon the pair are cornered without any ammo left. What can a princess do but to call in the calvary. A helicopter soon does a bombing strike on the entire house. This leaves Sayaka, who returns, “a tad irritated” at what everybody did to the house.

Thoughts

Animation quality slightly increase, even with all the chibis that keep appearing.

Humour is back as well… although it’s so lame that in another mood, you’ll probably find it utterly ridiculous and not funny.

I’m beginning this anime is one of those that totally suck, yet you keep getting drawn back to it, if for no other reason than to hope that it gets better. I really don’t understand how somebody as pretty as feena can be animated so ugly.

Early morning, breakfast is prepared by Mai. Apparently it’s so good that Feena says that Mai could become a royal chef on the moon. Mai gets so excited that she falls over her chair, to be helped up by Mia. Mia ends up volunteering to help mai with the dishes. Sayaka is pleased that Feena and Mia seem to be adapting well.

As Tatsuya leaves early for work, Feena is curious what work is exactly. So with the idea that it’s better to see for yourself, Feena ends up sitting in a corner of the restaurant watching (tatsuya specifically). What better way to see your idol in a uniform than to suggest that they work, which is what Jin does. Feena agrees, and soon ends up becoming a waitress in the restaurant.

Of course, Feena totally charms all customers. Even as Natsuki and Tatsuya are totally awed, Jin comes along to scare them about how Feena will be harassed by some lecherous customers. Feena overhears, and instead of executing Jin, thanks them for the concern. She reassures them that with her kendo training, no harm will come to her.

Jin is totally disappointed that Feena is doing so well, since he can’t be the knight to rescue the damsel in distress.

Even as the restaurant takes a break, Jin suggest that Feena learn the second part of working in a restaurant, which is cooking. As such, he decides to hold an inter-planet cooking contest between Feena and Natsuki. Of course, Natsuki is Master Carbon, and ain’t too happy about it.

Shopping for ingridients, Feena + Tatsuya meets Natsuki and Mai. Basically, a simple jealous scene plays out, with some ribbing about Master Carbon.

So the cooking competition starts at night, with Samon, Sayaka, Takano and Wreathlit as the judges. (wreathlit was chosen as judge from audience) Surprisingly, Feena cooks well, though the dishes are simple, especially for her first time. And Master Carbon cooks…. Carbon. Not surprising who won.

That night, Tatsuya goes to comfort a despondent Natsuki by eating her carbon pieces and pinching her nose.. This was caught by Feena who becomes totally jealous. Next day, Feena ends up cooking a carbon egg as well. Of course, Tatsuya chomps it down as well.

Thoughts
whoa, the animation quality is dropping even further. Take the scene where Feena and the cousin were talking. Mai was in the most ridiculous pose ever. They didn’t even bother to animate repeated actions that Mia was doing. Oh, and I don’t even need to mention that each character is poorly drawn as well.

At this moment, I just want to know who wreathlit is.

I’m totally disappointed. Why did I even choose this series to blog about. At this rate, I’ve got to start searching for something new.

The episode starts off with Mai being nervous about Feena being in the same school, and surprised that Tatsuya is so calm about it. Feena enters the living room dressed in her new uniform, which Tatsuya finds absolutely cute, though Feena thinks that the skirt is too short.

As they are about to leave, Feena insists that Mia is not supposed to follow them to school. Walking to school, she remembers what happens the night before, where Mia refused to sleep in the same room as Feena. Instead, Mia chooses to sleep in the messy and cramped attic instead. This behavior totally confuses Feena.

In class, everybody is awed by the princess, and there’s a tense atmosphere. But Midori starts the ball rolling, with Natsuki joining in after some promting from tatsuya. With the whole class intensely evesdropping, Natsuki accidentally reveals that Feena is doing homestay at Tatsuya’s house, and Tatsuya ends up being dragged outside for interrogation by the boys. Meanwhile, the girls question Feena about how the moon is like.

The day goes by, and Feena shows what an outstanding student she is, including defeating the vice-captain of the kendo club during physical education.

However, lunch time comes but they are unable to get any food. Tatsuya volunteers to go out of school to get some food, but then hears people talking about a very cute girl dressed in a maid uniform. In actual fact, Mia had come to school bringing food. Mai talks about how nice it would be make your own bento, but Tatsuya reveals that the last time Mai cooked, it was all burnt. “master carbon!”

Takano Takeshi then appears out of nowhere, and as a gift, gives Tatsuya a photo of Feena changing. Feena snatches it away blushing, and Takeshi ends up disappearing on the shoulders of his assistant.

After school, Tatsuya intends to bring Feena around, but Feena has to fulfill some official duties. Next day, Tatsuya sees his cousin and Feena dressed in official uniforms again. THe cousin explains that Feena has duties to fulfill, and won’t be able to go to school.

Tatsuya is noticebly upset, and waits up at night for Feena, when Takeshi appears. He asks Tatsuya what he can do, especially as a family member, seeing that Feena is now doing a homestay.

In the end, Tatsuya decides that all he can do is to greet Feena “welcome back” when she’s back. Tatsuya ends up pinching Feena’s nose again, but Feena obviously does not mind.

Thoughts

I thought the animation was bad. Many details were lacking, facial expressions were poorly drawn, and even the chibi scenes didn’t make up for it.

Story wise, it was a development, for you see that Tatsuya obviously feels for Feena. However… what happened to the humour element that I liked! I think it boils down to the fact that the rest of the characters simply got pushed back into the background. poorly done.

I’ll have to say I was disappointed. I do hope the next episode makes up for it.

]]> http://anime.tedfox.com/2006/yoake-mae-yori-ruri-iro-na/yoake-mae-yori-ruri-iro-na-ep-02/feed/ 0