Tea Shop BeLoved

The backlog cleanup continues!

I picked up Seto no Hanayome around episode 9 or 10 and I am incredibly glad I did. I watched the first episode when it first aired, but was not impressed with it at all. In fact, I feel asleep about halfway through it. However, I was told that it got a lot better after the first offering, so I gave it another chance. This was a great example of why not to judge a series based on episode 1 alone. The show was slap-stick, stupid funny, but it never once failed to make me laugh out loud each week. Where else would you find spacesuits, the last Amazon, mermaid porn, and the Terminator in a seifuku all in the same series?

Seto no Hanayome was a series that will probably be a love it or hate it kind of series. It’s a series that comes across as not taking anything serious, but if you think about it, every corny joke and every stupid act that each character did worked well together. At times you’ll wonder, “What the hell is the purpose of any of this?” or “Is this plot going anywhere?” The series does feel shallow and direction-less at times; however, it was this loose feeling that made the series so enjoyable. I never once had to sit and think about what I was watching, yet almost every episode had my full attention. So many series feel like they’re taking themselves too seriously. Even some comedies feel “forced” or you feel like you have to pay attention most of the time (Hayate no Gotoku comes to mind); however, Seto no Hanayome was blunt and simple and that made it a lot of fun for me to watch. It’s kind of like reality TV–you laugh at the stupidity of what you are watching. With this series the stupidity came naturally, and I mean that in a completely positive light.

Out of all 26 episodes, very few felt pointless. Sure, they may appear to be pointless, but they actually flowed together nicely. Thinking back on the series, sure I would have loved to have seen San and Nagasumi’s relationship “move forward,” but in the end it still felt alright. Although their relationship was the primary premise of the story, it wasn’t necessarily the focus of each episode. Every character received a balanced amount of development and airtime, which really enhanced the humor. Seeing Luna going “Ha Ha Ha” berserk (I have a new found respect of Nogawa Sakura’s voice) and cracking Kai’s spacesuit, causing Mawari to blow her whistle and Saru to mourn worked effortlessly. It was almost as if that was the natural flow of things. Some might complain that those character jokes were beaten into the ground; however, with each new episode, they were used in whatever situations that episode called for and brought a sense of familiarity to them. Seeing Nagasumi go into rabu-rabu mode everytime he saw Masa or seeing Iincho cry pools of tears because no one knew her name never felt overdone or overused. Although the story was never the main focus of the series, it was what drove the humor and characters. I won’t go as far as to say it was a strength of the series, but without it, the story would truly feel hollow.

None of these jokes or any of the story would have worked if the characters were not any good. From San and Nagasumi right down to Nagasumi’s parents and Saru each character belonged in the plot. If you think about the second ED sequence, all the individual quirks that characters displayed highlighted each of their personalities. Furthermore, each character worked well with the others. The only character that I felt was a bit off was Akeno. It might be because she was introduced much later in the plot, but I never really felt like I had a grasp on who she was or what she was doing, even in the last episode. Overall, every character was enjoyable. From Luna’s bipolar personality to San’s chivalry to Nagasumi’s lust for Masa, it all worked together.

The last episode really showcased the good of this series. Nagasumi’s power up towards the end was so ridiculous, yet so satisfying to watch. Catching bullets in your teeth? Now that’s chivalry for you. My only problem with the last episode was the ring. It first showed up in episode 2, but was never seem or mentioned again until episode 25. Yet, it was an important piece to episode 26. In the end though, episode 26 was pretty much all I could ask for a conclusion to the series. Plenty of laughs and resolution to many of the characters.

Another aspect of the show that I really enjoyed was the seiyuu cast on the music. I have a new found respect for Nogawa Sakura from how she voiced Luna. Talk about bipolar… I’ve heard Nogawa Sakura do both voices in separate series, but getting them on the fly was a lot of fun. I also have a new found respect for Momoi Halko. I’m a fan of her stuff in UNDER17, but in terms of roles she’s done, all that come to mind were minor roles or noises (i.e., Da Capo). Both Momoi Halko and Nogawa Sakura made this an enjoyable series. Not just them, but pretty much everyone else demonstrated a lot of range and emotion in their roles, in particular Kuwatani Natsuko (Maki), Ono Daisuke (Kai), Rikimaru Noriko (Iincho) who I know from Rozen Maiden and To Heart 2, and Kitamura Eri (Akeno) who I only know from Idolmaster and Blood+ (I really look forward to hearing her in the future because she’s got a lot of range in that voice of hers. Quite impressive). I was also pretty impressed with Mizushima Takahiro, who’s voice was always changing depending on Nagasumi’s mood. Fairly impressive and very entertaining, especially when you think about some part roles–character with not much vocal range or emotion, such as Christopher in Scrapped Princess, Kouta in Stellvia, and Romeo in Romeo X Juliet.

On the music end of things, I enjoyed both ED songs, the OP song, and all the insert songs. Your gravitation has become a huge favorite and Dan Dan Dan is really fun song. Both Momoi Halko, Nogawa Sakura, and Hinoi Asuka (who sang ED1, Asu he no Hikari) did great jobs with the OP and ED songs.

Seto no Hanayome was an interesting experience in the sense that it was a completely ridiculous series that was so-o damn good. In all honestly, I don’t think I’ve laughed out loud during every episode of a series since the first season of School Rumble. Seto no Hanayome won’t win any technical awards from me, but it definitely deserves praise for giving us a lot of laughs, a lot of memorable characters, a lot of memorable moments, and a main couple you can’t help but root for.