Minami-ke with less Ninomiya-kun!!/Sensei!! and Black Bible, but otherwise the same good times .
I’m relieved that Minami-ke Okawari still feels like the Minami-ke we know and love. I was holding my breath between episode 13 of the first series and episode 1 of this series because I wasn’t sure what Okawari was going to present. This is how sequels should be handled. You can change around the animation, music, and whatever other audio/visual stuff you want (to a reasonable extent), but don’t mess with the winning formula. Don’t mess with the heart. Don’t mess with the guts. For the most part, other than the character designs and new songs, all the usual quirks were there. Chiaki’s twitchy hair, Haruka amplitude, Kana randomness, Touma Mizuki Nana-ness, and Mako-chan trapness.
Check. Check. Check. Check. And check.
I miss the “NINOMIYA-KUN!!” and “SENSEI!!” nonsense and Black Bible eyes… but we’re getting more Touma and Mako-chan awesomeness from the starting line. I expect everything else to follow suit soon enough. More Uchida goodness and Ono Daisuke unbuttoning!
It’s going to take a few episodes to adjust to the newer character designs, but they’re not too bad. The female characters look fine, but the guys’ eye look off. We only see Banchou and Takeru this episode (and Hosaka in the OP), but they way their eyes are drawn makes them look older and/or lacking sleep. I liked they way they looked last time around, but I guess it could be worse. As for the ladies, Kana looks better I thought–more feminine features. Haruka seems to have been taken down a slight notch, but her personality is still intact, which is what really matters with her. Chiaki’s color-change hair threw me off at first, but like Haruka, her personality is still all about the baka yaro and the Haruka-nesssama, so all is well there.
As for the new OP (Kokoro no Tsubasa) and ED (Sono Koe ga Kiki Takute) songs, I like them both. I liked both songs from last season, so getting more is only a good thing for me. I’m already a fan of both Chihara Minori’s and Inoue Marina’s singing, so despite my indifference towards Satou Rina, it works. The three of them actually sound good together. Inoue Marina in particular I enjoy out of the three of them. You know what you’re going to get from Chihara Minori and I’m not that big with Satou Rina, but Inoue Marina always seems to blow me away with her vocals. I’ve always thought she was a bit underrated in terms of her singing.
O.o
The trap and the tomboy
o.O
Where’s my Black Bible?
I know what I’m having for lunch later.
Okawari picks up from where last season left off on New Years, but more importantly, the Minami clan heads for an onsen. Good job Asred! Great way to get the new season off on the right foot. Nothing like Haruka, Kana, and Chiaki at an onsen to start the new year out. Now just keep things consistent…
Mario Kart?
Snake?
ORZ
Chiaki has matured since December.
OH NOES! A TRAP!
OH NOES! TOUMA’S A GIRL!
Trap and tomboy at an onsen… Why didn’t anyone think this up before?
Oops.
I need more Sensei and Ninomiya-kun drama, that was one of my favorite running gags in the anime!! ^_^
“SENSEI!!!!”
“NINOMIYA-KUUUN!!!!”
Bad-End
^_^
i still haven’t even finished the first series