Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko – 11 + 12 (Final… sort of)

Episode 11 + 12 –

Well, these last two episodes did try and wrap things up, though I can’t say it was the most ideal way to finish this series. Maekawa, Ryuushi, Makoto, Erio, and the new astronaut girl (Yashiro) all got their own respective bits of devoted time, but in the end all of their stories were left rather open ended. Considering this is an adaptation of a continuing light novel series, an open ended conclusion is probably what suits this best. Things did get more serious towards the end, but there was still a decent number of gags and such. A lot of the main cast acts “too cute”, and it does get a bit annoying at times. For the most part though, everybody’s acting was tastefully handled, with some solid character development as a result.

Episode 11 was pretty much devoted to bringing a bit of development/closure to Mako’s relationships with both Maekawa and Ryuushi. Maekawa’s  part was a bit random, with Mako being randomly invited to Maekawa’s house. Of course, a young guy’s dream is to be invited to a girl’s house where they’ll be alone together, though Mako doesn’t seem to react in the usual manner. He doesn’t show too much interest in Maekawa (well, aside from her appearance in an apron lol), though his massive increase in youth points is definitely indicative of otherwise. Of course, Mako says some some rather careless comments without much thought, and based on Maekawa’s reaction she definitely holds some interest in Mako. It was pretty hilarious to see both Mako’s reaction to the apron, as well as Maekawa’s reaction to Mako’s “be a bride” comment. She’s not very open about it, but it’s nice to know that at even though she’s really odd at times, in the end Maekawa is still a girl.

Ryuushi’s bit of closure was more expected, where we finally get to see her play in that basketball match. She does seem to suck at basketball though, which kind of makes the game painful to watch. It was a surprisingly twist where we learn more about Makoto’s lack of motivation to do things, which in a way was a rather compelling reason for him to cheer on Ryuushi. I’ll admit that I was laughing like crazy at Mako’s serious, over the top yelling and cheering for Ryuushi, but it certainly was admirable that he could do something so embarrassing in order for to cheer her on. Yashiro’s role here, where she once again prods Mako forward, does seem to indicate that she looks out for him, even moreso in episode 12.

In episode 12, we finally got to see that festival-determining baseball game mentioned a while back. Of course, it was pretty obvious that the baseball game was being setup for the end, and the episode itself was predictable and cliche. It was a very good episode for Makoto’s development as a main protagonist, that’s for sure. Once again, we get some focus on Makoto’s lack of motivation in trying to do “go above and beyond”, and excel at whatever he does. This all roots back to a strange soccer incident as a child that killed most of his self confidence at whatever he does. Strangely, it’s a meeting with Maekawa’s father that gets Makoto motivated enough to try in the baseball match, and it certainly paid off with a grand slam home run. Predictable, yea. Cliche, even more so. But satisfying? I can’t quite put it into words, but the moment just felt right, that it just fit the scene perfectly, especially after Makoto’s strangely insightful monologue right before the home run.

What is rather peculiar about these two episodes is that, in every single arc in the past two episodes, Yashiro (Ms. Astronaut alien) appeared in some way shape or form, and each time she seems to have played some sort of contributing role to Mako’s relationships. It’s fascinating to see how her very presence seems to hint that she does have extraterrestrial superpowers of some sort, and why someone like her would even be helping Makoto in the first place. There is the implication here that Yashiro is explicitly on Mako’s side, cheering him on at the basketball game, as well as potentially being the reason why that last fly ball turned into a grand slam home run. Have my suspicions of her alien status gone up? Heck yea.

In the end, these two episodes were a rather fitting way of tying things back up. The events were a bit predictable and cliche, but they did provide some valuable insights to many of our main characters (more so with regards to Makoto and maybe Yashiro). Like I said earlier, though, a lot of questions are left open ended and unanswered, such as if Yashiro is really an alien or not. And not to mention, Yashiro’s connection with Eliot is still rather vague here, and we’re not even sure about which girl is the “canon route” for Makoto (if there even is one, it would probably be Erio 😛 ). All in all, a fun conclusion to the TV broadcast. Now why is it that episode 13 is BD/DVD only again…? I guess we’ll have to wait for a few months before seeing the true final episode for this series.

Overall Enjoyment: 4.0/5

Screenshots are later in the post.

Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko – 10

Episode 10 –

This episode was rather standard for this series, once again filled with cutesy girls acting ditzy as usual. However, this episode does also bring up some rather strange, though also at the same time uncertain, cues about potential aliens and such. Supernatural phenomenon have been completely nonexistent in this series up until this episode, which is why this series felt rather firmly set in reality. After the huge torrent of water falling from the sky in the latter half of this episode, all of a sudden I’m not quite sure about that. Considering how late we are in the series, I’m finding it rather odd that they only now have decided to hint that there might actually be supernatural phenomena involved in this series; it would have been much better if they had been building up upon the idea since, oh I don’t know, right after the very first arc…?

A majority of the episode (and when I say majority, I mean 80-90% of the episode) was all about Makoto interacting with his pseudo-harem of cute girls, including the innocent Erio, the “act silly” Ryuushi, and the two oddballs Meme and Maekawa. It was pretty darn hilarious seeing Erio running away from the astronaut girl, always being protected by Makoto. The scene where Erio actually went up and attacked the astronaut with her futon was hilarious as well, and Erio’s “stuck on the ground and can’t get up” situation afterwords was rather cute. Why are all the girls in this series so abnoxiously cute? Seriously, it’s completely unnatural =_=

Of course, there was also the astronaut girl introduced in the last episode making her reappearance here, and she turned out to be quite a curveball in comparison to previously introduced characters. Yashiro Hoshimiya (the astronaut girl) does act rather stubborn, similar to the tsundere archetype, yet her insistence that she is an esper is a peculiarly interesting thing to note. I mean, it’s easy to dismiss her wild claims at first, but in the latter half of the episode she pretty much threw my doubts out the window. I mean, how in the world did she make a huge torrent of water fall down from the sky onto Makoto when he was a good 10-12 meters away, all while she was set in a pool? Unless there was someone cooperating with Yashiro, the only other explanation would be that she can induce supernatural phenomena somehow. Cue the whole “alien/esper claims”.

What makes this even more peculiar, though, is how everyone who could potentially be an “alien” has some sort of link to Eliot (though a bit subtle). Yashiro’s connection to Eliot is a little subtle, with Meme’s vague “she resembles Eliot” comment the only link between the two. Erio’s link to Eliot is pretty obvious; she is his daughter, after all. What makes this particularly odd is that Yashiro claimed that Erio, and only Erio, is an alien as well. Why did she adamantly pick Erio in particular, as opposed to anybody else? Is it just sheer coincidence that Yashiro chose Erio? Another hint here could be their actual hair colors. If you look back to episode 8, Eliot’s hair color is pure white, and lo and behold, Yashiro’s hair color is also a pure white. Erio’s hair color is more of a mix of Meme’s and Eliot’s, resulting in the aqua blue hair color that she has. I know I’m probably speculating a bit too much here, but could it be that Eliot was actually an alien of some sort?

This episode was a lot of fun, but it surprisingly threw some doubts and ideas to ponder over. Considering how this series has mostly followed the same basic plot format, this episode had some rather interesting change-ups. That’s not to say this series isn’t repetitive with it’s story arcs, it’s just that there was a bit more substance here than usual, and I definitely appreciate the hints (potentially red herrings) here. With only 2 more episodes left, though, I wonder what else there could be left in the story here…?

Overall Enjoyment: 3.7/5

Screenshots are later in the post.

Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko – 09

Episode 09 –

This series would definitely be a top contender if there ever was a “loaded with cuteness” award. All the girls in this series act really cutesy, sometimes almost far too much, and is quite unrealistic. That being said, while their cute antics make the characters more fun, it really detracts from any sort of meaningful plot. At this point, this series has returned to the directionless slice-of-life of some of the previous episodes in this series. In otherwords, this series has started to become dangerously episodic, with each episode mostly self-contained in terms of plot. As far as entertainment goes, though, this was a good way to kick back, relax, and enjoy.

After the previous, well written arc revolving around Meme last week, we’ve got a return to the standard “random interactions with girls” that is a defining trait of this series. Makoto’s interactions with Erio, Meme, Ryuushi, and Maekawa, are entertaining, yet at the same time their relationships feel rather static. It seems that there is very little progress amongst the main cast, though this series is obviously meant to focus on the comedy aspect. I can easily see some of the silly antics and such in this series starting to become stale quickly, mainly because of how repetitive it tends to get. To be fair, the series is still on track with Erio’s character, prodding her to continue moving forward and try to reintegrate with society. However, the rest of the cast is a bit more static in comparison to her.

Like I mentioned earlier, though, this series is essentially a cutesy comedy show with some typical quirky SHAFT characters. Meme’s crazy obsessive Makoto antics have managed to stay hilarious, while Ryuushi’s shy antics are a bit more annoying in some ways. She acts very childish, which brings both an adorable aspect, but a rather unlikable aspect to her character as well. There were a few rather brief character introductions here, such as the weird spacesuit girl(?), and Ryuushi’s sort-of-miko friend, though I’m wondering if Ryuushi’s friend is going to play a major role in this series at all.

Well, in the end, it looks like this episode was pretty much just meant as setup to introduce the new spacesuit person, which seems to be a very SHAFT-like weird character (I keep thinking of Arakawa for some reason when I see the spacesuit). At the same time though, I’m starting to see this series become very repetitive in plot structure, with not much new being brought to the table. I guess this series is just on the decline as it goes on, with few standout episodes along the way. For all intents and purposes though, this is a fun show to watch.

Overall Enjoyment: 3.5/5

Screenshots are later in the post.

Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko – 08

Episode 08 –

Wow, I’m impressed. After the lackluster plot in the past few episodes, getting an episode told from Meme’s point of view was quite the curveball. And, to my surprise, this episode proved to be rather enlightening. Hearing Meme’s thought process shows that, she too, is your standard adult that is struggling with life. What makes her so interesting, though, is her eccentric way of going about things. That, and this episode brings to light how Meme had her hand involved in a little of everything from the past few episodes, which made a lot more sense in hindsight. There were very subtle hints at Meme being involved in this series, but the explicit revelation here all fits in quite well.

What was particularly good about this episode was all the commentary Meme gave to flesh out both her stance as an individual, her own issues, and how much of an influence Eliot has been in affecting her thought process. Eliot, Erio’s father, has always seemed as if he didn’t even exist in this series. His influence on Meme as a child is what really brought about the eccentric, bold Meme that we see today, and hearing straight from her about her rather conflicting feelings about him were quite the surprise. You do get a sense of admiration for Eliot in Meme’s eyes, yet at the same time you could just tell that she has some sort of disdain or grudge against him for leaving her as she is now.

All of this comes together in Meme’s efforts to reinvigorate her rather unmotivated grandmother. And oh man, was it one heck of a crazy adventure. Starting off slowly with her setting up the bottle rockets, a random marriage proposal to reject, stalking her little daughter, making the craziest faces at her grandmother, and to top it all off, an explosive bottle rocket that got the most energetic, crazy reaction out of Ms. unmotivated Grandma.

I guess you could say this was a very well executed, well done character study on Meme-san. For all of her quirky oddities, this episode showcases a whole different side to her personality and demeanor, adding a layer of complexity to both her image and my perspective of her character. Of course, there were also plenty of funny moments here, especially some of the stuff regarding Meme’s past as a cute little girl, and her at times stubborn attitude. I really got a sense of energy out of this episode, and the dynamic feel to her characterization was a pleasant surprise in my book.

Overall Enjoyment: 4.0/5

Screenshots are later in the post.

Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko – 07

Episode 07 –

This series is starting to have much more focus on the other heroines of this series aside from Erio, and as a result Meme seems to be getting less and less screentime. Without Meme, I have to admit that some of that fun factor for this series has kind of disappeared along with her, but at the same time this does allow us to pay more attention to the rest of the cast. Maekawa and Ryuushi are both energetic in their own odd way, and they do have their fair share of admirable traits. However, in the end, I feel as if this series is starting to get slightly dull and repetitive, especially the cute antics of some of the characters (Ryuushi and Erio, in particular). The plot just outright isn’t quite as captivating as before, especially if you compare this to the first arc with Erio.

The one thing I have noticed about this series that has surprised me a bit is how, with each successive arc, the show isn’t really told from the perspective of Niwa. As the main character, Niwa not narrating his thoughts throughout the episode does feel a bit odd to me. I guess it’s just a changeup from the usual setup for series like this. Hearing Maekawa’s thoughts, instead, does reveal quite a bit more about her character, but nothing really indepth. It’s still an interesting perspective to see, and fleshes out the cast little by little. Now what would be really awesome is having an arc told from Erio’s perspective; her strange thought process would probably be a lot of fun (and interesting) to watch.

The silliness and humor in this series hasn’t really changed too much (well, aside from the notable lack of Meme). I find it particularly funny how Niwa views his point system, especially the “helping the old man get his youth points” moment at the end. In the end, everything for him is motivated by youth points, eh? We do have a genuine moment or two with Ryuushi, and at the same time it’s quite easy to see that Maekawa does have a strange understanding of the main cast of characters. What intrigues me more, though, is Maekawa’s relationship with Meme; apparently they are quite close, with them seemingly confiding with each other quite often.

In the end, this episode was a brief interlude in a sense, where the show takes a moment to focus in on the rest of the main cast. While the episode itself was a bit lacking in inspiration, it had it’s fun moments and genuine scenes. The episode does flesh out Maekawa and Ryuushi a bit, with more emphasis on Maekawa’s odd thought process, as well as the Ryuushi x Niwa relationship. Oh, and there were plenty of the trademarked “Shaft headtilts” as well. Becoming quite famous, those headtilts are.

Overall Enjoyment: 3.3/5

Screenshots are later in the post.

Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko – 06

Episode 06 –

Well, this was certainly somewhat different from previous episodes. We got much more focus on Ryuuko’s dilemma here (or to be more precise, her bias against Erio, and her lack in confidence with regards to Makoto). As a result of this shift in focus, Meme played a much smaller than usual role in the episode. However, at the same time, I would say she had some of her best “serious moments” here. Ryuuko as a character is a bit too outwardly cutesy at times, yet she does seem to think things through much more thoroughly than you would expect of someone her age. That being said, Ryuuko pretty much just feels uncomfortable with the thought of being Erio’s rival, and her feelings towards Makoto are quite blatant as a result.

The main issue here revolves around the classic love-triangle dilemma; my “interest in love” is hanging out with another pretty girl, and I’m not sure what he thinks of her. Or at least, that’s how I’m reading the situation between Erio, Makoto, and Ryuuko. While I do feel Ryuuko does have a valid point to worry over, at the same time I get the feeling that she’s overworrying a bit. I mean, the show has so far portrayed Makoto as more of a person “out to reform” Erio, as opposed to take an explicit interest in her as a girlfriend. Honestly, it just seems that Makoto is trying to be the nice guy and help Erio become re-accepted into society as a standard person. I mean, they are blood-related family, so I’d like to hope Makoto isn’t like that. I don’t quite see anything beyond that (yet), though I do see hints at it forecoming. To be fair, Ryuuko doesn’t have the luxury of being able to “watch” Makoto’s daily interactions and thoughts to the extend that we (as viewers) can, so she may understand him much less than I gave her credit for.

Erio is, of course, absolutely clueless about Ryuuko’s feelings (and is instead just very conflicted over how to handle her situation with regards to society). Makoto, too, is agonizing over Erio’s status amongst her peers. Seriously, the entire situation is rather messy as of late, even with the rather light-hearted, silly antics of the main cast. The broader theme of social acceptance is playing a key role here with Erio’s dilemma, and is playing into the uncomfortable situation that Ryuuko seems to be in.

Of course, Meme is as creepily awesome as ever this episode, with her scant few moments of screentime put to very effective use. Aside from gently pushing Ryuuko forward towards Makoto, she is obviously trying as diligently as possible to be a careful parent (her spying on Makoto and Erio is proof of such). She may seem like a total goofball, but Meme is quite good at reading and understanding the situation at times, and reacts in a rather straightforward, almost innocent manner. As a parent, Meme does have some flaws that we’ve seen in previous episodes, yet at the same time she has redeemable traits as well.

Overall, this episode turned out to be much more serious than I had expected. Knowing it was focused on Ryuuko, I had expected some sort of extremely silly plot involving her and Makoto. Instead, the creators used Ryuuko’s situation to effectively flesh out both Erio and Ryuuko’s problems. The focus on both Erio’s complex situation, and Ryuuko’s love dilemma, was executed rather well in my opinion, and complimented each other at the same time.

Overall Enjoyment: 3.6/5

P.S. To be honest, I’m not the biggest fan of Ryuuko here, so I must apologize in advance if there seems to be any bias against her in this post.

Screenshots are later in the post.

Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko – 05

Episode 05 –

Twintails! Now 40 year old aunt! Crazy old grandma! Erio’s smile! This episode was just loaded with tons of crazy fun, though it surprisingly also did have it’s fair share of serious themes and moments. Erio is as cute as ever, and Meme is acting as creepy of an aunt that she can be. I do feel Meme’s odd behavior is her way of trying to take her mind off serious matters, which does make me think there will be a Meme focused arc in the future. As of now, though, the episode is continuing it’s focus on Erio’s gradual attempts to get back into society as a proper person.

What I’m finding particularly pleasant about this series is that it is loaded with just random silliness, yet at the same time the show can naturally swap pacing and move over to some more serious moments. The change from the ridiculously energetic “twintails” scene to the slightly depressing “rejected at interview” scene, was one that I think was done rather well. I am a bit surprised that Erio is already attempting to get back into society as a proper person, and Meme’s little revelation that Erio is probably worried about the costs of returning to school, does show that Erio is properly thinking things out seriously. Even if Erio is a bit too shy and reserved for her own good, even she realizes that she can’t stay the way she is, and in that sense her attempts rather admirable.

Meme, on the other hand, is still as crazy as ever. I mean seriously, a now 40 year old aunt acting all schoolgirl-ish and ditzy isn’t the most appealing idea that comes to mind. Talk about loss of youth points :3   Anyways, Meme’s antics are funny and entertaining, yet at the same time I feel as if she is forcing herself to act that way to keep her mind off more serious matters. I guess you could say she may be trying to procrastinate, or push off serious stuff until later, and her actions allow her to do just that. Talk about an irresponsible parent (=_=);

In the end, this episode was mostly silly, with some more serious undertones with regards to Erio’s attempt to reintegrate into society. Even during the serious moments, the silliness of some of the stuff going on (like the random baseball, or the rather odd grandma), adds a weird contrast to the atmosphere of this episode. Not that I particularly mind though; this odd blend of seriousness and comedy works out quite well, and keeps the show pretty darn entertaining.

Overall Enjoyment: 3.7/5

Screenshots are later in the post.

Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko – 04

Episode 04 –

This episode builds off from the end of the previous episode with Makoto’s hospitalization after that huge fall from the sky. And after those big events in the previous episode, it’s only fitting that this episode turns out to be more of a “cool down” episode, with a much more relaxed pacing as well. This episode pretty much explores what Makoto thinks of all the crazy events he has been in recently, and in a way it is enlightening about him as a character. However, I am a bit worried with exactly how this series plans on addressing Erio’s memory issue, and how Makoto will play a role in it.

There were some notable lapses in animation quality here and there, with some inconsistent drawing and such. Aside from that, though, the contents to the episode itself were quite telling with regards to a few characters. The most notable would obviously be Makoto Niwa, with his constant monologues and dialogues with everybody else giving us some perspective on exactly how he perceived and thought of the world, as well as his rather conflicting thoughts about everything going on around him. I did get a laugh out of his “youth point system” explanation, but it does also emphasize how he wants normalcy, as well as those few precious beautifully wondrous moments, in his life. Quite a normal dream there, even if his point system is a bit on the eccentric side.

Of course, Makoto does have a little harem building up around him, but at least the show is pretty blatant about showing him having interest in exclusively Erio. I am curious as to how the Erio x Makoto relationship will develop from here, considering the still rather odd dynamic between the two. At least Erio is starting to warm up to him (and is no longer wrapped up in that futon), so progress is definitely there. I’m assuming the whole memory problem with Erio will become a huge focal point between the two, but how it unfolds is something I can’t seem to quite imagine yet. How things develop from here, especially with other dysfunctional characters like Meme involved, could lead up to some awesome character development.

Overall Enjoyment: 3.4/5

Screenshots are later in the post.

Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko – 03

Episode 03 –

I’m really starting to like this show quite a bit. It has a really weird cast of characters, all with their own oddities and quirks, but for some reason it seems to go rather well with the more serious undertones to this series. Denpa Onna might be rather dialogue heavy but at the same time it’s a surprisingly entertaining show, with the characters the biggest factor here.

The main character, Makoto, is a rather interesting male protagonist in the sense that he doesn’t quite feel like your standard male anime protagonist. He takes action, complains like any other normal human being, and more importantly, isn’t oblivious to his surroundings. He does make for a rather interesting foil to the rest of the oh-so-strange characters in this show, especially the aqua-blue haired Erio. His decisiveness creates some pretty hilarious moments, but it’s that same decisiveness of his that lets the plot progress forward in an interesting fashion.

I will admit though that some of the characters seem strange for the sake of being strange, as opposed to adding any extra depth to their characterizations. Makoto’s classmate, Mifune, would be one of them; her rather silly antics just screams “fake!” in my mind, which is why I’ve tried to ignore her a bit. Erio’s mother, Meme, also is really strange in a somewhat creepy way, yet at the same time that same strangeness contrasts greatly with when she is dead serious, and does add some hints at the complexity and depth to her personality and issues.

Erio’s characterization here does work out quite well considering her background, with her odd “alien” antics her way of running away from the uncertainty of her not having any memories. It is human nature to try and ignore or push away something that leaves a feeling of uncertainty or doubt, and especially so with Erio because she has no recollection of her memories. Makoto’s way of trying to break through to Erio was quite a feat, in my eyes, and was an awesome moment to behold in this episode.

To be honest, there are flaws to this series; the characters feel too one-dimensional at times, and the quirks to some characters don’t contribute to their characterizations much. However, the sense of serious complexity to some of the characters that are touched upon here are intriguing to see in action. The biggest points of interest here are how the dysfunctional relationship between Erio and Meme even came into existence, as well as the rather ambiguous pasts of the mother and daughter. Seeing the details behind them that lead up to where they are today is something I really want to see, and I hope this series does gradually elaborate on it.

Overall Enjoyment: 4.1/5

Edit: Oops, I forgot to mention the references in the episode itself. As Bookkid900 mentioned in the chat box, there was a To Aru Majutsu no Index reference, a Eureka seven reference, a Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo reference, and a ET reference. The “Shatter the illusion” line was from Index, while the “I can FLY!” line was from Eureka Seven, and the entire bike ride down the hill with the “jump time” reference was from Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo. The ET reference should be pretty obvious 😛

Screenshots are later in the post.