Kyou no Go no Ni, "Today in Class 5-2" - Discussion Thread

[Fencedude]

By the creator of Minami-ke, has an OVA from a few years back as well.

ANN Page (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=10167)
Official Site (http://www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/anime/5no2/)

Thoughts later...

Note
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[Suwako Moriya]

It seems based on the first episode, each episode will be divided into four short story segments. Some that will be stronger and weaker than other ones. In any case while watching it, one thing I took notice of is the occasional "lip" scenes. Yeah apparently they want us to think about kissing young girls or maybe it's just me.

The first period with Ryouta and Aihara was decent. Ah yes nothing like giving new mean to the put bloody finger in mouth scene. Too bad for Ryouta, it's just what Aihara needed to bite on.

The second period with the ball throwing contest and of course accidents caused by it was ok. I think the best part was at the end with the "Nice Kick, Nice Revenge" line. To be honest the third period dragged on a bit and the air guitar stuff was a bit silly. I don't really have much to say about it.

The fourth period takes a bit of time to build up, but after I finished it, I ended up liking it. Now if only I could walk under in an umbrella with two cute girls. Even with the possible issues that can come up.

The first episode shows the series has some potential, but may have a couple of kinks to works out. Regardless with cute girls like Chika, Natsumi, Yuki, Aihara, and a few others I need to become more familiar with the names of.

[pi8you]

God, that entire thing was Daaawww. Format's a bit wierd, but the segments were rather enjoyable nonetheless, and the reverse-SD bits completely sold me. Aihara and Chika are infinitely adorable.

[Fencedude]

Aww...that was very Minami-ke (for obvious reasons). It also reminded me a bit of Azumanga, in how it was set up.

Chika-chan and Aihara are win.

(also Ryouta's lucky, even if he doesn't quite get it yet...)

[Suwako Moriya]

Aww...that was very Minami-ke (for obvious reasons).

In some ways I'm tempted to watch this to hold myself over while waiting for more Minami-ke.

[something]

Episode 1:

- Well that's one cute OP.
- Hahaha, Aihara Kazumi and her highly amusing mechanical pencil clicking. This 'Mako' seiyuu of hers sure hasn't done much else. But amusing that she was the magical girl on the TV in Kannagi, which I just watched.
- And from amusing to disturbing in like 2 seconds flat. Oh lord.
- ...wow. That was sort of amazing. On to the next segment!
- You know, it's incredibly hard to take Ryota seriously when all I can hear (well, usually) is Shouko from Touka Gettan.
- Superball! And oh god, the faces, THE FACES!
- Yeah, I definitely like the girls in the class waaaaaaay more than the boys. Ryota was amsuing in part 1 but is annoying in the next two. Actually this whole air guitar thing is REALLY annoying, even though that's partly the point.
- Haruka... it's Akari! And of course I was just watching Aria last night. :sd:
- Heh, the umbrella bit was good. Natsume and Chika <3

As I suppose one would expect from characters this age, all the boys are incredibly irritating and I hate them all, and all the girls are totally awesome and I love them all. Just dunno if the bad half will ruin the show or not. There's definitely a chance they will.

Of the 8 I've watched from Fall so far this is way way at the bottom, though that hardly means it was bad. It's just the first I haven't come away from thinking "That was awesome!" It was just... okay, with lots of potential, but leaving me with minimal faith that it'll really tap into that potential.

Killing the male half of the classroom would be a start, though.

[Sly05]

Ugh, the animation really does look awful. Considering much (if not all) of the material in this episode was already covered in the much better animated OVAs, the low budget really is obvious. On a positive note, the umbrella short was cute and I like the voice work of the girls. Given the manga its based on is really short, I'm not quite sure where the series will go (original material I guess), but I'll stick around for atleast another episode or two.

[pathos]

hrm, I had no idea they were making a full series out of this. And yup, the animation looks really bad compared to the oav's. Not surprising, I suppose. The change in character designs was really unsettling. Of course, i never read all 2 volumes of the manga, so I can't compare which is closer.

I remember the tooth bit, the superball bit, and sort of vaguely the air guitar bit, but I don't remember the umbrella stuff at all.

I guess I'll stick around long enough to see if they'll go with the original theme of "ryouta gets in comprising themes with every girl in his class", or go off in a different direction.

[Draneor]

Quick question: how is the... fan service and innuendo? Did they tone it down any for TV? The level of the OVA was... outside my comfort zone, to be honest. Although I really, really like Minami-ke, 5-2 was well... ^^U

[something]

Quick question: how is the... fan service and innuendo? Did they tone it down any for TV? The level of the OVA was... outside my comfort zone, to be honest. Although I really, really like Minami-ke, 5-2 was well... ^^U
Pretty much none. Just some suggestive finger sucking that's far more hilarious than 'sexy'.

[HitokiriShadow]

First, the good: The latter portion of the pencil clicking scene was amusing, the accidental groin kick was pretty funny, as was Chika's role in the Guitar skit. The Umbrella part was pretty cute.

Now the bad: The rest was pretty fucking awful. I was two minutes in (excluding the OP) and it was only with great willpower that I resisted closing and deleting. At that point, it was just out of boredom (the humor at the point wasn't working well for me). The rest of the episode seemed to be trying to punish me for making it through the dull part my making a large chunk of the remainder downright painful. The art quality and style isn't doing the series any favors, especially after watching Magical Index.

Aihara and Natsumi are okay, but Chika is the show's saving grace for me. I may give this one more episode and see if it clicks or gets better, but this will be a really, really low priority.

Either way, I still plan to watch the OVAs eventually as I always have. At least the visuals should be decent there.

[Ty]

The problem with this show is it's competition. If it had aired in summer I think it would've been worth watching, but against a raft of awesome shows that are more or less direct competition 5-2's embarrassing ugly animation and average impact make it easy to pass on at the moment. I may hang around for episode two. I'm curious if xebec can make it look any cheaper. And before anybody takes me to task, I know shows like this don't exactly need great production values to be enteraining, but c'mon it looks like they weren't even trying.

[vtr9kvictor]

By the creator of Minami-ke, has an OVA from a few years back as well.

ANN Page (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=10167)
Official Site (http://www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/anime/5no2/)

Thoughts later...

Note
As usual, please try to follow these three easy forum courtesy habits when replying:
1) If you're the first person to post about an episode in any given week, please respond to the root post (this post) and indicate in the subject line which episode you're posting about.
2) If someone has already posted about an episode before you, please respond to that post (or a relevant reply to that post). Keep in the right subthread.
3) Don't use the blue "Post Reply" button because it causes your reply not to correctly inherit the subject line of the post you're replying to. Just click "Quote" to the post you want to reply to.


I saw some screencaps from the first episode, I have to say I think the new art style is inferior to the OAV. The character designs are nowhere near as good.

[Rhodes]

ditto, i have to agree. the ova designs are way better. is this based off a manga? if so which is more closer to the source? tv screams cheap to me, i could live with the cast changes but the designs just hurt the eyes.

[something]

Posting this under the subthread it should be in:
ditto, i have to agree. the ova designs are way better. is this based off a manga? if so which is more closer to the source? tv screams cheap to me, i could live with the cast changes but the designs just hurt the eyes.
Oddly, my problems with the show had nothing to do with the designs or animation, but it seems that's everyone elses' biggest complaint. Interesting... There were times the animation got too sketchy for me, and this show does noooooot do those weird faces as well as the "Bible Black" Minami-ke expressions, but on the whole I guess I had other complaints outweighing the designs. Like the horribly irritating boys.

[angelx03]

And to think, the animation production company who mostly did hentai did a much better job with the design work than Xebec! :relief:

[Suwako Moriya]

Oddly, my problems with the show had nothing to do with the designs or animation, but it seems that's everyone elses' biggest complaint.

Truth be told, I wasn't paying that much attention to the design or animation aspect myself. This is not to say I was impressed by both or either aspect. Rather it's to say I was more concerned with how the show itself was going to flow. My view of course remains the same. Possible potential, but a few or maybe I should say a lot of kinks to work out.

[Sly05]

ditto, i have to agree. the ova designs are way better. is this based off a manga? if so which is more closer to the source? tv screams cheap to me, i could live with the cast changes but the designs just hurt the eyes.
I thought the shorts covered in this episode were pretty much the same as what I remembered from the OVA and manga (mind you, it's been a while since I read the later). In regards to character design and level of fanservice, the OVA is closer to the manga.

[vtr9kvictor]

ditto, i have to agree. the ova designs are way better. is this based off a manga? if so which is more closer to the source? tv screams cheap to me, i could live with the cast changes but the designs just hurt the eyes.

Yes. It is based on a 4-panel style manga.

[pathos]

Oddly, my problems with the show had nothing to do with the designs or animation, but it seems that's everyone elses' biggest complaint. Interesting... There were times the animation got too sketchy for me, and this show does noooooot do those weird faces as well as the "Bible Black" Minami-ke expressions, but on the whole I guess I had other complaints outweighing the designs. Like the horribly irritating boys.

For the most part, since I'd seen the oav's already, I sort of knew what to expect story wise. Only thing left was execution and production values, really.

It's pretty much a given that the production values are gonna be lower with a full show as opposed to an oav, so it wasn't a real shock. But, I barely recognized Chika. A couple of the other girls, I wasn't sure which was which.

On a different note, from what I recall, the oav seemed to be about Ryota (wait, was that his name?), and the weird situtations he got himself into with the girls, each of them in turn. The other 2 guys were there, but I don't remember them being featured quite so much. Perhaps it was just their choice of which segments to animate? They certainly did not choose the first 4 of the oav segments, in order.

[Ashyukun]

Quick question: how is the... fan service and innuendo? Did they tone it down any for TV? The level of the OVA was... outside my comfort zone, to be honest. Although I really, really like Minami-ke, 5-2 was well... ^^U
This was exactly my problem... it's rare that I'll stop in the middle of something because of content, but the OVA is one of the rare cases where that happened.... which was why (combined with the horde of other shows that I was more interested in from the start) I didn't even bother grabbing this one when I noticed it was out.

[tenton]

Regardless with cute girls like Chika, Natsumi, Yuki, Aihara, and a few others I need to become more familiar with the names of.
I remember when I first watched the OAVs; it took a little bit to remember everyone's name.

Hmmm...I wonder why they chose to do a cover of ZONE's Secret Base as the ED (if you don't know who ZONE was, they used to be a "bandol" (an amalgamation of "band" and "idol"); a group of girls that also played musical instruments; the band name ENOZ from Haruhi is a parody of the name). It's okay, but I much prefer ZONE's version of it.

All in all, I like the OAVs character design much better; the TV lacks detail. And they replaced all the seiyuu...no Noto Mamiko in this one. :depressed: A bit of the fun is gone without the sexual innuendo (not so much the fanservice).

[Ty]

And to think, the animation production company who mostly did hentai did a much better job with the design work than Xebec! :relief:

Xebec has turned out more misses than hits for a while now in my eyes, so I can't say I'm too surprised.

[Suwako Moriya]

And they replaced all the seiyuu...no Noto Mamiko in this one. :depressed:

Hmm perhaps I should watch the OVA sometime later. It sounds like the main advantage the TV series might end up having is along the lines of say more episodes to show more segments. Then again how god or bad those new segments will be is up in the air.

[Zalis]

Quick question: how is the... fan service and innuendo? Did they tone it down any for TV? The level of the OVA was... outside my comfort zone, to be honest. Although I really, really like Minami-ke, 5-2 was well... ^^U
Pretty much none. Just some suggestive finger sucking that's far more hilarious than 'sexy'.Indeed, it's been greatly toned down, and I for one am disappointed. Not out of any particular love for 5th-grade girls, but because I liked the scandalous "this is so wrong" aspect of the OVA. After all, it was Today in Class 5-2 that gave rise to the "Skeeted on" segment of AMV Hell 4.

I definitely recommend the OVA, if you haven't seen it before, to anyone interested in the characters/story of this anime. Then again, you may want to wait until you see all of the TV series so it doesn't seem as disappointing in comparison.

[Suwako Moriya]

The fifth period has the girls trying to give an idea what a cat paw is like. Which includes ear grabbing, lip touching, cheek squeezing, butt touching, breast grabbing, and uh make of this what you will.

The sixth period mainly involved one of those "idiot never checks before closing the room, so we get into a fun situation" Not much to say beyond that other than Ryouta is evil.

All I will say about the seventh period is at least we got to see the girls in a half dressed state. However it's hard to say much beyond that.

The eighth period was fun for the whole "What's inside that bag" thing? Although a few of the items have left me wondering about certain characters. Why does that person have a chain anyway?

In any case the episode hasn't sold me on the series, but it hasn't scared me away either. Although just looking at images of the OVA makes me slightly sad. Maybe I should watch that after I finish this. Finally I'm not sure if this is a bad or good sign, but I still have yet to be able to memorize who is who.

[Suwako Moriya]

Period 9 is focused on collarbones which makes a for a strange scenario. He was staring at them. Period 10 essentially had stuff happen in a library. Yeah they could have just used a chair... Period 11 involved taking a survey regarding skirt lifting. Some of the answers are more interesting than others. Period 12 involves leaving a skirt in the open to see how people would react.

So far this series has what I'd like to call a "Just there" feeling. It's not bad enough to scare me, but not good enough lure me in. It's almost like I'm mainly watching it so I can how things change between the OVA and TV series. Although the latter is going to have make multiple new segments.

Oh yes I actually have skimmed a bit of the OVA and it's clear that the TV is slightly less perverted. Hint: In one you see the panties and the other you don't..

[Fencedude]

Much better than episode 1 all around. Ryouta getting his butt kicked by the girls is perfectly fine by me.

[Fencedude]

Collarbones and Lifting were the best.

Aihara continues to be the best character.

[tenton]

Ah, episode 4 features yet another cover of a Zone song (this time it's Daibakuhatsu No. 1). I wonder how many more covers they're going to do?

[something]

Episode 2:

- Yuuki just got earsexxed. The girls in this class are so damn awesome.
- Wahaha, Yuuki and Chika totally molest each other. XD Nekomimi Kazumi!
- Now for Natsumi, who beats all the boys in soccer. Oh god, Asumi Kana!
- Hm, locked in the storage shed? Too bad she's not with Kazumi instead.
- ::looks:: Weird, my first four comments were all exactly 72 characters long including spaces and punctuation...
- Wahahah, divine retribution for Ryouta for scaring Natsumi =P
- Kazumi is a genius! Master of air flow dynamics!
- Pudding! The girls are entranced by Megumi's "assets". :sd:
- Man they've definitely upped the fanservice... but it's still within my comfort level so I can't say I mind. It's just cute. :sd: Ryouta paid dearly for his glimpse at a young boy's paradise.
- "What honest eyes..." Hah! And now a sudden inspection!
- Hahah what the hell? I was wondering how long the pudding bit would go on. :sd:
- And she was wearing them... Hah.

This episode was actually kind of awesome. The boys were a lot less annoying, the service was... kinda nice, and the comedy was way more spot on. I actually think the animation was better too. Not that I thought it was as bad as people were saying in the first place either, mind you.

[something]

Episode 3:

- Collarbones? Heh, Ryouta just sorta makes something up and now he's stuck pretending to be the expert.
- Also, Yuuki vs Kazumi deathmatch dodgeball!
- Second skit was okay, mostly for Chika falling on top of Kazumi.
- And you know, this girl ::checks for name:: Takana Haruka, is totally Akari =D Hazuki Erino!
- A survey on when skirt lifters are no longer acceptable?
- The girls got Natsume to try on a skirt? Aw, they should let us see too.
- Heh! The girls spying on Kouji to see what he does with the skirt is quite amusing.
- It's ten times better when they do it to Ryouta. Chika is so wonderfully devious.

Not as good as episode two, but still quite good. I can't decide who I like best out of Kazumi, Chika and Yuuki.

[something]

Episode 4:

- Pool time with the first skit. Ryouta is scared of washing out his eyes in the faucets after swimming, stuff happens, Yuuki falls into the pool after changing and forces Ryouta to give her his clothes until hers dry.
- Haha oh man, next up is naughty food time. Megumi is covered in milk. Yuuki in creamy soup.
- Why is Megumi topless? Don't Japanese students have like 16 different sets of clothes they bring to school? =P Anime always makes it seem that way.
- Hah, they assault Natsumi and take her shirt and pants so they can go to the teachers' lounge when called.
- And as Ryouta comes into the nurses office to apologize, she's mostly naked under the sheets... This, of course, does not end well.
- Next skit, top vs bottom! Except they're talking about where you grab the shirt in order to take it off. And of course this turns into more very bad misunderstandings with Yuuki for Ryouta. Hahah I love Yuuki.
- Lots of Chika/Ryouta stuff in the last bit. It's kinda cute.

This one was about on par with ep three, maybe slightly better. Hope we get more of ep 2's level, that was seriously awesome.

[Fencedude]

This one was about on pat with ep three, maybe slightly better. Hope we get more of ep 2's level, that was seriously awesome.

Episode 2 was definitely the best, but I thought 3 and 4 had their moments.

From teh preview it seems teh first skit of episode 5 will focus on Aihara, which means it should be concentrated AWESOME.

[Suwako Moriya]

Lots of Chika/Ryouta stuff in the last bit. It's kinda cute..

Ah yes that moment was kind of nice even if it had to end with a head collision scene. Ah well. In any case I wonder if anyone here noticed the ending animation and song changed in this episode.

[Suwako Moriya]

I'll let someone else summarize all the skits, but I will say this much. Yes because of Aihara the first skit was awesome. Especially once Chika and Aihara got into a tickle challenge. Is it bad that I am now going to consider tickling between girls a form of foreplay?

[something]

Episode 5:

- Story 17: Weird, all the lines around the characters feel kinda... blurry, or something. Art went strange here.
- You know, watching them try to make Kazumi laugh is quite amusing, but I think my favorite part of this skit is Chika just sitting there fanning herself disintestedly.
- She sees right through the card trick. XDDDDD
- ...holy shit. That was the kinkiest tickle fight ever. AWESOME.
- New rule. Every skit must involve Kazumi and Chika ticklefighting.
- Story 18: Next skit was odd. :sd: I'm not sure I want to know what happened under that blanket.
- Story 19: Huh, pretty sure I've never seen that cape-like thing that they change into their swimsuits under in anime before. Also, Yuuki is talented! <3 Megumi not so much.
- Story 19.5: Guy's version of the above, so, er, yeah...

Not the best way to end the ep but the rest of it was awesome. I doubt they'll ever top that epic tickle fight. <3

Post-ED:
- Looks like this release of the ep has errors so I can't really watch the scene, but it involved Yuuki slapping Chika on the ass so it's good by default.

[Suwako Moriya]

New rule. Every skit must involve Kazumi and Chika ticklefighting.

I approve of this rule and vote to have it made into law.

Looks like this release of the ep has errors so I can't really watch the scene, but it involved Yuuki slapping Chika on the ass so it's good by default.

Ah so it wasn't just me then.

[something]

Ah so it wasn't just me then.
Nope, it was pretty much everyone. Oh well, at least it didn't happen during the tickle fight. Then I'd be mad.

[Shinmaru]

- ...holy shit. That was the kinkiest tickle fight ever. AWESOME.

Yeah, I think this is the first time the series has actually pushed the line further than the OVA. At least, I don't remember the tickle fight being quite that, er, charged, haha.

I think the series is slowly getting better -- it seems to have found its own voice now, which is good. Complete retreads of the OVA's stories are not the way to go, since the TV series' production values will almost always render them inferior, so spicing them up by telling them in a different way is definitely the way to go. And, of course, the more new skits, the better.

[Suwako Moriya]

So in our first period we have a sleeping Ryouta and attempts to wake him up. Nothing like Kazumi writing down notes as they try various things. Which includes comparing ear biting to finger biting. She also notes how stupid he is. She actually tricked him into thinking the guys pulled his ear and ran off.

The second period has them playing outside. It starts to rain and everyone, but Ryouta fails to find shelter. He seems upset at first, but then starts playing around. Eventually the others join him. Chika of course makes sure to provide us with a chance to see in a ponytail. Also it would seem that Kazumi notices Natsumi's stomach or maybe I'm reading too much into things. Also Megumi is a Panda, no a new species!

The third period is mostly about playing rock-paper-scissors in order to determine who fans who. Either the others are really good at it or Ryouta is really bad it. Okay probably a bit of both, but ah well. I'm not sure what to think about the moment near the end with Chika. It was expected, but I think this show works better when the joke doesn't involve one of the girls getting angry at Ryouta.

The fourth period has girls in Yukatas. With Ryouta being tricked by Kouji into believing that the girls are not wearing any underwear under the Yukata. Which leads to him doing all sorts of things to protect Chika. It's nice how what could have turned into a Chika rage moment actually ended up being a nice and sort subtle way of promoting the Chika/Ryouta.


Given the scenes involved it might be just for this episode only, but both the song and animation change once more. The song takes a short bit of time to build up and then becomes interesting. A rather nice song over all.

[Sly05]

I thought the rain short was the best of the lot with the period about Ryouta sleeping falling in as a close second. A lot of Aihara in this episode which is always a good thing. I liked how she blame the boys for waking up Ryouta and managed to steal his shelter during the rainstorm. The rock-paper-scissors bit was a little repetitive, but I did enjoy the festival. The special fireworks ending was a nice touch.

[something]

Episode 6:

- Kazumi! Yuuki! <3 <3 <3
- "I'll bite him." ::Feels better than fingers:: Ryouta observation diary!
- HAHAH Kazumi throws the boys under the bus XD
- [[Goddamnit same technical problems with this ep as ep 5. What the fuck is going on here?]]
- Oh I love Natsumi. All the girls in this class are amazing.
- Let's play in the mud! But... what the hell is up with Kazumi? [Edit: Oh! I just remembered... the last time she saw a dodgeball, it was smashed into her gut by Yuuki. :sd:]
- Hidaka Megumi, a new species!
- Every time Haruka speaks it makes me happy. Akariiiiii!!!
- Hah, Ryouta even lost going second at janken XD
- Chika... does that count as rock? :sd:
- Yukata time! Chika looks the best, I think. Or maybe Yuuki. They're all really cute though.
- Oh god, a blushing Chika is fine too. I also love how Kouji messes with Ryouta's head.
- Of course the romance can't last, because this is Ryouta we're talking about. :sd:

Too bad the ep turned into a slideshow when the ED started (goddamnit get a competent encoder, guys) but this was a really good episode.

[tenton]

Given the scenes involved it might be just for this episode only, but both the song and animation change once more. The song takes a short bit of time to build up and then becomes interesting. A rather nice song over all.
Well, this is actually the third ED song.

With two Zone covers already done, I was fully expecting another Zone cover; with a summer festival with yukatas, I was expecting H-A-N-A-B-I. Instead we got a cover of Whiteberry's Natsu Matsuri. We're getting all cover songs for the EDs, methinks. :beatingheart:

[Suwako Moriya]

In the episode's first period, Ryouta repeatedly challenges Natsumi and loses each time. The guys feel it's pointless. Ryouta makes one final challenge to Natsumi. A challenge where he wins. The challenge ended up being embroidery. I'm not even sure what I should be saying to that, other than "Yeah I should have figured it would be something like that"

In the second period the guys are playing water pistols and water in general. They form two teams and depending on how you look at it, both either tie or lose. Why? Because the girls get hit in the crossfire, they decide to arm themselves, and then have revenge.

The main thing to say about the third period is they're at a bookstore. I don't really have much to say beyond that. Other than it was cute seeing Megumi wonder which book to buy.

In the fourth period we have Yuki and Ryouta going through special training for the sake of a three legged race. Although it's clear that Ryouta is more into the training than Yuki is. The end result is after all that they still lose.

Ah it looks like we're getting another ending animation and song. It's kind of nice when companies are willing to vary things a bit.

[HitokiriShadow]

Between dropping other series, finishing my DVD backlog, and hearing that subsequent episodes of this series got better, I decided to give it another go.

It was definitely better than the first episode. It's not great and some of the gags seem like they should be funnier than they actually are, but it was fun and the boys were not obnoxious at all, which means they are 1000x better than they were in the first episode.

I'm certainly willing to continue after that.

[HitokiriShadow]

I loved Aihara's non-answer to the skirt question. Natsumi's "I never wore skirts but I used to lift them myself" response was also great.

You know you live in a fucked up country when claiming you never lifted girls' skirts makes you the odd man out.

I'm pretty sure Chika is my favorite of the girls, but Aihara makes a good effort too.

[Fencedude]

I loved Aihara's non-answer to the skirt question. Natsumi's "I never wore skirts but I used to lift them myself" response was also great.



I spent most of episode 1 trying to figure out of Natsumi was a boy or girl, problem with elementary school students is that a short haired girl in shorts and a t-shirt...looks like a boy. Especially considering that Tsubasa looks and sounds more like a girl than she does.

[something]

Episode 7:

- I love Natsumi, always beating the boys and all. =D She's invincible!
- She also can't seem to go an episode without almost losing her shirt. :sd:
- Ryouta really needs to give up.
- Sewing... I think the boys would rather have lost. :sd:
- Just as I was about to complain about having no girls in the second segment... KILL EM! =D
- Massacre! XD I love Kazumi and her grenades. Awesome eyecatch too.
- Megumi is into manga. But which to choose!?
- Heh, leave it to Tsubasa to get the boys to realize it's silly to worry about labels. Suddenly the character designs went weird in this skit though.
- Read and trade!
- Lol three legged race. Yuuki gets stuck with Ryouta...
- Oh god, poor Yuuki. This has to be traumatic. How is she not bashing his skull in yet? :sd:
- Hah I love the eventual punchline. :sd:

Good ep, and a nice ED too!

[Suwako Moriya]

She also can't seem to go an episode without almost losing her shirt. :sd:

I'm tempted to say "Almost isn't good enough", but because of her age I'm afraid to.

Sewing... I think the boys would rather have lost. :sd:

Perhaps, but a victory is still a victory, even if it does bring to mind a ton of questions.

Oh god, poor Yuuki. This has to be traumatic. How is she not bashing his skull in yet? :sd:

Awesome self control skills? Waiting for the right time to have revenge?

[HitokiriShadow]

I recall the girls getting naked while changing in the classroom a few episodes ago when Ryouta stumbled in on them, yet now they are getting all need blanket things to change in the locker room?



Post-ED:
- Looks like this release of the ep has errors so I can't really watch the scene, but it involved Yuuki slapping Chika on the ass so it's good by default.

:sd: So this series is doing that too? I had no idea until now. ... I'm getting really annoyed with this practice and it seems like more and more shows are doing it.

[Fencedude]

Post-ED:
- Looks like this release of the ep has errors so I can't really watch the scene, but it involved Yuuki slapping Chika on the ass so it's good by default.

:sd: So this series is doing that too? I had no idea until now. ... I'm getting really annoyed with this practice and it seems like more and more shows are doing it.

...slowing down or having girls slapping each other's asses?

[HitokiriShadow]

...slowing down or having girls slapping each other's asses?

Post-ED sequences. I guess I should have made that more clear. Girls slapping each others' assess is always a good thing. Glitchy episodes is always a bad thing.

[Sly05]

This episode managed to hit a lot of good notes. One of the best episodes so far for sure. The series isn't shying away from the fanservice anymore either with a bunch of the girls undressing to weigh themselves. The best part of the episode was Ryouta checking himself to see if drinking milk had made him grow man boobs... and then declaring he wouldn't lose to Chika in bust size.

[something]

Episode 8:

- You know, every time in the OP where we first see Chika and Ryouta in the snow, I immediately think it's Kazumi, until they go close up and you see it's Chika.
- 28, Scale - I skimmed through the OVAs recently to see what the designs and all were like (actually prefer the TV series, easily), so I already caught most of this skit.
- Hah, good job totally blurting everything out without thinking, Yuuki. Poor Megumi.
- I love the odd shift in art style when Kazumi grabs Yuuki's "flab".
- And oh man they really spent too long on Ryouta's nasty stomach noises.
- So Megumi comes in to weigh herself and now that the scale is properly adjusted, she's happy. Then all the other girls come in to weigh and... get totally naked. o_O haha what the heck? Megumi held back a little but these girls are taking it all off. :sd:
- 29, Hunger - Megumi gained for real, and Kazumi is having fun measuring which food she mentions gets the biggest withdrawal reaction from Megumi. :sd:
- Then she investigates whether pain, tickling, or yuri can stop hunger. All failure unfortunately.
- XD Megumi is pregnant! Kazumi is completely amazing.
- 30, Height Comparison - Chika grew! Also, it's not an episode of 5-2 without Natsumi's non-breasts almost flashing everyone, so they make sure to fill that quota here.
- <3 Yuuki.
- Ryouta is concerned he might be shorter than Chika now. They decide to compare.
- He wins, barely, but they then compare leg length instead, where Chika crushes him. Now his total height victory feels like a hollow victory.
- Chika breast press...
- 31, Milk - Natsumi drinks like 10 milk boxes. She's going to puke her brains out.
- Haha, Natsumi is awesome. She's already had a dozen plus servings of milk, when Ryouta challenges her (thinking she's doing it to get taller). Chika protests it's not fair for him to come in clean after Natsumi drank so much, but Natsumi juts says "I have to give Satou-kun some kind of handicap, don't I?" <3 <3
- Nekomimi Kazumi <3
- It's an overwhelming victory for Natsumi of course.
- Hah, of course she didnt know milk was supposed to make you taller... she does it for the boobs XD
- Wow that got odd at the end.

Awesome ep, and I really love this ED too <3

[Suwako Moriya]

28, Scale - I skimmed through the OVAs recently to see what the designs and all were like (actually prefer the TV series, easily), so I already caught most of this skit.

Hmm it's a tough call for me. By the time the TV series started it had been awhile since I watched the OVA. However I had enough memory of the OVA designs to find the TV version jarring at first. However now that I've seen eight episodes of the TV series I've grown used to the TV designs.Thus now the OVA version feels a bit jarring. Thinking about it a bit more while watching the OVA version, I'm going to ultimately give the edge to the TV series version for now.

Megumi held back a little but these girls are taking it all off. :sd:

Speaking of which, it's stuff like this makes me conflicted about the the TV vs OVA. Sometimes the TV holding back works in the favor of the scene and other times it well just doesn't. In other words my question is. What happened to you Megumi? Regardless it's in some ways a trade-off. And the more (re-)watch of the OVA the less weight the statement "The OVA was better" holds for me. I guess that's the best way to put it.

XD Megumi is pregnant! Kazumi is completely amazing.

Poor Megumi, but she should feel honored that Kazumi interacted with her.

Chika breast press...

Yet another reason why this show makes me feel wrong sometimes.

Hah, of course she didnt know milk was supposed to make you taller... she does it for the boobs XD

Clearly Natsumi wants to be ready when she goes past the almost stage of flashing.

Awesome ep, and I really love this ED too <3

The endings in general have been fun and this episode is proof that the series has found itself. Now it's just a matter of waiting for the next episode.

[HitokiriShadow]

Natsumi, the manliest kid in the class, is the absolute last person I would have expected to use breast enhancement techniques. It was less surprising to find out it was a for a completely ridiculous reason.

And for once Ryouta got a nice view of the girls without getting a fist to face or otherwise rewarded with pain and suffering.

But I think the best part was Aihara researching poor Megumi's hunger.

[Fencedude]

Natsumi, the manliest kid in the class, is the absolute last person I would have expected to use breast enhancement techniques. It was less surprising to find out it was a for a completely ridiculous reason.


Ya know? I was figuring it'd be the opposite, she was doing it for height but Ryouta thought she was doing it for boobs.

The guys in this are pretty pathetic when it comes to the girls though, but I guess thats what 5th grade boys are like...

Speaking of which, I think it'd be really cool to follow this same group into middle and then high school. Do a series set in say, their second year of middle school, and then one set in their 3rd year of high school.

You could make an interesting series out of that, I'd think.

[Suwako Moriya]

Speaking of which, I think it'd be really cool to follow this same group into middle and then high school. Do a series set in say, their second year of middle school, and then one set in their 3rd year of high school.

If only there was a way you could convince the powers that be to make such a thing a reality. Seriously if they were ever to do a second and third season, jumping forward in the timeline would be the best way to handle it.

[Suwako Moriya]

All right I recently finished watching the OVA version of Class 5-2. Truth be told, I can't remember if I watched all of it the first time. So it's probably a mixture of re-watch and first time watch. In any case, I've seen all four episodes of the OVA and eight episodes of the TV version. The remaining episodes of the TV version could positively or negatively effect my view it. However going based solely what I've seen so far, I have to say the following.

TV>>>>>>>>OVA. Granted yes the TV version takes a bit of time to find itself, but once it does find itself it truly starts to shine. Some of the segments in the TV series have worked out better. I've grown to prefer the TV series designs. Plus having more episodes means more time spent with the cast. So that helps as well.

Also I'll be honest here. Sometimes holding back is actually a good thing. Yes there are occasional jokes that don't work as well if you hold back. That much is true. However the OVA seemed to reach the point of having shots of panties just for the sake of having shots of the panties. I mean seriously, it actually got pathetic after awhile.

In the end I think the main reason the OVA seemed better at first was simple. I was still getting used to the TV version. I was relying on vague memory of the OVA. Finally I fooled myself into thinking "holding back=always bad". I got used to the TV version. I refreshed myself on the OVA. I was reminded that there are benefits to holding back. Thus why I ended up concluding the TV version is better.

[something]

Episode 9:

- 32, Typhoon - Yuuki, Chika and Megumi realize the downsides of skirts.
- The boys are excited about the prospect of getting out of school early, and win ove rthe girls one by one regarding the wonderfulness of typhoons. Except for Chika.
- But it changes course and their dreams are shattered. They all start calling out to it by various names (like we name our Hurricanes), but it's too late.
- 33, Fashion - After going to a beauty parlor and getting some new clothes, Yuuki designates herself 5-2's fashion leader. She even decides to try and enlighten the boys.
- They have no idea that her hair or clothes changed. :sd: Neither did Natsumi, of course.
- She stands there flipping her hair and posing, trying to get compliments, but of course Tsubasa and Ryouta totally don't get it. I like how they can communicate via telepathy.
- ...I love Yuuki.
- 34, Dozing off - The summer heat makes everyone sleepy. The tiredness spreads from one to the other, from Ryouta to Chika to Megumi to Natsumi to Yuuki to Kazumi, finally.
- While playing volleyball or something in the playground Kazumi dozes off and falls, hurting her ankle. After tracing the drowsiness to the original carrier, Ryouta, the group decides to make him carry Kazumi back to her house.
- She starts sleep talking on his back, punningly dreaming about a bald Ryouta. She starts wiggling all over him trying to get infected with sleepiness again so she can continue the dream, but Chika gets jealous~~~
- Kazumi is awesome. XD
- 35, Eating - Cooking time, and the group is Ryouta, Kouji, Yuuki and Megumi. The guys write Yuuki off as useless, but lo and behold she's quite the expert cook.
- Well, at first. She starts adding some really bizarre things to the rice and miso...
- The final product is a disaster, but Kouji mans up and downs it all, and tells Yuuki she's a great cook. Awwwww, her blushing is just way beyond cute. Of course, Ryouta tries it next, and collapses. :sd:

Good ep~

[Fencedude]

Kazumi and Yuuki are still the best characters in the show.

[something]

Kazumi and Yuuki are still the best characters in the show.
Agreed, though it's close. Natsumi and Chika in particular amuse me.

Wait, holy crap I just realized. We didn't get any "near-flashes" from Natsumi in this episode. When's the last time THAT happened?

[Suwako Moriya]

The first part taught me about how important Typhoons can be. So many things they can be useful for. So many ways they can effect things. I especially like how near the end they started calling it by names. They even used Chiaki. The part with twin-tailed Chika near the end was fun.

The second part reminded me that Chika has some nice shorts. Err I'm leaving it at that. Yuki had a rather nice outfit on which made her cute. Hah I'm speaking almost as if she's never cute. Which is wrong of me because she always is. This segment was long enough to be fun, but short enough to not wear out its welcome. Although I wouldn't mind pausing in order to study.

The third part took a bit of time to build up, but the real fun was near the end when Ryouta carried Kazumi on his back. So the girl wants to be infected again in order to continue her dream? Chika gets to have what is clearly a jealous moment. Go figure on that one, but then again carrying Kazumi on your back must be nice.

So the fourth part is all about Yuki's cooking skills? At first she seemed rather impressive, but then she just had to go ahead and destroy the illusion. She seems to suffer from the "I'll add whatever I feel like adding" syndrome which can sometimes result in just adding everything....

[Suwako Moriya]

Kazumi and Yuuki are still the best characters in the show.Agreed, though it's close. Natsumi and Chika in particular amuse me.

I'm too lazy and indecisive to order them. So for now, I'll just say that all four of them definitely have their moments. Although there is something special about Kazumi.

Wait, holy crap I just realized. We didn't get any "near-flashes" from Natsumi in this episode. When's the last time THAT happened?

Ah of course, I knew the episode was lacking in a certain regard. Now I have the answer to what that was.

[Suwako Moriya]

In the first period has several characters are "cold". However Natsume is warm. This leads to the girls touching her in order to steal her body warmth. Lots more touching happens. Touching that leads to certain thoughts. Near the end Ryouta becomes a victim. Who by the way gets "defeated" by Kazumi. She wins!

The second period has a various characters talking about cures. This leads into Yuki suggesting a kiss from a princess to cure Ryouta's eye problem. In the end he gets punched for saying the wrong thing to Chika and that err cures him. Thus a new legend is born.

In the third period, the characters are put in a fairy tale setting. Prince Ryouta must kiss the princess in order to remove his curse. You also get Kazumi the narrating fairy, wolf Natsumi, witch Yuuki, lady of the lake Megumi, and Princess Chika. Of course even in this setting Ryouta screws up with Chika. Near the end we find this tale was being told to Yuuki by Kazumi.

In the fourth period, we have Natsumi apparently saddened by a story. A story which has a girl talking about how she'll die when the last leaf falls. It just so happens that Natsume is being comforted by Yuuki and Chika directly under a tree with one leaf left. Yeah go figure on that one. Still things work out for the best and she becomes happy again. On a side note her outfit is not one I'm using to her wearing.

The ending seems to have changed with this episode. That being said the preview is kind of fun. There's going to be a period focused on hairstyles! I'm not sure how many will end up being references, but I can definitely recognize who Chika is referencing.

[something]

Episode 10:

- Everyone wants to touch Natsume! ...Where the heck does that one girl think she's putting her hands? o_O
- And Ryouta the killjoy comes in and tries to ruin all their fun. Boo!
- Bwhahaha, Kazumi! Takes Ryouta down in his moment of perceived triumph and then mimics the weird sound he made.
- Kisses or punches? Modern medical treatment! When they talked about Kazumi doing the kissing, all I could imagine was her eating his eye straight out of his face.
- Kazumi fairy! Natsumi wolf! Meganekko of the lake! Evil withch Yuuki! Princess Chika!
- Awwwwwww. Damn that last bit with Natsumi and the leaf was really sweet...

Oh man I can't wait for the alternate hairstyle skit.

[Suwako Moriya]

In the first period the girls are in the Health Room and they're measuring each other. Sadly for Ryouta, around the time they're measuring Natsume, he picks then to go to see the Nurse. He tries again later, but has the same general bad timing... The segment was decent until it started relied on the "Guy with bad luck + Girls being careless" scenario near the end.

The second period mainly deals with a lost duck, who apparently is called Kobayashi. At the very least that's the name it responds to when Kazumi calls for it. They suspect it got separated from the flock, but have trouble getting it to notice the flock. Then they have trouble getting the attention of the flock. When they finally decide they'll take of Kobayashi, he decides at that moment to fly away.

The third period is fun with hairstyles. Kazumi comes in with short twin tails. This inspires the other girls to change their hairstyle. Save for Natsume, who seems to stick with her original style. Kazumi eventually goes back to her original style and reveals she only changed it because of a heat rash on her neck.

The fourth period involves playing around with ice. Mainly the guys being silly with it. Ryouta just has to drop ice down Chika's back, but Kazumi makes sure to drop ice down his back. Also later despite her supposed negative view of it, Chika herself tries to break up some ice. However she injures her foot and ends up forcing Ryouta to carry her.

Ah, Chika, your words and eventual actions making an interesting contradiction sometimes. Perhaps a good example of this can be found in the episode with the Typhoon. All those complaints and she ends up sad that "Virginia" let her down.

[something]

Episode 11:

- ::random comment:: I love the shot in the OP of Megumi and Yuuki arm in arm, spinning around happily.
- Hahah, the school nurse leaves while Megumi gets sexually assaulted.
- Clearly, all grade school girls hold each other down and measure non-existent breasts!
- Wait, since when is Natsumi shy about showing her chest? :sd: I guess it's only okay when she's doing physical activity.
- "Kobayashi." Kazumi is love.
- I really like the bit with all the kids on the jungle gym quacking at the ducks passing overhead.
- Oh yeah, this ep had hairstyle fun! Yes!
- Kazumi looks really cute, although now she basically looks just like Haruka.
- But (self-declared) fashion queen Yuuki can't give up her throne!
- Lol Kouji and his dramatic talk of the 5-2 Hairstyle Revolution!
- All the other girls join in! Well, except Natsumi.
- ...And after a week they've all gone overboard. It's like the nuclear arms race! I kinda like Megumi with crazy hair, though we don't get a good shot on it.
- BWAHHAAH KOUJI! XD!
- Oh ice. Kazumi avenges Chika!
- Hah, curling! And Natsumi on top of Chika...
- One thighhigh version Chika!
- And I still love these EDs.

This is such a nice, fun, sweet little show. Wish it wasn't almost over!

[Suwako Moriya]

Wait, since when is Natsumi shy about showing her chest? :sd: I guess it's only okay when she's doing physical activity.

My theory is that perhaps when she's playing she's not paying attention to what's happening. Hence why it may not bother her as much. Where as in this case the situation is quite clear and she has to notice.

"Kobayashi." Kazumi is love.

Kazumi is far beyond mere love. Also the whole Kobayashi stuff was certainly interesting in its own way.

All the other girls join in! Well, except Natsumi.

The fact she never changed her hair made her stand out the most for some reason.

One thighhigh version Chika!

That gets my approval quite easily.

And I still love these EDs.

They're definitely a nice touch for the series and give a good reason to not skip over them.

This is such a nice, fun, sweet little show. Wish it wasn't almost over!

True, it took a few episodes to find itself, but once it did the show became awesome. For the most part anyway.

[something]

All the other girls join in! Well, except Natsumi.The fact she never changed her hair made her stand out the most for some reason.
The best part about that is since Kazumi and Natsumi were out of the running and they needed more than just three girls to do hairstyle fun on, we got more Haruka in this episode than usual. Had to pull in another girl after all.

(Still amazed at how few roles Hazuki Erino has done).

[Suwako Moriya]

The best part about that is since Kazumi and Natsumi were out of the running and they needed more than just three girls to do hairstyle fun on, we got more Haruka in this episode than usual. Had to pull in another girl after all.

Heh, the way I'm reading this it gives the impression that Haruka might be the type of character who only really gets decent screen time when they need an an extra character to use. So for her sake more situations like this might need to come up. Actually I have to admit I forgot she existed.:sweat:

[something]

Episode 12:

- 44, Roasted Sweet Potato (Yakiimo) - After struggling with who should take the biggest one, someone farts, and drama ensues. :sd:
- 45, Grinding Noises? (kon-kon) - Obligatory Natsumi almost-flashing. Virgina has forsaken them, but now it's time for snow! I'm not sure why Natsumi thought buruma was proper snowball fight apparel...
- The girls spontaneously start singing. And suddenly, it's cats and dogs vs foxes.
- 46, Lottery - All I have to say is, let Megumi have her cake! Leave her alone! (Oh and Yuuki groping Kazumi)
- 47, Munchmunch (ama-ama) - Hah, the first stand-out bit of the episode. The look on Natsumi's face when she realizes the mistake she almost made was great. So too when she sees Ryouta fall for it. And again with Chika taking Ryouta down before he can comment on her cookies. XD
- Kouji is a real man! Hah, smiling Yuuki is worth all the terrible cookies in the world.
- Oh wow, suddenly so serious. And... their first kiss? I think that's the most muted reaction to a first kiss that I've ever seen.
- They're also pushing harder to pair up Yuuki and Kouji. Chika and Ryouta were obvious but it's interesting to see the other pair.
- 48, Merry Christmas - Haha oh wow, suddenly, English! And not even Engrish, but actual English. I'm sure someone else can point out who the actual singer is, but I hate Christmas music so I have no idea. Cute scenes though.

Pretty good episode overall. Not much in the way of laugh out loud moments, but it was all solid.

Next up, last episode! ;_; And it's all one segment. Should be good.

[Suwako Moriya]

All I have to say is, let Megumi have her cake! Leave her alone! (Oh and Yuuki groping Kazumi)

Megumi deserves to have her cake and eat it too. As for Yuuki groping Kazumi, I'm not sure what I want to say about it. Still it's a moment that stands out.

They're also pushing harder to pair up Yuuki and Kouji. Chika and Ryouta were obvious but it's interesting to see the other pair.

Now it's just a matter of whether or not Kouji will survive long enough to propose to Yuuki and marry her. Then again maybe then her cooking will be better.

Next up, last episode! ;_; And it's all one segment. Should be good.

A single segment for the last episode is interesting because it makes it feel extra important.

[HitokiriShadow]

I'm liking the Yuuki x Kouji pairing. The poor guy does his best to make her happy by eating her food but its clear that its genocide on his taste buds.

I always love these little cute, touching scenes with Chika and Ryouta. They had their first kiss and... it was oddly subdued.

The end scene with all the gifts was very nice, a combination of cute and amusing. The Chika x Ryouta part was just cute but then you had Megumi indulging in her giant cake with the face of the scale taped over and Aihara's Santa Observation Diary.

[something]

Episode 13:

- 48, Yubikiri - Ryouta, in a dream, suddenly remembers an event from his past where he and Chika promised to get married when they were older. Oops.
- lol Kouji, you cheat. Kazumi is wonderful as always.
- And in comes Chika, bubbly and happy to the extreme, saying she remembered a happy dream from her past. Ryouta assumes she had the same dream. Most hijinx ensue, and the more they extend the "Ryouta can't hear what the girls are gossiping about" stuff, the more I'm convinced Chika remembered something completely different.
- Oh jeeze, this is getting serious... well, for this show. Chika catches Ryouta in a compromising situation with Kazumi!
- Eyecatch has kindergarten Chika, current Chika, and then...! Older Chika looks kinda like Haruka from Minami-ke. (Well, no surprise really)
- Hahaha. Yeah. Chika was thinking of something QUITE different. Not when they promised to marry, but when Ryouta wet the bed and Chika cheered him up. So when Kazumi asked him "even now?" and Ryouta replied affirmatively, well... HAH. Oh god, I actually feel sorry for him. I bet Kazumi told everyone XD
- Things get a bit awkward. Not sure *exactly* what the deal is, but I guess Ryouta is depressed that Chika broke the promise, that Kazumi got the wrong idea, and that he was worrying over the marriage yubikiri for nothing. Chika is sort of avoiding him too because of the whole situation.
- Attempts to cheer him up are hilarious though. Megumi even gives up her pudding! But to no avail.
- But it's okay because they make up in the end and so on and so forth.

The end! Kazumi eating pencils! Haruka rendered speechless by Megumi's bust! Natsumi in a skirt!! Kazumi x Ryouta x Chika stuff! Snow! ...Damn, Natsumi totally won the end.

Well, it's over. It was fun, very fun, and improved exponentially over its first impression. That's all that really needs to be said.

[HitokiriShadow]

Oh, pigtails girl finally got her second line (or is third?) in the series. And we finally have a name for her (Haruka) or at least the first time I noticed it. She's appeared in all or most of the ED sequences but she never did much.

I liked the focus on the Chika x Ryouta stuff. I always found it pretty cute so using that as the focal point for the finale was nice.

But this encoder fails so hard with ED sequences.

[something]

Oh, pigtails girl finally got her second line (or is third?) in the series. And we finally have a name for her (Haruka) or at least the first time I noticed it. She's appeared in all or most of the ED sequences but she never did much.
She's been in a few more scenes than that, but never enough. Every time she speaks I want to watch Aria.

But this encoder fails so hard with ED sequences.
Tell me about it. I was reduced to the humiliating experience of catching the end on YT. :sd:

[Sly05]

Tell me about it. I was reduced to the humiliating experience of catching the end on YT. :sd:
I'm glad to read I'm not the only one with the problem. The ED sequences never seemed to play properly for me. I was worrying the problem was with my computer.

[HitokiriShadow]

She's been in a few more scenes than that, but never enough. Every time she speaks I want to watch Aria.


She appeared a number of times, but usually in the background without any lines at all. But yeah, I really wanted to see more of her. She was really cute in one of the EDs, when she was, I think, sweeping up leaves at school or something like that. It made it seem like she had a really fun personality that we never got to see.

[something]

She appeared a number of times, but usually in the background without any lines at all. But yeah, I really wanted to see more of her. She was really cute in one of the EDs, when she was, I think, sweeping up leaves at school or something like that. It made it seem like she had a really fun personality that we never got to see.
I'm guessing she probably had about 6-10 speaking scenes, and only a handful more than a few standard lines - so not many. I'm glad she got a spot in the hairstyle incident though.

I also want to get Ryouta and Shouko (Touka Gettan) in the same room and have them yell at each other.

[Suwako Moriya]

But this encoder fails so hard with ED sequences.

Well that answers the question before I can even ask it. As for the episode itself, in the context of the type of series it was it makes for a decent final episode. The whole thing about promises was kind of touching in a sense. Even with the silly elements.

The final moments in the end were kind of fun. Kouji has probably already accepted the fact that Yuuki is in control of the relationship. Megumi makes me want to see a middle school and high school version of this series badly. Maybe even a college one as well. Natsumi is quite happy to be wearing that isn't she? Almost as if she's making a statement or something.

[Fencedude]

- 47, Munchmunch (ama-ama) - Hah, the first stand-out bit of the episode. The look on Natsumi's face when she realizes the mistake she almost made was great. So too when she sees Ryouta fall for it. And again with Chika taking Ryouta down before he can comment on her cookies. XD
- Kouji is a real man! Hah, smiling Yuuki is worth all the terrible cookies in the world.
- Oh wow, suddenly so serious. And... their first kiss? I think that's the most muted reaction to a first kiss that I've ever seen.
- They're also pushing harder to pair up Yuuki and Kouji. Chika and Ryouta were obvious but it's interesting to see the other pair.
- 48, Merry Christmas - Haha oh wow, suddenly, English! And not even Engrish, but actual English. I'm sure someone else can point out who the actual singer is, but I hate Christmas music so I have no idea. Cute scenes though.


Last half of this episode was really good. Both Ryouta/Chika and Kouji/Yuuki are surprisingly strong pairings. Though both Ryouta and Kouji have to suffer a bit of pain in the process, but it will be worth it!

Also, Kazumi will continue to be the best girl in the show. I think she would be amusing with Minami Chiaki.

[Fencedude]

The end! Kazumi eating pencils! Haruka rendered speechless by Megumi's bust! Natsumi in a skirt!! Kazumi x Ryouta x Chika stuff! Snow! ...Damn, Natsumi totally won the end.

Well, it's over. It was fun, very fun, and improved exponentially over its first impression. That's all that really needs to be said.

The ending stuff over the OP song was gold.

But the best part was the Okaeri commercial afterwards.

"Chiaki, you're in class 5-2, aren't you?"

"Yes, why?"

"Do you know a girl named Chika?"

[pianocello]

This show is amazing. I'm not sure why this show is not getting more love.
This show had me laughing out at the antics. I liked the girls. I could do less with the boys' childish antics but at least Ryouta serves his purpose as a catalyst for ecchi humor. Normally, nudity of these young characters usually end up feeling very creepy and wrong (Kodomo no Jikan) but oddly for me though, the ecchi and nudity scenes actually made the characters more moe. The nude scenes in ep 8 has to be some of the most moe ones I've seen. Not to mention a touch of nostalgia - I can identify with Ryouta's growing up experience.
The romance between Chika and Ryouta was incredibly sweet (despite Ryouta's frequent bumblings). I was expecting that the ending would have a grownup and married Chika and Ryouta looking at the 5-2 photo albums at the end revealing that the whole series was a flashback. Was a bit disappointed that didn't happen but if that had happened, this might have been my no 1 of the year. I also like Yuuki and Kazumi's antics. Natsumi's running gags of flashing her non-existent breasts were quite humorous.

It would be great if the current season of Minami-ke had a crossover with this series.

[Suwako Moriya]

It would be great if the current season of Minami-ke had a crossover with this series.

If something like that were to happen it would make the world a better place. I'd so love to see Chiaki interact with the girls, but right now that desire remains a pipe dream.

[Suwako Moriya]

The opening song is kind of nice. Is it bad the part that stood out for me was the scene with Yuuki helping to put on Chika's tie. Of course she had to pull her shirt open as well. You can decide for yourself how bad that is.


Bugs and Heat

It's time to do some weeding. In addition to weeding, there's also fun with pillbugs. Maybe too many pill bugs.

School swimsuits time and Natsumi forgot her panties. Although she doesn't seem to be worried about it.

Kazumi's attempts at winning at swimming result in failure. Be it her own strategy or the guys' strategy.

Ah, now we're getting the Summer Ending animation.

Slowly Drifting

Kazumi is drawing outside.

It's the Autumn of sports and the Autumn of books.

A leaf in a book that Natsumi borrowed from Megumi seems familiar. A quick bit of drawing and they realize it reminds them of Ryouta. It's the Autumn of art.

Natsumi wants to show the leaf to Ryouta, who by the way is talking about Curry Fairies. Oh, no, the leaf has been lost.

Natsumi is devastated by the loss of leaf-Ryouta. The comments by the other two guys such as commenting on the wife aka Chika are a bit amusing.

And Kazumi finishes her drawing of Ryouta.

Autumn Ending...


Stubborn

Natsumi brings up the idea of a snow fight and everyone seems to be in agreement.

Kouji brings up the idea of being care not to be too hard on the girls.

The girls have gathered up a lot of snow balls.

Since the girls are "weaker", they get to make up for it in numbers. 5 against 3.

The boys are defeated by Natsumi. Ryouta seeks revenge by putting snow down Chika and Yuuki's shirts.

Yuuki wants to strip Chika. The true couple has been confirmed!

Chika is definitely one of the more attractive characters of her age. I think I've said too much.

It's the return of measurements and they have their eye on the nurse. A nurse that has them defeated. Well, she is a grown up.

Heh, I have to wonder what's up with Kazumi.

Kouji suggests Ryouta go to the infirmary to apologize to the girls.

Not that ever works well for him. Well, his eyes get a view, but his body gets damaged.

Winter Ending as expected.


This Late

They've been playing for awhile and it's late. They want to go home and there's this show to watch.

Seems like Ryouta doesn't want people to leave and is calling people idiots.

Chika points out the test score of Ryouta to the girls. It must have been low.

Watching Chika activate twin tails mode is kind of fun. Wish they had shown more of it.

I'm not really sure what's going on here other than angry Chika sticking out her tongue.

Spring Ending.

Omake

Ah, we get to see Chika taking a bath like she said she was going to in the Spring part. Sensei! Ninomiya-kun! Ah, so that's the show in question. It figures.
--------------------------------------------------------------------

Well, that was certainly decent and makes me once more wish for the following. Season 2 with a time jump to middle school. Season 3 with a time jump to high school.

On a side note, there apparently is some cross over between Minami-ke and Today in Class 5-2, but it's essentially an audio drama. So close and yet so far.

[pianocello]

The opening song is kind of nice. Is it bad the part that stood out for me was the scene with Yuuki helping to put on Chika's tie. Of course she had to pull her shirt open as well. You can decide for yourself how bad that is.


Bugs and Heat

It's time to do some weeding. In addition to weeding, there's also fun with pillbugs. Maybe too many pill bugs.

School swimsuits time and Natsumi forgot her panties. Although she doesn't seem to be worried about it.

Kazumi's attempts at winning at swimming result in failure. Be it her own strategy or the guys' strategy.

Ah, now we're getting the Summer Ending animation.

Slowly Drifting

Kazumi is drawing outside.

It's the Autumn of sports and the Autumn of books.

A leaf in a book that Natsumi borrowed from Megumi seems familiar. A quick bit of drawing and they realize it reminds them of Ryouta. It's the Autumn of art.

Natsumi wants to show the leaf to Ryouta, who by the way is talking about Curry Fairies. Oh, no, the leaf has been lost.

Natsumi is devastated by the loss of leaf-Ryouta. The comments by the other two guys such as commenting on the wife aka Chika are a bit amusing.

And Kazumi finishes her drawing of Ryouta.

Autumn Ending...


Stubborn

Natsumi brings up the idea of a snow fight and everyone seems to be in agreement.

Kouji brings up the idea of being care not to be too hard on the girls.

The girls have gathered up a lot of snow balls.

Since the girls are "weaker", they get to make up for it in numbers. 5 against 3.

The boys are defeated by Natsumi. Ryouta seeks revenge by putting snow down Chika and Yuuki's shirts.

Yuuki wants to strip Chika. The true couple has been confirmed!

Chika is definitely one of the more attractive characters of her age. I think I've said too much.

It's the return of measurements and they have their eye on the nurse. A nurse that has them defeated. Well, she is a grown up.

Heh, I have to wonder what's up with Kazumi.

Kouji suggests Ryouta go to the infirmary to apologize to the girls.

Not that ever works well for him. Well, his eyes get a view, but his body gets damaged.

Winter Ending as expected.


This Late

They've been playing for awhile and it's late. They want to go home and there's this show to watch.

Seems like Ryouta doesn't want people to leave and is calling people idiots.

Chika points out the test score of Ryouta to the girls. It must have been low.

Watching Chika activate twin tails mode is kind of fun. Wish they had shown more of it.

I'm not really sure what's going on here other than angry Chika sticking out her tongue.

Spring Ending.

Omake

Ah, we get to see Chika taking a bath like she said she was going to in the Spring part. Sensei! Ninomiya-kun! Ah, so that's the show in question. It figures.
--------------------------------------------------------------------

Well, that was certainly decent and makes me once more wish for the following. Season 2 with a time jump to middle school. Season 3 with a time jump to high school.

On a side note, there apparently is some cross over between Minami-ke and Today in Class 5-2, but it's essentially an audio drama. So close and yet so far.


Any nudity?

[Suwako Moriya]

Any nudity?

Well, there are states of undress, but whether or not you count them as nudity you can decide for yourself.

Also, it's possible to ask that without quoting my entire long winded post.:sweat: