Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun discussion thread

[Damius]

- Shizuku is awesome.
- So that was the “rape” scene. At least, it didn’t went too far. I think it would have been better for them to skip that, but now that is there, I only hope it won’t be back again, I hope he won’t use this treatment again.
- I don’t like that Haru spilled the soda on Shizuku hair… I hope there won’t be too much of this kind of reactions.
- Well, at least he stopped give money to them.
- And so she went to talk to the fake friends since she was feeling bad for him and he protected her from them. Nice.
- Oh, we have a confession 13 minutes in.
- And now until the midterms have ended, Haru is Shizuku's enemy, after she remembered he is really good at school.
- Ouch… he punched her accidently in the face…
- And she falls in love for him. Just after that tough, he kissed her out of nowhere and he discovers his heart is not jumping out anymore for her… He said he still loves her…

Well, this was a good episode. Could have been better if I didn’t have the issues with the show... As well as the fact the episode moved too fast. I really like Shizuku so this helps. Anyway, I’ll be sure to continue to see how things will play out.

[ookamigirl]

Poor Natsu... being sick just got her isolated.
Haru still hiding from his big brother Yuzan *sigh*
Their relationship is really weird.
I think he's hanging around Shizuku just to piss off Haru.
Well, that's in addition to scaring off Shizuku from Haru.
It's totally ROFL when those two get bright red faces.
Looks like class rep is developing some feelings for Haru as well.
Shizuku is about to get some competition.

[FUNiOP]

I love how Natsume's sickness resulted in a chorus of "stay away from me" from her friends. Then Yuzan returns and Haru gets all angry again. Apparently Yuzan is supposed to bring Haru back home, but he doesn't actually want to. So really, his goals are the same as those of the other characters, and he effectively does nothing for the plot at this point, other than indirectly causing Haru to finally tell Shizuku about his past. Also, it makes Shizuku think about how much the current life she enjoys revolves around Haru's presence, and she again acts very open yet embarrassed about her feelings toward him. Really beautiful character work. However, she's getting some competition from Hanazawa girl. Oh by the way, she's also the class rep. Yep, confirmed for Anri.

[something]

5pisode 5:

- Heh. I love when Shizuku is caught off guard by things, like Haru suddenly flirting.
- Poor Natsume.
- Haru is so smart because when he skipped school in middle school, he self-taught himself all the way through high school material. >_> Well, I guess that works as a reason. With anime logic.

- HanaKana girl is back!

- Well if there wer any doubt that Yuzan had more sinister motives, that little glance at Shizuku after he told his story confirmed it. Although it's still not clear exactly what he stands to gain from forcing Haru to come back home.
- Okay, no, he doesn't actually want Haru to go home. I have no idea what his role in all this is supposed to be right now.
- Heh. I was glad when Shizuku told Haru she didn't want him to force decisions on her. And I loved the way it devolved into embarrassed blushing.

I love how Shizuku has changed. But uh oh. She just saw HanaKana Iinchou fall in love.

Also, uh, that "preview".

[Damius]

- It definitely looks like everyone is used to his bizarre behavior. Well, there is a little revolution going inside Shizuku, though.
- Well, Asako said: “Please help me study” even after what happened to her.
- In the end, it is Haru who will help Asako to study.
- And it doesn’t look like it is good news for Asako…because yeah he is not good at all.
- But, why would she remember you guy at the window?
- And finally, Shizuku will help Asako.
- It was not a good idea to go with Haru… Poor Asako.
- “He reminds me of when my dad’s looking for his socks.” Heh.
- Shizuku confesses to Haru!

I liked this episode quite a bit; I preferred it over the first episode.

[FUNiOP]

Basically two episodes in one, the first half focusing on Anri girl and the second on the date that we've been waiting a few episodes for.

Anri girl is a hilarious addition to the cast, both for the other characters' comments to her and her comical internal strife and outbursts. She realizes that Haru and Shizuku are very close, and assumes they may even be closer than they currently (openly) are, but accepts that she's in love with Haru and that's not going to change because of that. As much as I love her character already and feel sympathy for her situation, I can't not root for Shizuku. While Oshima's personality may be a little more likely (and in some ways more entertaining), I really love how stoic Shizuku can be in the face of similar issues. Unfortunately, Oshima (should probably call her by her real name once in a while) probably has a slightly better chance than she realizes. However, she's obviously not going to win. Shizuku is the lead, and Haru knows that he loves her to in at least some way at all times, while he clearly doesn't think of Oshima as any more than that class rep that he talks to on occasion.

Then the date. Hmm... kind of disappointing, especially since I've really been looking forward to this over the past few episodes. Shizuku just studies and tells Haru that she's not attracted to him anymore. Not the development I was hoping for, especially since Haru looks downright smitten near the end of the episode. I guess things can work out just yet. Well, the leads in the other shoujo school romance series this season were already (kinda) dating earlier than this. But I do like the way this show has gone about everything far more. I expected a little more leading to the ending, so I was a little caught off guard when it started playing. I wonder how things will progress from here. Hopefully the leads' relationship will go back to developing in a positive direction.

Post-episode scenes are loads of fun as usual. How did Natsume get into this school? Oh also, I absolutely loved the completely random scene of Haru finding a hard-boiled egg under Nagoya. His clueless reaction was gold.

[stardf29]

And somehow this show became the shoujo version of Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai.

Looks like the appearance of a rival has opened up some old wounds in Shizuku's life, and she's gone back on the defensive. She really is a tough nut to crack.

Somehow, though, what I'm cheering for most is for her and Asako to finally become friends. I guess that's from how this show actually addresses friendship, not just the main romance. Props to the show for that.

[ookamigirl]

Shizuku was all weird this time.
Guess she was torn between love and studying.
She did help Haru get accepted by others, but it sorta backfired with his popularity.
Oshima was totally crushing on Haru, but he's too much of an airhead to notice.
Haru's totally into Shizuku, that's just too obvious..
She kinda ruined everything when she told him she doesn't feel it anymore.

[something]

Episode 6:

- Chizuru's face when she hears girls talking about Haru's "girlfriend". Heh.
- ...I keep getting Asako from this and Asami from Sukinayo mixed up and can't remember which is which name.
- HAH! Chizuru thought it was Asako that Haru was into.

- And Chizuru gets sucked into this weird circle of friends before she even knows what's going on.
- Oh god. This is so awkward for her. XD Meanwhile, Shizuku is totally self-destructing.
- Bwhahah, I love the sound of HanaKana freaking out.
- And Asako is scared shitless.

- I'm rather glad Shizuku and Chizuru got to talk soon after that. Shizuku didn't really apologize, but did at least clarify that it's not Chizuru she's mad at.
- BWAHAHAHA! Holy shit, Chizuru snapped! And it was glorious.

The rest is about Haru and Shizuku. Normally I'd be kind of annoying when the brakes are thrown on a relationship after so much progress, but here it totally works as part of Shizuku's character. I think it's because she's so very honest about her feelings that I don't mind. That doesn't mean she understands her feelings, but she is pretty straightforward about how she thinks she feels.

Another thing I'm really loving is Asako's worries about whether Mitty trusts her or not. One of the best ways to add depth to a girl-meets-boy romance story is to make sure the girl and the boy have personal relationships outside of the romance. A great, cute, fun character like Asako being concerned about Shizuku provides that in spades.

Great episode. So far this is hanging in there as a potential import. Although the first disc comes out soon, so I guess if I import it, I'll have to start a month late.

[Damius]

- So he believes she was lying? And now he feels much better?
- Poor Shizuku being late and having that kind of clothes…
- Punk flying.
- Punk punched...twice.
- Shizuku just convinced the punks to help. Hehe.
- Shizuku tries again and confess her love. And they give us a really nice scene.

I love this show.