Just what every teenage boy wants to do – go shopping! What They Say:
Himegami asks Takeru to go on a shopping date?! Of course, she has an ulterior motive: to inspect the mysterious mark on Takeru’s chest.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
After a few fun episodes, Maken-Ki gets a bit more into its routine here now that Takeru is involved in the security council and getting more familiar with the school. They do get run pretty hard there, literally, as the episode starts off with how they have to train well with a lot of exercise and running simply because the fights are an integral part of the school. There is some advantage to this in that even though the boys are worked over pretty hard here, they get quite the view with the girls running around in standard tight gym clothes that lets plenty of skin show and a whole lot of bounce. It’s a golden time for young men if they can only truly realize and enjoy it.
Thankfully, it’s not all about this angle as there are some story elements to be dealt with and it’s done primarily through Himegami. After the encounter she had with Takeru previously, she’s intent on figuring out what it is that he’s capable of since most of her readings of him come up with absolutely nothing on the power scale. But she is also a teenage girl so she decides her best course of action will be to have him go on a shopping date with him and make him carry all the packages. That’s not the package that’s largely on his mind though, or dominating his mind, as they do spend a bit of time in the lingerie store where she actively asks his opinion on a few things before going to change and demanding that he not look. That’s a hell of a place to put a guy when it comes to teasing, and while you can do that as an adult as part of certain types of role play, it’s brutal to a young man with needs.
The episode has a lot of silliness beyond that, especially as some of the other girls end up following along to try and figure out Himegami’s game, and that leads to some cute threatening moments from Azuki that really drive things home. But compared to previous episodes, things are definitely more relaxed here for the most part and that helps to make Himegami a bit more interesting. While she does have a certain personality, she’s not quite as vicious and angry seeming throughout here. It doesn’t delve into her past or who she is really, but it eases the abrasiveness level down a fair bit and that’s a big and important thing since it was a problem for the character. Even Takeru comes across as a bit more likable here as he deals with her and the way she’s trying to figure out what his abilities are all about.
In Summary:
Maken-Ki has some fun here with a bit of action but it’s the fluffy stuff with no real meaning to it, though it does show that there are things afoot. The real focus is on seeing the interaction between Himegami and Takeru which helps to shore up the pair as another potential couple to get all interested in. With it going in classic harem territory by making it so that every girl has a shot and every relationship makes sense in its own way, this one definitely needed to be firmed up early. Hopefully we don’t see Himegami being everyone’s friend quickly since she has that outsider rough and tumble feeling to her which is a plus. There’s a lot to like here in a base way, especially the whole shopping sequence and especially with the finely detailed lingerie, but I know full well this is all just really fun fluff and little more. And I do love me some fluff.
Grade: B
Readers Rating: [ratings]
Streamed By: Nico Nico
Review Equipment:
Sony KDS-R70XBR2 70″ LCoS 1080P HDTV, Dell 10.1 Netbook via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.
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