Shikanoko Nokonoko Koshitantan – 01
I’m pretty darn sure this isn’t for me. In the same way that other comedies of this ilk aren’t. Some find them funny, I don’t – that’s how comedy works. The approach here is saturation bombing, and a few of the jokes hit because of that. But the overall success rate it too low for me to think Shikanoko Nokonoko Koshitantan has much of a chance of winning me over.
As I noted in the preview I was mainly motivated to check this series out because Oota Masahiko is directing, and he’s one of the true giants of comedy anime. Not to mention it’s produced at Wit, although that doesn’t carry the same cachet it once did. The basic premise is that a deer girl shows up at a high school and immediately starts ruining the life of a pretentious school idol who’s desperate to hide her delinquent (it will never not be amusing that the modern Japanese word for this is “yankee”) past. Of course no explanations are yet forthcoming for any of this but I think this is just the sort of series that doesn’t do explanations.
I laughed a couple of times I guess – some of the detail work in the backgrounds was impressive (there are a lot of “blink and you’ll miss it” sight gags). And Han Megumi’s work as the deer girl “Nokotan” is generally amusing. But the main gags kind of whiffed for me, and since they get repeated over and over that’s a bit of a problem. One likes to think that there was something to the manga that made Wit and Oota (who rarely directs these days) keen to work on this show. But it’s not making itself immediately obvious. I’ll check out one more episode but I don’t have real high hopes.
2.5-jigen no Ririsa – 01
I hadn’t really planned on doing a post on this one – it didn’t make the preview. But I heard pretty decent feedback on the premiere so I gave it a look. In point of fact there are quite a few romcom this season as it turns out. None of them have stood out as “it” – and 2.5-jigen no Ririsa certainly doesn’t either – but this wasn’t a bad premiere. “Inoffensive” is the word that springs to mind for me, in spite of the premise. With just a little bit of uncertainty about that premise inserted to keep things interesting.
As a romcom about a cosplay enthusiast girl it obviously calls to mind Sono Bisque Doll wa Koi wa Suru a bit, but the two series aren’t much similar. In this case we have an otaku kid named Okamura who’s the only member of the manga club at his high school (which I didn’t think was allowed). Basically the club is a pretext for him to fetishize Lilliel, his favorite 2D waifu. Having had bad luck with wimmin (including his mother) Okamura has vowed to never show interest in a 3-D one. So he’s naturally aghast when one shows up and asks to join the club – and shocked when she turns out to be as big a Lilliel fan as he is.
I do have some questions here – mainly whether there’s any intent behind Ririsa’s (the girl) approach to Okamura. Somehow I vibed that this might be a con job on her part (or a pursuit) but it’s probably legit. In any event the two of them are fairly funny together and I could see that relationship having a modicum of charm to it. There are a whole slew of girls still to be introduced and I worry this could go the harem route, and generally speaking I’m dubious the story will have much staying power. But for one week at least 2.5-jigen no Ririsa was entertaining enough, and comes as as pretty good-natured on the whole.
The post First Impressions Digest – Shikanoko Nokonoko Koshitantan, 2.5-jigen no Ririsa appeared first on Lost in Anime.
