The season premiere of Aharen-san wa Hakarenai wasn’t a great one, but I wasn’t really concerned (just a little disappointed). Rose-colored nostalgia aside, it’s undeniable that the first season had a couple less than stellar outings too. And it’s not like this was terrible – it just wasted too much time on B material when this series’ A game is so superb. It was going to swing back into the black sooner or later, most lately sooner. And that’s exactly what happened this week.
The comedic engine of Aharen-san is undeniably not Aharen herself, but Matsuboshi-kun’s limitless (and often logic-less) imagination. Always was, always will be (and it’s when it became clear that was the real hook that S1 really took off). Making the season premiere largely devoid of that imagination (and Raidou himself) wasn’t a winning choice. But it roared back into prominence here, with the entire A-part dedicated to it. The vehicle of this is “Grainy Crossing“, a (very) thinly-veiled take on Animal Crossing. I haven’t played it myself (I may be the only one) but I know enough to have gotten most of the gags here.
This whole sequence is a hilarious lark through a world that’s a fantasy to begin with, but infused with Raidou’s limitless fancy. He’s taken under the wing of raccoon Tom Grainhook (Iwata Mitsuo), for whom he grows cabbages and performs various other services. Tom, as it happens, takes the cabbages he pays Raidou (“the spitting image”) 100 pells apiece for and sells them as organic miracle cabbages for 2000 pells. But when he’s caught out he pays up, and eventually Raidou manages to build a little dream house in the Crossing. And more eventually, he becomes a yakuza boss with Tom as one of his lieutenants.
This is just abject silliness on the face of it, and best not analyzed – or described – too closely. Suffice to say it’s really funny, from the host club scene to the tragic ending. Eventually Raidou goes to “Aharen Town“, and is amazed at how detailed and specific it is. Immediately he’s taken with the idea that Aharen Town is so realistic that it will eventually swap places with reality itself, and when Reina is absent from school the next day (actually minutes later than normal) he resigns himself to the fact that she’s left physical reality behind forever. As it turns out Aharen Town is all a product of her little brother Ren’s work, which says a lot about what a strange kid he is.
Next up is another triumph of the Matsuboshi imagination, the amazake chapter. Amazake is traditionally (like what you get at shrines on New Year’s) very light in alcohol, but there is an alcohol-free version – which is what Matsuboshi drinks after mistaking it for milk. Convinced he’s wasted, he then turns into a hyper-confident, brash drunk version of himself. But the genius of this bit is that drunk Raidou is brashly, confidently nice. He does all the same nice things he always does, he just does them in a brash and confident way (which frequently sets Reina on tilt). Raidou’s younger sister (who does not yet officially have a name as far as I’m aware) informs him that the house amazake is alcohol free, and Raidou hilariously turns his drunk self off like a light switch.
Lastly a chapter for said sister. As I noted last week the siblings are probably the best of the supporting cast – I love Ren and Eru Aharen, but Raidou-imouto is also a lot of fun. She’s great because she’s 100% inherited the same Raidou gene as her brother, but tries to check herself when it gets out of hand (not always successfully). She has an encounter with Eru at school, where they finally realize the connection they share. After initially convincing herself Eru is going to entrap her in a pyramid scheme, the two eventually bond as Imouto follows Eru’s advice and asks Matsuboshi about Aharen. His delight at her interest sends her into full tsundere mode, but it’s clear that Imouto realizes full well what a great guy her brother is.
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