Adding a character like Miharu was always going to shake-up the dynamic of Terrace House: Oni. But it’s all good. Why? Because he’s both vastly entertaining in his own right and starkly different in personality from anyone else in the cast. The overall vibe here is a house full of complete doofuses (and Moi-chan) and that evolves here, not changes. Miharu is clearly smarter than most of these goofs but he’s also a goof in his own way, and not especially suited to social interaction with others. In short, it works.
One thing we can say for sure about Miharu is he has absolutely no filter. So when Nico feels left out and tries to get him to drain her (insert punchline here) – a bad idea generally – he passes along the feelings that seep in to the rest of the group. To wit, that she’s in love with Morihito. Fortunately he’s wearing his noice-cancelling earbuds at the time (and they work, he’s not that good an actor). By way of apology Miharu falls back on his cuteness, which the others can’t resist (see “doofuses”, above). The question here is to what extent Miharu knows exactly what he’s doing and is just being a general scamp because he knows he can get away with it (I’m-a say a big extent).
The next opportunity for chaos is the question of chores. Kanshi takes the lead in teaching the newbie the house rules – Miharu immediately cries power harassment – but he’s really no match for Miharu, who pretty quickly lamps to what’s going on in this house. His reasoning is sound – Moi-chan is indeed bombed with most of the chores because the others all suck and are happy to let him cover. But Miharu is like a cat smart enough to get into trouble but not out of it. Needless to say their attempt to prepare a meal for Moi is an unmitigated disaster.
Next up Kanshi borrows the little vampire’s higasa and gets it stolen. 100% his fault and seriously, who borrows a vampire’s parasol? But Kanshi, while many things, is not a liar and if Miharu knew him better he’d understand that. He resolves to go buy a new one despite the special nature of his existing one (Moi and Keigo understand the need for aesthetic value, while the Philistine tengu and witch don’t). Nico helpfully provides the “Cloud Crown” spell to protect him – though it has the massive drawback that it only stays cloudy if he’s depressed.
I actually thought we were headed for an “Old Enough” parody there for a second, but what we got was hilarious enough. Miharu reading “A Dog of Flanders” to maintain his cloud made me ROFL, a series of heartwarming events, and then the world’s worst manzai team showed up and restored the overcast. Eventually Miharu happens on the fellow who stole the parasol and realizes Kan-chan was telling the truth. That realization leads to sunshine and a grim prognosis, but fortunately Kanshi has followed in true Old Enough fashion and provides dome “crow-d” cover.
Finally, a visit from Nemu (speaking of cats), and that’s always a welcome development. Her visit is in fact to fulfill her promise to Keigo and go crescent on Keigo’s ass, but the others happen to be out shopping. And the two introverts have a spectacularly awkward time of it, especially when Keigo goes into full poser mode. The script practically writes itself here – Nemu likes Moi but we know that’s a non-starter, and things could hardly have gotten off to a worse start (unless she had shoved a croissant in his face). Eventually Keigo finds the surprise at the bottom of the cake plate and Wolf-san appears with a memorable “I didn’t do anything to her – yet”. But let this ship set sail from this day forward.
The post Witch Watch – 16 appeared first on Lost in Anime.
