Kita ze Inbou! - キタぜ陰謀!

[ Episode 04: A Question of Motivation ]

Another simplistic episode with a bit more than a chuckle I got. Somehow I find every little detail they ponder about just as interesting as the next.

I was a bit surprised Konata pulled out a Kanon reference as an excuse to why she was late. Though that was a nice touch. I think it’s from Konata’s first excuse for being late that we find out for the first time that even Kuroi-sensei games online with Konata. I guess it comes back to bite Konata eventually she becomes like the boy who cried wolf. After Konata recovers, Tsukasa gives a funny but cute explanation on sore throats and nasal infections being related to where you catch viruses. I think what she said held some merit and it sounds logical but unfortunately Kagami and Konata can’t actually rely on her words. Poor girl.

You know, the series would look pretty damn excellent with that extra shading in they put into like KyoAni’s done for Kanon. That shot of Konata in her orange tee looked really nice. So anyways, it’s the twins’ birthday! Miyuki gives each girl a pair of pretty (expensive-looking) earrings. I’m not sure how much that cost her, but it certainly could not have been more than Konata’s ToHeart uniform and Haruhi danchou armband. Amazing references BTW, even the whole seiyuu joke. Another reference I saw was what seemed like it was from Death Note, where Matsuda is interviewed behind a wall so as to hide his identity. Kagami’s joke about telling everyone if Konata were to commit a crime was pure gold.

I just noticed that this episode had a bit more of a budget than the last ones. You can tell from the background characters suddenly all colored in instead of mini version of Shinjin figures like from Haruhi. Well okay, there were but… still. Speaking of which, another Haruhi joke. This time, Konata seems displeased by the Yuki spotlight or something. Sure enough, the bbs (gee, I wonder which one) she’s on is already flaming away. Ah, internet… KyoAni teases yet again by showing how much of a fan of FMP Kagami is.

We learn more about Konata’s hobbies as she reveals that she was heavily influenced by her dad, who read manga and played dating sims a lot. Wow, playing dating sims in front of your daughter? Somewhat bad feeling there. Besides her dad though, Konata’s mother is absent from the scene, which Konata explains is because she passed away when Konata was really little. Aww. Leave it to her though to bring the mood up again.

It looks like Miyuki has a lot more faults, or moé points as Konata calls it. She’s not that good at cooking nor swimming, which breaks Konata’s mentality. Is she that easily turned on by such faults? On the other hand, Kuroi-sensei’s joke about not cooking made me laugh.

When it comes to the whole cell phones and manner mode thing, I don’t really get that either. I agree with Konata that people talk a lot anyways so being on the phone isn’t that much different. People still use their phones anyways so I guess it’s just another trivial thing to look pass. I can’t look over how Kagami gained weight though. It was only Pocky wasn’t it? Maybe she really is weak when it comes to maintaining that. Or maybe it’s just her body accustomed to those foods. But whatever it is though, it doesn’t have that great an impact as she thinks. Don’t worry, Kagamin, we still love you!

On this Lucky Channel, Akira has changed uniforms as well, now with visible arms. Akira sure gets a lot of mail, or maybe most of those are actually to Shiraishi. In any case, I, too, wondered how Akira looked in twin tails. As usual, Akira goes off-character and goes on another rant about herself. I think she gets more chaotic each segment…

For this episode’s karaoke box, Konata finally steps down after three songs and it’s Kagami’s time to shine! The song she sings is “Sailor Fuku to Kikanjuu.” Never heard the song before but it was really good hearing it from Emiri. Not bad at all. Miyuki gets her turn at narrating the next episode preview. It’s kinda fun knowing the roots of these event names, such as the origins of the term “Golden Week” stemming from movie theaters selling a huge number of tickets during that interval. The next episode following this one looks quite intriguing. Matsuri!