Kita ze Inbou! - キタぜ陰謀!

[Episode 8: Seioh Student Council, To Fight!]
[Good: Oh god Superintendent/Aya Hisakawa is so hot; Mei pwning Manabi.]
[Bad: Still not enough Momo scenes.]

[Enjoyment Value: 8.6/10]

[Thoughts]

So, the school fair has been canceled. What do the girls do? Fight of course! Well, with Manabi as the leader I expected as much so it’s not really surprising. I find it funny how the other school’s superintendent ended up being the girlfriend of Manabi’s brother. She’s hot and is really no-nonsense when it comes to business but I can’t help but laugh when she gets all cute in front of her boyfriend. Well, at least she gave Manabi the chance to revive the school fair. Now I want to see just how they’ll gather the signatures of 70% of the Seioh student population. The best parts of this episode, as with the majority of the episodes so far, involve Mei. I absolutely enjoyed every time Mei delivered a blow to Manabi with her harisen. It was long overdue in my opinion but she should’ve hit her a lot more than she did.

[Episode 7: The End of Summer (Bye-Bye)]
[Good: Ganguro Momo!; More Takako.]
[Bad: Failure of Mu-chi's skirt not being stripped off.]

[Enjoyment Value: 8.5/10] (Ganguro Momo!)

[Thoughts]

Oh my god! Ganguro Momo! She looked so hot in this episode that it’s almost criminal. They were quite a few good scenes with her but most of them had the girls ignoring her stories about Hawaii. The rest of the girls, however, were dying from the lack of sleep because they procastinated over the entire summer instead of working on the school festival and their homework. Of course, four girls who lacked sleep for god only knows how long can only lead to some seriously hilarious momments. Moments such as Mei slapping Mu-chi over and over and trying to strip her skirt off and Manabi who was on the brink of insanity evidenced by her repeatedly doing her “Forward GO!” motion so much that it was turning into a punch. Takako shows up again to hang out with the girls. I wonder if she’s the same age as the girls? Anyways, we learn that Takako’s school is going to acquire Seioh and that their school festival is in danger of being canceled. Now I wonder what Takako is going to do to help them?

[Episode 6: Cinnamon-Sugar Raised Happiness]
[Good: Mu-chi and her popsicle. Need I say more?]
[Bad: Too much Mikan, not enough Momo.]

[Enjoyment Value: 8.5/10] (Lick-lick~suck :P)

[Thoughts]

The school festival is still in preparation. However, we’ve got some more character focusing in the midst of it all. This time, the episode focuses on Mutsuki and to a lesser extent, Mikan (she sure does get a lot of screen-time doesn’t she…). We get to see how they first met and how their friendship grew. In the present though, rather than studying they both go out and have fun further showcasing just how much they are the best of buddies. I couldn’t help but think about something else during the scene where Mutsuki bought her popsicle. I’m quite sure I’m not the only one who thought that her licking and sucking weren’t normal lol.

[Episode 5: The Night of The Two]
[Good: Mei's Engrish is hot.]
[Bad: Where the hell is Momo?]

[Enjoyment Value: 8/10]

[Thoughts]

Wow! We got to hear Mei (Hirano Aya) speak some Engrish in this episode! She really sounded so adorable. With Manabi out of commission because of having the mumps and Mutsuki busy with sports, Mikan is left alone with Mei. Of course she doesn’t know how to speak with Mei one-on-one which makes a funny and satisfying episode. I liked the theme they came up with for the school festival as it reflects exactly what this episode was about: “From Friends to Buddies”. That’s exactly what happened between Mei and Mikan and it didnt’ feel rushed at all. Even though there still wasn’t enough Momo in this episode her parts were quite hilarious, specifically when she went to visit Manabi with her protective suit she found on the Internet.

Verdict: 8.8/10

Impressions:

Much of this episode featured Mei. She really is a good character despite her tsundere behavior and Hirano Aya’s voice just makes her all the more lovable (the same goes for her younger self at the beginning of the show). It was interesting to see how she developed a dislike for helping others. I mean, no one wants to have a ton of work pushed onto them just because they’re the class president or council president and that’s what happened to Mei in the past. Granted it felt a bit exaggerated but then I probably shouldn’t underestimate the feelings of humans. Though I will admit that the computer problem and Mei coming to save the day was pretty exaggerated. They almost made me think the world was going to end if they didn’t get their presentation to unfreeze! Anyways, in the end it was heartwarming to see Mei break down crying to see how much her friends cared for her and disproved that they were like those kids in the past that just wanted to use her for her abilities. Also I must say…holy crap! Mei’s body is…HAWT! I had no idea her breasts were that big! Lastly, where was Momo during most of this episode?

Read more

Verdict: 8.4/10

Impressions:

Hmm. I wasn’t quite sure what to think about this episode at first. I say that because the episode started out rather drama-filled. This drama came in the form of Manabi not realizing that there’s a time for fun and games and other times are for serious discussions. Of course that was after the dodgeball tournament but I was glad to see that she eventually picked herself up (not that she had fallen really…) and renewed her resolve (after some help from Takako, a new character) to try her hardest in regards to the upcoming School Festival. It’s just great to see all the girls get excited like what happened at the end of the episode. The funny moments of course were great as ever, with poor Mei getting her face smacked twice with a dodgeball and the yawning-spree on the train. Oh yeah, another thing I liked about the episode was the introduction of Takako’s character. I’m not sure if she’ll be a recurring character in the series but I like her a lot already. But anyways, in the end it was yet another enjoyable episode but not as good as the previous one I think. Also, on another ending note, Manabi’s brother can be quite hilarious!

Read more

Verdict: 9/10

Impressions:

Oh god, I think I experienced another cuteness attack but besides that, this was a pretty enjoyable episode. I especially loved the initial parts of the episode where Manabi and Mika were cleaning up the student council room. Just seeing them being buried under piles of boxes and other items made me laugh more than a few times. I really loved it when Mei came into the mix and basically took control of the cleaning up (yeah, she’s my favorite character with Momo in second). The best scenes of this episode though was when the girls went shopping to renovate the student council room and later the entire school and various clubs coming together to pour their efforts into turning the room into a place the entire school and hang out.

Read more

Series Information

ANN Encyclopedia | AniDB | AnimeNfo
Genres: Comedy, School Life
OP: [A Happy Life] by Megumi Hayashibara
ED: [Lucky & Happy] by Megumi Hayashibara
http://www.ufotable.com/manabi/index.html

Verdict: 8.5/10

Impressions:

Wow. Just wow. I was finally able to watch the first episode of Manabi Straight! after weeks without a capable computer to play it on and I was quite impressed. The animation is godly and the humor isn’t lost in translation. The characters, especially Mei and Manabi are funny in their own special way. But dear god, I think I almost experienced an overload on loli and moe whiel watching this. It felt like I was about to pass out from all the bright colors, big pure eyes, and adorable voices and movements. Speaking of voices they’re all done nicely, especially Mei (Hirano Aya’s character). I honestly don’t know where Manabi Straight! is going into the future but I don’t think it’s going in a bad direction at all if the first episode is any indication.

Read more