Impressions:

This show is very boring. Things get dragged on too long and the storyline is just plain dull. The quality has been degraded slightly as well. It would be good if something interesting happened soon, such as a kidnapping. However, as this series is meant to be about a boy and his new younger sister, I doubt anything too serious will happen. The manga’s meant to be better and funnier, but I simply cannot bring myself to read it. I just like Anime better than manga. (But in the case of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni where the last two arcs will not be animated, that’s different).

Summary:

In the morning, Choco fries some eggs for Haruma, but he doesn’t want to get out of bed. However, when Choco turns away from him, Haruma notices that she is actually naked, which is what finally gets him up. Choco had thought that Haruma liked seeing girls naked in aprons, but as he had reacted in such away, she tries to reaffirm a few other facts as well. She asks Haruma if he likes bunny girls, but he doesn’t either (or so he says). This confuses Choco as her notebook says that he should like them. As Haruma is lost in thought about his first encounter with Choco, she reminds him that he has school today. The realisation slaps him on the face and he quickly gets ready for school. Choco watches him run off from the window, but also sees him stop to chat with Ayano from the florist. Choco does not think too much of this and starts her daily duties – first she has to hang out the futons (beds).

When Haruma gets off the train to school, he helps a woman (who is the new manager of the apartment Haruma lives in) find her contact lenses, which she dropped after being bumped by the stream of exiting passengers. He notices that they are on the woman’s chest. As it has now been found, Haruma leaves for school. When the woman looks down though, she notices that her contact lens has disappeared. She feels around for it but accidentally shatters it. She takes out her glasses and stares at them. She doesn’t especially want to wear them, as during the last year of high school, the boy that she liked had called her ugly because she wore glasses. However, as she does not have any spare contacts, she has no choice but to wear her glasses.

During the day, Choco goes around the town to buy groceries. The woman arrives in town and starts searching for the apartment block that she will be managing. As Choco wanders around aimlessly like she probably always does, the woman becomes lost as she searches for the apartment. She eventually finds it, but when she arrives outside the manager’s office, she realises that she has lost her key. As she rummages through her handbag for it, Choco returns and asks her what she is doing. The woman explains the situation and Choco decides to help her find the key. They retrace the woman’s steps but don’t find it. On the verge of giving up, the two sit down at the park. The woman goes to buy some tea from the vending machine and remembers that she had bought some earlier as well. She looks down and – there it is! The key! However, in her excitement, she doesn’t watch where she’s going and trips over a rock. The key, which is now on the ground, is picked up by a crow. Choco and the new manager chase it, but the crow simply flies higher. When it seems that it’s going to escape, Choco takes out her notebook at chucks it at the crow.

In the afternoon with the key secure, the woman starts her job as a manager by first sweeping the entrance to the apartment (although I’m not sure that a manager is meant to do things like that). Haruma returns from school and recognises the new manager as the woman from the train. The woman introduces herself as Serikawa Chitose and old landlady’s granddaughter. Haruma remarks on how seeing her with glasses reminds him of the old manager. Serikawa suddenly becomes very conscious of her appearance, afraid that she’ll be thought of as ugly because of her glasses. However, Haruma says that the glasses suit her, which relieves her. With that, Haruma enters the apartment, leaving Serikawa to blush about his compliment. As Choco is writing in her diary about the days events, she comes to the part where the key is taken by the crow. This prompts Haruma to enquire about how she got it back. Choco replies saying that she used her notebook to scare the crow into dropping the key (the book did not hit the crow). When Haruma asks if she said anything about being his Christmas present to Serikawa, Choco starts saying inappropriate things. Haruma is shocked to hear such language and tries to get her to tell him where she heard it from. Apparently, it’s all written in the notebook. She continues to say improper things, which is overheard by Serikawa, who is standing outside the door. She had been about to give Haruma a present, but hearing Choco asking about such strange things makes her rethink the idea. She decides to come back another time.

Preview:

Impressions:

It’s all pretty interesting, except that this type of anime where not much happens except developing relationships usually does not capture my interest in it. This is what happened with Binbou Shimai Monogatari too. However, that does not mean I will stop blogging it. The series is quite enjoyable and it’s still in its early stages. If I had read the manga… Anyway, I felt that the first episode’s animation was better, but this episode’s events are certainly more interesting. With the foundations in place, I’m hoping the storyline will become more interesting and complex (I feel kinda inferior to those who’ve read the manga…)

Summary:

The episode starts with a familiar series of events. Haruma is woken by a light tapping from outside. And who is outside? Santa, once again. There is one difference in this situation though: Choco is already present and is sleeping in Haruma’s room. Santa steps in through the open window and makes for the sleeping Choco. Haruma asks her what she’s doing here, and she replies that she has come to take back the unwanted present. She is talking about Choco. As she picks her up and is about to leave, Haruma finds himself denying this. Santa ignores him and gives him a few cash vouchers in exchange for Choco. Before she leaves, Choco wakes up and meekly calls out ‘onii-chan’. Before Haruma can say or do anything else, Santa takes off in her motorized sled.

Nooooo!!!

Oh wait, it was all a dream! What a cliché! Haruma realises it was all in his head, but suddenly starts to panic when he notices Choco isn’t in the bed beside him. Was she really taken? No … it seems that Choco had crawled into his bed during the night … hehe. When the two get dressed, Choco bids Haruma a Happy New Year. She then extends her arms, waiting for Haruma to give her something. Upon noticing Haruma’s confusion, she says that little sisters are meant to get New Year’s money from their older brothers. Haruma searches the room briefly until his eyes fall upon an envelope on the desk. He places a (what was that? 5 or 500 yen?) coin in the envelope and hands it to Choco, who receives it gratefully, even though she believes other people do it differently.

At breakfast, Choco consults her guide book and notices that they don’t have ‘osechi-ryouri‘, which is a traditional food served at New Year. She asks about other special foods but Haruma says they don’t have any of those. She complains of how boring the New Year is, even though it’s her first. Haruma suggests they visit the shrine and pray. Choco lightens up. After breakfast, they head to the local shrine, where many people have gathered to do whatever they’re meant to do during the New Year. As they are doing ‘hatsumode‘. As they are doing hatsumode, a middle-aged man comes and greets them. He introduces himself as Yasuoka, Haruma’s neighbour from down the hall (they live in an apartment). Haruma follows by introducing Choco, making up a story how she was living in the country, but family matters brought her into his care. With an exchange of Happy New Years, the man walks off. After some more hatsumode, the two return home.

As Haruma and Choco are having lunch, a knock on the door indicates the arrival of one of Haruma’s friends, Makoto, and oh no, for some reason she isn’t wearing any pants! Ignoring Haruma’s remarks, she presents him with some beer that she bought. After some introductions, Makoto hands Choco a can of beer. Haruma objects to her drinking any but does not hesitate to enjoy it with Makoto. Choco complains of only getting to eat oranges, but Haruma tells her that she can’t drink beer until she’s twenty. Makoto notices that Haruma and Choco don’t look alike and asks about this. She accuses Choco of not being Haruma’s real sister, but she strongly objects. In order to apologise for the misunderstanding, she decides to take off her shirt (wth??), but Haruma tells her that she doesn’t have to. Makoto realises that doing so would only please Haruma and not Choco. Before things can settle down, the landlady lets herself into the room. She sets down a bottle of drink she brought on the table and squats down. Haruma asks about her injured leg, which she had obtained by falling down the stairs. As they are talking, Choco becomes fascinated at the distorted images the bottle produces. Choosing the moment carefully (well, not really), the landlady suddenly reveals that she is going to retire. However, the tenants need not worry as her grandchild will take her place. In order to lighten the mood, they start drinking again, though Choco is restricted to the oranges.

The next day, Haruma has a hangover and doesn’t want to get out of bed. As Haruma goes back to sleep, Choco decides to go outside and play. She runs around the streets until she spots two boys playing badminton. She watches them play and even laughs when one of them misses. The boy who missed challenges her to try it. Choco takes the racket, but unfortunately has no skills and ends up falling on the ground. The three then enjoy a light laugh as a result of this. They play for a while longer before Choco decides to move on. She goes to the store and with her New Year’s money, decides to buy a packet of crayons, mistaking them for poki. She takes this to the two kids she was playing before, but makes a fool of herself when she offers them the crayons. She returns home gloomily (after tasting the crayon first) and meets the landlady in the backyard. The two have a nice, long chat, before Choco gets inspired to make a picture diary with her crayons. The landlady gives her New Year’s money in a proper pouch to spend on a diary. When Haruma returns home from wherever he went, he sees Choco drawing in her new diary…

Preview:

New landlady arrives…

�?�ょ�?�ッ�?� Sister

Release: 07/2006
Episodes: 24
Genre: Love-Romance
OP: “Doki! Doki! My Sister Soul” by Harenchi Punch
ED: “Neko-nyan Dance” by Harenchi Punch

Impressions:

Chokotto Sister turned out to be better than I thought. The reason it’s taken me this long to right about it is because I never felt like watching it, until recently, when I finally decided to give it a shot. The show is extremely cheerful until Haruma’s flashback of his mother’s miscarriage, which was SO sad! I wonder what happened to his parents… The style of the character designs aren’t too much to my liking, but this particular style is perfect for a young girl like Choco, although the large eyes and roundish face make Haruma look much younger than he is. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the episode, even though I usually don’t like shows where not much happens. (Oh sorry, I’ve made a big mistake. I forgot about Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu, which had episodes where practically nothing happened, yet the series ended up being one of my all-time favourites.) The OP and ED are both pretty good, and the OP seems really familiar, though I can’t determine where I’ve heard something similar before. The cat dance animation for the OP was weird. Cute, but weird…

Summary:

Chokotto Sister is about a teenage boy called Kawagoe Haruma. He lives by himself until he receives a gift from Santa – a younger sister. Haruma had wished for a sister long ago, but has since forgotten about it. Now he has to adjust to living with another person, and this show is all about that!

Early in the morning, 6:30 to be precise, Kawagoe Haruma is awakened by a soft tapping noise outside. He gets out of bed, still half asleep and trudges to the window, where the sound is coming from. He opens the window and the sight of the person outside wakes him fully. A woman on a flying, motor sled, wearing a Santa hat and sunglasses, claims to be Santa. She asks him if his name is Haruma and he says yes. Santa seems relieved at finally finding him and gives him a large sack, which causes him to topple over. She tells him the sack is his Christmas present. Haruma unties the sack, revealing a young girl inside, curled up in the foetal position. Santa says she’s his sister, which he had wished for. Haruma had wished for a sister years ago and has practically forgotten about it. Santa says as it wasn’t as simple as cards or toy robots, it took a long time. She tells him if he doesn’t want her to talk to God. With that said, she leaves.

Apparently unfazed after the sudden, shocking events that just took place, Haruma approaches the girl, wondering if she’s real. As he is about to touch her, the girl’s eyes snap open and she begins to glow. Startled, he recoils back. Soon after, the girl stops glowing and she finally regains consciousness. She is wearing practically nothing so Haruma quickly tells her put something on. The girl seems confuse and consults her little guide book for directions. In the seemingly blank book, she reads that siblings don’t mind seeing each other in such circumstances. Haruma insists she wears something, so she heads over to his wardrobe and puts on some overly large clothes. When she has finished dressing, allowing Haruma to get a proper look at her, he hinds himself thinking that she’s pretty cute. The girl calls him ‘onii-chan’, startling him. She puts on a confused face, asking if she isn’t allowed to call him that. Submitting to the sad expressions, he allows her to call him that, apparently accepting her as his new little sister.

Still uncomfortable with her, Haruma suggests having breakfast. The girl decides to make it because the book she has says it’s what younger sisters are meant to do. However, she doesn’t know how to cook and completely ruins the food. Sitting gloomily, she apologises for her incompetence. Haruma brings toast and coffee, saying it’s alright and that these things happen, although he’s thinking otherwise in his mind. As they eat, Haruma asks the girl her name. She says she doesn’t have one and asks Haruma to pick one for her, making sure it’s cute. He looks around and spots her book on the ground. He suggests ‘Choco’ from the word ‘anchoko’, which means ‘notes’. The girl says she likes it as it’s cute and accepts her new name.

After breakfast, the two prepare to go shopping as Choco can’t continue to wear Haruma’s clothes. Choco probably has never seen snow before and is fascinated by it. She runs around in it, delighted by sight of her footprints. She falls over and starts sneezing. Haruma gives her his coat and scarf. He warns her that it’s slippery on snowy days. They reach the florist on the way to the shopping centre, owned by Sonozaki Ayano, who Haruma has a crush on. He stumbles over his words as he speaks with her. As he is about to ask her something, she receives a phone call and goes to answer it. He takes this chance to get away. Choco doesn’t know what to make of this. When they reach the shopping centre, they proceed to the fifth floor to the children’s garments apparel section. Choco selects numerous outfits, which amounts to a price higher than the amount Haruma brought, so he is forced to return some.

After buying clothes, they go to have lunch at the café. As Choco is eating, Haruma thinks about the time his mother was pregnant with his little brother or sister. He had been ecstatic about getting a sibling, but his delight had crumbled when he found out his mother had had a miscarriage, and that she wasn’t able to have any more children. That night, the young Haruma had prayed to God for his mother’s well-being, and for a younger sister. His thoughts are diminished by Choco’s voice, asking him what the matter is. He says nothing’s wrong and the two prepare to return home. As they are about to leave, he spots something he likes at a gift store and thinks about giving it to Ayano. He imagines himself giving her the gift and flirting with her, but knows he doesn’t have the courage to do such a thing. One of the store’s staff persuades him to buy something (I thought he had run out of money!), and as he is busy choosing a gift, Choco spots a balloon and runs after it. She then gets distracted by some teddy bears she likes. When Haruma is ready to go, he realises that Choco has disappeared. He runs off and starts searching for her. When Choco returns, she sees that Haruma is gone and starts to cry. After a while, an announcement calling for Haruma to go the lost child centre reunites them. She is happy to see him again, but continues to cry, even on the way home. He gives her the present he was going to give Ayano, which makes her so happy that she gives him a kiss (on the cheek of course, though it did seem quite close to the lips).