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Impressions:

Okay, I won’t complain about the quality because it doesn’t matter that much, and at least it’s about 100x better than this certain other show (hint: the entry just before this one!). In fact, I see a lot of things the show can improve on, but frankly I don’t give a damn about any of that because I am perfectly fine with the way things are now. I find it quite enjoyable and a fun show to watch when you don’t want to think about much (similar to Zero no Tsukaima). The characters are a bit bland (especially Haruhi), but people like Anri, Jun and Hachisuke lighten everything up. I’m sure a lot of you have fallen in love with Jun even though you know he’s a guy; and a lot of you probably adore Anri too, even though she’s one of those types that never get the guy (as pointed out by some guy on Hinano’s blog). As for Hachisuke, well, he’s just a fun guy and no one would think any more than that. Anyway, looking forward to the next episode (like always).

Happiness! isn’t magic-orientated, but revolves around the various romances and emerging relationships between the characters. In this way, it more closely resembles Tsuyokiss from last season than Zero no Tsukaima, which was also a magic/romance show. I like Happiness! more than either of those two, simply because it starts off with focuses on relationships, rather than the eventual crawl into love affairs (Tsuyokiss) or constant, shitty magic battles from Zero no Tsukaima. Now why am I comparing this to those two shows anyway? All the summer season series sucked so there really is no point in matching them up. The art style is new to me, with the shaded faces and more-than-often red cheeks, but that all gives the show its uniqueness. Happiness! seems to set out its episodes by focusing on characters at a time. This episode was Anri, and the next seems to be about Koyuki (the girl with green blob).

I don’t have a problem with semi-standalone episodes like that, but it would be better if the events are more important to the plot. These types of episodes allow a lot character development, but the characters are so generic that we already know what everyone is like. Even so, I would love to see a Jun-oriented episode simply because he is still shrouded in mystery (or maybe dressing up as a girl is just a hobby and there’s nothing more to it than that). Apart from that, he’s a great character anyway. Koyuki is getting some time next episode so that’s good, and there’s also the white haired girl who makes a few brief appearances every now and then. Her name is Ibuki Shikimari and she seems to be a mage as well. Now that I’ve arrived to the topic of mages, I wonder why there isn’t any kind of war or discrimination between the mages and non-mages. It’s kinda odd, seeing everyone accept each other so readily, especially when magic causes trouble.

Plot Outline:

- Haruhi and her group are eating lunch in their homeroom
- After someone wonders where Anri is, we cut to her sitting in the school cafeteria
- The cafeteria is empty save for Anri and the cook, as it seems like everyone is eating in their classrooms lately
- Anri decides to help out by advertising the cafeteria (called Oasis) outside the school
- However, when no one turns up, she magically morphs everyone’s bentos into huge animals
- When the disaster strikes, all the students start going to the cafeteria again
- While it looks good at first, Anri is a horrible waitress and has to take the load of all the customers by herself
- Because of the poor service, people start leaving
- That night, Jun decides to teach Anri how to become a proper waitress

- Hachisuke suggests Anri were a sexy uniform to attract customers, but Jun karate kicks him into the wall out of disgust (he’s more feminine than I thought!)
- However, this idea stays in Anri’s mind and she spends the night making her own waitress uniform
- By wearing her new outfit, she attracts all the male customers to the cafeteria
- At the same time, Koyuki gives out fortunes promoting Oasis so the girls go there too
- Although Anri has become a rather efficient worker now, she alone is still not enough
- Anri summons a whole army of replica dolls (of herself) to take some of the weight off her shoulders
- This works for a while, but then the dolls start getting orders wrong and messing up the place
- Anri tries to destroy the dolls but they have developed some level of consciousness and repel her attacks
- With the help of Yuuma, Anri focuses all her power into destroying the dolls, which she does in the end
- Immediately after exhausting all her energy into this, she faints and has a brief flashback of when she met Haruhi
- Btw, we find out that the cook/manager of Oasis is actually Yuuma’s mother

Preview:

Next episode – #4
It’s Koyuki and her green blob!

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