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Impressions:

Tokimeki Memorial is becoming one of my favourites this season. The show is extraordinarily hilarious, and what’s more, the humour is not mindless comedy like Sumomomo Momomo. The humour is derived from the overly exaggerated…everything! Really, every aspect of the show undergoes some serious exaggeration, which lifts its overall fun-to-watch-ness (I love making up new words lol). We didn’t see the yakuza chicken in action this episode, but it was fun with him just making an appearance. He is just one of these wacky embellishments which I love. Then there’s also the teachers from last episode, which pokes fun at old stereotypical personalities. The four sporting captains this episode was made to look like a top secret anti-government organisation plotting to overthrow the country. Then there was the sprinting race where the track captain ran at impossible speeds; and the baseball competition where the captain’s hits were faster than bullets.

Another nice addition to the show was Tsukasa Kasuga, the pink haired girl who falls in love with Aoba at first sight. While this is great as I think she is by far the best out of the three main female characters that will most likely be vying for Aoba’s attention sooner or later, the fact that she got to him so early also means it is unlikely they will stick together. I really hope they do though, as the other two are far too bland. I don’t like Sayuri because she’s too bland and class-rep-like. I also don’t like the way she’s drawn with the soft, observing eyes and plain everything else. Mina sucks too because she is the type that admires the male lead from afar and is too scared to say anything. If she were drawn cuter, then maybe I’d like her more, but once again I don’t like the way she is drawn, especially her overly pale skin (albino…) Tsukasa is the outgoing type in every harem/school life anime and her type is the one I like best. She’s also the cutest so that helps as well.

I’m not going to go into how unrealistic this show is as that would be just stupid. The show parodies everything and that’s what makes it so enjoyable to watch. The quality is very high, and not to mention the genre is school life, one of my favourites. What’s more, it’s a romantic/comedy/school-life, which although is quite common, stands out from the rest because it makes the most of all three genres. Take Tsuyokiss for example, as it is a recent anime: its genre is school-life/romance, though there was no school-life fun that all school-life shows have, and the romance sucked too because nothing was resolved in the end. What about School Rumble? It’s a school-life/romance/comedy, yet only its comedy aspect excels (and maybe more romance in the manga too). Basically, Tokimeki Memorial is a perfect example of all three genres which it employs. That is why I have fallen in love with this show. I knew it would be good last episode, but as it’s managed to stay good so far (unlike a certain other show), it should go most of the way at least.

OP: [Yokan] by Yuki Makishima
Download *right click – save target as* (TV size mp3 – 2.05mb)

ED: [Kiseki no Kakera] by Yuki Makishima, Yukako Yoshikawa & Saki Fujita
Download *right click – save target as* (TV size mp3 – 2.06mb)

Plot Outline:

- During volleyball practice, the newly appointed captain of the team, Tsukasa, practices spikes
- After practice when she is changing, her friend asks her whether she is interested in boys or not, as there were quite a few guys cheering her on during practice, but she never noticed
- She says that she would like a boyfriend, but only if they are fated to be together
- During class, the four ‘big captains’ of the school gather together discussing the new transfer student, Aoba, and his various skills
- In Aoba’s class, he, his two friends and Amamiya are selected to run the relay together
- Outside, Aoba gets chased by a crowd of sporting people wanting to challenge him
- The crowd knocks a batch of bread out of the cafeteria girl’s hand, which makes her mad
- The girl then ‘takes care of’ the aggressive crowd for trampling over her bread
- As Aoba is feeding the yakuza chicken, the big, tough guy from his class gives him a talk as ‘friends’
- He is then challenged to a race by one of the four big captains (the track captain of course)
- He accepts but doesn’t realise until later that if he loses he has to join the track team

- The captain gives Aoba a handicap by running 100m before the race to tire himself out (though he doesn’t seem the least be tired after)
- When the race starts, the captain dashes toward the finish with Aoba trailing miserably behind
- Aoba’s friends decide to help him by telling the captain that his running form is bad
- While the captain is busy training to fix it up, Aoba overtakes him and wins the race
- Next, the swimming captain sends him a fake love letter asking him to meet her at the swimming pool
- They are about to race, but Aoba makes a remark about the captain’s breasts (she is a girl btw, if you haven’t figured that out)
- This causes her to start squealing in embarrassment, allowing Aoba to sneak away
- Finally, he gets challenged to a baseball competition: Aoba has to pitch against the captain, and if he doesn’t hit it, Aoba wins
- After school, the yakuza chicken takes him on a special training course, readying for tomorrow’s baseball competition
- The next day, Aoba makes a fast pitch which hits the captain in the face (and as he failed to hit it, Aoba wins)
- Another day passes and we see Tsukasa again, who oversleeps
- As she is rushing to school, she bumps into Aoba and falls
- After getting him to apologise and help her up, she falls in love with him and declares that they are lovers for all the jealous boys to hear
- She’s also already decided to go on a date with him without even asking and is tries to decide where to go

Preview:

Next episode – #3
An Exciting Time After School…

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