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Rating: 7/10

Impressions:

Since there are quite a few harems this season, I thought I’d do a little comparison now. In the list of shows I’m following currently, there’s Kanon, Gift ~Eternal Rainbow~, Tokimeki Memorial, Sumomomo Momomo, Negima!?, and technically OtoBoku as well, but I won’t count that. Of those, Kanon stands out because it’s just superb in almost every respect so I won’t talk about that. Gift is also a very nice harem since it’s actually more on the romance side, and does a much better job of it than, say, Yoake Mae yori Ruriiro na Crescent Love. Its key point is the main character, Haruhiko, who actually confesses his love for his ex-childhood friend and unrelated sister in something like the 4th episode, and it already seems as if the two have become a couple! Okay, next is Sumomomo, and that show is just awesome, essentially because it’s so hilarious it’s crippling. Negima!?’s pretty popular anyway, and displays some nice magic battle scenes, as of its main genre of fantasy. So, the only thing that’s left that’s almost pure harem is…Tokimeki Memorial! And it really isn’t that good. It’s also a school-life, though you can hardly tell. It was supposed to funny, but recent attempts at jokes have become quite old.

Yayoi has flawlessly won me over in just this episode. Initially, I thought she was a timid introvert who was perfectly fine with admiring Aoba from afar, but it seems like she’s much more of an aggressor than I anticipated. She’s also a lot cuter when she has her hair let down completely. Her personality is quite attractive in my opinion, and I think Aoba made an appropriate choice of going to see her and completely ignoring Tsukasa, who although is pretty hot, is quite ignorant and troublesome. Nevertheless, Amamiya is still down in the gutters when it comes to harem placement, though it’s still more likely for Aoba to end up with her than any of the other girls. This episode wasn’t funny at all, and even the yakuza chick failed to make me laugh, but its plus points were the little interaction between Mina and Aoba. Their short conversation though, seems to have already improved their relationship from stranger-admirer to coach-trainee (which probably already signifies a strong friendship developing). As for how Mina knew Aoba’s name, I’d say a lot of people would discover his name sooner of later due to the uproar he caused on the first day of school. Either that or she stalked him and uncovered all his personal information and dirty secrets hehe…

Plot Outline:

- Aoba is once again involved in a school activity where he must touch a bronze statue before being caught by the numerous students after him to obtain a prized head accessory!
- Later on after winning, we get to see a bit more of the school’s pool and the members of the swimming club, especially Yayoi Mina and the captain of the club
- Of course, a large crowd of desperate guys have crowded around the windows, ogling at the seemingly oblivious girls in swimsuits inside, as Aoba tries to get a closer look also
- After seeing Mina, Aoba remembers the handkerchief she had given him and decides to return it after school
- However, when class ends, he is dragged to the cafeteria by his two friends for some deep interrogation regarding his feelings for a certain someone from the swimming team, but of course he denies it and says he only wants to meet her to return the handkerchief

- The topic of how sporty girls are naturally more attractive than other girls is brought up by the blue hair + glasses guy, and when neither Aoba or the other guy believes him, he decides to take them on a tour of the school, sightseeing at the numerous sporting females
- They get into a mess when they are caught in some love trade-off between the track captain and the music teacher
- After running away, Aoba gets separated from the other two guys, who meet a young girl who manages to sell the idiots camouflage body suits, and their pink!
- Aoba is confronted by the tank from his class, but he gets his arse pwned by the Yakuza Chick once again
- Meanwhile, Aoba’s two foolish friends have invaded the swimming pool with their suits that don’t work, but are discovered as soon as they bump into the captain of the swimming team
- As the teacher is chasing them out, Aoba finds his opportunity to sneak into the pool
- He meets up with Mina and returns the handkerchief
- They then go into a conversation regarding Mina’s performance in her swimming, which leads to her bravely asking Aoba to mentally coach her

Preview:

Next episode – #5
The sports festival!

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