After quite some delay (this should have been up a week ago), here's the second batch for 30-sai~ (This post made me realize that the "x" key on my keyboard is pretty stiff.)
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| Macaron's pretty much a cosplayer by hobby. |
I don't know what it is, but 30-sai has been really growing on me. The story is running forward and every episode generally has a good mix of random humour with lots of development. This batch of episodes dealt with the aftermath of Imagawa's rejection from Natsu (I had to Wiki those names...) and then the eventual getting together.
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| Introducing the finger soldiers made the later banter a lot more amusing. |
Ep05 was primarily driven by Imagawa's inability to give up on Natsu despite his second rejection and his eventual decision to pursue her still. I was a little afraid that by continuing to chase a woman that has, directly or not, rejected him so many times would propagate the idea that a man can definitely get the woman that he wants, and it might also lead to some kind of stalker-like behaviour. However, the theory behind the idea to wait some length of time before attempting again is pretty useful. An annoying realization was that Imagawa and Natsu, being the main characters, are supposed to be together, so there wouldn't be any focus on when to actually give up. That's a shame; dealing with rejection and actually moving on seems like a pretty important topic.
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| I want to see more of the Heaven's Elementary School days! |
Although not a surprise, the gods all seem to know each other (at least, Daigoro knows Pi-chan and Ku-chan from their days in elementary school, so potentially Macaron doesn't know the girls). The actions of the gods have really grown on me; despite not agreeing with the idea that sex and love go hand-in-hand, Daigoro is helping Imagawa out instead of sabotaging his every move. On the other hand, Pi-chan and Ku-chan seem to not particularly be doing a good job; it doesn't look like they've made much headway with Natsu. They're either rookies or just not very good at their jobs?
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| You'd think see-through bottles would allow the breasts to show through. |
On that note, Natsu has begun to really annoy me. She doesn't seem to especially be against Imagawa - in fact, there are hints that she does have feelings for him; perhaps she just doesn't know how to interpret them - and yet she's so self-sabotaging. Characters like that I can only really stand for a little bit; while even minor changes in personality can take years in real life, I'm watching the anime to see that change, so perhaps it should hurry up a little. Of course, my gripe is also with her female gods; they don't seem to be doing enough. Daigoro, in comparison, is extremely hands-on. Maybe it's just the fact that men and women need different types of encouragement. At any rate, the female side of the story isn't really speaking to me.
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| I don't think Natsu would want to date this. |
Ep06 began with the time skip of the 3 months that Imagawa decided to wait before approaching Natsu again. The advice of waiting seemed much, much more useful once it was revealed that, in those 3 months, Imagawa was working on improving himself. While I'm not a proponent of the man needing to change to be with a woman (and vice versa), it is generally a good idea to at least meet the standard in certain areas (like hygiene). Thankfully, Imagawa suddenly didn't turn into an old-school shoujo prince; he actually looked pretty nice by the end of it.
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| I guess rooftops are used even in non-school anime... |
Spoiler alert, although we should have seen it coming: Natsu rejected him again. In fact, this time she screamed for him to leave her alone. Ouch~ With the gods watching (once again, the females doing nothing to really help their charge in any way), it turned into a really strange scene with a sci-fi feel to it. Ultimately, it turned out that she was just embarrassed. Sigh. It's hard to bash something like this when it's actually real; there are lots of men and women, all over the world, that find certain things embarrassing to talk about. Moreover, it's safe to assume that if she got to the age of 30 without having dated despite having no specific aversion to it, then she probably just never learned to deal with the nervous butterflies.
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| What is he really groping, anyway? |
Imagawa really came into his own in this scene (or with the help of God, since both Daigoro and Macaron prayed to their almighty boss), taking charge and asking why the answer was still negative. I've always supported clarity - which, sadly, the Japanese language itself seems to dislike. It's always bothered me, in shoujo, when characters say cryptic things to each other and instead of asking for details, the recipient formulates their own (emo) thoughts. Imagawa's hard work paid off; after realizing that she was embarrassed, he assured her of his feelings, breaking through her strange barriers. However, the show will still continue with them, because this is about healthy sex, and Natsu most likely is most embarrassed of the copulating aspect (that, or it was something really kinky; the word was bleeped out).
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| Hm. She's good with her mouth. |
Ep07 continued into the first pieces of their relationship together, wherein they would awkwardly (but excitedly) text each other about random things. I do like the direction of this anime; getting together with someone just means the battle has begun, so to speak. I questioned why Natsu's co-worker had to remind her about sex appeal and why her gods weren't helping her with that, but I suppose that they're telling her but she's not listening (just like she didn't listen to her co-worker). I agree that sex comes at a natural pace if you just let it, but quite obviously she hasn't been developing "naturally" if the sex gods had to decree that she needed help (it doesn't look like they "force" the help on just anybody).
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| That's not even that high of a bounty. |
The scene with the superintendent of Imagawa's building (Cherry System) was extremely surprising (and a complete parody of One Piece). Judging by previous appearances, I had really thought that the superintendent would be genuinely happy to see one of his tenants get a girlfriend. However, it turns out that the name of the building isn't just a coincidence; I wonder if being a virgin is part of the application questions. (How awkward.) While this scene wasn't especially funny to me, it allowed for Natsu to finally speak up and do something herself - and, by that I mean that she invited Imagawa over to her house. Development~
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| Daigoro: I didn't think it was possible to finish without being touched. |
I don't know what to say about Imagawa at this point. It doesn't look like he's ready for sex any more than Natsu is - of course, part of healthy relationships is learning together, so perhaps that's the direction this anime will take. (I have no doubt that premature ejaculation will be a topic here, considering Imagawa is capable of spontaneously orgasming.) At any rate, the visit to her house ended without any kind of development (that we got to see, at least).
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| Hm. I've begun to want some little fairies of my own. |
I had to look up the information presented in the extra lesson, that nipples become pure black when a woman is pregnant. While the "pure black" part is questionable, apparently the darkening aspect is true. I'm pleased that this anime lived up to its guidebook roots and taught me something. The piece about Natsu believing her grandmother's words that a woman would get breast cancer if she plucked her nipple hairs (not true) was hilarious and insightful. The current generation, all over the world, is in the midst of another sexual revolution, where talking about these once-taboo topics and accepting it as a part of life has begun replacing the old ways. With that in mind, I'll try to give Natsu more leeway in future episodes. It won't do me good to dislike a main character of yet another anime this season.
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| It's weird to see the thumb there with the other fingers... |
So, in short, I watched these three episodes in a row and they were actually quite funny. I'm pleased that the story is developing so fast, and that the advice presented has become mostly indirect. (People, curiously enough, tend to learn by example rather than by being told.) While I don't really like Natsu, I do really like Imagawa and the way he approaches things. I hope that the female gods will stop being just pretty things to look at, actually doing something in future episodes, but for now I'm satisfied with what the male gods add to the story. I do kind of hope that 30-sai won't become the sex-fest that Futari Ecchi was; I find that I really want the focus to be on a healthy relationship, overall.
~Aaro
