My hope for today is to get through all of the Kamisama no Memochou episodes. I'll blog about the ones that are obviously arcs together, but after watching ep04 (and then seeing the preview for ep05), I wonder if I'm not just in for some stand-alones for a while...
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| How could I not include naked Min? |
This episode seemed like "filler", since it followed a crazy plotline. It did at least use Alice's skills semi-seriously, and an important story point occurred near the end. It dealt with Min being silently "challenged" by a customer that came by frequently but would leave after barely touching his ramen (essentially telling her that it wasn't so good, no matter what he ordered) as well as a stalker/thief that kept stealing Min's sarashi (the cloth she used to bind her chest). While it was a pretty humdrum episode, I still liked it since it felt like a good change of pace.
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| And she says she has no interest in ramen... |
This specific customer would come every once in a while, ordering a different ramen every time. He wouldn't look at the menu, meaning he had some knowledge of what the store offered (that, or all ramen places have a general set). However, after just one sip of the ramen soup, he would pay for the bowl and walk out. This left Min in tatters and she would attempt to do better each time - but to no avail. She assumed that the customer was looking for her father's ramen, which she was only mimicking because she didn't have recipes. It was pretty clear where this was going, but I decided to let the episode lead instead of drawing conclusions from the very beginning.
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| He looks like he's a victim from Shiki. |
In Min's battle, Narumi was an unwilling player as he was forced into pulling all-nighters with her in order to better the ramen soup. This on top of school and actually working at the store in the evening caused him to nearly fall apart. I'm sure his love for Alice kept him coming back. It was interesting to see just how little Ayaka showed up in the episode; she was seen at the store one evening, but pretty much just lounged around without doing anything and then quickly left. I wonder if she's even that important of a character as it stands; it feels more like she was the bridge for Narumi to actually meet the NEETs and now that she's done her part, she can fade into the background. She'll probably get a story to herself at some point, but I think that'll be used as more fodder for the Narumi-Alice angle.
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| You seem to know a lot about a stalker's fetishes, Narumi. |
One evening, as Narumi was watching the ramen soup (which looks like it needs to be prepared beforehand, perhaps overnight), he heard a rustling outside and spotted a shady man lurking about. After scaring him away, a near-naked Min came out of the shower and instantly realized that it had happened again - her sarashi was stolen. After consulting with the other NEETs, who had quite a lot of personal interest vested in the ramen shop (it being one of the only places they could run up a tab, for example), Narumi and co approach Min in order to get Alice involved. Min, being the headstrong woman that she is, initially didn't want help (even after
telling Alice of the situation), but got thoroughly freaked out by the idea of what the stalker could possibly be doing with her sarashi, and so formally asked Alice.
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| Bigger sunglasses would not only hide your face better, but also be stylish. |
Meanwhile, the man with the sunglasses came to the store once more. He was a prime suspect, since the thievery occurred every time he visited the store, but they were apparently unable to find him in the city despite looking since he "moved like a ghost". Jumping to the end of the episode, it turned out that this man was Min's father. I had assumed this from the very beginning, but had tossed the idea out the window because Min didn't recognize him. This was a topic of discussion between the NEETs at the end of the episode, with Shousha speculating that perhaps he could shapeshift. On a serious note, I can understand how Min didn't see through the spectacularly crappy disguise of a baseball cap and sunglasses. If Rho were to appear before me with such items, I would recognize her right away. She could even hide her entire face and I would still know her from the body. But that's only because I see her every day, all day. If I were to meet my own father wearing such a weak disguise, especially after not having seen him for years, I probably wouldn't suspect much unless there was more interactions. This man was very careful to say nothing except the type of ramen and do nothing except take a sip; that's hardly enough material to bring back memories.
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| Would he sneakily replace it if your body wasn't in the way? |
On that note, Alice's plan for a line of defence was slightly subverted when Min refused to allow the lock to her front door to be changed. It was pretty clear, without her saying it, that it was because her father, who had the key, could still come in should he ever choose to show up. It's a silly thing, but I think it means a lot. I still have two keys to two doors that don't exist any more, and I just can't bring myself to throw them out (or even remove them from my keychain). It's not like I go to sleep every night holding the keys, but it's just a little feeling of nostalgia that keeps me from going through with the small act. Likewise, I could really understand Min's reluctance to change locks and determination to keep the way paved for her father's return.
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| Passion in your work is always a good thing. |
Everything turned out for the better (of course) when Narumi apprehended the thief by using Shousha's homemade stun grenade (which looked like some kind of mahou shoujo skill, by the way). His reasons for stealing Min's sarashi was extremely funny and even made me laugh - being a designer for a lingerie line, he couldn't stand to see Min wrapping and disfiguring her chest. I assume he thought that, by stealing the sarashi, Min would run out of cloth to destroy her chest with. It's amusing how short-sighted this man was; can Min not go out and buy more sarashi? It's obviously her choice of underwear, so she must have a store or supplier of sorts. His presence in this episode was obviously just for laughs.
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| Is that a seahorse? |
The real point of this entire episode happened when Alice revealed that the stalker/designer wasn't "breaking in", per se, and rather just
walking in through an open door. Every time the disguised man had ramen, he would head upstairs to go into the apartment, which the stalker knew because he staked out the place every night. For some strange reason that I didn't really understand because it wasn't explained, Min's father decided to leave the door open, thus allowing the stalker to get in. It was really forced, but whatever. Min found a box of ingredients along with some recipes in the store, which her father had left for her (along with a note saying that he wanted to have some of Min's ice cream the next time he came). It's kind of presumptuous for the man to assume that
that was the night Alice would reveal that he was Min's father, thus making his present's meaning clear instead of ambiguous, but I've learned to understand how this idea of "god" works in this specific anime.
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| Such big breasts on Alice... *shudder* |
The episode ended with a bag from His Angelica (the lingerie store) appearing in the ramen store as well as being hung on Alice's door. When Min opened hers, which containing a tiny pink bra, she asked the NEETs what they thought of it, considering it clearly wasn't her size. The NEETs recalled how they decided to let the stalker go if he provided Alice with some underwear that fit (considering he claimed to know women's sizes on sight), and clearly the bags had been switched around accidentally. Looking at Min's bra (held up by Alice), I recall the typical giant bras that "older women" wear on TV and am extremely turned-off. Big breasts are fine, but big bras look ridiculous.
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| I'm sad to say that I don't understand anything except the cup size. |
I hadn't thought that there would be a "filler" episode this early in the anime, though I'm not complaining all that much since it was a fun episode. This kind of outrageous story is okay in short bursts; I hate it when an anime is entirely focused on this kind of thing, usually. With the next episode apparently about Alice's bear, I can't believe just how much I'm looking forward to it.
~Aaro
