Dungeon Siege III has gripped my attention and time for the last little bit, but I still had the schedule to watch Someday's Dreamers 2. I forced myself to sit through it. Spoiler: it sucks. So much. I should have just watched Shinryaku! Ika Musume instead, with Season 2 coming up in Fall 2011.
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| Daikichi just never really looks comfortable... |
This episode continued just after where the previous one left off, at Rin's entrance ceremony at elementary school (with Kouki's mother helping out with the photo-taking). After following the two in their day (which included grocery shopping), a major plot point was brought upon by the talking of "commemoration trees", which are trees planted in order to commemorate a certain event. The theme was where Rin fit into the family and her place, further signifying that she's here to stay in Daikichi's life (if anyone had any doubts). Interestingly enough, despite Rin starting elementary school, the episode didn't actually have much to say about that.
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| Ah, so "growing big" means just stretching out... |
During the grocery shopping after the OP (with the scene before about the taking of photos), Rin decided to buy some cereal to have for breakfast. Growing up, I never had cereal for breakfast; I recall once, in my childhood, thinking that my older brother was an adventurer for getting cereal. That aside, the scenery of cherry blossoms on their way home was incredibly beautiful. It's interesting to see what kind of various views and lifestyles a city like that has to offer; the shift from small lanes surrounded by tightly-spaced buildings to a large street with giant trees on all sides was quick.
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| The poor tree...! |
Daikichi spoke of wanting to plant something in honour of Rin's graduation, commenting that his own tree was planted at his birth. His younger sister was definitely a wild thing, clawing and ripping at his tree because its flowers were more fragrant than her tree's. Her character, to a degree, reminds me of Reiko, Kippei's older sister (from Aishiteruze Baby), not only because of the reddish hair, but due to the vibrant and controlling personality. I wonder if she has a story (Reiko certainly did), and if it'll ever be touched on. Anyway, the talking culminated in the two planting a loquat seed in the backyard, as Rin desired, although Daikichi commented that a baby tree was usually planted instead.
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| All parents worry for their children. |
After and having some fun jumping over the newly-planted seed for "ninja training", Daikichi looked over Rin's books for the next day's classes, and proceeded to give her some very important advice about strangers. I was with him until he suggested to run into a nearby house should any strangers advance upon her. I really had to think about this piece of advice. I mean, the nearby house also belongs to a stranger; that's kind of a conflicting message. I stand to believe that running into a store should be the first option. In the end, though, the chances of the stranger in the house being as malicious as the possibly-evil stranger talking to you are much lower, so I guess it's pretty acceptable advice. It still sounds a little iffy to me...
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| In times of need, clothing doesn't matter. |
Kouki darted off to Daikichi's house the next morning, being very excited for school. It's quite nice to see that Rin has a close friend already; childhood can be very lonely. Kouki seems to fit the typical "boys will be boys" stereotype, scratching a stick along fences as he walked to meet Rin and then suggesting they take a detour that turned out to be winding and scary. While part of the episode showed Rin and Kouki (taking the shortcut that Kouki suggested), I really like how this anime focuses on the situation of Daikichi taking care of Rin. It rarely and infrequently focuses on scenes to do only with one or the other, which really drives home that Daikichi and Rin,
together, are the main characters of this anime. That makes me happy because that's what I'm interested, not particularly in a 30-year-old at his job or a 6-year-old at school. (Other anime cover those topics just fine, after all.)
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| That tree's already overtaken her height. |
Once Rin figured out that her commemoration tree (the loquat seed) had been planted 6 years "too late", she became a little sad at not having one from her birth that was the same age as she. So Daikichi, being ever eager to please her and give her a good childhood, headed over to meet Masako in order to find out if his grandfather had planted a tree. After being told that there most likely was one (and being given pretty shoddy directions), he headed over to his grandfather's house (once again bringing up the question of who, exactly, maintained and kept-up the house, since no one ever seems to be living in it). Meanwhile, Daikichi's mother showed Rin the two trees of her children in the backyard, and suggested that they would get a 6-year-old tree for Rin should one not already exist. However, Daikichi found it and took it to plant at his house, cementing Rin's place and history in the family.
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| That is a slightly weird guy, tilting his head like that. |
The episode ended on a pretty funny note, after the ED, when Kouki ran into the house desperately blowing on the whistle provided to all elementary school students. Earlier, he had shown that he failed to grasp the meaning of the whistle, since he was "ninja-training" while erratically blowing it. However, this time, the danger was real, as there was a "strange old man" outside the house, and he ran while pulling Rin along. The man turned out to be the neighbour, whom they hadn't introduced themselves to, but it provided an "acceptance scene", as Daikichi thanked Kouki for taking Rin along with him as he ran. I wonder if this cements a possible relationship between the two as they grow older.
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| Rin is cutest without a nose. |
Apparently, half a year has passed since the beginning of the series, when the family met Rin (unless I misunderstood Daikichi's words), which means that each episode was, more or less, a month? A long time seems to have passed, but it's nice to see the "quick pace" the anime is going at, instead of focusing on heavy-hearted drama that seems to be prevalent in so many anime. This is really slice-of-life, and it's able to keep me attached without doing anything special.
~Aaro
