life line by line

I can sum up this crappy episode in one sentence: excuse to have the girls in various cosplay.

I thought this volume of Ichigo 100% would focus on Satsuki based on the cover and how the past two OVA episodes focued on Aya and Tsukasa, and in a way it did focus on Satsuki… for two minutes. Instead of using any of the 160+ chapters in the manga, the staff went anime original again by having Manaka and company go work part time at some lodge in the middle of nowhere. The three staffers at the lodge are major perverts, which make up the “plot” of this episode as they use a pitiful tactic to get the girls to dress in various costumes to save Manaka’s arse. Episode predictably ends on a happy note as the perverts get what’s coming to them, Manaka gets two minutes with Satsuki, viewers see the girls in badly drawn cosplay, and I tear my hair out over the stupidity of the episode!

Know what the really really really small saving grace was that didn’t make the episode complete garbage in my opinion? Kozue appearing and being voiced by Kana Ueda. THAT’S IT!

“Kokoro Capsule” by Nana Mizuki

There is no plot summary here, my quick summary on top pretty much sums it to a T. Instead I’ll be ranting about the various negatives of this episode, as has been my norm when discussing 90% of all animted forms of Ichigo 100%.

Animation, yes I can skip that. I’ve complained in every entry I have on Ichigo 100% about it and my feelings have not changed. Enough said.

Plot. Horrible. Period. There were better ways to have the girls dress in cosplay. Just look at the chapters in the manga where Sotomura convinced the girls to do it to help “inspire” Manaka for his next film. Definitely did not need three random perverted scrubs to do it instead!

The worst, however, was being totally misled on what the episode was going to be about! Maybe it’s partly my fault but I honestly thought this was going to be a Satsuki episode instead of the POS it was. I mean, yes Satsuki was the “star” in terms of which girl got some time with Manaka but it was so little and pitiful that it would have been better off if she didn’t! And if that wasn’t enough, I at least thought Satsuki’s character vocal song would be the ending song but instead it’s Yui’s! I have nothing against Yui’s character or Nana Mizuki (heck I Just ordered two of her CD singles) but I figured since it was sort of Satsuki “starring” it’ll be her song. I guess when I look at the character CD singles, Yui’s made sense since hers was the third one released just like this third OVA DVD (Satsuki’s CD got released afterwards as the fourth).

Seriously if it wasn’t for Kana Ueda voicing Kozue, however small her lines were, I would have written this episode as the worst of the four currently out! This is why one shouldn’t go original when there’s plenty of decent source material to use instead!

Last OVA, the fifth, should roughly star Kozue from vague rumors I’ve read around the ‘net but who knows. Good odds are, however, that Satsuki’s character song “Platonic Scandal” will be the ED. (I personally like “Omoi, Fuwari” more but…)