Friday 17 December 2010

Soredemo Machi wa Mawatteiru - Episode 11

If you feel like you've had a rough day, then the opening scenes of this eleventh episode of Soredemo Machi wa Mawatteiru may be enough to convince you that hey, it could have been worse... it could have been like Hotori's trip to the beach that kicks off this episode.

From here (and ignoring the one-trick brief "Richman and Poorman short gags that don't work as well as they probably should this episode), we get to enjoy a glimpse into the summer of a few memories of the Arashiyama family.  First we spend a morning with Hotori's father, who waxes lyrical on the joys of taking an early morning stroll through the town... at least, he would wax lyrical about it were it not for some interruptions with impeccable comic timing.


Next, we have a look at Hotori's summer, which perhaps inevitably involves remedial maths classes and bringing her teacher one step closer to complete mental and physical breakdown.  Poor old Mr. Moriaki even thinks he's cracked a way to teach Hotori maths this time around, only to be predictably disappointed in the end.  Next, we move on to follow the Arashiyama's pet dog Josephine, which is really just an excuse to watch Hotori some more; that said, Josephine does get the biggest laugh of this segment with her comment on the Arashiyama family hierarchy.  After all that we really just drift through a few random moments, mostly surrounding Hotori and including a couple of glimpses into her dreams amongst other things, before making time to top up any frisson in the love triangle between Sanada, Hotori and Tatsuno.

Once again, Soredemo Machi wa Mawatteiru is at its best as a simple and occasionally daft slice of life comedy with Hotori at its centre - there were several moments that left me laughing until I could barely breathe, and plenty of other big laughs to make for a hugely enjoyable episode that went nowhere in particular but delivered the goods.  It might have taken me a while to warm to it, but I'm really going to miss this show once it ends next week... I will darken the sea with my tears, I would wager.

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