Friday 22 April 2011

Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko - Episode 2

The opening episode of Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko did a pretty good job of asserting that its setting was full of crazy people... or, at least, one crazy family with daughter Erio taking after mother Meme Touwa in the "what the Hell is wrong with you?" stakes.

If that duo isn't enough for you however, episode two introduces us to another couple of female oddballs.  Firstly, we have Ryuuko Mifune, an energetic and enthusiastic girl who is nonetheless one spoke short of a full bicycle wheel.  Then there's Maekawa, a tall girl with an aversion to putting her arms above her head for ten seconds yet with a penchant for bad jokes and dressing up as a giant sandwich at night.


Away from this new additions to the character roster, Erio herself is still acting as bizarrely as ever, whether it's discussing her role as an alien to an ever-put upon Niwa or diving into the sea while wearing her futon with an assertion that she can fly out of trouble any time she likes.  Against this daft personality comes a slightly more sobering tone to the episode, with the story of how Erio disappeared for six months, returning to drop out of school while claiming first that she was abducted by aliens before switching her story to insist that she is one herself.  Is Erio simply trying to hide away from the reality of what happened to her, is she simply bonkers or is there some truth to her story?

Putting the more serious matters at hand to one side, Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko is invariably entertaining in that kind of easily witty way that suits SHAFT's style down to the ground - Niwa Makoto makes for a perfect foil for the weird girls around him, full of snide comebacks and one-liners that rarely fail to amuse and are occasionally laugh out loud funny, as is the behaviour of the aforementioned lunatics around him.  I'm certainly not sticking with this series in the hopes of it having any real depth to it, and to be honest I don't care what direction its story moves in as long as it continues to be effortless fun to watch, giggle at and shake your head over.  This isn't going to be a classic, but it's doing its job reasonably well right now.

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