Friday 17 February 2012

Amagami SS+ plus - Episode 7

It's time to put away the combs and brushes for a couple of weeks, as the fly-away hair of Kaoru Tanamachi makes its return to Amagami SS for its latest follow-up arc.

Once again, we jump six months in the future, to find a Kaoru and Junichi who are certainly very friendly and at ease with one another... but perhaps that's exactly the problem with their relationship.  Although they're officially dating, it seems that nothing has changed in the dynamic between them - they still hang out at the same places and do the same things, acting more like good friends than a proper couple.  When Kaoru's friend Keiko suggests the two of them take a summer holiday together, she might just have struck on a great idea.


The trouble with holidays is, of course, being able to afford them, and thus our two hopeless lovebirds end up working what seems like a pretty fun job amidst the staff of a "super sentai" show at an amusement park.  This is all well and good, until Junichi gets ideas above his station, which sees them fired and given only half of their pay.  With any grandiose vacation ideas out the window, Kaoru happens across a coach tour which seems right up their alley (or within the confines of their wallet at least), granting the opportunity to spend some time alone together.  However, some time-keeping confusion means that they might end up spending that time far, far more alone than they'd initially planned.

I feel like a bit of a two-timer (well, four-timer at this juncture in the show) at the moment, as it seems that every story arc has me aching to declare the current girl my favourite in some shape or form.  Certainly, Kaoru's carefree energy and enthusiasm is really enjoyable to watch, and this goes some way towards this episode offering up some of the best comedy we've seen with the series thus far - again, there's also a solid dynamic between Junichi and Kaoru to keep things ticking over while also leaving you cheering them on.  It might have plot points you can see coming a mile off (and you have to wonder how Kaoru isn't easily besting Rihoko in the flab department given all the snacks she consumes), but Amagami SS+ is still really fun to watch most of the time despite its generally unspectacular nature.

No comments: