Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu - Purezza - Episode 6

Following on from all of the Christmas-related shenanigans of the past couple of episodes, I suppose it was inevitable that New Year would be the next big landmark on the Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu calendar, and so it is that this sixth instalment focuses on a traditional shrine visit for Yuuto and Haruka, although the latter's mind is more on taking Yuuto to visit Ouse-Misaki, a beauty spot described by her parents at which a New Year's kiss is supposed to bring a couple a lifetime of happiness.


Of course, this being the series that it is, actually making it to Ouse-Misaki is more difficult than it might seem, with Haruka dragged away by a bunch of her friends/fans for much of the time, before the actual walk to this beauty spot seems to bring about one problem after another. Most notably, Yuuto (as is his habit) bumps into some strange girl at one point who you should recognise from the opening titles, and no doubt this chain of events will provide plenty of material for the second half of the series. Of course, we also get inevitable moments of Haruka tripping over or generally being clumsy, causing Yuuto to catch her, and on one occasion this clumsiness also gives us what seems to be the required weekly dose of fan service for this series.

When all is said and done, this particular episode of Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu is about as traditional as they come - You can almost feel yourself checking off the "things a romantic comedy anime series has to depict" check boxes throughout, and if you're looking for an innovative take on the genre then you can be guaranteed not to find it here. That said, this episode does manage to carry itself off somewhat simply on account of the lovability of the two lead characters - You can't help but want them to get together and be happy, to the point where you wish the series would just stop teasing us and get on with it in all honesty. With that in mind, I suppose we can mark this one down as a "feel-good" episode if nothing else, which certainly makes it a cut above some of those ridiculously fan service-centric earlier instalments.