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EP. REVIEW: O Maidens in Your Savage Season


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Princess_Irene
ANN Reviewer


Joined: 16 Dec 2008
Posts: 2599
Location: The castle beyond the Goblin City
PostPosted: Sun Aug 11, 2019 6:48 am Reply with quote
Panino Manino wrote:


But Sonezaki's story is so simple and conventional.
She is just a late bloomer.


I can see that reading of her character. Personally I don't like the term "late bloomer" because it implies that everyone has to develop an interest in romance and sex, and that's simply not true. I more see her as not being emotionally mature enough to know what she wants.


Quote:
Why the female editor can but her male teacher can't? Just because he is male?


Not at all! She just seems to be the only adult Hongo's interacting with who doesn't have an ulterior motive and may actually care about Hongo's well-being. I used "female" to differentiate her from the male editor not to say she was better or something.

Quote:
My complaint is about Kazusa.
Her concept is ok, but her personality and reactions are unbearable. Instead of improving he is getting worse. I know that some people have a hard time during this phase but this is too much Okada!


Laughing I'm annoyed by her, too, but it's because I've had students just like her! I'm also really good at overthinking, so to a degree I relate to that. I suspect all of us would be annoying to others if they could hear our every thought.
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Megiddo



Joined: 24 Aug 2005
Posts: 8360
Location: IL
PostPosted: Mon Aug 12, 2019 3:25 pm Reply with quote
Animegomaniac wrote:

As I always say, "form defines function" and now would be a good time to question why these high school girls still look like 12 year olds. These girls are the same age as the ones in "How Heavy are the Dumbbells You Lift?" but.... yeah, I'll just leave it at but.

Because unlike the female characters from Dumbbells, these girls aren't designed to be touted around in skimpy outfits and to lure in the male gaze?

If you asked me which characters look more like Japanese high school girls between the two series you compared, it would 100% be O Maidens in Your Savage Season. I'm baffled that you would bring any thought up to suggest that the girls in this show don't look like Japanese school girls. Has anime warped you so much that you don't actually know what Japanese high school girls look like?
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Hal14



Joined: 01 Apr 2018
Posts: 653
Location: Heart of africa
PostPosted: Mon Aug 12, 2019 4:13 pm Reply with quote
Megiddo wrote:
Animegomaniac wrote:

As I always say, "form defines function" and now would be a good time to question why these high school girls still look like 12 year olds. These girls are the same age as the ones in "How Heavy are the Dumbbells You Lift?" but.... yeah, I'll just leave it at but.

Because unlike the female characters from Dumbbells, these girls aren't designed to be touted around in skimpy outfits and to lure in the male gaze?

If you asked me which characters look more like Japanese high school girls between the two series you compared, it would 100% be O Maidens in Your Savage Season. I'm baffled that you would bring any thought up to suggest that the girls in this show don't look like Japanese school girls. Has anime warped you so much that you don't actually know what Japanese high school girls look like?


The girls in this show just entered high school: in one episode Milo comments on them barely being high school students. Where i'm from that would mean they are either 13 or 14, just barely teenagers hence why all this sex talk is so new to them. I can't confirm the ages of the girls in dumbell but thry're not freshmen, one is old enough to travel unaccompanied and they're are about the same height as their teacher who seems to be average in height. So i would guess 16 or even 17?
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Megiddo



Joined: 24 Aug 2005
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PostPosted: Mon Aug 12, 2019 4:24 pm Reply with quote
Japanese high school is only 3 years, so 1st years are 10th graders by American school standards. That puts them at 15-16 at the youngest. I'm pretty sure the entire cast are not first years as well, as I suspect Hongou and Sonezaki to be older, as I believe they are both referred to as senpai by Kazusa and Momoko.
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vonPeterhof



Joined: 10 Nov 2014
Posts: 729
PostPosted: Mon Aug 12, 2019 4:25 pm Reply with quote
Reading about Sonezaki and Amagi's relationship in the manga kinda stressed me out, as it reminded me so much of my own first relationship (although I'm not entirely sure which one of us was the Sonezaki...)

HAL14 wrote:

The girls in this show just entered high school: in one episode Milo comments on them barely being high school students. Where i'm from that would mean they are either 13 or 14, just barely teenagers hence why all this sex talk is so new to them. I can't confirm the ages of the girls in dumbell but thry're not freshmen, one is old enough to travel unaccompanied and they're are about the same height as their teacher who seems to be average in height. So i would guess 16 or even 17?
High school in Japan is from around 15 to around 18. Judging by the way the characters address each other Kazusa, Momo and Niina are first years, Hitoha is second and Sonezaki is third year. All the charecters in Dumbbell are second years, so likely only younger than Sonezaki.
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Megiddo



Joined: 24 Aug 2005
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PostPosted: Tue Aug 13, 2019 2:05 am Reply with quote
With Hongou being specifically told by her editor to stop writing erotica, she no longer has that excuse to continue her bizarre escapades. Milo obviously wants absolutely nothing to do with her in a sexual way (just look at his reaction after being told directly Hongou will repay with her body) so if this really bizarre interchange continues, it will be because Hongou wants it to. Frankly I hope they just end it there and Hongou starts writing sci-fi or something because this is the one 'relationship' that really irks me out.

It's odd that the reviewer has Momoko as a favorite because she's plainly my least favorite. If she wants to be the mediator then she should have talked to Sugawara with Kazusa present. That's how mediation works. Both parties must be present at the table. As it is, she's merely trying to keep Kazusa from having to face her own fears and grow as a person. Momoko is honestly rather boring in that she has no (as of yet) quarrels of passion or love like the rest of the cast. Is she supposed to be the embodiment of remaining innocent, chaste, and child-like?

At least the rest of the cast is entertaining and the story hasn't been wholly formulaic at this point, unlike a lot of other attempts at capturing 'youthful romance' in anime that I've seen.
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Cab329



Joined: 01 Apr 2017
Posts: 132
PostPosted: Tue Aug 13, 2019 12:23 pm Reply with quote
So by the end of this weeks episode it either should be caught up with the manga or possibly by the start of next week’s episode so we’ll be well ahead of the manga by the end of the series.

At this point I really love the way that all of the characters are flawed.

I do agree that Momoko is the most boring but that’s because she seems to the one clinging onto childhood as much as she can and is the least outgoing. Whether she is attracted to sugiwara or Kazusa is less important to her than just having her group of friends. At the same time she’s so unconfrontatiinal that she can’t call sugiwara or kazuya our on their BS and just wants them to be friends so things will continue as they have been.

The fact they don’f really think of what Izumi wants outside of whether he wants one over the other is so accurate to high school Romance I almost had a flashback.

I agree that it would be nice if Hongo got a new editor. The one she has now is so true to life that I want to punch him in the face.

Milo...okay, I actually don’t like Milo. On the one hand, yes what Hongo is doing is wrong...but he really needs to make a much cleaner break (and next week he’s going to make things worse, not better) than just trying to make Hongo uncomfortable enough to call it quits.

Sonezaki is interesting in that I actually feel for her boyfriend since he just wants some sign of reciprocation. He doesn’t want physical intimacy he just wants recognition of his feelings beyond their rooftop conversations. At the same time though, she has built her image in such a way that having a boyfriend and others finding out would shatter her perception of herself. So while it would be better to just go on a date and eat some crow in front of her classmates, it’s like asking her to tear her nails off.

Sugiwara is another interesting case since she’s reinforcing people’s perceptions of her, which hurts her, while using the justification of helping. A friend out. She’s engaging in some pretty destructive behavior and unfortunately no is there who can call her on it (that she’ll listen to) and try to get her to start healing (and yeah...minor spoiler but we are going to see the pedo director again).

Kazuya meanwhile...okay, I was pretty much Kazuya. I never walked in on a friend masturbating, I knew more about sex but her inability to confess and being so self-defeating was me to a T. Alll she has to do is confess to Izumi and many of her stressors would be gone...but it would be easier for her to chew through her own foot then do that.
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vonPeterhof



Joined: 10 Nov 2014
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PostPosted: Tue Aug 13, 2019 1:15 pm Reply with quote
Cab329 wrote:
So by the end of this weeks episode it either should be caught up with the manga or possibly by the start of next week’s episode so we’ll be well ahead of the manga by the end of the series.
The anime has adapted exactly 14 chapters by its halfway point, whereas the manga is now on chapter 30, which is the first half of a two part finale. The manga will actually end a few weeks before the anime does.

Also, it's Kazusa, Kazuya is a guy's name..
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Cab329



Joined: 01 Apr 2017
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PostPosted: Tue Aug 13, 2019 4:38 pm Reply with quote
Ah, got ya. There’s only been 17 chapters fan translated at this time, so that’s why I thought it had caught up.
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#HayamiLover



Joined: 22 Jul 2018
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Location: Eastern Europe
PostPosted: Tue Aug 13, 2019 6:00 pm Reply with quote
@Princess_Irene I think that interest in romance and relationships is a normal stage in the development of each person. Well, if we are not talking about the asexual community, but that is another question. Nevertheless, this is a personal matter for each person and I do not think that someone should be subjected to some ridicule or even contempt just because their experience is too small or too large.

Quote:
Not at all! She just seems to be the only adult Hongo's interacting with who doesn't have an ulterior motive and may actually care about Hongo's well-being. I used "female" to differentiate her from the male editor not to say she was better or something.


I know little about this character, but I think that she would become a better Hongo editor than the guy who sees our girl exclusively as a commercial toy.

Quote:
Laughing I'm annoyed by her, too, but it's because I've had students just like her! I'm also really good at overthinking, so to a degree I relate to that. I suspect all of us would be annoying to others if they could hear our every thought.


Well, personally, I think Kazusa is just a little over the top "typical high school girl". I will not say that I understand her experience well, because I wasn't a girl, but many of my school deeds still cause me shame. For example, the only reason for my crazy first love was the rumor that she liked me.

So, I try to treat Kazusa with understanding.
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Panino Manino



Joined: 28 Jan 2018
Posts: 734
PostPosted: Fri Aug 16, 2019 2:50 pm Reply with quote
#7
The scene that I expected to see in episode 8 already happened in the end of this episode. People have all the reasons to bash Okada, right?

Niina isn't making much sense.
After getting angry with Kazusa for being accused of trying to steal Izumi from her, just after she resolves the situation between the two, she decides to go after Izumi after all?
And she goes to the pedophile for advice?
And as for sexual contact with him to "prove something" for herself?
Okada over complicated this plot and just ended with something that appears absurd.

And poor Amagi...
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Animegomaniac



Joined: 16 Feb 2012
Posts: 4070
PostPosted: Sat Aug 17, 2019 7:26 pm Reply with quote
Megiddo wrote:
Animegomaniac wrote:

As I always say, "form defines function" and now would be a good time to question why these high school girls still look like 12 year olds. These girls are the same age as the ones in "How Heavy are the Dumbbells You Lift?" but.... yeah, I'll just leave it at but.

Because unlike the female characters from Dumbbells, these girls aren't designed to be touted around in skimpy outfits and to lure in the male gaze?

If you asked me which characters look more like Japanese high school girls between the two series you compared, it would 100% be O Maidens in Your Savage Season. I'm baffled that you would bring any thought up to suggest that the girls in this show don't look like Japanese school girls. Has anime warped you so much that you don't actually know what Japanese high school girls look like?


High school, that curious time where you have people that either look like the adults they will be or the children they were. This series is firmly pushing things backward towards the younger age group to make its point but I'm calling out this series as even the ones who are trying to act like adults look like they're still in middle school.

What would be realistic to me? School Rumble and its mix of both as what gets to me the most is total uniformity. You don't find it odd that there's a clear line of demarcation in O Maidens between the "adults" and "the children" and it's height based? I don't mean the girls and the men, I mean "the boys" and the men.
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MiloTheFirst



Joined: 10 Dec 2014
Posts: 429
PostPosted: Sat Aug 17, 2019 8:37 pm Reply with quote
I am having problems understanding why Rebecca has been giving such low scores to this series lately. the animation looks just as fluid, the frames just as well composed, the audio just as competent (if otherwise unremarkable), and the direction just as top notch as ever. I would say this is the series with the most consistent quality I have in recent memories. it really eludes me what changed in her eyes from episode 3 onward. I trust she understands that presentation doesn't equal endorsement so even when she disproves of what is happening around the characters, I don't think she would just lower the score as a statement
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Panino Manino



Joined: 28 Jan 2018
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PostPosted: Sat Aug 17, 2019 10:35 pm Reply with quote
MiloTheFirst wrote:
I am having problems understanding why Rebecca has been giving such low scores to this series lately. the animation looks just as fluid, the frames just as well composed, the audio just as competent (if otherwise unremarkable), and the direction just as top notch as ever. I would say this is the series with the most consistent quality I have in recent memories. it really eludes me what changed in her eyes from episode 3 onward. I trust she understands that presentation doesn't equal endorsement so even when she disproves of what is happening around the characters, I don't think she would just lower the score as a statement


But everything about this is just average.
The animation is poor and visibly a bit off model most of the time, actually there's little animation. The art and sound is a bit bland and forgettable, the direction have nothing to offer, plays safe.

If not for Okada and her dramas this would pass almost unnoticed.
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Princess_Irene
ANN Reviewer


Joined: 16 Dec 2008
Posts: 2599
Location: The castle beyond the Goblin City
PostPosted: Sun Aug 18, 2019 5:58 am Reply with quote
MiloTheFirst wrote:
I trust she understands that presentation doesn't equal endorsement so even when she disproves of what is happening around the characters, I don't think she would just lower the score as a statement


You trust correctly. Panino Manino did a good job of explaining (we haven't seen anything like the train tunnel scene in episode one for a while now in terms of symbolism, sound design, etc), and I do feel the show is playing it too safe with both Hongo in general and this week's scene with Niina and the director. I didn't personally want to see the kiss, but I do think we should have. In addition, I feel like each episode lately has been trying to cram too many storylines in. That's probably an episode count issue, but I think splitting episodes between two or three girls each time would work better.

This is a difficult show for me to review (although I'm glad to be reviewing it), so I do tend to spend more time on analysis than I possibly should.
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