Forum

The Mahouka one was the one that I was missing. Thanks, guys!

What about the mouse pad pic? Felt like I should know that one.

I'm fairly sure the mousepad is the same as whatever is on the back side of his bed as a large poster. It has the title written on it but I had to look it up myself because I never heard of it myself so can't really remember sry.

One other thing that I can think of: episode 2, the scene which at the very beginning had Utaha + Aki in the bookshop as a date. Utaha was reading and finally bought the Monogatari series. The subbers didn't pick up on it but she clearly said Monogatari-series and not just "this series" and later in the episode you could see her holding and reading the second vol of Nisemonogatari

Well, and the entire monologue in the bookstore with the changed colors was clearly a reference about how Araragi usually holds his monologues in the series

The mousepad is from what appears to be in-universe parody of Mashiro-iro Symphony (Pure White Symphony), Kohaku-iro Concerto (Amber colored concerto). It's the VN Aki lent/bought for Eriri back in the beginning of S1. The in-universe nature of this title is probably the reason why the poster for this game is still where it was in S1 when all other posters referring to real life titles were replaced.

The Mahouka poster + the Ao no Kanata no Four Rhythm PS4 HD Edition poster in place of the Kadenz fermata ones in S1.

Im entirely sure I understood what Utaha was saying to Megumi on the roof. Was Utaha giving up and encouraging Megumi to chase after Tomoya?

Poor Eriri. Those last scenes in the snow...

That was an amazing ep. This show suddenly got 1000 times better.

It was like he could have had things work out for the better. That Eriri is clearly really important to him from the childhood friend perspective, that for his character perspective it was the right thing to do. But he did not trust that Megumi would accept that side, that choosing Eriri was something Megumi should have to then take the work for, but it was that lack of trust that was a betrayal to Megumi. That as a character she has kind of made a point to trust in his character, but what he did to her was I think a bit of the opposite.

What he did was in general great for Eriri, she got him showing that he would drop anything for her, and that he thought her work was fantastic. But in terms of game terms, it was like he chose one route, regardless if there was such an intention.

Quote:

Still, I'm not holding out hope that Aki will ever appreciate the quality of his options as much as the audience does.

lol

But that being said, for me this 8th episode probably was the one I enjoyed the most so far. I really thought the most recent ones were all really strong. Especially since they seemed to really go for confrontation lately and I ended up being pleasantly surprised but this episode had so much stuff I really loved on a "silently grin along"-level.
Like how Katou's voice breaks down in the last moments talking to Aki in the AV room, the many scenes from s1 that were taken and turned around this episode. Like Aki's "arg"-expression or whatever it is that originally belonged to Eriri from s1 as she spotted utaha comming over.
The sit-and-listen moment during the game-play scene that innitially had Aki lecture Katou about dating-sim in s1 that turned around this time as well as the theme of girls sleeping over at his place being totally normal taken to the extreme as Katou just nonchalantly takes him along shopping to pick up underwear (?) for the day as if it's nothing.

Episode 8 was the series really getting back to its roots. It was in the first episode of season one that people thought that the show was just doing shameless fanservice, but the truth was that the characters in the show were talking about how this sort of fanservice usually runs as a cheap trick to pick up viewers, and can otherwise be pretty hollow. The first episode specifically kept specifically avoiding Megumi, the character who was the real meat of this show, a point that was kind of supposed to be made to highlight all of the fake/overdone and hollow aspects that can be in anime and similar media.

This second season felt like it kind of forgot that point it was trying to make with all that, instead moving the story to focus Eriri and Utaha, who were reflected in who the heroine of their game had kind of become in being split up. The two were kind of clashing this season, and what Aki did was pull some crap that blended both of their natures together into a single story. Aki mentioned that in telling that story with the elements gained from Eriri and Utaha, the original idea had kind of been forgotten, Megumi had become little more than a face, even though her aspect tried to improve the project, she was kind of forgotten in the end, cast as a supporting character that could not even be relied on to carry weight of things he could not do.

Episode 8 pretty much had her saying that story while nice, is kind of a fantasy that does a more grounded person/character like Megumi injustice, she was barely being given any room to grow, and so all of growth suddenly burst here. Her as a character that is a friend first, that says when she does not understand something, tells him off when she sees something wrong, really treats him as a person first in their day together, a lot more stable. And yet she could be accused of being boring, a title drop, which as it was meant to from the beginning was meant to be more about the person who would come up with that sort of title rather than the person it was about. Megumi might to some extent look like it because she does not have any exciting traits, that she can be hard to read, and does not in general act in any ridiculous way. But in general she shows a knack of being a deep thinker, generally honest, a hard worker, willing to try new things, and almost always open to provide biting criticism, she is kind of awesome. And she won't just be won over just by being a character to provide minimal attention to that he can choose as a girl to finish with, she herself can be drawn by his passion, but there also has to be a bit of a two way.

Now choosing to get back on track, I am kind of wondering where this might take him with the other two girls who he kind of left in happy limbo, that is kind of happy but also incomplete. If the series is going to commit to this theme, I don't think they can stay there.

Episode 9:

Quote:

So surprise me, Saekano Flat! Impress me in these last two episodes that you're capable of expanding beyond your roots and slavish devotion to “meta” humor and rise to the demands of growth being placed on your characters.

I think you're selling the show a bit short. The harsh conflict between entertainment careers and personal relationships has been the show's root since the first episode. For example, for Utaha:

In the past, her desire to talk to someone about her work clashed with Aki's desire to be a consumer of her work, which led to a falling out.

In the first season, her desire to use the production process to get closer to Aki also pushed him away as he was far more focused on his passion and vision than on what kind of relationship she wanted.

In the second season, him being starstruck by her made it difficult to really judge her work and see what she was trying to communicate to him, and her realization that she had abused his passion in that way was a big wedge between them.

For Eriri:

In the past, the social stigma of her work made it impossible for her to continue her friendship with Aki.

In the first season, she was given the opportunity to work on a much more successful game that she turned down to work with Aki for personal reasons, even though it was bad for her career.

In the second season, Aki's desire to treat her with kid gloves caused her to stagnate.

Megumi's the only one for whom the work has had a positive impact on her relationship with Aki, and until recently, he's been too blinded by his obsession with Utaha, Eriri, and his own ideas to see it.

(Michiru's still the weak link, so nothing to say about her)

I think the show gets sold short because of that devotion to "meta" humor. But I think it's no more than that: the mechanism of the show's sense of humor. The show has always been, at its core, a show about the industry and its impacts on human connection.

Yeah, this time I actually cannot quite say with certainty which side it will fall on. Despite how one might take the show to be a kind of standard harem series, it has always kind of felt that the series was really only doing that to make a point. It used the standards of the industry to make a point while it talked about the separation of emotional vs creative fulfilment. At this point I think it has even become a point that it slipping so much into the harem was really to make a point that this is unhealthy, him keeping this close not quite making a choice relationship is kind of wrong.

If the dialogue in the previous episode was saying that the big personalities of a harem is not what is most fitting for one, this episode was kind of saying that he is not fitting for those big personalities. He would be holding them back. In a meta sense it was a refute to its own point that from the beginning this show was saying that this show about "raising a boring girlfriend" was kind of working backwards when it was trying to make her like other heroines, as much as it added in Utaha and Eriri into this story, but then that these two characters have their own merit and story that perhaps should not delegated as just backdrops to this story. Just as the characters are between fulfilling creative potential or giving into emotions and being held back, this show is between just giving the emotional payoff of everything happy and status quo, or pulling rug out and doing something more creative.

What is the conclusion this show will come to? Will it do what it started off with, something like pulling a cheap fanservice episode because that is what the standard is, probably throwing in some meta commentary about how this is just the industry is? Or will it blow that off to do something that might be a bit painful for being emotionally invested in these characters, yet more true to its core potential and more of a risk? Back then many criticised it because it did just appear to be a cheap fanservice episode, some liked it for that, and yet others saw the creative choice acting as a secret criticism.

I was told by people that this season is going to have a fair amount of drama before it started airing but man is that a lot of drama. They certainly don't shy away from putting their cast into situations that really aren't easy to deal with for them.
I mean sure, not screwing over Katou would have been as easy as just calling her to come back to the Eriri episode as an example but the situation that came out of that certainly wasn't something I'd classify as your standard happy-go-lucky lighthearted harem anime.

I still think last episode was better than this one as it gave us a much needed breather as well as plenty of Katou but I'm liking what I'm seeing here.

I think the biggest part of the episode for me was it showing just how bad Utaha and Eriri's (especially Eriri) decision was on a personal level. It's just not something friends would do.

Instead of simply telling Aki about Akane's offer as soon as it happened and gave him a chance to plead a case to work on his next project, they stewed around for a month playing hacky sack with who was going to tell him. Utaha should have known that Eriri wasn't going to do it because she (Eriri) wants to have her cake and eat it too.

Eriri knew that what she did was wrong, but kept going anyway because she felt that no matter what would happen Aki would forgive her. She was right in a sense, but that still didn't give her the right to just take advantage of him like that.

What Utaha said was true. Yes, Aki could have a been a bit more forceful with them when it came to deadlines, but from my view they weren't completely taking it seriously either. Eriri's slump and Utaha's script that had to be rewritten were attempts to gain Aki's affections in roundabout ways. They were just playing around and not taking things as seriously as he was.

To me this showed a total lack of respect for him as a friend. Eriri, as much as she claims Tomoya doesn't push her, still likes being coddled by him and seeks his approval. That is part of the reason she took the job yes, but she's still at fault for never talking to him about the problem. At least Utaha can do that much.

They went behind his back when they knew he had another project in the works and then carried on like it was no big deal until he finally started getting to the planning stages. There was no reason for them to take this long to tell him. I'm pretty sure if they had explained things and still decided to take the job he would have accepted it.

I feel like there was no Kato in this because next episode is gonna be her just being disappointed at Eriri for what she did. Especially since all the grief Aki put himself through over her during the Winter Comiket was one of the reason she (Megumi) and Aki fell out.

I've been a loyal Utaha-senpai (is #1) fan from the beginning of the series BUT... I just felt something for The Girl that didn't BREAK the Flag (Kato). Episode 11 is where Kato is finally going to start stealing our hearts.

Goodness sake, I thought spoiler[that it was just Eriri leaving but now we learn that Utaha-senpai is leaving us too... Soul crunching moment for Aki!!!] I wanted to cry for Aki. I hope Izumi and Iori join his Doujin and show them that they've awaken the sleeping giant.

So good... Can't wait for next week's.

Can't overstate how much I liked all those last couple episodes. They were all really good ones for me and while I went into this knowing that I liked the series a lot I stil walk out of this pleasantly surprised almost every week.

Let's hope I'm not jinxing it for next weeks big finale because as I was made aware the next episode, the 11th one that is, is going to be the last one Sad

@Punch Drunk Marc
Man.. u said everything that i was thinking too... If it were me, I would NEVER want to see them again... That was just too low for a friend... I really wasn't rooting for Kato before but now i really hope that she gets the protagonist, she is just LOVE kk'

Forum - View topic
EP. REVIEW: Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend Flat

The ANN Aftershow - Will You Watch Solo Leveling Season 2?

Dark Moon: The Blood Altar Volumes 1-2 Manhwa Review

Interview: Voice Actors Rika Hayashi and Hiroki Tōchi Talk About Their New Golf Anime, Tonbo!

Japanese TV Special Ranks Top Anime Songs, as Chosen by Foreign Fans

This Week in Anime - So, Is Sound Euphonium Queerbaiting or Not?

Wonderful Precure! Episodes 1-12 Anime Review

That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime: The Ways of Monster Nation Manga Ends Due to Artist's Health

Dead Dead Demon's Dededede Destruction Part 1 Anime Film Review

Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes Game Review

	Anime News Network Forum Index -> Site-related -> Talkback	All times are GMT - 5 Hours Goto page Previous 1, 2, 3 Next
Page 2 of 3

Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend Flat

Forum

Forum - View topic
EP. REVIEW: Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend Flat