OK, with this episode we're no longer trapped in 4-Koma hell. They actually told a story this time that ran most of the length of the episode. And it was a good story. It brought tears to my eyes. (I'm such a softy.)

In a show about ghosts, inevitably some of the stories will be about death and loss, and this one was. But Amami was able to use her special talent to help a couple of people heal.

One of those was Inoue, who no longer even tries to pretend that she doesn't believe. And as of this episode Inoue and Amami are now pretty close friends.

Amami is a yamato nadesico. Her character page on the show website says so. It's not a character type you see very often, and it was an interesting choice. I think it works. The danger is that it could turn Amami into a plot device instead of a complex character, but so far I think they've avoided that mistake.

Azumanga Daioh started out just doing gags but fairly soon started telling stories of varying lengths. I think that's what has happened with the 4-Koma that this show is based on, too, and that's the reason why the production company thought they could turn it into a decent anime. If it had continued like the first two episodes, it would have crashed and burned. But with this episode we can see the potential for more beginning to develop.

UPDATE: And next week we get a beach episode. I guess that was inevitable. Will we get an onsen ep, too?

Posted by: Steven Den Beste in General Anime at 09:55 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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