T w e n t y S i d e d

Some random thoughts on episodes 4 – 6:

At one point Narue is talking to Kazuto and she mentions the girls’ locker room. Kazuto gets a faraway look in his eye as he contemplates the secrets therein, but then Narue notices this and scolds him:

She doesn’t actually say, “Dirty thoughts are bad!” (Ecchi nanowa ikenaito omoimasu!) but I still couldn’t help thinking of Mohoro:

Lots of anime series have that one character who is continually annoying and a source of endless trouble and strife, but who is still accepted by the main characters. Kanaka is that character in this series.

And boy is she nasty. The first time we meet her she kidnaps Kazuto, pulls a gun on him, kicks him in the stomach, negotiates with Narue to trade their father for Kazuto, then blasts her sister with the same gun. Keep in mind that nobody ever does anything to provoke her. They lavish her with praise and unconditional love, and she responds with abuse, violence, insults, and temper tantrums.

The thing that really bothers me is that Kanaka is only twelve, and the people for whom she is causing so much trouble are all her seniors. She isn’t a troublesome peer – she is a younger member of the family. Yet nobody ever diciplines her. There is never any comeupance, no correction, not even any karma at work here. She’s just misery personified and they best they can do is pacify her for a few minutes. At one point I sort of shrugged, “You know what? You idiots deserve to have a brat like this. You made her.”

She really changed the flavor of the show. For the worse. She is seriously pushing the limits of how much irritation I’ll tolerate from a single character. Steven likened this show to cotton candy and pointed out how it doesn’t leave much of a lasting impression on the viewer. I’d agree with that, except now it feels like cotten candy with an angry bee in it.

On the other hand, Hajime – the other annoying character – is actually a lot of fun and is loveable even when she’s causing trouble. Unlike Kanaka, she’s empathetic and interesting. I always like when she shows up.

Shamus Young is a programmer, an author, and nearly a composer. He works on this site full time. If you'd like to support him, you can do so via Patreon or PayPal.