September 13, 2003
Onegai Twins Episode 08
"Honest Love"
There's only one real reason why I continue to watch this show, honestly:
Can the streak continue?
And it does! Eight out of eight episodes with bath scenes! (Really, does anyone else notice things like this, or do they just think to themselves, "Gee, I wonder why I like this show so much?") I should probably point out there are actually *two* bath scenes in this episode. (This one's an A+ for sure!)
Wow, we get a montage in this episode! This is a good thing, because it means stuff that usually took a majority of an episode (this show does not move along quickly at all), gets by in a flash!
In this episode, we get an insight into Shimazaki (Maiku's gay classmate), and discover that the reason he "turned" gay, is because he hurt Tsubaki (Maiku's upperclassman, the girl trying to pursue him) by coming on too strong while they were dating. Because of this, he tried to restrain his feelings about girls... and became interested in Maiku instead. Right.
So basically, we find out that Tsubaki cannot get close to guys, because she's afraid of intimacy. This is why she latches on to Maiku, because he's too serious to do anything. The outcome of the whole episode is that Tsubaki is more or less eliminated as a challenger for Maiku, which further exacerbates one of the problems with this show: it's a romantic drama in which there is no contest. The two girls that are pursuing him have basically decided that one of them will be disqualified (by finding out that she's Maiku's sibling) and the other will win him.
The only challenge to their relationship is the fact that they're related, which they obviously don't really care about. On top of that, Maiku will have to choose between one of the two girls (we assume), but he doesn't really seem to like one more than the other, so that's another avenue of interest that is cut out. With all this, it's a little hard to generate real, believable drama that can draw the watcher in.
As ridiculous as it is, I actually enjoy Shimazaki and Tsubaki as characters (with their stories) more than the three leads of this show. In five minutes of this episode, they've been more compelling than Maiku, Karen and Miina have ever been. Also, this is the first episode that makes reference to teitai (which was a huge plot point in the first series), but it's fairly off the cuff, and you're not missing anything if you don't understand it.
I feel I need to clarify my rating, too. It would have been higher if this episode had *only* involved Shimazaki and Tsubaki. Unfortunately, it didn't, so their stuff brings down the overall score.
Rating: B-
Posted by Kei at September 13, 2003 02:38 PM