~con melancolia~

~with a sinking sadness~

I wondered whether I should skip commentary for this episode. Things are still moving along slowly, but at the same time the series is pulling me in a little more. The backgrounds still stick out more than I’d like.

The character profile for Mr. Shirakawa from the previous DVD revealed his relation with Akiko, which kind of spoils things. I don’t know if it will be covered in the series itself, though.

I do like the bonuses, both on paper and video, where Miu speaks monologues. It adds to the series in ways that wouldn’t fit into the episodes. I’m waiting until after the last episode to watch the bonuses on the final DVD, though.

This series does get points for not wasting time on the cliché anime episode. No beach episode, no summer festival in yukata, nothing big for Christmas, and not even a kimono for New Year’s.

If I hadn’t seen the episode in Japanese before in English, I’d have no idea what Akiko said when Miu first answered the voice. I do like Akiko’s voice for her character. The English voices for characters all sit well with me except for Miu’s..

Heavy coat, scarf, gloves, tall boots and socks, and a skirt. I’ll never understand why they can’t wear warm pants in the winter.

The main thing keeping me watching this series is watching to learn why Mr. Shirakawa is pushing so much for Miu to reach her potential. Is it because of his past with Akiko, or would he do this with any student?

What surprises me is that this series was picked up for not only subtitling, but dubbing. I’m sure not quite the target audience, but I have to wonder if there were enough sales to warrant the cost of a full dubbing, let alone translation and subtitling.