Takunomi. – 12 (Fin) – Makoto Super Dry

Michiru wakes up to strange sounds an fears a burglary, but it’s just Makoto, up late and binge-eating over the stress of her job hunt. She’s perhaps a bit too worried about how she’ll come off to elders.

Michiru recommends she have drinks with alumni from her school, and Nao recommends the designated beer for business events: Asahi Super Dry, once an upstart, now Japan’s #1-Selling Beer—as well as one of my personal favorites.

Makoto’s housemates give her a “Super Dry run” by role-playing as pantsuit-donning salarypeople, and hilarity ensues.

They go through all of the subtle rules of etiquette, from the proper place to sit, pour, and hold the bottle and glass, to the very obvious rule of not getting too drunk and rowdy. Since Asahi was developed as a beer to go perfectly with sashimi, they tuck into some delectable dead fish as well.

By the end, Makoto’s confidence is built up, and she proceeds to have a very fun alumni night. Unfortunately, she was so focused on making a good impression with her perfect beer etiquette (which she did), she forgot what any of them said about job hunting.

No matter; by sticking to her core concept, like Asahi Super Dry, Makoto will be just fine, and join Michiru, Nao, and Kae in the ranks of the working public. Takunomi was a fun little show that reminded me that all of the answers in life can be provided by good food, good spirits, and good friends to share them with.

Akiba’s Trip The Animation – 03

Well, I wasn’t expecting that – an episode of Akiba’s Trip outscoring a KonoSuba. Where this week’s Kono felt listless and scraping the barrel, Akiba’s Trip had a manic energy to it (along with an idol group called Manias) as it ditched the bugged ones story for a straight-up exploration of various kinds of obsessions, which can all to easily be taken up to 11 in a place like Akiba.

It starts, innocently enough, with Tamotsu catching a moment of an idol concert Nikawa is watching, and like a diamond arrow, sends him into the soaring space of fandom. His obsession with the idol (who just comically phones it in) in all possible media frustrates Mayo, whose patrol plans with Tamotsu are completely overrun by his various idol-worshipping activities. That, in turn, leads Mayo to stress eat over at Carl’s Jr. (tacky product placement FTL).

At some point, Tamotsu’s obsession shifts from merely consuming idoltry to really getting down into the nitty-gritty of audio, maxing out his GonzoCard many times over with impulsive purchases of increasingly dubious equipment, only to literally bowl his roommates over with his very expensive realization that it’s better just to hear the idol in person.

Then things shift to the girls, who get swept up by a famous former-idol, now super/hyper/mega-whatever producer who calls the trio MANIAS and books them for numerous photo shoots in increasingly revealing outfits and increasingly lecherous photographers.

Eventually, things get so bad Arisa is being casually asked to lie in bed and take off her top, but when Mayo and Nikawa hold her back, the producer and photographer reveal their true selves as Bugged Ones. Just like that, the episode snaps back into what the show is about, having itself gotten swept up in the stories of its characters getting obsessed with things.

Arisa and Mayo fight the Bugged Ones, and Tamotsu joins in since he started taking every possible part-time or temp job he can to pay his debts, the constant cycle of odd jobs becoming its own obsession. Being the producer’s part-time janitor pays off, as he’s able to save his sister.

The recovered famous producer then quickly hooks up the trio for a little idol concert event that looks the business (and is sung by the three lead seiyuu, performing as “Headphones”, their group from Sore ga Seiyuu). 

They only perform in front of a handful of people, but that’s fine with Mayo, who seems to like the attention she gets from Tamotsu, who ends up with a new idol group to, well, idolize. Will all of this be forgotten next week? Probably. Was it still not just fun, but a shitload of fun? Absolutely.