Posts in Futakoi Category
January 7, 2005
Those of y'all that kept up with my blogging of Futakoi know I generally liked the show, and am an especially big fan of Sara & Souju, so I went on ahead and got Futakoi Visuals. In color, it contains character descriptions, illustrations with comments from each twin, and a full "collor" comic for each set of twins. Compared to the simplified (and overall younger looking) character designs used for the anime, they're many times better ;)
Kira & Yura (for Stripey)
Sara & Souju (for Maestro4k)
Lulu & Lala
After all of that, there are six sets of "Date Questions" putting you in the place of the lucky onii-chan/onii-san/whatever in various situations with each set of twins -- a summer festival, a trip to an onsen, New Year's, your "first night", so on -- and giving a set of choices to choose from (answers in the back of course).
Anyways, well worth the money spent on it :)
Miyabi-san comes back to find Nozomu in front of the Futagozuka and they have a talk. Nozomu tries to blame his trouble on the curse, but Miyabi won't have any of it. His trying to be nice was only to keep himself from being hurt, not the others, she says. After finally realizing that he's just been running away from things, Nozomu thinks of something that he can do and rushes off to Kira and Yura's house on his bike. Keisuke, Kaoruko, and Sumireko see Nozomu speed by and follow as well.
But as he gets there, Kenmochi drives out with Kira and Yura on their way to finish the transfer process. He races after them, trying to get Kenmochi to stop, uphill and downhill and offroad until his bike finally gives and he goes flying off the side. Kenmochi stops and Kira and Yura get out to check on Nozomu, but Nozomu's fine. He begs Kenmochi to not make Kira and Yura transfer to another school. Kaoruko and Sumireko aren't far behind and ask the same. Then classmates of Kira and Yura's come and ask. Kenmochi finally takes a paper out and explains... Kira and Yura have passed their father's last "trial" -- making lots of friends -- with flying colors. So there's no need for them to transfer anymore.
So everyone studies for the upcoming high school entrance exams and everyone (even Keisuke) passes so they have a big party. The Ichijou and Sakurazuki twins are getting along fine, though now they're rivals for Nozomu's affections. Rocket man Yuuya is there -- he ain't gonna give up on getting Kaoruko just yet. The meganekko twins show up as well and... Souju and Sara come, too! (yay!) Everyone gathers for a picture. Nozomu's glad he came back to this town and can live here with everyone...
So it turns out to be not A nor B, but rather C, none of the above for now. Should have figured that they didn't want to emotionally scar some of these kids by pulling a KimiNozo thing here, actually having Nozomu choose one over the other ;) But still, the open ending is somewhat disappointing, I suppose, given the amount of tension that was built up over the last few episodes. But I can't complain all that much.. that appearance by Souju and Sara at the party made me happy ;)
It's too bad Futakoi started off so slowly. Besides being cute for a bit at first it was pretty much mediocre stuff for the first 4 episodes. I was at the point of dropping it when I heard about the "change of tone" that was going to take place in episode 5, and when it delivered I had my faith renewed. It hasn't disappointed since then, building up Kaoruko and Sumireko's character, introducing my favorite twins Sara and Souju, and even giving Kira and Yura some separate character towards the end. And with enough angst to bring it up to KimiNozo-like levels. Though Nozomu turns out to be a decent guy in the end, I guess. I was a bit too hard on him, I suppose, lol. I can't hate him like I do Takayuki :P
Now on to the final rankings:
1. Souju
2. Kaoruko & Sumireko
3. Sara
4. Kira & Yura
5. Lulu & Lala
And the other twins weren't in the show enough :P
Everybody that's watching the subs, please stick with it 'til the end. Episode 5 should pick up your interest a bit after you watch it. The show's at least worth watching once.
Anyways, I'll have the next Futakoi -- yes, double the fun ;) -- by ufotable in the spring. The Shirogane sisters, Sara & Souju, are the main characters in that one so I can't wait! Hopefully it'll get off to a better start than this Futakoi, and the twins will have a bit more individual personality at the start as well.
Thanks to Stripey for blogging on Futakoi along with me :) moyism is blogging the subs so y'all go visit him as well.
And for the Japanese capable out there, Nanami has the last episode and also the rest of the series as well. We seem to be pretty much in agreement about things, including Souju ;)
It's been a month and Kira and Yura still haven't come back to school. Valentines' Day is coming up in a few days so Kira and Yura want to go back but Kenmochi won't allow it. So Kira comes up with a plan to sneak out and give their chocolate to Nozomu.
While Kaoruko and Sumireko are out shopping for ingredients to make chocolate Sumireko has something to tell Kaoruko.. on Valentines Day she's going to do the kokuhaku thing. She's gotten worried about how Nozomu's been acting with and without the Sakurazuki sisters around. If she doesn't do it now she feels like they'll take away Nozomu. Sumireko asks if Kaoruko will support her and Kaoruko hesitates a second then says yes.. She can't tell Sumireko how she feels about Nozomu now, that she likes him as well... Meanwhile, Nozomu worries over things as he's been doing recently, wondering if it's all his fault.
Later on as Kaoruko and Sumireko make chocolate it turns into just about a shouting match, as those differences come through once again, and Kaoruko finally tells Sumireko that she likes Nozomu, too. Sumireko feeling she was behind, Kaoruko feeling that she couldn't be as reliable as Sumireko, so on... that legend comes up again about the twins that loved one man and suffered and eventually turned into birds and flew away.. but regardless, now they're going to be more honest with themselves and give Nozomu chocolate together.
And so Valentines Day finally comes and Kira and Yura sneak out and find their way to the school and wait for Nozomu outside the gates. Nozomu comes out, however, Kaoruko and Sumireko catch up with him... (excuse me for a moment here)
一条姉妹の告白キタ━━━━(゜∀゜)━━━━ッ!!
And they finally confess their love for Nozomu as they give him their chocolate. He's just a bit shocked at this... Kaoruko likes him, not Yuuya!? He takes the chocolate, but not very enthusiastically.. Kira and Yura saw EVERYTHING.. they rush out and ask Nozomu to take their chocolate as well, they like him, too, and won't lose to the Ichijou sisters. Kenmochi comes driving up and tells Nozomu that Kira and Yura will be transferring to a different school and says that they won't see him again..
As Kira and Yura go, Nozomu runs home to the 双子塚 Futagozuka and wonders about that legend.. there's no way it should be true...
Well... that cranked things up a few more notches there to maximum angst (yes, almost KimiNozo-ish, I guess, lol). For something that started out as nothing but light comedy stuff for 4 episodes it's come quite a way. And gotten so much better, I have to emphasize.
As for Nozomu.... don't be an indecisive bastard like Takayuki!.. he doesn't seem to be listening to me since he was a complete idiot this episode :P But now he has to do something since Kaoruko and Sumireko confessed to him.. but who will he choose? No way he'd go with Kira and Yura instead of his childhood friends, right? From the preview it seems he'll be doing something to keep Kira and Yura from having to transfer.. We shall see in the last episode of Futakoi next week. It better be a happy ending.. I can't take anymore angst, dangit! ;)
Ever since Christmas Eve Nozomu hasn't seen Kaoruko or Sumireko. It's now the new year and time to visit the temple (初詣 - hatsumoude). Kira and Yura dress up and go and Nozomu meets them there. Though he's still worrying about all that went on... Their wish is to go to the same school as Nozomu..
Later on they run into Kaoruko and Sumireko.. and rocket man Yuuya. While the girls are off with Lulu and Lala, Yuuya talks with Nozomu. He tells him that he did the kokuhaku thing, but Nozomu stops him and says he understands what's going on... The Ichijou sisters fanclub shows up afterwards and their leader looks to challenge Yuuya to a fight. Yuuya, besides being a rocket scientist, is also rather good at aikidou so he beats the crap out of him, leaving the big guy crying as Nozomu talks to him afterwards.. Nozomu eventually gets to the restaurant where everybody's having something to drink. He's still a bit out of it though and confuses Kira with Yura (...I do that ALL the time). As he's worrying about things at home he gets a call from his father in Hawaii and even he notices that Nozomu's not in too good a mood...
The next day Kenmochi, Yura and Kira's butler, has a talk with Nozomu. He's noticed that Kira and Yura don't seem to be as happy as usual, thinking that perhaps Nozomu's feelings are elsewhere. He asks Nozomu to be forthright with his feelings to Kira and Yura... Kira and Yura haven't shown up at school for a while and have been studying at home, since Kenmochi won't let them out. But they want to go to school again and see Nozomu. Even if he has feelings for someone else, that doesn't change their feelings for him.. Outside their house, Nozomu is hesitating whether or not to go and tell them how he really feels.. He finally chickens out and leaves...
After that comes the shocker as Kira and Yura leave for school -- they won't be going to Nozomu's school anymore, they'll be transferring...
And that's where we end for this episode. I've got one thing to say to Nozomu...
Don't be an indecisive bastard like Takayuki!!
That's the feeling I got as he left Kira and Yura's house. Hopefully things won't get that bad and he'll be able to tell them his feelings, but you never know... At least now it seems like they'd be able to accept them since they seem to understand that he likes someone else.. But what's going to happen to them since they'll be transferring?
Well, next time is the Valentine's Day episode. Some not-so-happy looking scenes in the preview, but we'll see.
It's turned cold and that means Christmas is coming soon. And of course Christmas parties. Kira and Yura give Nozomu an invitation to one at school. But before all the fun of Christmas he's got to study math, so he goes to the bookstore to buy a book.. and who should he see there but Rocket Man Yuuya. He passed the test... and he tells Nozomu he's decided to do the big dramatic kokuhaku thing to Kaoruko on Christmas Eve. Yuuya says he thought Nozomu was acting odd at the beach that time and asks if Nozomu likes Kaoruko.. Nozomu says they're just childhood friends, nothing else..
Of course, upon exiting the store Nozomu sees Kaoruko. She's going to show him that English reference book she told him about in the morning and grabs his arm, but he jerks away and says it's okay. He says Yuuya's still in the store... and says he's got something to do and runs off.
Scene shifts to Kaoruko and Sumireko at home, talking about Nozomu, of course. Kaoruko says it seemed like he didn't like being around her. Sumireko says that maybe he likes Kaoruko.. Kaoruko turns the question around, asking if she likes Nozomu... and yup, Sumireko likes him. When Sumireko asks the same of Kaoruko she doesn't really say whether or not she does.. As for Nozomu, he's on the roof worrying about all that's happened.. there's Kira and Yura to deal with, too.. At school the next day Nozomu avoids Kaoruko..
Kaoruko gets a call from Yuuya asking if she'd help him with choosing a present for his sister on Christmas Eve. She'll head to the party after that.. Sumireko unknowingly absolutely nails Yuuya's real purpose for asking Kaoruko to go with him when she teases Kaoruko, saying "What if he suddenly confesses?"..
Nozomu heads out to buy presents for the party, and Yuuya and Kaoruko meet up. After those two are done with the shopping, Yuuya says it. Kaoruko, a bit stunned, of course, doesn't give an answer to him yet.
On his way to the party Nozomu sees Kaoruko and Yuuya walking together.. And when he gets there.. there's only Kira and Yura. Different parties.. the rest are at another party wondering where Nozomu is...
And now Nozomu's in a REALLY BAD bind. Not gonna be a happy Christmas. If he had just said no to Kira and Yura this wouldn't have happened.. but since it's Kira and Yura it would've taken a while to get them to understand maybe.. but, anyways.. The big kokuhaku thingy came but no answer from Kaoruko yet.. and she hasn't really said whether she likes Nozomu or not, either. And Nozomu still hasn't said whether he likes Kaoruko and Sumireko or not. It seems like he does... but whether he'll get up enough courage to actually say so to them and tell Kira and Yura as well is still left to happen. Hopefully he'll get out of this funk and do so.
This episode was what I wanted to see after the Sara/Souju (the very kawaii Souju, btw) story in terms of character/story development and such. But I could do without gloomy Nozomu :P
And I suppose I should give my list now :) If we're talking who I want Nozomu to end up with it's obviously Kaoruko or Sumireko (or both, lol). But if we're talking favorites overall, here ya go:
1. Souju - ichiban kawaii~! :)
2. Kaoruko & Sumireko - they better end up with Nozomu! also the best developed characters of the bunch
4. Sara - the sharp-tongued half of the Shirogane twins, but she does it all for Souju. She was great in episode 9. Pretty cute when she smiles ;)
5. Lulu & Lala - kawaii~!... but that's about it
6. Kira & Yura - just not all that interesting to me
7. Ui & Koi - not into the meganekko thing.. they haven't shown up a lot either
8. Ai & Mai - not into the sensei thing either.. and there hasn't been a lot of them
Stripey and moyism, how about y'all? ;)
A good point that I forgot was brought up here (in Japanese). Now that Sumireko, who always felt she was chasing after Kaoruko and Nozomu (see episode 5), has come out and said outright she likes Nozomu, perhaps she's ahead of Kaoruko for the first time? That will be something to watch over the last few episodes.
Still somewhat sick, Souju has a dream about Sara and also Nozomu ("onii-san"). At school, preparations for the festival are going on, with Nozomu's class doing a "Horror Cafe" (a mix of the ever-popular bakeyashiki and kissaten).
Back at home that night, Lulu and Lala tell Nozomu that Souju wasn't there that day either. So he's a bit worried about her.. Souju and Sara talk a bit about Nozomu at home while Souju draws a picture of him.. The next day, while shopping for things at the department store, Nozomu runs into Souju and they go to the roof to talk a bit. Souju tells him about some pastels that Sara gave her then told her to become an artist. They're her takaramono, she says. Nozomu invites both her and Sara to come to the festival.. Souju talks with Sara about it, but Sara is against it, saying there are better places to have a date. How about a date where all three of them would go? ;)
And they do show up at the Horror Cafe where Nozomu's working. Sara's not very pleased with the place, running off a litany of complaints to Nozomu. Keisuke surprising her doesn't help things either.. so she continues on. So Nozomu takes Souju and Sara around the festival and they end up at the Magic Cafe that Sumireko and Kaoruko's class is running. Sumireko and Kaoruko appear on stage doing a transportation act using Lala and Lulu (pretty easy to do that one with twins...). Souju suggests that she and Sara try it out so they go up on stage.. and with some bad timing, the meganekko twins show up and talk with Nozomu. Once again, Sara screams at him to get away from them from on stage ;)
Finally, they end up at the art club's exhibit, where Souju takes a turn drawing portraits of people, and Sara's actually calmed down for a bit. The Ichijou twins come in and Souju starts drawing them, and also asks them about their relationship with Nozomu. Then she breaks some sad news... next week she and Sara are going to be moving away, but she doesn't want Nozomu to know... after that she suddenly collapses..
But she's okay, just a bit of anemia. But one of the pastels from her box is missing. So Nozomu goes dumpster diving to search for it and everybody else joins in and he eventually finds it, bringing a smile to Sara's face (kawaii~)...
Lula and Lala tell Nozomu that Souju and Sara dropped off a picture of Nozomu at his house earlier on. Kaoruko and Sumireko show up and tell Nozomu that Sara and Souju are leaving today, so he rushes off towards the train station, but can't make it. So he moves to a spot near the train tracks where they'll see him. Some of the rest of the gang is there to see them off as well.. One day they'll be able come to back to the town...
Noooo! Why did Souju and Sara have to move away? (*cries*) ;) Anyways, this was a pretty enjoyable episode (seems to be with me that length of summary sometimes corresponds with how much I liked an episode), though with that bit of bittersweetness at the end. Too bad there'll be no more cute Souju or cute/angry Sara in this Futakoi series. But! I'm hoping that they'll play a bigger part in ufotable's Futakoi series which will be starting in the spring. That would make me very happy to say the least ;) btw, ufotable's Sara and Souju character designs are the only ones up on the spring Futakoi's site, so I've made a little comparison pic for y'all to have a look at.
Next time, in the required Christmas episode, the focus looks like it'll shift back to the Ichijou sisters. We'll see what happens...
Nozomu still worries about what to do about Kira and Yura.. but he's determined not to lose to the rocket man, Yuuya... After getting home he sees a girl that he hasn't seen before drawing pictures, and they're pretty good ones, too.
Nozomu and the gang head to the Sakurazuki's vacation house (more like mansion). Miyabi-san's a bit of a crazy driver, but she doesn't even come close to Yukari-sensei ;) Kira and Yura greet everybody there and show them to their rooms. But there's one room you can't go into... After that they do all kinds of the usual stuff, go fishing, have a barbeque, all while the butler is watching. But Miyabi keeps him from interfering with Kira and Yura having fun :)
After the BBQ, they all play hide-and-seek, with Nozomu "it" first. After his turn's over he searches for a place to hide and finds himself front of the door to that room you're not supposed to enter. But Kira and Yura are there and let him in. It's their mother's room. She died from sickness when Kira and Yura were only 5 years old, just like Nozomu's mom.. After that they've got something to say to Nozomu. Yup, kokuhaku time. They like him. A lot.. so would it be okay for both of them to be in love with him? Nozomu, as you could guess, is rather surprised and can't say much.. After that they go to the roof to stargaze. Thanks to Nozomu, Kira and Yura have been able to do so many fun things...
And while those three are on the roof, Sumireko and Kaoruko wonder where Nozomu could be hiding... So things got a bit more complicated. When asked if he was going out with Kaoruko or Sumireko, Nozomu didn't really give an answer... They're not gonna be happy whenever they find out that Kira and Yura did the kokuhaku thing. 'course, Nozomu could make things a lot easier by just telling Kira and Yura he likes either Sumireko or Kaoruko (or both?), as I'm guessing he does, but things never work out that way, do they? ;) Other than that last part of the episode it was mostly the same kind of filler-ish material that was in the first 4 eps...
But there is something look forward to next time. The Shirogane twins, Sara and Souju are finally going to be introduced! Hopefully those two will be interesting (and different from the start).
Nozumu sees his grade for finals and it ain't too good. But finals over means that it's summer break. And that trip to the beach with Kaoruko and Sumireko ;) Keisuke finds out that Kira and Yura are going to be going to cram school over the summer, so of course he wants to be wherever they are and drags Nozomu to the school, where they run into Kaoruko and Sumireko... and another guy? He's Yuuya, and he's pretty dang smart. Always wanted to build rockets. He was a friend of Nozomu's in preschool, and went to elementary school with Kaoruko and Sumireko. Needless to say, Nozomu starts to worry...
Yuuya tutors Kaoruko and Sumireko a lot and that makes Nozomu worry even more about whether or not he likes one of them... Yuuya suggests that everybody go to the beach to launch his bottle rocket and do the usual stuff. And Nozomu was thinking he was just going to go with Sumireko and Kaoruko...
At the beach the guys finally see what they've been waiting for, including the head of the Ichijou Sisters Fanclub who got totally knocked out by what he saw ;) Nozomu's not in a great mood at the beach.. he and Yuuya talk a bit. And it turns out Nozomu was right -- Yuuya's liked Kaoruko ever since preschool and he fully intends to do the big kokuhaku thing soon... As they go home on the bus Nozomu sits there still depressed. Kira and Yura, trying to cheer him up, invite him to come to their summer house.. but they invite everybody else, too.
So the depressing and more serious trend continues from last time... hopefully Nozomu will get out of this rut soon. Something like that always happens sooner or later. Well, that leaves him with Sumireko, I guess (and that takes care of that little curse from last time, doesn't it?). Ed: Well, that is if Kaoruko says yes to Yuuya. It's likely that Kaoruko would rather be with Nozomu, as AnimeOtaku pointed out in the comments ;) Overall, there hasn't been quite as much silliness these past two episodes: no Billy trying to kill Nozomu, just those Ichijou Sisters Fanclub guys (which I could do without). But anyways, we'll see where things go next time at Kira and Yura's. More character development would be a nice thing :)
Nozomu finally meets the twin senseis, Ai and Mai, but that's not important. That legend comes up again when Nozomu gets back to the 双林神社 Sourin shrine and the Futagozuka there. Miyabi explains the curse of the 双子塚 Futagozuka. If you're in love with twins and you go without choosing one terrible things will happen. Nozomu takes it really seriously, but it's just a story...
Later on, Billy the Evil Goat rips up Nozomu's English notes and finals are coming up soon so he goes to Sumireko and Kaoruko's to borrow theirs. Only Sumireko is home, so she lends him her notes and they talk a bit about things past and present. How Nozomu got them interested in stargazing and such. But back when they all were together Sumireko kinda felt left behind by Nozomu and Kaoruko sometimes. And honestly, she was jealous. Even now she's jealous of Nozomu and Kaoruko sometimes. She does want the three of them to be able to be together, though...
When Nozomu goes to the combini to copy Sumireko's notes he runs into Kaoruko and they go to the park to talk a little bit. She says she was expected to be the reliable one since she was neesan, but that wasn't always the case. Sumireko had times when she wasn't so quiet and did things. Truth is, when Kaoruko proposed to Nozomu when they were kids she did it in a rush since she thought Sumireko would do it first. She feels that time has finally started to move again since Nozomu's back.. but now that it's moving what's going to happen to them?
Well, that talk of the tone changing was certainly true. It was a completely, completely (have I emphasized that enough?) different atmosphere than the other episodes (though there was some comedy in there, of course). We finally see some differences between Sumireko and Kaoruko in how they think about Nozomu. It's about time ;) It's easily the best episode so far, much better than the previous four. Hopefully this thread will continue to develop with Kaoruko and Sumireko, and maybe the other twins as well. It'd be nice to know a bit more about Nozomu as well. I hope it doesn't turn into too sad a story, though.. Kaoruko had that look when she was wondering what was going to happen next..
Now I'm looking forward to next time. Umi, umi, umi! (again?) Nozomu will be able to see what he missed at the department store, it seems ;)
