Ikoku Meiro No Croisee Episode 3 and 4 Review

Claude's imagine spots are so cute.

Episode 3:
Claude learns more about Yune's culture, though he does misinterpret most of her explanations. The little shota from the first episode is shown again, but we still don't know much about him as Claude discourages Yune from making contact with him. He then lectures her on not being too "friendly" with people she doesn't know well, especially street children. Later, we are introduced to two new characters: Alice and her older sister, Camille. They are both the daughters of the wealthy Blanche family responsible for running most of the surrounding stores out of business.The two also have an older brother, but we have yet to be introduced to him. Alice, a fangirl of all things Japanese, is revealed to be the one responsible for purchasing Yune's mother's kimono.  Elsewhere culture clash session, and Claude goes off to sell his latest sign, leaving Yune in charge.Oscar comes back not long after and Yune goes after Claude, umbrella in tow, when she realises that it will rain soon.

Alice annoys me so far.

And now I'm hungry.

Yune earns a few stares from the passing Parisians with her foreign umbrella. Aside from the backgrounds, another thing I love about this show is the sounds. In the first episode, we had Yune's disting sandal clanking. This time, we're treated to the soothing sound of rain which resonate through Yune's traditional Japanese umbrella. Elsewhere, Claude stops by the stationary shop on his way home to buy proper paper from Yune to write letters with. He bumps into Yune on the way out, and the two share the umbrella along the way. Claude comments that "Rain doesn't last long in Paris". Yune, (adorably) flustered by this information, seems set on apologizing a thousand times again. Claude, however, points out how nice the rain sounds on Yune's umbrella. The two share a cute little moment together that's topped off by a pretty sunset.

SO. DANG. MOE.

I don't know why, but I felt compelled to cap this.

Another adorable episode, the relaxing type that just wants to make you unwind. Which is a good thing, considering that Natsume Yuujinchou was the only other show that made me feel relaxed on a regular basis, it's good to find another show to just sit back and enjoy. Claude and Yune's dynamic reminds me of the protective older brother and his adorable younger sister type of relationship, which I'll admit, isn't anything new, but it's not too over-used either. And seeing them together like this gives me warm fuzzies.
This episode gets:

Episode 4:

That poor butler, having to put up with someone like Alice everyday.

 In this episode, Alice's butler tells her about Yune, and she doesn't hesitate to send out an invitation. Claude initially declines, believing that it may be too soon for Yune to attend a party. But Alice doesn't give up and barges into the store the following day. Meanwhile, Claude and Yune have another culture clash session involving baths. Japanese take baths on a regular basis, Parisians on the other hand...Not so much. That night, Claude accidentally walks in on Yune with her make-shift bath. They make a mess of things, but since Yune's only, like, eight, we don't really see much of her body (thank God, I'd rather not enjoy some lolicon-fanservice anime) other than her little back. The next day, Alice and Yune finally meet. She immediately falls for Yune's adorableness, though she doesn't seem to be fond of Claude.

I'd react the same way if I met Yune for the first time too.

I immediately recognized Alice's voice actress to be Aoi Yuuki, and let me just say, she can make her voice really high pitched. And I thought she was high-pitched as Ichigo from Yumeiro Patissiere, but that's nothing compared to how giddy and hyper Alice's voice is. Anyway, back to the episode. Alice takes Yune to visit her home, she learns more about Japan and tries to convince Yune to dump Claude and live with her. Yune, being the sweetie that she is, refuses the luxurious lifestyle and the opportunity of taking back her mother's kimono for free. She returns home to Claude, Alice in tow, and makes the three the Japanese stew she promised to make Claude earlier.

;-;

D'aaaaaawwwww

 What I really liked about this episode was the way they showed Yune's stubborn and determined side. Her growing relationship with Claude is also a key role in this episode as well. The fact that Yune was willing to throw away such a luxurious lifestyle just goes to show how much she's grown to care for Claude, and vice-versa. Claude, on his part, had a worried expression the entire time Yune was gone. Alice, on the other hand, may actually be a good addition to the cast, if only for acting as Yune's foil (at least for now).

This episode gets:

1/2

Gintama Episode 217 and 218 Review

And some water, while you're at it.

Yay! I'm not dead! I know what you're thinking, my few readers, "Another unannounced hiatus?!" I have a good explanation for that...I have a DELL. And it's charger broke down again, so I had to wait for God knows how long for it to arrive in the mail. No, I did not get distracted with playing Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World or finishing up the summer homework I ignored for the past two months...Okay, on to the review!
Episode 217:
Since it's summer now, Gintama takes this opportunity to do a pool episode. Hasegawa gets a new job as a lifeguard, but makes the mistake of asking Gin to help him out. Kids are traumatized, Tsukuyo exhibits how much of a cool big sis she can be, we find out that Kyubei is actually more developed then Otae (despite being a reverse trap), Katsura continues to be Katsura, and the stalker trio show up. Things go incredibly wrong from there.

Fabulous~

Poor guy never catches a break. On a side note, how did he catch fish in a pool?! You know what, never mind...

This won't end well.

The usual insanity ensues and then the shogun shows up and he's made into a butt monkey all over again. Matsudaira, sadly, only gets a brief appearance as well. For one, he doesn't have any trunks, so he ends up swimming in his briefs. His dirty briefs.There are some attempts at fanservice, but this show doesn't even take stuff like that seriously. In the end, we're treated to butt shots of the male cast. But on the bright side, the shogun actually enjoyed himself and leaves the pool feeling satisfied. This was by all means a funny episode, just not the funniest out there. I know that toilet jokes are pretty common in this show, but seriously? I think we had enough of those dirty brief jokes from the Hot Springs Arc. I'm not all that surprised that the Shogun ended up naked again, but expandable briefs? Where does Sorachi get this stuff?!

Hey! It's Taka-tin! Hey, hey! Taka-tin!

The highlights of this episode was seeing Tsukuyo in cool big sis mode around Seita (who was also a welcome sight since he hasn't been in the show for a while). Katsura's random surfacing to the water moments were also downright hilarious. But, seriously, they have to at least give us a break on those toilet jokes.
This episode gets:

Ah, the great fourth wall has been broken once gain.

Episode 218:
This episode's entire plot revolve around eating a crab. No, seriously. Feeling generous for once, Otose decides to share some leftover crab with the Yorozuya trio. Sadly, she only gives them one to share. And then, it's every man for himself in the battle for crab meat (or whatever that white stuff is). This isn't the first time the show has pulled off this type of episode. Previous episodes had the group fight over hot pots, nabe, and meat. But those previous episodes had a larger cast, and were just plain funnier...

Leave it to Gin to casually jack up history.

So then, Kondou's the culprit?

Now, don't get me wrong. This episode was still pretty funny, just not fall over your chair funny. In fact, I started spacing out in some of the battle-esque dream sequences. Those battle allusions were an interesting idea, and the logic being used in this entire episode was also pretty funny in its own right. But the ending was predictable, with Kagura one-upping Gin and Shinpachi again because they ignored her thinking that she was just a harmless kid. This stunt was pulled in the previous food-centered episodes, so you'd think the two of them would have prevented making this mistake again.

No comment.

I thought Daigoro was that kid from the factory episode...

The inner monologues between Gin and Shinpachi were one of the few highlights in the episode, but nothing new. I would have liked to hear Kagura's thoughts as well, but the fact that she lacked her own inner monologues and was omitted from the battle scenes practically screamed: SHE'S GONNA WIN AGAIN!!!
The ending was actually unexpected, though. The crab paste princess sacrifices herself to save the trio's friendship and in the end, the three of them decide that crab chips taste better than the real deal.

They get extra points for another Castle in the Sky reference.

This episode gets: