Okay, I’m sold. I originally had no interest in this anime but now 4 episodes later, I’m sucked in.
Something I can’t BELIEVE I didn’t notice about Ao Haru Ride is the fact the opening song was written by Honey Works. I knew I loved the opening the first time I heard it, but I didn’t realize it was composed by one of my most favorite Vocaloid producing units! The rhythm and sounds were familiar, but I never made the connection until now. As a die-hard Vocaloid fan, this was SUCH a great surprise. 🙂
I can’t believe I even missed the nod towards Honey Works’s mascot!!
Well, jumping into the episode, we’re thrown into a fast-paced story line. The beginning scenes were really fun to watch Kou and Futuba running around trying to get to their destination. Overall, the episode was just a blast to watch.
(Notice that Murao is blushing)
LOVE TRIANGLE SPOTTED!
I’ve always loved friendly love triangles. They’re SO much fun. Especially when you root for either couple. Thumbs up to you, Ao Haru Ride.
Yuri is still my favorite character.
This just made her character even better. It’s usually painfully obvious when characters have alter egos, but I didn’t see it coming with Yuri AT ALL. More points to you, Ao Haru Ride!
I cringed during this scene, however. Have you ever noticed that main characters in shoujos always fall in love with the male love interest because he’s better than her at something? (More often than not, everything.) Ao Haru Ride still hasn’t escaped the cliche shoujo anime zone, but its certainly gotten better.
DO THE SPIDERMAN KISS. DO IT.
Futuba makes her move!
Jokes aside, his part definitely surprised me. I feel like the romance is moving a lot faster than it should be.
Lady, you just KISSED his head. Stop. If Futuba ends up being a tsundere you can just kill me now. I DETEST tsunderes.
The side ships are starting to appear! I think that was my favorite part about this episode. The fact they’re establishing other couples now.
Okay….fine. I’ll admit it. I’m kind of getting on board with the romance now. Just a little bit.
Or maybe not. STOP THE TSUNDERE. STOP IT. Ao Haru Ride can still escape and keep out the tsundere relationships. I have no desire to watch Futuba turn into some immature, emotionally unstable character who’ll become violent at the drop of a hat.
(Sorry for the throw up of pictures.)
Anyways, this episode was definitely the best one so far. It’s amazing how much I’ve come to enjoy watching this series. But I swear if Futuba continues to push away her emotions, I’m done. The whole “What are these feelings I have? Is it love? No. I can’t possibly love him!” trope has always pissed me off. It’s fine to a REALISTIC extent, but when they go overboard for most of the season, I end up wanting to shoot the girl. Luckily, when Futuba holds her feelings back, it’s understandable. But the fact she boldly makes a move on Kou and tells herself she doesn’t have feelings for him is nothing but a bad attempt at trying to create drama.
And the “Highlight of the Episode” award goes to…
The love triangle and the new side ships!
Tune in next time for a look at episode 5! 🙂
Amp's Anime Reviews 