Argh, I’m very sad to see this show end. Even though the romances didn’t pan out, I hope they’ll have a second season that’ll continue the love triangle/square and settle the final Saku and Mii-chan pairing.

It’s the last day of the astronomy field trip, which means onsen time! Fuwa Fuwa-chan is a damn brilliant nickname. I’m a Mii-chan shipper, but Fuwa Fuwa-chan’s twin tails are cute enough to die for.

I’d always figured Mii-chan was a doggie-paddling type of swimmer. I like the fact that she seems to enjoy everything with such gusto, whether it’s watching stars, making mini-snowmen, swimming in an onsen, or pulling a gender role-reversal by shamelessly peeking in on the guys’ side of the onsen.

While the underclassmen are having fun on their astronomy trip (I wonder why the two seniors that are on the trip weren’t studying), Roma and Oumi get some intimate face time. The only knock is that there was no kiss, but Roma shows that sometimes you’re better off without the harem ending. While Saku’s stuck in between Mii-chan, Fuwa Fuwa-chan and Fuumin since episode 1, Roma shows that sometimes all you need is one girl who knows what she wants to get a happy ending. I’m glad she’s not facing off versus Mii-chan for Saku’s affection, because I like Oumi a lot. She’s pretty, smart, takes initiative and knows how to lead. An excellent combo indeed, Roma could not have done better if he tried.

There is a strong nostalgic feeling that emanates from this episode, what with the scenes of Roma and Oumi’s studying for their college examination and the two seniors reminiscing about their past, and handing over the leadership torch to the younger generation. It sort of reminds of Genshiken in that sense. If there is an eventual second season, there’ll be new characters, old characters will probably gone, and other characters will grow up, although their behaviors may not change much. It’s a bit of a somber thought, but I like the sense of change.

When Mii-chan reveals her set of telescope eyepieces, it triggers a nostalgic moment between Mii-chan and Saku. One of the unfortunately few good moments between the two in this episode. Saku should’ve held her hand for that moment.

That is the largest hobby telescope that I’ve ever seen. That must have cost a pretty penny. It’s no wonder that I’ve never seen Saturn, or Jupiter for that matter. It blows my mind that you’d be able to make out the rings on Saturn by looking through a hobby telescope. Could you also see the rings on Uranus? If this were K-ON, Vixen sales to the otaku market would be through the roof.

Meanwhile, in a scene that probably only existed to titillate ExecutiveOtaku, we see Fuumin showing some poor judgment in walking around without her glasses. I’m surprised she made it into the onsen without tripping on a rock. And is this what all clubs do in the wintertime? Go on hot springs trips?

In a shockingly fast turn of the calendar, the next time we see the gang is in the spring. It’s a new school year. Oumi and Roma have moved on to shack up at college, and the Astronomy Club is desperate to find another member so they can stay alive (I guess Edogawa’s still not an official member). This leads Mii-chan to create a ridiculously cute star suit for herself. Although I think I could’ve done without the eyes at the top. It seems like this transition would’ve been better served by making this a 13 episode season, and covering some time in between the astronomy trip and the start of the new school year. I’m a little sad that we didn’t get to see a proper sendoff for Roma from the Astronomy Club. The way he was separated from them in the final couple episodes, it was almost as if they forgot about them. Oh well, hopefully there’s some backstory that’ll either be provided in the DVD special or in the manga (somebody go help Drat translate these!).

I really liked the way they animated Fluffy-chan’s eyes darting from the ground to Saku and back again, during this scene. Poor girl, not only are her shipping chances fading, now she’s been transplanted into another class. I sure hope she gets to hang with Daisuke Ono’s Musa a lot more in the second season. If only because I want to see Scamp go nuts.

Meanwhile, Saku embarrasses Fuumin by writing really good Astronomy Club recruitment fliers. Just a little bone thrown to Fuumin fans still holding on to hope for the unlikely, but potential couple.

A somewhat fitting end to a show that seems well set up for a potential second season. Like Janette mentions over at Borderline Hikkimori, Sora no Manimani was one of those shows that always seemed to deliver exactly what I wanted. The animation was never spectacular, but always solid. The shipping, misunderstandings, and the on-screen gags and chibi faces were gold. The "educational" sequences were usually interesting. The background music was surprisingly good. The characters were all likeable and carved niches of their own. And the story always seemed to strike the perfect mood between hilarious and heartwarming. Is it the most inventive story ever? No, but sometimes it’s just the execution that matters. And SNM’s execution was always good. Besides, having a derivative story hasn’t stopped my enjoyment of shows like Gurren Lagann, Aria and Manabi Straight. You can add Sora no Manimani onto that list.

I also had a lot of fun writing about SNM, largely because I enjoyed the shipping wars between myself, ExecutiveOtaku and Scamp. Even though both showed poor taste in choosing their respective romance leads. Mii-chan forever! :-p Although I’m a little disappointed that they didn’t resolve the romance, even that’s caveated, because I figure this’ll increase the likelihood of a second season.

All in all, I gave SNM a 9, simply because I thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish. Bring on a second season, dammit!

When I first heard Hime speak, I expected to hear a soft, meek voice coming from her. Basically Mamiko Noto. But I was surprised to hear a higher-pitched, more peppy voice for her. Of course, my preconceptions of Hime was that she was a total passive wallflower. And while, she’s sort of meek in the confession sense, she’s actually turned out to be a pretty fiery character. So that’s my long winded way of saying, I really like the way Haruka Tomatsu’s voicing her. Of course, there’s very little about Haruka Tomatsu that I don’t like.

Man, time is skipping along. I’ve sort of lost track of how much time has passed. The last episode looked like early fall, so I guess with the snow, we’re probably looking at a 3-4 month time lapse. Next thing you know Roma will have graduated and shacked up with Oumi. The Astro Club is invited out to the mountains for an astronomy outing of a lifetime. I haven’t ever looked at the sky through a telescope from a really remote area, so I have to imagine it’s a pretty awesome sight. Unfortunately, Edogawa and Hime have more pressing thoughts, what with their lack of clothing. Seriously Hime, skinny jeans and a skirt? If it wasn’t just the cold, the snow would soak right through that. I know they say fashion requires pain… but I don’t think that includes frostbite.

To be honest, I didn’t remember these girls. But then I looked back and saw that these were the girls who were getting all hot and bothered about Lord Perseus, the constellation. Between that and their Strike Witch chibi–tan-ification of dressing instructions, they appear to have some kinky tastes. I like them.

I liked Fuumin better with glasses, but this one’s much cuter without them. I love Edogawa’s playa moments. Only because…

It’s so clear that he’s not. He made quite an impression on the girls from the previous astronomy outing. Edogawa needs to learn the ways of nature photography. Rule number one is you can’t frighten the animals! Or the girls in this case. I wonder what exactly Edogawa does with those photos though. We haven’t seen him selling any of them, so does he just admire them? Mmm, I probably don’t want to know.

Hurry for chibi faces! And for classmates and friends who butt in assuming that Mii-chan and Saku are love-love. These moments have been sorely missing in the last few episodes, which is a shame, because the funniest moments in the show are the Mii-chan glomping, Saku freaking-out, and Hime going nuts moments. I pretty much figured they were going the full out romantic ending route for this season (who knows if it’s even been achieved in the manga yet), so I would love to see much more love-triangle, Hime-abuse moments. And less natural disaster Hime-abuse moments.

When Hime skips out on the safety information session to head to the convenience store to buy some underwear (the unsexy kind), disaster strikes, as she finds out that the convenience store is closed and in fact, a blizzard is soon upon her. Luckily for Hime, Mii-chan caught a glimpse of her heading out. So when the group is alerted about Hime’s missing whereabouts, Mii-chan heads out on her own to find her. Meanwhile, everyone else is effectively grounded, because Sou-nii doesn’t want to risk sending the kids out. Which probably was a wise decision, but I think he probably should’ve head out himself to find Mii-chan and Hime. It’s not as if they could have gotten far. Still, it may have been a fruitless effort.

Ooh, you know you’re screwed when you’re hallucinating about getting rescued. I wonder how Hime fans are going to feel about this episode. On one hand, this was probably the most Hime-heavy episode of the season. You get some cute flashbacks of her as Drift, both in elementary and middle school. And I really liked the scene where she’s battling forward, saying she’s just getting started in life. There’s a rebelliousness about her words that I thought really fit her well. On the downside, Hime takes some mad abuse in this episode. Either way, I felt bad for Hime. Although, if she was off’d, Mii-chan would have a beeline for Saku. Hmm. Just kidding.

I’m not a big fan of life and death situations in comedies, because a.) I think they’re too heavy and b.) you know they’re not going to die, otherwise, it’d be a drama. But I was sucked into the storytelling nevertheless. Hime-chan finding the Kuma-tan handwarmer that Mii-chan slipped in her pocket was one of my favorite moments from the episode. Hime’s hilarious in these high-energy moments. The other moments where she’s great is when she’s near tears, like when she asked Saku about the rumor of him and Mii-chan doing this and that. Actually, I think I just realized I’m a Hime-sadist. Bring on the Hime abuse!

As Hime regrets her jealous moments and shirking off Mii-chan’s kindness, who could it be, but the star goddess herself who’s come to rescue Hime. A tearful reunion is cut short when Mii-chan stumbles and rolls down the hill in a huge cartoony snowball.

Once Hime digs Mii-chan out from frozen death, the two make a home in a makeshift snow cave. Hime admits that she’s actually happy that Mii-chan looks out for her. But wants Mii-chan to continue acknowleding her, because she’s unwilling to admit defeat (she should clarify here) and will fight Mii-chan to the end. Mii-chan’s eyes light up a stunning green (very pretty actually), and she accepts Hime’s challenge.

Once the snow stops, the two emerge from their igloo to be stunned by the endless sight of stars in the sky. I really liked Hime’s line about being unable to find the guiding stars because of the density of lights in the sky. It paints a perfect picture of how beautiful the sky must look. Hmm, it’s unlikely that I’ll ever be out in the mountains after a blizzard, but now I’m really amped to see the dazzling lights in the sky, if ever an event should occur… I really need to move out of the city.

What I also really want to see is Executive Otaku try out that light cannon experiment, because that was frigging awesome. I’m skeptical that it’ll be as high-powered and far-reaching as they showed in the show. Although, Edogawa was probably using a pretty powerful external flash, and I’m not sure what they hooked up to the eyepiece end, but I’m really interested to see how it does turn out.

In the end, Hime gets a lecture, while Mii-chan gets a rival… in astronomy. Orz for Hime. She’s really got to be more explicit about her challenges. Even I knew Mii-chan wasn’t thinking about Saku.

Like I mentioned, I’m not a big fan of life-and-death situations in comedies, but I was still pretty engaged with the storytelling. The next episode is the season finale, so I hope we get some love triangle hilarity to finish the season off. And then… some sort of season 2 announcement, so they can close the Mii-chan x Saku deal over a glorious 24-26 episodes.

This has been the most persistent cold I can remember having, but I’m starting to get back towards normalcy. Even though I still probably sound like I have marshmallows stuck up my nose.

Wait, did Mii-chan go somewhere without telling us? Seems like we’re going to be lucky enough to get a DVD special episode out of it! More Sora no Manimani is always good Sora no Manimani, even if we do have to wait a few extra months for it.

The episode starts out funny enough, when Edogawa overhears Mii-chan making plans with Sou-nii. This sparks the stalker curiosities of Edogawa and Hime, and when they find out Sayo isn’t aware of Mii-chan’s plans either, they get really suspicious. I wonder what direction this episode would’ve gone in if the Hime and Edogawa had just listened to Roma’s study date plans with Oumi. Oh well, I don’t think Roma feels too bad, with a new cute kitsune for him to hang with.

I think Edogawa’s photography club is actually a front for stalker activity. I mean, he’s perfect for it, he’s got good eyes, a good ear, a knack for pictures, and he can fit into tiny places. Hime comes along for the ride to provide constant humidity monitoring so Edogawa can make sure he selects the right camera settings for each reconnaissance pic. I got a good laugh out of Hime shushing Edogawa and Saku when they saw Roma with Oumi. I’m sure Hime meant it, so that Mii-chan wouldn’t hear them, but the way it played out, it looked like she was shushing them so Roma and Oumi wouldn’t hear them. As if that were possible. The true stalker extraordinaire is Sayo though. Because unlike the blatantly obvious Edogawa, Hime and Saku, Sayo actually surprises them out of the blue.

However, what looked like a date out on the town, actually takes a much more somber tone when the gang actually catch up to Mii-chan. Although it’s not surprising to us, because there were hints of this in earlier episodes, it comes as a shock to Edogawa, Hime and especially Saku, who’d always assumed that besides him leaving, everything in the town had stayed the same.

I thought the subsequent scenes between Saku, Hime and Mii-chan were pretty realistic in showing how each of them responded. Saku responded by not being so finicky, while Hime-chan pauses to stop her screaming reflex, before running off in a tizzy.

While Saku tries to figure out what he can do for Mii-chan to make her feel better (whether or not she really needed anything special), the episode then converges two different plotlines, with a bone being tossed to the Fuumin fans. As she gets to explore her dere dere side, trying to figure out the right time to give a "meaningless" souvenir to Saku. It’s funny how little things take such significance depending on your perspective. Fuumin probably spent hours thinking of the right moment and the right thing to say, and later she just ends up giving the bookmark to a statue, lol.

I like Fuumin’s underlings. The one with blue hair is pretty cute. And they seem like wholehearted Mii-chan x Saku shippers. What would they do if they knew their leader also had designs of her own? I wouldn’t mind seeing a showdown between Fuumin’s underlings and Hime’s friends. To the victor goes Musa!

I was pretty impressed by the guy who hit the baseball. Saku and Fuumin looked like they were about 300 feet from home plate. However, in saving Fuumin, Saku destroys her glasses, leaving this megane powerless to the most docile of walls. I think I like Fuumin better with glasses. Her hairstyle doesn’t fit the no-glasses look.

Perhaps the most telling sign of Saku’s heart is that when Fuumin asks if Mii-chan wouldn’t get the wrong idea if she saw her hanging on Saku’s arm, Saku doesn’t respond. With that said, I think Saku’s heart was set in episodes before, and I don’t think learning that Mii-chan’s dad was dead made him more romantically-inclined towards Mii-chan. But I do think it helped him realize how much he already cared about her.

I like how every dramatic scene gets countered with a laugh to keep things from getting too melodramatic. Fuumin’s speech was well done, but I also got a good laugh out of the Papo-kun scene. I’ll even ignore the fact that with the general shapes and colors that Fuumin could make out, she should’ve known that Saku wasn’t a big orange fatty with large ears and antennae. These megane fish-out-of-water scenes are always so over-the-top.

Another excellent sight gag: Hime’s got a mean death lock on underling #2. Hime and Edogawa both show off their improving eavesdropping skills by barging in on Saku and Fuumin, who are planning some special event to cheer Mii-chan up. And soon after super-stalker Sayo and Roma join in as well. You know what they say about small towns and keeping secrets.

So my thought during the scene in which Saku grabs Mii-chan and drags her to school was – grab her hand, not her wrist, you idiot! Just another one of the little things that lead me to think that a confession is unlikely by the end of this season, and the love triangle will continue to live on – no matter how small Hime and Fuumin’s chances. Still, I really liked how this scene was designed with the glowball lighting in the background. It seems to be a pretty common design theme as THAT points out.

Once they reach the school, Saku finally reveals the big secret to Mii-chan. He’d gathered everyone from the Astronomy Club, and some of the Literature Club members, with Fuumin’s permission to hold a meteor shower watching party at the roof of the school. This leads to Mii-chan bursting out in tears. Although I think her "I was really lonely" statement referred more about her loneliness over the past few days, than the loneliness she felt about her father being gone. lol @ Hime getting in a cheapshot. This is why I love her too.

So my thought in this scene where Mii-chan grabs Saku’s hand was "yes!" And then when she yelled out to everyone to hold hands, it was "no!" Just another sign that in my mind that a full-on confession is not going to happen anytime soon. Still, I really liked the parallel they set between the meteor showers being the last thing her dad saw, and Mii-chan getting to watch it with her friends for the first time. As one good thing ends, another good thing begins. It’s a somber thought, but this show really mixes the melancholy and the heartwarming moments perfectly with the comedy. I didn’t think at any point in this episode that the drama was overbearing. Nor did I think any of the bits of humor were terribly out of place. Another excellent episode.

I think perhaps I’ve become a bit too cynical. For the first half of the episode, as I was introduced to Oumi and her dark, mysterious eyes, her strangely conservative dress, the little too perfect tall guy with the great looks, the freaks in the club with the hots for mythological characters, the holy crap, how could a high school afford this? astronomy equipment, the division into groups, I wondered when the other shoe would drop: the one where Mii-chan and co. realized this was no Astronomy Network, this was a sinister cult with malevolent designs on taking over the world! For better or for worse, this shoe never dropped, and we got a real solid episode with finally a little backstory for the anemic club president, Roma. Regardless, I think I may have to lay off the sugar for a while.

Watching the various reactions of the AC members heading out to meet Oumi and her club/network for the first time was great. Mii-chan and Saku pretty much take a back seat during this ep, and we get a lot of hilariously fluffy Hime moments.

Once I got over the fact that Oumi wasn’t an evil cult leader, I have to admit she’s cute, and I like the mysteriousness of her eyes. I think ExecutiveOtaku @ that put it best when he described Oumi’s personality as a cross between Mii-chan and Fuumin. And I’ve gotta assume that she, as well as everyone in her school is loaded, considering that amazing telescope. Is this a real high school or a secret hideout for NASA exiles?

I wonder who voiced Musa, I thought it sounded sort of like Daisuke Ono. But Hime’s reactions drove a lot of the humor in this episode. I think Musa x Hime would be a nice pairing. Musa seems like he can take a beating, and considering Hime’s surprising penchant for violence, I think that’s an important quality for a Hime suitor. Plus, he’s the secret member of K-ON!

That’s no ordinary juice these girls are drinking, I think that’s Hayami’s high-grade "juice." Everyone seems to like hanging onto Saku. What a lucky kid. However, no Saku or Oumi blush means no romance flags triggered.

Hopefully, we’ll get some Sayo-chin background before this season ends, but in the meanwhile, she gets some great chibified moments in this ep. First in keeping Mii-chan under control, and then when Roma, senses completely overloaded, hits the deck in an anemic daze.

At this point, I was still thinking that Oumi’s group was a cult. I figured this was where the madness was going to begin. Hime’s separated from the gang. Edogawa’s take away for male bonding "reeducation." Sayo’s dragged off with the mythological lovin’ duo. Roma and Saku are left to fend for themselves. And we can guess that Mii-chan would be the first to fall to the dark side.

Luckily, things turn out pretty well for everyone. There’s a nice scene between Saku and Oumi, and I liked how Mii-chan’s AC got a chance to show off their analog skills. Anyone can find a star using a computerized telescope, it takes hardcore astro-otakuness to map the sky using your brain. I thought the one missing scene was Mii-chan getting drunk off the power of wielding the massive telescope. Perhaps Sayo-chin’s note on Mii-chan’s hand was key to keeping her sane.

Hime-chan, unlike Asahina Mikuru, is someone I don’t mind seeing getting tortured a little bit, because her reactions are that much more awesome. Seeing her (and hearing Haruka Tomatsu) go nuts was truly entertaining, and the funniest moment in this episode. In only 8 episodes, she’s revealed the Hime-knee, the Hime-elbow and the Hime-freakout-attack. That 37.5% violence rate puts her in the "bonafide killer" level, fluffy division of course.

My goodness, the AC president has actual pupils! I haven’t been as shocked by a astronomically-related event since I learned Darth Vader was Luke’s father (just kidding). His narration of the myth and the subsequent animation was a very cool scene. It’s the type of enthusiasm and storytelling that really sucks you in.

Could it be that Roma’s going to get some love? Shoot, and possibly landing the most "normal" girl to boot. I figured it was love at second sight when he was able to make it through the episode without puking blood on her.

This episode felt more like it would’ve been a better fit for the start of a 2nd season. It felt a little disjointed, being introduced to so many new characters so late in the season. No complaints though, because I really liked Oumi’s personality, and I enjoyed Musa’s pestering of Hime. Hopefully we’ll see plenty of them in a potential second season. But next week it looks like we’re back to developing the Saku x Mii-chan angle (hooray!), with perhaps the least astronomy-focused episode yet.

I think the biggest reason why genki girls like Mii-chan and Haruhi are so popular is because they’re always having fun. It’s one adventure to the next. And I’m a tsundere like Saku and Kyon. I make a show of hating to do things, but secretly I enjoy it.

Things the Astronomy Club president is not aloud to do: name things. I personally would’ve gone with Death Star Shining Astro Max Kill Ship… but this is why I’m not allowed to name things either. However, Plane-tan is super cute. Edogawa FTW. I want to see a RabbiPo-tan one day.

Saku, inspired by Hime’s book, charged into the room like Keichii tying to defeat fate (I’ve been rewatching a lot of Higurashi lately), and led the Astronomy Club on an all-nighter to finish their planetarium. However, the casualties are immense, as Sou-nii resorts to performance enhancing drugs to survive the day ahead, and Edogawa goes into a sleep-deprived frenzy, bowling over two years of the Class Presidents work preparing planet models.

Another thing the Astronomy Club president is not aloud to do: work in advertising, music, or probably any of the creative industries, just to be safe. His gloomy death song of the stars was sort of catchy in an indie scene, "I listen to bands that don’t exist" kind of way. It took me a second to recognize Haruko, I was wondering how Saku randomly managed to gain a total stranger into his harem, until I realized she was the Planetarium girl. She looks totally different when not in uniform. And I mean that in the most complimentary of ways.

The award for the funniest, most f-d up scene of this episode goes to the scene with Edogawa whoring his body to his cute, younger sisters. I’m surprised that a.) he doesn’t have a siscon complex and b.) that he actually had some shame in reacting to seeing his sisters in the nude. Edogawa’s sister’s "Oni-chan no Baka!" and kick were professional quality though. I bet she’s had some practice.

Love is in the air. As Hime can’t quit Saku, especially after he yells out his thanks to her for giving him the diary from across the schoolyard and into the 2nd floor. And in other news, any freaks out there who were pining for a Sou-nii x Mii-chan pairing were probably disappointed to find Haruko making a bee-line for Sou-nii when he entered the classroom. Girls in real life should only be this forward.

The scenes where the Astronomy Club were showing off the planetarium to the culture fair visitors were wonderful – both inspiring and nostalgic. It occurred to me, how much work must have gone into mapping all the stars, and then punching those holes to account for the brightness and size for each star. That’s some seriously detailed work. Hard to believe they let Edogawa handle it. However, I suppose there are similar qualities necessary for photography. I also really liked Mii-chan’s talk with Saku. I like that Mii-chan’s pretty honest with herself and with Saku. She may not be sure what she’s feeling for him, but I don’t ever get the sense that she’s purposely hiding anything from him. It’s a shame those two kids were there. Because this was a perfect romantic hug and kiss moment for Saku.

And since Saku didn’t take advantage of her in the planetarium, Mii-chan decides she wants to go stargazing at night with Saku… and a mattress. Mii-chan is awesome indeed. You just can’t keep a genki girl down for long. After the the natural high of teaming up to create the planetarium and show it off during the cultural fair, everyone’s feeling down since a.) they didn’t win the competition b.) they didn’t get the telescope and c.) they had to KILL Plane-tan! Nooo! That is until Mii-chan tries to seduce Saku, drawnig the ire and self-invitation from Hime and the gang. Good to see Hime hasn’t given up hope. Even though I’m rooting for the Saku x Mii-chan end, I wouldn’t mind seeing a bunch of Hime freakouts along the way.

I laughed out loud and Edogawa’s fantasy, because when I saw the temple I was thinking the exact same thing: Sayo-chin the Miko! But Edogawa snapped me out of the fantasy world and into reality. You mean there’s a difference between a temple and a shrine. Kuso! I also wondered if Sayo-chin and Mii-chan were switched at birth, because Sayo’s hyperactive, overly glompy dad sure wasn’t what I was expecting to see. Still, he was pretty hilarious with the flying hugs and the egg eating, although I didn’t quite understand the joke about the elder, younger and only sons.

Ok, no mikos. But Yukata are a mighty fine replacement. Why doesn’t the US have these kinds of dress-up events? The Moon Festival scenes featured the typically excellent brand of sentimentality that Sora no Manimani seems to deliver every week. I like the lead in to next episode as well. Who actually leaves behind video letters? That is, besides aliens. Yep, my first thought was that Oumi looks sort of like an alien, and this "Astronomy Network" seems more like a set-up for an intergalactic alien federation. Now that would be a hell of a twist. I think Mii-chan’s head would explode.

Another week, another episode flies by. With the seemingly weak fall season, I wish it was a 24 episode season, but oh well. Until next time!

I think I’ve mentioned before, but the hardest part about writing these Sora no Manimani posts is keeping the screenshots to a minimum. I usually try to restrain myself, but I decided to go buck wild for this one.

Cute Mii-chan is cute. The episode starts off with a short history on how the wandering lolicon turned high-school teacher first met little angel Mii-chan. I found it extra amusing that Mii-chan’s backpack was a pig with wings.

Meanwhile, we then see Saku cursing himself for mentioning the Astronomy Club obligation. Because the potential plans to make Mii-chan miss him seemingly blows up in his face, when Mii-chan enthusiastically encourages him to do so, seeing him as a messenger for the Astronomy Club. This scene sort of reminded me of the scene in Nodame in Paris, where Chiaki "breaks up" with Nodame to make her miss him and she responds with a flying drop-kick, then tells him to drop dead. Not quite as epic, but still pretty funny. And the chibi Mii-chan x Hime fight was equally the most cutest and greatest chibi scene I’ve ever seen in my life. I also got a kick out of lolicon Sou-nii sensei herding all the girls to himself. When this show’s funny, it’s drop dead hilarious.

With no other choice than to help the Literature Club out, Saku comes across Fumin’s right and left hand women. A couple of eager beavers who churn out a magazine cover in about as much time as Saku takes to describe a thought. They may have a lucrative career in the future as sketchers for the police.

I’m ambivalent to most of the educational scenes, but I really enjoyed the explanation of how they were going to build the planetarium, because I wondered myself how they were going to do so. Also, the 3D fly through of the classroom was really nicely done.

The group decide to spend their meagre savings to buy materials to build the planetarium, but we get our first glimpse at The Melancholy of Mihoshi Akeno. Could it be that Saku’s plan actually works?

After helping out at the Literature Club, Saku heads back to the Astronomy Club classroom and is disappointed to find that everyone has gone home. But then he’s startled as Mii-chan surprisingly shows up at the clubroom to get something she left behind. An abrupt and awkward scene follows, in which Mii-chan leaves in a hurry before letting Saku speak. I really thought they were going to leave the scene here, but then…

BAM! MII-CHAN x SAKU FLAG TRIGGERED! Mii-chan’s doorway stalk/glomp hug was too cute. And lest it got too heavy and awkward, I loved how they then showed Mii-chan coming to her senses and caught by other club members and Sou-nii in an awkward half embrace.

Meanwhile all this is happening, unbeknownst to fluffy Hime-chan, who’s grilling Edogawa about Saku. I have to say, I’m a Mii-chan shipper 100%, but I really like Hime-chan too. I actually like her design better, as Mii-chan is a bit too plain and her appeal is strongly dependent on her glomp-friendly nature (although no one has a better chibi design than Mii-chan). With that said, this is the toughest shipping choice I’ve had to make since CC vs. Kallen in Code Geass. If Mii-chan was a (fluffy) hair short of epic awesome, I would’ve fallen for Hime-chan. Plus Haruka Tomatsu! Although much props to Mii-chan’s seiyuu Kanae Itou.

I’d also like to point out how insanely ridiculous (and hilarious) it was to see Edogawa go nuts practicing taking pictures of gravure photos. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like that.

Lol, I bet Sou-nii had a harem of his own in high school. His "talk" with Saku about astronomy and Mii-chan was really nicely done. And I liked seeing the quick flashback to what Mii-chan told him. Even though she’s a year older than Saku, she really is a little kid at heart.

Meanwhile, the rumors of after school shenanigans between Mii-chan and Saku have spread, so the other combatants are out full force. Fumin even goes as far as outright asking him to join the Literature Club, although she then claims she was joking (yeah right). Fumin and Saku have a nice discussion, and I actually thought Fumin was pretty likable in this episode. She got to show a little more depth than the super TSUN TSUN, little dere dere pattern we’d seen before. Now I wonder if we’ll ever get background on Sayo-chin and the Astronomy Club president (does he even have a name yet?). Time’s running out on those guys.

Saku then runs into Hime, waiting for him outside the school. I don’t know if this is supposed to be her goodbye gift, but she gives him a diary covering all that they did during the past few days that Saku’s been helping the Literature Club, before running away. The slim chances of a Hime ending seem to be becoming fainter and fainter by the day. (Although I would support a Sora no Manimani – Hime chapter OVA. How come Clannad gets to have all the fun? Everybody just dies and cries in that show. Can we get a little bit of laughter in our relationships?)

The episode then ends beautifully with Saku reflecting on living in the now and running back into the school to help the Astronomy Club members. The sentimental moments in Sora no Manimani are just so well done. As I loved the music during this scene and Saku, like always, has some pretty good things to say.

Well, the Mii-chan x Saku flag has indeed been triggered. Now I hope they don’t screw it up and pretend like nothing happened in the next episode. Still, with 5 more episodes to go, there’s plenty of time for some twists and turns.

I wrote this post once, but then the last half disappeared, so the last half is probably going to seem lazy.

After a short lull in the Mii-chan x Saku x Hime love triangle, it’s back in full force this episode. And now that damn Fumin is giving her best shot to turn it into a love square.

I love Saku’s mom. She’s such a good, caring mom. Too bad she has such a good-for-nothing perfect-making-mama-useless son. Be more bad Saku-chan!

All I have to do is pull the bus cord to impress people? Oh, you Japanese are so easy. I think the crowd was the funniest part of this episode. I love their willful misunderstanding of Saku x Mii-chan’s relationship, and complete tone deafness to Saku’s objections. Not that he’s trying too hard to clear the air anymore. This is one of those situations where the misunderstanding helps you, so you just act shocked, but secretly ride with it

Scamp says it best, but Hime is the perfect epitome of fluffy. It’s so funny how she’s got such a hair complex. I just want to mess it up and see it explode into an afro-puff. Meanwhile, Fumin’s still turning the cold, cold shoulder to Mii-chan, denying her request for more funds. C’mon, what’s an astronomy club without a telescope! Besides, if she wants to make a better impression on Saku, she’s got to do better than be the ice woman. Fumin no baka!

Remember that guy who signaled the bus stop? Welcome Sou-nii, the new teacher, and apparent lolicon. The student council’s got it all wrong, it’s not Mii-chan who’s supposed to get arrested, it’s Sou-nii. There’s very few characters that I can imagine randomly yelling out a teacher’s name in the middle of an assembly, completely shattering the mood and creating an uproar. Maybe Haruhi. Maybe Kannagi’s Nagi. And Mii-chan. That’s some select company.

Like I mentioned, the classroom reaction in creating the rivalry between Saku and Sou-nii is hilarious.

This new Sou-nii dude seems like a pretty cool guy. He gets welcomed back by Mii-chan in tears and he hits on (and gets immediately rejected by) Sayo, I like him already. Turns out he’s not just Saku’s competition, but he’s taken on the role as the astronomy club’s advisor, so he’ll have plenty of time with Mii-chan and the gag.

Hime’s friends are awesome. Actually, the one with the ponytail reminds me of what Kyon’s sister would look like if she were in high school. But they’re holding Hime to task for not getting any closer to Saku, and especially now during such a great opportunity. But the competition is heating up, as plenty of other vixens smell blood in the water and making plans for Saku. Although, based on the girls in the picture above, the competition doesn’t look that hot.

Flying Hime is win. Forget what I said above, this random new girl is cute. Hime’s got to get a move on!

And now that damn ecchi, ice woman Fumin gets into the act, trying to seduce Saku to get him to help her out with the literature club. The Astronomy club is building a freaking planetarium for god’s sake.

Seeing Mii-chan and Sou-nii so close stuns Saku. And jealousy rears its ugly head. When you’re jealous, you can either become more possessive and step in between the two, or become more passive-aggressive, and try to disappear hoping the girl will miss you. Neither are great options, but I don’t think the latter ever works out. Unfortunately, for Saku’s he’s decided to take that route by saying he’s going to help Fumin. I’d guess that he realizes how much he misses Mii-chan and becomes the first to break. But we’ll see how it works out for him.

This show’s hitting on all cylinders right now. The funny parts are hilarious and the addition of a wrench in Saku’s growing harem has made things even more interesting.

Unfortunately, this episode was a little lighter on the gags, and also light on Mii-chan as well, so it wasn’t quite as enjoyable as the first four eps. Still, even though it focused more on Fumin, who I don’t particularly have strong feelings one way or the other for, it had its moments. Like Mii-chan mizugi action! (cue Edogawa going crazy… or not?)

Apparently Fumin has naughty things on the mind, having caught everyone sleeping in the same room as each other. However, at the same she refers to the astronomy club as "extremely young children" – in which case, who cares if they’re sleeping in the same room as each other? Little kids take baths with each other, I don’t think sleeping in the same room is going to create any issues. This isn’t the last time we’ll see Fumin’s contradicting duality. On the flip side, Hime-chan apparently is still holding out hopes for Saku, but I’m glad to see that she’s coming to enjoy astronomy as well.

Having been banned from any more club activities and having had their equipment confiscated by Fumin’s Nazi Youths Literature Club members, the astronomy club tries to get on Fumin’s better side – by doing community service – to no avail. Failing that, once a group of astro-nerds to do while on a beach? Swimsuits! I’m a little surprised that Edogawa didn’t go nuts taking pictures. Besides Sayo-chin’s ample proportions, Mii-chan sported a surprisingly more stylish and risqué swimsuit than I would’ve expected from her. So this should’ve been heaven for Edogawa. But perhaps he was all burnt out (literally) from all the fun he’d had the day before.

Unfortunately for us, Hime is too ashamed to show off her own swimsuit – which I guess would be somewhat understandable if she was in a competition with Sayo-chin – but it’s not like Mii-chan was stacked like those balloon girls in Princess Lover. I’m sure Hime would’ve looked just fine. Ah well. Here, we see another example of Fumin displaying her strange sense of duality. Why she wears a 2-piece bathing suit underneath a jacket doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me. And considering none of the other literature club members were in swimsuits, I doubt Fumin was going to get into the water anytime soon.

Clearly, her attention-grabbing outfit was intended to seduce Saku down a treacherous path. She’s already revealed herself to have the most ecchi imagination of anyone in the show. In fact, I would go as far to say that Fumin coming to the rescue of her literature club members was a setup to look cool in front of Saku. Unfortnuately for her, she needs to learn that her and Saku can never be. And not just because of Mii-chan or Hime, but because of physics. Similar to how like charges do not attract, it is physically impossible for Fumin, a tsundere, to successfully attract Saku, another tsundere, and vice versa. So let’s just drop that possible storyline here.

While Saku inadvertently saves Fumin from trouble by falling into the assailant’s fist, Mii-chan and Hime get into the act by ruthlessly destroying all of the womanizing teens with their best efforts at Inazuma kicks! I’ve liked SNM’s attention to little character details, like how Hime’s been messing with her hair on a daily basis, but was a little disappointed that they didn’t bring back the hilarious Hime knee. But Saku’s brave/not-so-brave moment earns him some credit from Fumin, who uses the opportunity to explain how she hasn’t been able to understand Mii-chan, or see anything impressive in the sky for that matter. So she asks Saku to show her and the literature club what astronomy’s all about.

Although Saku agrees to Fumin’s request on his own, Mii-chan, of course, obliges and looks forward to the opportunity to spread the astronomy love. Not to mention it was her best bet to get a chance to stargaze again at some point in the trip. So the astronomy club goes balls to the walls preparing everyone for the evening events. Even the anemic club president gets into the act by handwriting 38 pamphlets for everyone that’s attending. No wonder he ended up a bloody, ironless mess.

So I’m thinking the incredibly awesome Bakemonogatari ED probably would’ve been a much better fit on Sora no Manimani. Not that it’s bad on Bakemonogatari, but the lyrics clearly sync with the topics in this show. To wit, lyrics from the ED (credit due to Deciphered Melody):

“are ga DENEBU, ARUTAIRU, BEGA”
kimi wa yubi sasu natsu no taisankaku
oboete sora wo miru
yatto mitsuketa Orihime-sama
dakedo doko darou Hikoboshi-sama
kore ja hitori bocchi

“That’s Deneb, Altair, Vega…”
you said as you pointed at The Summer Triangle.
As I looked at the sky,
I finally found Orihime-sama,
but where is Hikoboshi-sama I wonder?
Isn’t she lonely?

And the song itself starts off by talking about stargazing:

itsumo doori no aru hi no koto
kimi ha totsuzen tachiagari itta
“konya hoshi wo mi ni yukou”

Like always, on that day
suddenly stood up and said
“Tonight, lets go Stargazing!”

In fact, the whole song seems to fit a lot of the events on the show. But I digress.

Once the astronomy club has the opportunity to strut their stuff to the literature club, it’s not long before the literature club starts ooh-ing and aah-ing in wonder. The sky is a wondrous place where your imagination can go wild. And I think when you have someone that’s as enthusiastic as Mii-chan spreading her vibes, it’s irresistable. Even Fumin comes around and grudgingly admits that she may have to give the astronomy club a little more credit – although to Mii-chan’s (and my) dismay, not to the point of giving them any funding – which is shortsighted if you ask me. At least get them a telescope to play with! It may not do much for actual stargazing, but one of the most memorable moments of my childhood was looking through a telescope and being able to see the surface of the moon. It was too cool. And I hope the astronomy club gets to experience that at some point.

All in all, it was a fun episode, but a little too Fumin heavy for my tastes. It was nice to see her have some development, and not be typecast as the stubborn adversary from start to end. But the Mii x Saku x Hime dynamic really carries the show, and with that in the background for this episode, things felt a little dull. Hopefully, it’ll be back in full force next week.

We get a confession! It’s not as edgy as Senjougahara’s. And maybe it doesn’t stick. But I have to admit my heart skipped a beat anyway.

While Hime rages about Mii-chan always hanging around Saku, feeling him up and whatnot, her friends humor her unrequited love dreams, all the while teasing her for chasing the impossible. Hey, at least Hime’s got honest friends, because it’s just not going to happen between her and Saku. Might as well move onto Edogawa or *gasp* the anemic club president. (I think Edogawa and Hime would be hilarious, but it seems like he’s got ogling eyes for Sayo-chin.)

It’s summertime and the astronomy club is planning a summer expedition. "Summer means stars, and stars means staying up all night. And staying up all night equals an overnight camping trip." I like that train of thought actually. However to get the trip approved requires some sweet talking to Fumin, so Sayo-chin takes a break from hugging Mii-chan’s chest, and heads over with the club president to get approval. Mii-chan meanwhile worries that they’ll need her, giving Studio Comet another chance to break out a new funny/chibi Mii-chan face. This time she looks like a cross between a frog and a Kaiser roll, and it’s 100% unbearably cute.

This meanwhile gives Hime a chance to launch her final, hail-mary ploy. The ole’ "get to know you better through homework" scam EXCEPT Mii-chan completely torpedoes her plan by offering to her notes from last year to Hime and getting excited about studying together with everyone and then doing astronomy things afterwards (of course).

Finally at her wits end, Hime-chan explodes and inserts a little bit of do-ra-ma into the show – our first real bit of do-ra-ma actually – and demands to know what Saku means to Mii-chan. And Mii-chan doesn’t disappoint with a simple, straightforward "daisuke." Like I mentioned above, it’s not as edgy as Senjougahara’s confession. But it’s just as bold, and just as straightforward. And yeah, my heart skipped a beat too. (Having just watched Nodame Cantabile, the similarity between the two shows’ "vibe" is uncanny.)

Mii-chan’s confession smacks the tsundere out of Saku, stunning both him and Hime for a second, Unfortunately, the confession does not stick. But maybe at the end of the show it will. And I loved how it made such an impact on tsundere Saku, who I’ve really come to like as the lead character.

Meanwhile, the club does get Fumin’s approval and they head off to the beach for some fun in the sun(s). Edogawa is sort of like the male version of Mii-chan – small, hyper, and full of enthusiasm. He never fails to crack me up. And I liked the shots he took of Sayo-chin. Sayo-chin is a total babe, she just needs to be more interesting. But I’ll give the producers a break. Four episodes in and I think they’ve done a good job developing four of the mains, which is pretty good. Hopefully we’ll get some Sayo-chin and club president development in the next few episodes.

It’s very obvious that Saku still has Mii-chan’s confession on the brain, as he keeps having random thoughts of her popping out and saying  "I love you." This was such a great development, even though Mii-chan’s confession didn’t stick. I hope it forces Saku to come out of his tsundere shell and take the initiative. Or at least stop denying that he has a thing for Mii-chan. I’d like to see this show take the Bakemonogatari route and not save the confession for the end… I want to see some Mihoshi x Saku relationship development at some point this season (unless there’s a 2nd season, which would be great).

Once they get to the beach, Edogawa goes nuts checking out chicks, while the astronomy club runs into their nemesis, Fumin and her army of bookworms. I cannot believe that the literature club is so popular. It can’t be because of Fumin. I’m going to give credit to the friendly looking, purple-haired cute, megane next to Fumin.

And while the bookworm army stays in a posh mansion, the astronomy club is left to stay in… an abandoned building. But Mii-chan, showing her master waifu skills, spiffs up the place in seconds before dropping into a heap, conking out until nightfall.

The nightfall, stargazing scenes were very, very good. For one, I liked Edogawa’s quick explanation about the camera settings (apparently Azu-nyan isn’t the only one who can get a tan). This isn’t the type of show where I expect to learn anything from. But I’ve learned that if you’re going to shoot the night sky, put the focus on infinity and use a wide aperture.

But the stargazing scenes were both romantic and inspiring. I loved seeing everyone in such awe of the sky, and seeing Mii-chan so enthusiastic. I thought Saku’s backstory was a great mini-confession of sorts as well. The background music during these scenes, as well as what was a special ED, fit the mood perfectly – which I can’t praise enough, because I hate when shows kill the mood by having an ED or scenes for next week that doesn’t jive with the content in a show. There’s nothing worse than having a dramatic moment in a show, for example, be dulled by a upbeat ED or a silly scenes for next week sequence. Change it up, I say!

Anyway, another week, another excellent episode of Sora no Manimani. I wish I knew someone who loved life as much as Mii-chan does. Her enthusiasm is so infectious. While this episode was less funny than the previous episodes, the dramatic developments more than made up for it. I can’t believe this show has a 7.5 rating on MAL. I’m sure it’ll change, but that is egregiously low. 7.5 is what lame harems like To-LOVE-Ru get. This show is a considerable step up. I will in the meanwhile continue to share the love and hope more people catch on.

The problem with writing about Sora no Manimani, I’ve noticed, is that it’s really hard to not go overboard with screenshots. There’s just so many awesome screen gags (mostly Mii-chan gags) that I’d hate to leave anything out. Of course, this is a much better problem to have than the Kurokami problem, in which a show is so bad I just don’t know what to say about it.

My anticipation level for new Sora no Manimani episodes is just off the charts right now. It got to the point where I was really afraid that I was putting the show on a pedestal and I’d find myself continually disappointed if it didn’t reach the level of awesome that the first two episodes did. But the first couple minutes of episode 3, in which Mii-chan fans the flames of ecchi misinterpretation, shattered my fears and gave me faith that no, SnM won’t disappoint and in fact, it can even reach greater levels of awesomeness than I could’ve possibly imagined. Honestly, I was laughing out loud at the scene, and when I rewatched it again, I was giddy with anticipation. Why? I’m not sure. I mean it’s your standard mixed messages scene, but it has to be because of Mii-chan’s undying enthusiasm and willingness to take those double entendres even further and further. It’s like she’s both aware of and oblivious to the misunderstandings she’s creating. It’s hard to explain, but I think only Mihoshi could’ve made this scene as hilarious as it was.

I want Hime to constantly be the failed love interest. Because she’s just so funny and cute every time she thinks Saku and Mi-chan have made some "progress." What was up with the barnyard animal sounds though?

That and any puffy hair-related gag will more than do. I want to see Hime with a puffed out afro one day.

Because Saku doesn’t yet realize that he’ll never be free from Mi-chan’s grasp (seriously, why fight it?), he skips on out the club to spend some quality time alone at the library where he runs into Fumin, who once again tries to seduce Saku to join the literary club. But it’s during these moments and the bus ride back home where Saku just realizes that Mihoshi just wants to share her good experiences. I don’t know how I feel about Fumin trying to jump on Saku’s harem, but I think I’ll support it, because some of Mi-chan’s funniest faces comes when she’s battling Fumin.

Once Saku arrives home he encounters a remorseful Mi-chan who apologizes for monopolizing all of Saku’s time and taking him around everywhere. But once Saku tells her it’s not a problem, Mi-chan instantly whisks him away to the next astronomy event.  Like they say, you can’t keep a genki girl down.

Apparently Mi-chan turns into churuya-san during rainy days. I loved the ~nyoron~ Mi-chan face. It’s just too damn cute. Again, proving that Fumin is actually a pretty good nemesis for Mi-chan.

Fumin’s getting on the Astronomy club’s case for being so impotent due to the daily rain, so Saku remembers a memory with Mi-chan’s dad, and proposes the club take a trip to the nearby planetarium, where they meet Haruko, the babe of a tour guide. For a small town, this place has got it all as far as astronomy goes. It’s funny how for not being a member, Edogawa’s so gung-ho about astronomy.

The one unique thing about Sora no Manimani that I’ve noticed is that it mixes in sentimental moments really well, without it feeling out of place or feeling too cheesy. Or when it does border on being too cheesy, they really go all out and cheese it up to make it funny again. It’s drama without the do-ra-ma. That’s a quality of good writing.

On another note, Sora no Manimani piqued my interest in astronomy again, so I took a look at a book of constellations and I have to say, those constellations are the most abstract looking things ever. They look nothing like my childhood memories. On most of them I was looking at the stars wondering how the heck anyone could think it could look like a fish or a bear or a scorpion.

Again, the scene where everyone was walking in the rain was another subtle but nice scene in which the writers straddle the lines between cute, funny and sentimental. You can feel the depth of Mii-chan’s appreciation when she mini-glomps Saku-chan. I mean she’s so raw and expressive it’s hard not to love. The whole scene is cute, then Hime comes in to break it up, where it gets funny, and then the monologue changes the focus onto Mi-chan’s statement that it looks like a little universe inside the umbrella. It’s sort of sappy, but perfectly fitting for the scene. And all of it flows so well from one bit to the next that it just feels natural. The characters all act exactly like how I think they should act and how I would want them to act.

Anyway, my anticipation level for episode 4 has raised even higher, and I’m happy to announce that I’m adding Mii-chan to my summer harem along with Hina, Hamster and Horo.