Upon getting into an art school with her friend Touyama Kayo, Asai Mugi accidentally lets out an exuberant cheer. Although Mugi is typically tongue-tied and extremely shy, she catches the eye of Ichinose Nono and the rest of the Drama Research Society. After encountering the dress of the Goddess of Spring, and watching the Drama Club’s traditional opening play Primavera, Mugi is pressured by Nono into joining the DRS. Nono mentions, however, that on stage Mugi can be someone else, and will one day be extremely glad she joined the DRS.
A little while later, Mugi meets the blonde freshman from before, Kanna Chitose. Chitose is very bold, and the two form a friendship when Mugi has to borrow Chitose’s P.E. uniform. Unfortunately, their friendship encounters massive amounts of drama… in the form of the Drama Club. Mugi finds out how much bad blood there is between the DC that Chitose joined, and her own DRS. In spite of this, Chitose helps out the DRS a bit (possibly because she has a crush on the DRS’ Katsuragi Takashi), and uses tickling to relieve Mugi’s stage fright. During the rigorous tickling session, Mugi learns how to use abdominal breathing to really project her voice. With Mugi powered up, Chitose mentions that she will be in the DC May production, and it seems the two are now livals!
When it is time for the DRS play, Chitose finds out from Tama that Nono’s has vocal cord paralysis. Chitose can’t believe it, but Nono confirms the rumor. However, Nono still wants to enjoy her time acting, because of the influence of her dear friend (obviously Sakaki Mirei). Kai and Takashi hype the play, with Kai doing acrobatics and Takashi reciting tongue-twisters. Unfortunately only Chitose is impressed, and the DRS opens to a sparse audience. Nono reassures Mugi, and Mugi is able to deliver her lines on stage.
While not a whole lot happened in the first three episodes, I definitely like the atmosphere that they’ve set up. I’m getting shades of Honey & Clover, and that is a good thing. The characters are great, and the interaction top-notch. At the moment, Mugi is kinda annoying, but I have little doubt that she will turn from a stuttering shy mess into a confident and talented actress. Otherwise, Nono will probably kill Mugi, and we will get the bad ending =(.
The best part for me so far is the friendships being developed. Whether it’s Kai and Mugi’s bond of mediocrity, or Kayo’s constant support of Mugi in order to get lots of compromising photos, or Chitose’s obsession with Takashi, or Nono’s heavily yuri-infused petting of Mugi, the relationships being established are entertaining to watch. However, the sweet is carefully balanced by the tiniest undercurrents of bitterness, as Nono’s condition gives everything a sense of sadness and urgency. What can I say, dorama + drama is a winning combination!
On a completely off-topic tangent, this is my first time posting in this format. I think I might use it for when I want to marathon a series or catch up quickly. I’m not completely sure that it saves that much time, but it limits the summarization process and probably gives a more coherent digest of the plot. Also, in case you were wondering, they call Chitose “Orinal” as a mispronunciation of “Original,” because in the second episode Mugi borrows Chitose’s P.E. shirt (which has Chitose’s name tag on it). When the DRS meets the actual Chitose, they joke that she is the original Chitose. As for why Chitose calls Mugi “Mugi-choco,” this is because mugi choco is a type of barley/chocolate snack, and Chitose is making a funny.
Related posts:
- Hitohira 09 Although their play was well received, the DRS audience...
- Hitohira 11 Everyone is trying to help Mugi (except Nono, who...
- Hitohira 10 Chitose organizes a Christmas party, but is unable to...
3 Comments
this is the type of anime that makes me put my hands over my eyes to stop myself from seeing what will happen next. Of course, I always leave gaps between my fingers so i can see what happens. I’m such a girl.
Anyways, I think this is pretty cute, but I just can’t get over the cliche acting in the show. Why does anime acting always sound retarded?!
Probably because Japanese acting is retarded to begin with. No, seriously. So many live action Japanese shows/movies I watch get totally ruined by the lameness of every Japanese actor under 30. Or 40. It’s like, no one takes any acting classes, ever. I don’t know how Hitohira managed to replicate this effect, but it did.
That aside, Hitohira definitely gave me warm fuzzies. The next few episodes coming up left me emotionally drained when I was done.
Ok, together with that cheek-stroking no jutsu screencap, you’ve now like totally convinced me to pick up this series.