Ore no Kanojo to Osananajimi ga Shuraba Sugiru [Caught In the...]

Holy long title batman

Noticed we didn't have a thread for this despite the adaption this season.

Not much of a fan of the OP for reasons I can't quite put my finger on, but the first episode was surprisingly enjoyable.

I dislike the OP for making it look like a generic yuri series.

In any case, I've been keeping tabs on the manga adaptation, so of course I liked the anime's first episode.

I tried reading the translated Light Novel, but BT has some weird formatting and it's not close to complete.

Certainly looks interesting, and Yukari Tamura as the girlfriend certainly has that flair.

What I really liked about the first episode was the relatively relaxed pace. Not a tone you'd expect from your typical harem rom com.

I get bored quite fast with manga, but Let's see how well will anime go.(didn't try LN yet)

edited 7th Jan '13 5:57:25 AM by Tenzen12

Ore No Kanojo To Osananajimi Ga Shuraba Sugiru huh?

To be honest the first episode kind of bored me. The male lead and the haremettes were a little bland. I don't mind setting up, but there's not a lot to set up here so the plot seemed excessively slow.

Let's say it's a contemporary of Sakurasou No Pet Na Kanojo, but although female characters of this show may (or indeed, may not) be treated better, if both are aiming to be sexy harem shows, Sakurasou wins on that front, ignoble as it is.

I'm afraid it wasn't really funny either, and I can't see the plot being anything great.

So, I don't think I'll follow.

edited 7th Jan '13 6:37:10 AM by UltimatelySubjective

Two things:

1. You haven't even seen two of the haremettes yet outside of the opening.

2. This show (opening aside) isn't aiming for fanservice.

Then what is it aiming for? It doesn't seem to be comedy as I said. It also doesn't seem particularly new in any way.

Do you really think I should watch more?

I'm actually not saying that you should watch more (I have no idea what your anime preferences are), I just wanted to set the record straight.

It honestly seems to be some mix of slice of life (school club style, as the next episode should introduce the Maiden's Club for Performing Your Own Life or whatever nonsense it was called, which seems to be the main thing going on in the series) and harem (the non-fanservicey kind).

edited 7th Jan '13 3:56:35 PM by burnpsy

If you're saying there is going to be next to no fanservice from this point on then I would be surprised (the skirt thing seems like significant fanservice to me).

Perhaps you mean it's a matter of intent and degree, but I would still class this as a harem show with fanservice.

As for my tastes, well, if I had spotted even one thing I liked about the show, then I would probably give it another episode.

The skirt thing is quite literally the only fanservice present in the manga adaptation. Unless one has a ludicrously all-encompassing for fanservice, then there should be no problem. One instance does not merit being classified as such.

edited 7th Jan '13 4:31:35 PM by burnpsy

Then colour me surprised. You can be wrong judging on the first episode alone.

I see what you mean.

If their angle isn't fanservice, then it's probably much closer to slice of life.

I can't even think of any other series that does that.

Still... Isn't this series a little dull? I'm in general against fanservice, but this is like removing a bunch of stuff that makes harem shows and leaving just the interactions and harem itself (also a thing I'm not too fond of in principle).

edited 7th Jan '13 4:35:15 PM by UltimatelySubjective

The club I mentioned is a club about becoming popular so you can win over the guy you like without any problems, so part of the entertainment value comes from how they try out very generic ideas and completely mess them up (the episode preview showed one such instance - Chiwa pretending she knows how to play the guitar).

When they're not doing that, it's mostly romance-related stuff or character backstories tying into current events, up until the current point of the manga.

As such, it makes it slightly different, yet familiar in that it's still a harem series and the four girls are gunning for the same guy. I can definitely see how it can be interpreted as dull, and it's certainly not for everyone.

edited 7th Jan '13 4:41:41 PM by burnpsy

I see. I'd like to say it's a Non-Indicative First Episode, but now that I think about it there was a bunch of slice of life stuff in the first half of the episode which completely slipped my mind.

I'd would also say they should have skipped to the club bit, but that would probably mess up the pacing.

Something I noticed about the episode was that, unlike the manga (and since I haven't looked at the novels too much I don't know if the novels were like this too), the anime opted for hinting at Chiwa's Career-Ending Injury and how it's why Eita's focused so hard on studying. At the very least, the manga explains the first part right away.

EDIT: Double-checking the manga to verify what I've said up to this point, Masuzu seems to bring the skirt thing from the first episode up every so often (though she stops after a while), pointing out that Eita still thinks she isn't wearing anything underneath, which means there's still *some* fanservice element. Still, that's... just about everything fanservice-related in there.

edited 7th Jan '13 6:27:59 PM by burnpsy

I have to say I am disappointed that there will be no more fanservice... Still, it's a slice of life so am I right to expect the same kind of atmosphere as K-on?

Um... wouldn't this genre normally be considered romance? Why is that not being mentioned? You're acting like the only options are fanservice-heavy harem or slice of life, but it's pretty clear from the first episode that it's a romance of sorts.

edited 7th Jan '13 8:08:41 PM by Clarste

I was going to say it, but I was afraid that people would call bullshit.

Yes, Eita and Masuzu spend a significant portion of their screen time slowly getting closer and closer together like most romance series. For some reason, though, people seem to have a hard time processing that the instant there's a harem attached to it.

Haven't gotten around to watching K-On, so I can't comment on that.

edited 7th Jan '13 8:17:58 PM by burnpsy

Well, from the discussion, I thought this was the kind of show where nothing happens. Just harem antics and some comedy here and there. Based from what is being said now, is it more comparable to Sakurasou?

That's a fine distinction. It is comparable to Sakurasou though. Sounds like something happens.

If it is romance though, it's bland enough to make me suspect we should leave romance to Shoujo.

We haven't even seen a hint of chemistry between the girl and the guy yet.

At least most shoujo stuff will feature the mandatory attempted rape scene in the first episode, which does a good job of establishing where they stand, unlike something that resembles a business relationship.

Depends on what you want out of it. "Learns to love" is a pretty standard character arc, in this case it just happens twice at the same time.

Given the events that start the series off, it'd be weirder if we did.

In any case, it's basically like this:

Any times when they're doing club activities, they end up doing some stupid hijinx like I mentioned. Be it making a theme song that ends up absolutely stupid◊ or the aforementioned pretending to know how to play guitar.

When Eita's alone with Chiwa or Masuzu, it shifts gears into more romantic stuff. Usually Chiwa wondering why Eita's picking Masuzu over her, or Masuzu being jealous and moving things along (example: after complaining about how well Eita has Chiwa figured out, Masuzu snatches his first kiss) while Eita questions their "fake" status.

edited 8th Jan '13 12:30:27 PM by burnpsy

Romance stories don't have to start with romance. Just saying. I would also like to mention that a lot of shoujo stories still are bland even with the romance, unless you're really into romance.

I wouldn't say this show is comparable to Sakurasou, honestly. Sakurasou is actually more typically harem rom com in tone— zany characters, love triangle, shenanigans. Ore Shura is decidedly slower-paced. Unless you were comparing the two in some other manner? If it helps, I don't think this will be "just harem antics and some comedy here and there." I say that as someone who likes watching harem series.

No, I still challenge calling this show "romance".

I don't really want to debate genre boundaries, but (based on what Burnpsy said) it sounds like it has elements of a romance while being about romance. The slice of life elements around heavier.

Also, yes I put that poorly, making it sound as though all romances must be founded in the first episode.

I guess I just can't see it happening with these two.

I'm not sure, that could be a problem with my expectations. But I'd counter-suggest that this show is just poor at handling expectations.

I could see why you'd challenge the "romance" label based on the first episode alone, but from what I remember from the manga the romance elements are plentiful enough.

I'd also counter your counter-suggestion— to me, the fact that the fake couple hate romance was a clear indicator. Not to mention the childhood friend running after the guy after she hears about the rumor, and how she keeps casually mentioning she loves him. Plus there's the title.

edited 8th Jan '13 6:10:59 AM by fillerdude