Aside the long delays in getting these subs, it seems that we have leaped forward with the girls having a sleepover. Essentially, you should had already watched the OVAs before watching the series or you will miss out on the nice developments during Fuu’s first month living in the town.
After experiencing several failures, it’s nice to see that Fuu have made significant progress to improve her photography skills. In some photos she took, it finally carries famous tamayura (たまゆら) after she tried so hard. This got her so much attention from her classmates that she drops her album on the floor and desperately reaches for it while being on the desk. It was really cute.
Considering that a month has passed by and she settled down at her new home, a sleep over wasn’t surprising. During my childhood, I never had a sleepover since I’m simply not a very outgoing person back then since a few children bullied me because of my race. Either way, it was a very refreshing experience as Sayomi came along to bring some games and food. It’s interesting how she ultimately thanks Fuu for coming back while the others sleep. Let’s face it, it’s difficult to get over a loss of a family member, especially if it’s a parent you are close to and lost early in your life. Even though it’s tragic, the memories from the photos and her desire to carry on the heritage gave her the strength to return. That moment was very heartwarming and hopefully she will go to places like her father along with her friends.
On a different note, it’s noticeable that people in this town make stuff from scratch and a lack of commercialism. I decided to bring it up since the “Occupy” protests, most notably “Occupy Wall Street” is now a month old and there is so much anger over big businesses being greedy and unethical. This shown through the various homemade baked goods and Dougou making figures out of bamboo of an unnamed girl at a okonomiyaki (おこのみやき) store to impress her. Yes, she is cute, but you don’t have to go crazy over it. Even so, I don’t quite understand the message the creator tries to convey by this. Is he telling us not to support the big corporations, but instead small businesses and make things through labor? I don’t know, but that is what I got out of this.
From the sleepover, it seems that Fu has finally settled with her two new friends and childhood friend. Through her motivation to carry her father’s legacy on, she’ll improve and maybe surpass his skill. Even so, I look forward what lies ahead for these girls.
There is something that Junichi Satou is saying with these things. I think back to the first episode of Aria in which the big moment was eating a baked potato. Potatoes are not very special or even particularly flavorful. They were made, in that instance, by a roadside vendor. It isn’t quite that it must be done by one’s self, as the potato (and the okonomiyaki) are made by a vendor. I wonder if it is something about authenticity.
I think you are right to put Occupy Wall Street in this context. I’m sure that manipulating digits (to say nothing of the outright fraud that was involved in the 2008 crisis) wouldn’t pass as an authentic activity in Satou’s universe.
I remember the potatoes from the first episode of Aria the Animation… Believe it or not, I don’t think big corporations even exist on Aqua. Sure you have the water guide companies, but they aren’t controlled by corporate and corrupt executives. Also, I don’t recall any product placement… asides in Tamayura with the cameras being an exception, but it’s a very interesting observation because the lighthearted nature of Iyashikei (いやしけい）. With the Occupy protests being the obvious current event to fit this, well yeah… the recession and Wall Street is quite a mess.