when Ritsuko times out

Yukan finally has something I would read.
Make that another.

So yeah, now I have a whole shitload of funky new anime that I need to watch. Futakoi Alternative was on the top of the list simply because I found it first on lolipower.org. The first episode reminded me of FLCL, which I hated, but I warmed up to it as soon as I found out I really wanted to find out how Sara and Soujyu met Rentarou, and the anime wasn’t going to tell it to me all in a single episode. So I ended up marathoning the baby, and it never felt like I was wasting my time.

First up, we have Sara and Soujyu. I derived most of the fun from their relationship with Rentarou, and trying to piece together what the anime throws haphazardly at you the beginnings of said relationship. I haven’t encountered a menage a trois in Japanese media before. Then there’s the other twins, useful for a breath of fresh air (although I wondered why Ruru and Rara were never really elaborated upon), but mostly Sara and Soujyu. And the yakuza.

Rentarou was never boring. There was the boxing match, the photos of when he was young, his father which reminded me of that weird director from Excel Saga crossed with, uh, that guy from Gurren Lagann (it’s been a long time folks), his relationship with the Shirogane twins, and his weird love/hate relationship with the yakuza. I didn’t yawn at all while watching the anime, even without any twins in the scene, so that’s saying something.

And then there’s the last arc. The last arc felt very cliched, but I forgive Futakoi A. because my flatmates didn’t hear it, and B. because it wasn’t that bad, really. Rentarou’s explanation of the Wadatsumi group totally made up for it. Then there was Rentarou kissing Soujyu, which I didn’t expect. Then there was the incredibly long pause when Rentarou was describing his dream in the epilogue – a story about……………………………………………………….. love.

This is also the first anime in a long long time that I actually bothered to sit through the ED of each episode. This was also because the next episode preview tune was also very charming, my favourite preview tune so far. I really love that tune.I skipped the OPs though. Sometimes.

Conclusion: Unlike most series where I burned them to DVD and never watched again, this is one series I’ll definitely re-watch in the future. Well… that’s how I feel now.