Enjoy every sensible scene when you can.
Previously on Denki-Gai no Honya-san, Valentine’s Day comes and, unsurprisingly, the girls in Umanohone go crazy for making chocolate and going frantic on who to give them to. Meanwhile Hio-tan is stuck on what manga genre to like, but with Sensei’s expert help, she discovers sports manga is her favorite. But this doesn’t stop Director using Hio-tan as a basis for a stand for BL manga.
Summary of Denki-Gai no Honya-San Episode 5 and 6
- Sensei asks Umio’s advice on panties…for a manga she’s working on, after being lectured by Director for a poor manga stand. Meanwhile, Sommelier discovers an abandoned cat, but misses the chance to take it home when 2 punks take it home and raise it, and an old flame of Director’s, now a light novel writer, pays a visit to the store, making Hio-tan jealous.
- Later, in Episode 6, the staff discover Sensei has entered a very important manga competition, and so elect themselves, including Umio, to help her out, only for Hio-tan to spill ink on the entire final draft. Then later, Sensei is given a talk-down by Hio-tan and the newly-employed Tsumorin on how unladylike she is, using store CCTV footage.
My take
- Just wanted to make one thing clear before I start this: I used to drop anime shows left, right and center when I was unhappy with episodes. Take the recent Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei: the more I watch the male lead Tatsuya waffle on and on about magic and futuristic technology, and how inferior the people who worship him are (except the golden onee-chan), the more I want to bash his head against a very hard brick wall. But I’m not giving it up, because dropping shows just seem like, to me, not wanting to expand horizons in my favorite genre. What I’m saying to say is that, while slice-of-life shows has effectively taken over my anime list, a slice-of-life show like Denki-Gai no Honya-san seriously makes me want to break my oath and begin dropping again.
- Despite Hio-tan’s clumsiness, Sensei’s childish behaviour, Director’s meanness, and Umio’s naivety (and Sommelier’s silence), I’ve just stopped caring about anything in this show. And now we have a new character, Tsumorin, to ‘worry’ about, who is just as clumsy as Hio-tan. I recall saying, in an earlier episode review, about how this feels more of an anime adapted from a 4-koma manga…well both episodes 5 and 6 prove my theory (even though Denki-Gai no Honya-san wasn’t a 4-koma). The only real consistent story is that they all work in the store; everything else is just additional content. Oh wait…isn’t this not unlike a lot of slice-of-life shows?
- I can start with the very first scene in episode 5, with Sensei asking for advice about panties. I would have thought that, at this stage, with the “will-they-won’t-they” attitude, that Umio would be the last person to talk to about that. Then in episode 6, when Sensei is forced to see how unladylike she is, purely because she eats ready meals, wears the same tracksuits and generally acts like an otaku. Both these made me feel very angry with this show; almost as if it’s the mainstream anime producer’s way of insulting otaku culture (as opposed to parodying it, like the show is meant to). Girls are meant to be the best cooks in the world, it feels like. And have the best fashion sense. And look pretty 24/7.
- Okay, so not every part in this show makes me angry; confused maybe, but not completely angry. Sommelier shows up half-naked one scene, and we’re not entirely shown why. Reactions are understandable (Kameko, Hio-tan and the inspector showing up with cameras taking pictures of his six-pack), but not a single reason why. Maybe new character Tsumorin can save the day; I doubt it, but never say never. Then again, with facepalm scenes like these cropping up all the time in Denki-Gai no Honya-san, should I say never?
- I’ll put it at a poll maybe, to drop the show. I kid of course, because I do want to finish this; not because I enjoy the current torture that this show has provided so far, but because I don’t want to break my new oath of dropping shows.
