The first episode of Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu is an Otaku’s wet dream come true.
In fact, I believe everyone can pretty much predict what happened in the first episode without even watching it. Generic Guy bumps into Otaku Ojou-sama somewhere and discovers her Moetaku Magazine. GG tells her that he’s the kind of guy that is more open minded about this sort of things. Otaku Ojou-sama loves his open-mindedness and becomes friends with GG. Like, GG MAN, seriously.
The general premise is so simple, even stuff like Bleach and Naruto threaten to overwhelm NHnH in terms of complexity. And honestly, the show scores a big fat F for realism (so to those still dreaming, please wake up!). Those taking the moral high ground may be tempted to dismiss NHnH as another stupid fanservice anime catering to hot-blooded male Otaku, but HOO BOY was the ride fun.
However, the emotional rollercoaster would not have even gotten off the ground if it wasn’t for Mamiko Noto. Heck, it wasn’t since Ana Coppola of Ichigo Mashimaro that my passion for Mami-chan has been set ablaze this brightly. Kotomi didn’t really stand out among the Clannad girls, and Enma Ai was just plain freaky. Haruka-sama is Mamiko Noto’s best Bishoujo outing yet, establishing her as probably one of the most versatile Seiyuus in recent years. Every moment in the episode where Haruka spoke was pure ecstacy, and the ED started playing too fast, too soon.
Still, Yusaka Igarashi, the series’ light novelist, has suceeded in re-wiring the brain cells of even those Otaku that can consider themelves brighter with his creativity. Argubly even though the entire plot is rather simple, its assembly does require quite a bit of thinking and was probably a huge risk to implement. His eighth novel has been published as of now, and it would definitely be interesting to see how far he has pushed the seemingly simple premise of Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu.
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July 17, 2008 at 1:16 am
shiro
“There is something soft here too…”