Amagami SS+ Plus Episode 05 Thoughts

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I really, really don’t see why Ai fell for Junichi and even moreso, why she has fallen so hard for him. The first season was nice, I’m not disputing that, but it would be a stretch to say that Junichi particularly did much for Ai to warrant the affection he got from her in the end. I’m actually finding that there is a bit of a character clash between Ai’s persona in this season compared to the last. In the first season, she was a bit tough, had a cool about her and was always leading Junichi. In this season, she seems to be a love bitten puppy, extremely anxious to see Junichi every moment of the day. I just don’t see why. With the other characters, there was drama or some sort of focal plot devise that brought the two together – but for Ai and Junichi, they just – got together. There was no apparent cause nor any passionate or dramatic event to warrant it. I accepted it. Mainly because I liked her character and she had the best ending song. So whilst I was looking forward to this follow up, I can’t say I was the biggest fan of the couple.

The plot and characters seemed to be meandering as well. Junichi goes to see Ai as he finished and she changes back to her old, tough-independent self and tries to tell him off in front of her team. Then she turns into a blushing blob as the others taunt her about her infatuation with Junichi. She was never like this in the first season. She detached herself from Junichi and she never really got embarrassed in such a way. Then Mia proceeds to talk about him peeping on all the girls in their swimming costumes – whilst they are all standing there in their costumes?! What is the difference then between him seeing them from the side and up close whilst they are telling him off? I’m not expecting Amagami to give me Steins;Gate type story material, but at least make it so that characters and plots seem consistent.

Suffice to say, I was not left with the best taste. The thing that actually made their relationship workable i.e. that it wasn’t tied to some weird, fetish thing, was ruined in this episode. I understand the anime is based on an eroge so it has to cater to those fans but at the same time, just as I felt back-knee kissing ruins the romance in a story, this kind of random ecchi device similarly breaks the flow. It just felt out of place in Ai’s character and seriously, is that how someone rests their head on someone’s belly?! o_O Another girl fell prey to Junichi’s weird, perverted nature but I guess they did salvage it by keeping the moment sweet – kind of.

Whilst the gratuitous rewards Junichi gets for doing seemingly nothing, are not my favourite part of the show, I have to say that I still do like Ai’s character. Her plot line in this season seems to be clashing with her character from the last season but I guess its forgivable. Whilst it is a bit sad and yes, we do want Ai to be happy, I’m not feeling particularly empathetic towards their relationship. It seems comedic more than anything. Ai will of course get a happy end and Junichi will of course get her that coat – the story is transparent and the relationship isn’t dramatic or that passionate – so what this arc is trying to achieve, I’m not so sure. I hope they will surprise me.