Leap takes a rain check on discussing idols.

Hey guys, long time no see! As some of you may have noticed, T(a)LKs across all three of our blogs (TPAB and Keiko’s included) hadn’t been around the past couple of weeks. This, admittedly, is largely my fault (I’m sorry guys >.<). I took a trip to Canada two weeks ago and that two-hour jump in time zones was enough to completely get us off track (and we’re already trying to manage with three(!!!) different time zones as it is).

That, and of course, I was doing other stuff as well so a lot of projects that I’d intended to work on in the past month as well as this month coming in kinda took a step-back; which, of course, included our T(a)LKs.

It’s all good though as I’m (finally) back in the groove of doing things, for the most part, which meant working on our backlog of discussions here (xD) starting with this one. You guys have all probably watched this here Episode 3 of Mahou Shoujo Site by now so I at least won’t have to worry about spoiling you and what not, so please do enjoy our rambles as we take a look back in what I’d personally consider as the start to Site’s seemingly rising stock as of late.

And no, it’s not because this episode featured idols, nope.

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Leap
o(^▽^)o
What an episode huh guys?

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TPAB
( ° o°)!
It confirmed a lot of what we talked about, actually.

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Keiko
(≧∇≦*)
Yeah, it was quite the episode
A lot that happened here that was predictable.

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Leap
(꒪⌓꒪)
I was honestly very surprised with how on point were
considering how our talks thus far have gone.

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TPAB
( ¬ _ ¬ ; )
The Winter Games were never this easy…

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Leap
;;(^o^ )
I don’t know whether that says a lot about the depth or lack thereof of this show.
Interesting developments though.

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TPAB
( ･᷄ㅂ･᷅ )
Yeah, the story is starting to make sense, at least.

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Keiko
(’へ’ )
True…
It feels like there isn’t a lot of depth on this show but still interesting.

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TPAB
( ･᷄ㅂ･᷅ )
I do wish we get more normalcy in this anime, since the f*cked up parts kinda dominate the show. Reminds me of Mirai Nikki. It looks dark, but it’s just forced and stupid.
Also no Madoka comparisons this week.

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Leap
(≧∇≦*)
Yep, Yatsumura is so not Homura

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Keiko
“(._.(˙ ¯ ˙ )
I get what you mean.
They feel unnecessary, more often than not, which is annoying

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TPAB
( ･᷄ㅂ･᷅ )
I feel like I could appreciate all the dark stuff more if we got more normal slice of life scenes, but i guess the anime has no time for that.

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Leap
w(°ｏ°)w
You guys think it’s because it’s just a bunch of little girls getting all bloody and killing each other?

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TPAB
(✿´ ꒳ ` )
I prefer the way Madoka did it.
Normal life til a girl gets beheaded.

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Keiko
(;^o^ヽ)
No I don’t think it’s because it’s little girls. Rather, that should have made it more interesting but as TPAB said, it’s because its being used way too often that it feels kind of overdone.

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Leap
( ^o^);;
I like how that was our point of contention in the first episode and he was all for it.

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TPAB
( ･᷄ㅂ･᷅ )
We kinda need them to be little girls for the “magical girl” aspect,
and hey, the first episode got people talking. We came into it with a normal ideal, offset by a guy punching his little sister in the stomach.

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Leap
“(._.(˙ ¯ ˙ )
That’s true.

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Keiko
(≧∇≦*)
Hahah, True.
Yeah, first ep was supposed to shock and it did that by giving the unexpected.
But now, it’s giving very little but the expected.
Especially with Nijimi and Sarina.

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TPAB
( ･᷄ㅂ･᷅ )
The first episode kinda shot the anime in the foot, since “girl being abused” is the normalcy for the show now. So when the idol was introduced, I was disappointed that she isn’t as awful as the girls that came before her

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Keiko
(･o･｡ )
Really? I think Nijimi is more twisted than she appears..

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Leap
( ˙ ¯ ˙)._.)”
Yeah, she’s probably very twisted

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TPAB
(/  ‘з’ )/
She still looks chaotic good, as opposed to the chaotic evil the anime has established.
Like, I don’t think seeing her getting killed will be as satisfying as the others.

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Keiko
“(._.(˙ ¯ ˙ )
I get what you mean she isn’t like any of the characters we’ve seen so far.

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TPAB
(o˘◡˘o)
I’m just glad we had panties in this episode.

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Leap
;;(^o^ )
It was bound to happen.
Didn’t think it’d be as blatant though.

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Keiko
(≧∇≦*)
Hahaha! They made their appearance!
And the power it has suits it as well. Perfect for an idol.

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Leap
(＾_＾)
It was actually pretty neat

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TPAB
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
She also bleeds in a reasonable place — clearly this was very thought out.

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Leap
(/ v ^､)
Yeah, “reasonable”.
How about Sarina possibly getting in on the action? That was a fun development.

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TPAB
( ･᷄ㅂ･᷅ )
It was confusing. What disqualified flat chested girl?

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Keiko
(๑ˊ▵ॢˋ̥๑)
I’m guessing she’s out because of her life span?
She probably doesn’t have enough left that’s why.

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TPAB
(” ･o･)
So the stolen sticks must be reintroduced to new people then right?
Or are girls disqualified too when they die?

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Keiko
(･o･ ｡)
I’m guessing?

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Leap
w(°ｏ°)w
There. That’s the thing. Why “disqualified”?
When Aya got asked to become a magical girl, it wasnt like there was an end all be all outcome presented to her. So what was she disqualified of?
The merits of being a magical girl (which, clearly there are *sarcasm*)?

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Keiko
“(._.(˙ ¯ ˙ )
It feels like a very game-like situation.
Like she broke a rule or something and has been disqualified.

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TPAB
(๑°o°๑)
OK, I’m intrigued again.

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Leap
( ˙ ¯ ˙)._.)”
Yeah, definitely feels game-ish. Almost Battle Royale -esque

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TPAB
( ° o°)!
Ah, that makes sense. so the last girl standing is the winner.
Ties into flatty going on a killing spree.

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Keiko
(´･×･｀)
Yeah and I’m guessing there’s a certain number that need to participate…
makes sense for why you’d need to be powerful to survive the tempest.

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TPAB
( ﾉﾟοﾟ)ﾉ
And why flatty would also put herself in a coma to avoid being discovered.

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Leap
(๑°o°๑)
Another thing that stood out to me…
The anime specifically went out of its way to explain that Shioi’s internal organs “aged” rapidly or something of the sort.

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Keiko
(ﾟoﾟ〃)
Yeah her outward appearance hasn’t aged but the doctor said her internal organs were that of an old ladies… So does that mean every time they use their sticks, their insides get older?

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TPAB
( ˙ ¯ ˙)._.)”
They at least deteriorate unknowingly to others.
Sounds very emo.

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Keiko
(´･×･｀)
Yeah… at least it’s a definite way to deplete someones lifespan

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Leap
(^ o ^)
It does confirm one thing for us at least —
“lifespan” here is actual age in years, and not some intangible life force.

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TPAB
( ° o°)!
Oh yeah, damn Leap, you really studied this episode, eh?

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Keiko
!(°o° )
Yup!

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Leap
o(^▽^)o
‘Cause it has idols in it.

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TPAB
(; ¬_¬)
I actually hate the idol lineup — it’s a “guess the main character” situation *rolls eyes*
Also, only four dogs were introduced. There was more than four on stage.

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Leap
;;(^o^ )
I didn’t even notice.

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Keiko
(･o･｡)
Really? I didn’t even notice.

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TPAB
( >;^o^)
Now I feel stupid that I was the only one bothered by it.

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Leap
;;(^o^ )
I liked how it was Aya herself that came up with the plan to meet Nijimin at an idol meet and greet though. And how she apparently thought of using Yatsumura’s stick to straight up steal Nijimi’s panties.

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Keiko
(≧∇≦*)
Yeah, she’s not so useless as she has been so far.
Girl’s got a brain.

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Leap
( ノ◇≦)
BUT, I wasn’t a fan of how close Aya and Yatsumura have apparently become.

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Keiko
(≧∇≦*)
They’re besties now.
It seems weird but I guess for Aya, here’s a person who supposedly cares for her so she’s going to take that up over anything.

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Leap
(꒪⌓꒪)
I get Aya, but Yatsumura’s, like, all soft all of a sudden.

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TPAB
(/  ‘з’)/
It looks OK, but maybe it’s ’cause they just needed to introduce the new characters with both as a pair. I mean, you did say she’s no Homura.

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Leap
(/ v ^､)
Fair play.

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Keiko
(≧∇≦*)
It works better seeing these two as a pair as well.

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Leap
(＾_＾)
They have reeeaaally good teamwork yep.

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TPAB
( ･᷄ㅂლ )
I am a bit bothered that an orphaned girl is given a stick first than a girl that was repeatedly abused for years.

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Leap
;;(^o^ )
I’d assume it’s the situation — she saw them dead before her very eyes after all.

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Keiko
(๑ˊ▵ॢˋ̥๑)
It just goes to show that as long their life is rough they qualify.
They just have to be pitiful I guess.But I’m not sure how Sarina fits this category really.

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Leap
( ^o^);;
I would’ve thought the other friend would get offered magical girl powers, not Sarina.

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TPAB
(✿´ ꒳ ` )
Plot wise, Sarina makes sense since she got awesome scars to motivate her.
but I do hope the other girls goes back in the mix

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Keiko
(･o･ “)
If it was gonna be anyone it would be Sarina.
She does have the biggest grudge against Aya at the minute.

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Leap
(꒪⌓꒪)
*gasp*
That’s where she bleeds from when she uses her powers!

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TPAB
o(^▽^)o
Yes! I would love that!

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Keiko
(･o･｡)
I do wonder what her stick will be though…

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Leap
o(^▽^)o
A box cutter!

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TPAB
(๑°o°๑)
The power to at least oppose the time stopping one, for added drama.

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Keiko
“(._.(˙ ¯ ˙ )
Yeah that would add a lot of drama.

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TPAB
( ･᷄ㅂ･᷅ )
But you know what? The anime is called “Magical Girl Site”, so I find it a foul that Sarina didn’t get her powers in the Site. The little details, y’know? I mean, if creepy site admin can do it willy nilly then why have a site? Hell Girl’s “Hell Correspondence” website has clearer rules.

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Leap
(´･×･｀)
She did get to meet the admin personally though. That should count for something.

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Keiko
(･o･｡)
Still how did the admin get in the room?
Sarina walked in straight after Aya and Yatsumura left…

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TPAB
( ･᷄ㅂლ )
I actually wanted her to kill flat chested girl, but creepy admin randomly appeared.

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Leap
(･o･ “)
She has no reason to though, unless she thinks she’s Aya’s friend or something.

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Keiko
“(._.(˙ ¯ ˙ )
True. She probably just went in to see who was there.

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Leap
( ノ◇≦)
Ohh, maybe Sarina and Nijimi would fight to see who gets to kill her!

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Keiko
(≧∇≦*)
Wouldn’t that be something!

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TPAB
(*´▽｀*)
“Panties Girl” has a strong stick. I can’t wait til she uses it to kill people

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Keiko
(≧∇≦*)
Yeah, she’s quite the opponent to have.

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Leap
( ^o^);;
Loved how she subtly used her stick to get the two’s phone numbers.

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TPAB
o(^▽^)o
It was THAT powerful.
Like what if she just said “kill yourself” in her cute voice?

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Keiko
(๑°o°๑)
Exactly! It’s really powerful more so because she has perfectly concealed all the give aways that she’s using her powers.

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TPAB
(╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻
We don’t even know if she’s bleeding!!!!

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Leap
┬┬◡ﾉ(° -°ﾉ)
Knowing how these things go though, she probably dies a cheap death.

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TPAB
( ° o°)!
Aw, you think so? I can imagine someone stealing her panties, at least. but i think the show will keep her around.

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Leap
(＾_＾)
Yeah, my guess is someone (ideally Sarina) slashes her throat, rendering her incapable of using her powers therey being just utterly powerless.

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Keiko
(≧∇≦*)
That would be something yeah. They showed that one obsessive fan of hers so she’ll probably stick around at least until that dude does something

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TPAB
o(^▽^)o
I like him.
So what do you guys think is the end game here? girls kill each other for The Tempest? so for now, we just introduce the characters that’ll rumble later on?
Mirai Nikki’s plot, basically?

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Leap
;;(^o^ )
That would be my take on it.

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Keiko
“(._.(˙ ¯ ˙ )
Yeah something like that.

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TPAB
( ･᷄ㅂ･᷅ )
Sounds too predictable, huh.
The only outlier is big brother, for me.

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Keiko
“(._.(˙ ¯ ˙ )
Yeah it does sound predictable but that’s the impression the show gives
Brother doesn’t really fit into the equation. He does know that his sister has been visiting some random site so hopefully he’ll get more of a role.

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Leap
( ノ◇≦)
What happens if he accesses it?
He’s kinda tortured too in a way after all…

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Keiko
(≧∇≦*)
I’d like to know too. Because it is a mahou shoujo site not shounen.

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TPAB
(o˘◡˘o)
With the site admin appearing in the story, he might even go as far as let big bro have his own fun. What that fun is, I’m not really sure. Ties into his passion to torture lil sis, for sure though.

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Leap
(＾_＾)
Other than that, the only thing left to really talk about is the ED sequence then huh.

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TPAB
(￢ε ლ)
I knew you were saving it for last.
Go on, Leap. go wild.

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Leap
(＾_＾)
I mean, Seriko is great (as you know), but what did you guys think of that whole thing?

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TPAB
(o˘◡˘o)
I like it. Hypnotizing to me, cause it’s different than the usual creepy ED.
She voices the dog girl, right? Who was the VA you like, Leap? Who does she voice?

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Leap
;;(^o^ )
She does. Fun fact, she’s part of the group that sang the OP, Haha.
Ah, the VA that I like voices Shioi.

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Keiko
( ¬_¬)
I mean honestly I wasn’t a fan of it. Felt quite degrading towards women.
Song sounded nice but nope not my thing.
To be fair I didn’t like the whole idol dog thing from the start.
She does have a nice voice though, that much I’ll say.

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TPAB
(/  ‘з’)/
OK Leap, how far is it from the general idol culture?

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Keiko
(´･×･｀)
Yeah. Please tell me idol culture isn’t actually this bad?

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Leap
( ^o^);;
Well, let’s see… the crowd interactions were amazingly accurate
The whole shouting nicknames thing and changing lights, it was great.

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TPAB
(o˘◡˘o)
I believe this is tamer than the real stuff. But I like it. Even the parts where her leash is being held up by the viewers. It was adorable. Really though Cakes you just ruined Leap’s momentum into gushing about an idol scene.

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Keiko
(; ¬_¬)
How is that adorable?
I’m sorry Leap, this kinda stuff isn’t my thing…

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Leap
( ^o^);;
It’s cool, I didn’t have much going in to this T(a)LK anyways.
This isn’t specifically something I liked either, dog idols I mean.
Referring to the fans as their “owners” was just…

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TPAB
( ･᷄ㅂ･᷅ )
OK, I might be saying something dumb but the entire thing just looks like cosplay to me.

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Keiko
(  ¬_¬)
Fair enough. For me it was crossing the line. Like the whole master pet thing and actually putting the girls on a leash? No just no.

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Leap
;;( ^o^ );;
Before we end up crossing a line here, let’s say we give our episode ratings eh?

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Keiko
(≧∇≦*)
Hahaha, True, we were starting to veer off topic.
Err I’d give this one probably a 6. It was a good episode.

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Leap
( ^o^);;
7 panties from me

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TPAB
(>;^o^)
Sorry, I was being insensitive.
An 8 for me cause we got panties.

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Keiko
ヾ(･ω･｡)ｼ
It’s alright.
I just stay clear from idols full stop is all. It’s just not my thing

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Leap
(  ^▽^)ノ
it’s all good.

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Meh, I talk enough about idols on this blog anyways (xD). I will say thought that that ED sequence really did throw me for a loop when I first saw it just because I wasn’t expecting a full-fledged idol PV. I’m not all that familiar with Serizawa “Seriko” Yu nor with i☆Ris (the group she’s affiliated it) but I did know what she looked like prior to this episode through off-shoots she’d had with members of Aqours, so when she showed up I was just  in my head for a bit — like an “I didn’t choose the idol life, the idol life chose me” kind of moment, lol

Other than that, as I said earlier, I do believe this episode (in hindsight now) is where Site started to really pick up but I’d love to hear your guys’ thoughts on it as well down at the comments section below… three weeks removed.

If you don‘t watch Site, thanks for dropping by nonetheless, and I hope you at least catch our other featured shows for T(a)LK:

See me hype TPAB and Keiko up for the current Boku no Hero Academia arc here, as I continue to play ready reference for manga-related inquiries.

Bare witness as three innocent ani-bloggers suffer through another grueling week of Devil’s Line over at Keiko’s.

See ya then~!
We’ll be seeing each other relatively soon in the posts to come after this.