夏のあらし！春夏冬中 Episode 01 Review
Summer Storm! Open for Business Ep. 01
Natsu no Arashi! Akinai-chuu – 01

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

Hajime writes a story featuring himself as a period cop stationed at Hako-bune with Arashi also in it. However, Arashi manages to read it.

At work at the Ark, Master talks the group into taking a trip to the beach and to that end, she has an array of swim suits for the girls to wear. Hajime is excited to see Hajime in a bikini and so he’s down with Master’s plan. Master feels that having so many teen girls around will draw the guys in like bait. Kanako is embarrassed by how revealing some of the swimsuits are as is Kaja. Jun returns from running errands and discovering the planned trip, she’s horrified and plans to be “sick” that day, but Kaja makes her realize that this wouldn’t stop Hajime.

The day of the trip comes with Takeshi driving a van and Murata trailing on his scooter. Jun tries to keep Hajime at bay to have an excuse for not being in a normal guy’s swimsuit but Hajime isn’t listening. At the beach, Hajime drags Jun to the men’s dressing room so Jun flees to the bathroom only to be pursued by Hajime. Jun wearing a t-shirt doesn’t sit well with Hajime, though he does enjoy what he sees from Arashi and Kaja.

Master sees her plans fail as the guys go for Kanako and Yayoi attract all the attention, causing them to flee and the boys pursue. Jun has gotten away from Hajime and followed to a secluded spot by Kaja. When Kaja falls into the water and can’t swim, Jun saves her and while her t-shirt dries, Arashi comes by and discovers Jun’s secret. She promises to keep it a secret. On the way to their next destination, Arashi encourages Jun to possibly tell Hajime her secret so as to become closer friends with him. Jun isn’t so sure about getting closer to Hajime even after he gives her a gift of some colored glass pieces now worn smooth. To Jun’s horror, the group ends up spending the night at a traditional Japanese inn and she’s sharing a room with Hajime.

Thoughts/Review:

I give SHAFT props for their means of introducing all of the characters and situation (time travel and four of the characters being ghosts) with the parody of the cop during samurai times. “Hakobune” means “ark” so there’s a tie in with the place they work.

SHAFT also continues with the many album cover parodies. I guess I need to look for an updated chart of Japanese album covers that the series has parodied thus far, not that it will mean much to us non-Japanese folks.

Speaking of albums, the new OP theme struck me rather well (though I could have done without all the nudity in it). There were a few other music interludes that I thought were pretty neat too. Finding them will be difficult though.

Going back to SHAFT, they seem keen on finding new ways of presenting the visuals. This time of note was the digital clock in Jun’s room, used to strategically cover her and provide a humorous view of the scene in general. That’s not to say I laughed, but I couldn’t help but smile and maybe chuckle a bit because of the uniqueness of the presentation.

Jun’s attempts to continue to disguise herself as a boy were amusing, but nothing really that made me laugh. The best joke came from Arashi discovering Jun to be a girl and wondering if cold water makes Jun become a girl. That is a joke reference to Ranma 1/2, where the lead character Ranma transforms into a girl whenever he’s splashed with cold water.

On a slightly more serious note, I can’t help but wonder if Arashi’s advice to Jun is geared toward the fact that she knows that she will eventually be gone from Hajime’s life. I’m sure she knows Hajime is attracted to her so to help Hajime when she’s gone, she’s planting the seeds in Jun’s mind. After all, their experiences are so unique that Jun and Hajime are suited for each other in that regard.

Back to the humor, still not really funny, but it was amusing that Takeshi and Murata were fishing and kept finding bikini tops. The most funny moment (and that was still only a chuckle for me) was Takeshi losing control of the van briefly and causing Murata to lose control of his scooter.

So, while no hard laughs, we did have an amusing episode with a ton of fanservice and several parodies but not a lot more. Still, I was entertained and as I always say, that’s the important thing.