Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu Purezza - 01 October 6
OP Sequence
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OP: 「挑発 Cherry Heart」 (Chouhatsu Cherry Heart) by 姫宮みらんとチョコレートロッカーズ (Himemiya Miran and Chocolate Rockers)
Watch the OP!: Mirror 1, Mirror 2, Streaming ▼
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「一緒に，いきたいです……」 (Issho ni, Ikitai Desu……)
“I Want to Go with You…”
The continuation of Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu turns up the fan-service by starting off with a hot spring episode. Too bad they have a run in with the ultimate enemy of hot spring episodes… STEAM!
Seeing as this is a direct sequel of the first season that I covered, I’m going to skip the series introduction blurp and get right into things. For those of you new to the series, feel free to check my previous posts for all your “school idol but closet otaku” informational needs. As a quick refresher for everyone else, the first season left off with Yuuto helping Haruka overcome the huge problem with her parents after they discovered her secret. While they eventually accepted the fact that their daughter is an otaku, Haruka’s father refused to acknowledge Yuuto as her boyfriend.
With the start of Purezza, we find that Yuuto and Haruka are both still having difficulties figuring out exactly what they are to one another. i.e. Are they an “official” couple or just really close friends nearing that stage? While the two of them continue to wrestle with that thought, Haruka’s little sister Mika and their maids, Hazuki and Nanami, continue to help their relationship along. Joining in their efforts is newcomer maid Alicetia Rain, a.k.a. Alice-chan (Kugimiya Rie!), Haruka’s personal loli bodyguard who’s capable of performing her own version of Terry Bogard’s Power Geyser technique.
At the hot spring, the humour picks up when they go as far as helping Yuuto reenact the intimate moments he could be having in his relationship. In light of this, the show has gone and revived Shiina’s chances as a potential love rival — something I thought would never happen after it looked like she gave up last season. I’m really glad they brought Shiina back into the mix though (with some immediate time together in the nude), as things were getting pretty boring watching Yuuto and Haruka stress over the most trivial matters. Hopefully this will be a mainstay in this second season, even though we all know Shiina’s chances are slim to none.
As for the freaken steam, I wasn’t annoyed by how they tried to cover everything up for a TV broadcast. That’s pretty much expected. However, I was annoyed by how they didn’t cover up everything completely, making me squint for those scenes to try and make something out. It’s like, all or nothing please. God damn teases. Aside from that, it looks like Haruka’s anime of choice at the moment is a sports one about Lacrosse. Low and behold, it stars all the same cast as Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu! (How convenient…) I did find it amusing when Noto Mamiko showed up at their live event as herself and spoke in her natural voice though. It’s just too bad they didn’t show her face, as I would’ve loved to see their take on an anime version of Mamiko. In any case, it was undoubtedly a meta-joke/shameless plug, much like they did with Ueda Kana before.
On another note, the opening sequence is pretty cool with its magazine-like sequence. The theme is performed by Himemiya Miran and Chocolate Rockers again and the sequence actually features Miran’s anime character. Much like the new opening theme, the ending theme is performed by the female seiyuus again, except this time they’ve been grouped together as a seiyuu group called “N’s”. I wonder how long this one will last…
To be frank, I don’t really have any expectations for this season and I’m more or less watching it because I found the original entertaining. This first episode has already shown glimpses of how heavy the romance element tends to be, but I’m hoping they’ll balance it out better with the humour this time around… somehow. :\
* P.S. I’m getting tired of sounding like a broken record, but this series… Crunchyroll… simulcast… official subs… and stuff.
ED Sequence
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ED: 「秘密推奨！うるとLOVE」 (Himitsu Suishou! Uru to LOVE) by N’s (能登麻美子, 後藤麻衣, 清水香里, 植田佳奈, 佐藤利奈) (Noto Mamiko, Gotou Mai, Shimizu Kaori, Ueda Kana, Satou Rina)
Watch the ED!: Mirror 1, Mirror 2, Streaming ▼
elodie at 2:36 am on October 6th, 2009
yessss… thanks you!! can’t wait for more episodes!
klaynne14 at 2:38 am on October 6th, 2009
hope they won’t run out of steam on this one.. but it’s rie kugimiya~ XD
Chaos at 2:38 am on October 6th, 2009
Seriously!! I thought I saw the wrong anime when I saw the opening >..>. But anyways, good episode but the steam….WHY!!!!???
Fat Cat Lim at 2:47 am on October 6th, 2009
http://randomc.maximum7.net/image/Nogizaka%20Haruka%20no%20Himitsu/Nogizaka%20Haruka%20no%20Himitsu%20Purezza%20-%2001%20-%20Large%2024.jpg
First time I’ve seen “steam” rising so perfectly in a diagonal line.
Animeniac at 3:01 am on October 6th, 2009
@fat cat lim - maybe a wind blows that way … O_0
Fat Cat Lim at 3:31 am on October 6th, 2009
http://randomc.maximum7.net/image/Nogizaka%20Haruka%20no%20Himitsu/Nogizaka%20Haruka%20no%20Himitsu%20Purezza%20-%2001%20-%20Large%2022.jpg
Also, this image looks SO wrong for so many reasons and on so many levels.
poipopi at 3:34 am on October 6th, 2009
no buttsecks? fail.
sotandem at 3:49 am on October 6th, 2009
I actually dread watching the second season because I knew they did base it upon fanservice. Just like Rosario + Vampire, the first season was ok, but the second season was just pure fanservice. Hopefully Nogizaka won’t turn out like that…
Anonymous at 3:56 am on October 6th, 2009
That is probably the least effective attempt at censorship I have ever seen
Neo_NMO at 3:57 am on October 6th, 2009
Why is it that only yuuto is clueless about their relationship after the kiss? I mean, seriously…. he’s a god damn moron if he still can’t figure it out with her even dropping hints.
Neo_NMO at 4:00 am on October 6th, 2009
oh, and on an additional note…. KUGI-CHAN!!! FUCKYES!!! my hime-sama!
Annisa at 4:00 am on October 6th, 2009
You’re on a roll here, Divine. lol. Thanks for all the first impressions.
divine at 4:08 am on October 6th, 2009
I think I’m on a new season “high” or something. o_O It’s fun conveying all the new shows to everyone and hearing your thoughts.
Look forward to tomorrow though, as it’s Omni’s day with Kobato and Kimi ni Todoke airing — two shows he’s guaranteed to blog. I might write something about 11eyes if it proves to be interesting.
saito at 4:35 am on October 6th, 2009
hey, what did the moe girl say to the pickle?
shh227 at 4:41 am on October 6th, 2009
Thats odd I definatley saw an uncensored version of this.
shh227 at 4:55 am on October 6th, 2009
well here is the uncencored part
I don’t know where you guys got your one from, CruchyRoll
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5Fu-KaVzCM
yuuto at 6:01 am on October 6th, 2009
thank you japanese channel tokyo mx for uncensored better version!!!! that crappy ver must be from yomiuri (ytv)or from crappy cruchyroll!!!!
Kinny Riddle at 6:08 am on October 6th, 2009
LOL at Yuuto remarking how come “the seiyuu for Haruna” (AKA Noto) sounded so much like Haruka.
This is already the second seiyuu joke this week, after Kampfer’s remark about how the gutted bunny sounded so much like Tamura Yukari.
Alice - as expected of a Kugimiya loli, I guess. Perhaps it’s to do with her grunting most of the time rather than talking that I didn’t recognize her.
Espada at 6:17 am on October 6th, 2009
ohh common cencor?
draksig at 6:24 am on October 6th, 2009
I have high hopes for this second season. I kind of thought that the two had progressed farther than this, still wondering what their relationship is after the end of season one? Haruka is also uncertain since she would not answer the girls about their relationship. So of course that gives Shiina hope.