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Now in Japan
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Written by maehara
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Sunday, 27 March 2005 05:30 |
 With W Wish out of the way, time to turn my attention to its Princess Hour stablemate, Final Approach
- where the emphasis is firmly on the comedy side of things.
That's not to say that it can't pull out the odd tear-jerker of a scene
when it puts its mind to it, although this confused gaijin sometimes
wonders if cultural differences are making him miss a few points...
3 - Great Crash!! Dragon and Tiger of Love and Ambition!
One of the girls Ryo works with, Yuriko, is keen to meet Shizuka, and
it's not long before she gets her wish. Rather than just being a
quiet customer, though, Shizuka seems keen to try and take over the
restaurant, and events soon turn into a battle of wills between Shizuka
and the restaurant's owner, Haruki. Of course, Shizuka has an
unfair advantage, thanks to her army of Men in Black...
4 - A Great Decision!! The Departure of Love and Ambition!?
Seems Ryo's not the only person with an unwanted fiance - Emiho reveals
that her parents have already arranged for her to marry the heir of a
large company. It's all family politics, and not love, and once
Ryo and Miki find out they're quick to try and persuade Emiho to take a
stand for herself, but her attitude to the whole arrangement gives Ryo
reason to reconsider his treatment of Shizuka. Emiho's lecture
puts another though in his head, too - to ask her on a date...
5 - Closing In!? Hell of Steaming Love and Death!
Somehow Ryo's 'date' with Emiho turned into a group skiing trip - even
Shizuka's there, trying to make the best of the situation. Ski
fun soon comes to an end, though, when the gang are trapped outside in
an unexpected snowstorm. They're able to take refuge in a
mountain hut, but will they be rescued before they freeze to
death? Can Ryo fight off four girls who'd quite like to use him
as a bodywarmer? And just what is a hotspring doing in the middle
of a ski slope!?
6 - A Great Shock! The Result of Love and Sorrow!
Shizuka's still playing second-fiddle to Emiho - Akane and Miki are
surprised she's taking it so well, but Shizuka's approach is that if
she shows any annoyance about it, Ryo will have gotten his way.
That said, she's making good use of her Men in Black to make sure that
she knows exactly what he's up to - and Ryo's less than impressed when
he finds out about Shizuka's high-tech snooping...
It's just as well that Final Approach doesn't take itself
serious - with a premise as daft as this show's, it would completely
lose its appeal if it didn't have a huge comedic thread running through
it. Expect crazy situations, SD moments and more that a few
laugh-out-loud moments, and with half-length episodes it never gets to
the stage where it's a chore to watch. It's not perfect, though,
as when it does gets down to the serious moments, you wonder where the
characters are getting their motivations from. Just why is Ryo
such an arsehole to Shizuka? What's in this arrangement for
Shizuka if she somehow manages to get Ryo to accept her? Why is
Emiho so accepting of her situation? Okay, so maybe some of what
I'm not getting is down to my being a dumb gaijin who doesn't
understand all aspects of Japanese culture, but I do still wonder...
The fun moments outweigh the 'what the heck!?' moments, though, so I'm still watching. As with its stablemate W Wish, this is never going to be a classic, but as no-intelligence-required filler, it's quite good stuff.
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