 Hiding a teacher-student relationship isn't easy - or so the 2nd volume of Please Teacher
teaches us, as we get more awkward meetings, some awkward family
members, and an awkward comparison with another classic romantic comedy
anime...
5 - For That, Teacher, I...
Off to the beach for summer vacation & a slightly delayed
honeymoon, as Mizuho & Kei head for Okinawa & an opportunity to
be together without having to worry about hiding their relationship -
or so they think. Sadly, seems everyone else from school has had the
same idea - same hotel, even - so no change from the usual routine for
our hapless couple. Kei's still having to find excuses to fend off
Herikawa's advances, too, and Ichigo has a scheme up her sleeve to get
another 2 of her classmates together... Later, some 'confusion' with
keycards causes problems...
6 - Let's Begin After We Start
All of a sudden I'm channelling Oh! My Goddess,
as Mizuho's mother & younger sister, Urd & Skuld.. errr...
Hatsuho & Maho... come to visit. Cue the predictable results, with
little sister being less than impressed that Kei's taking her onechan
away from her (and how could someone as dull as Kei possibly make
Mizuho happy anyway?! Pout...), while mother is a little too
impressed... The usual things anybody has to put up with when the
in-laws come to visit, I guess... Meanwhile, Kyousuke's still in shock
after his late-night encounter with Misumi in the previous ep, and
looks to Kei for advice on what to do...
7 - Don't Cry, Teacher
Back to school for Kei and the gang. Kyousuke & Misumi are the
newest happy couple in class, Maho's still stalking him (just waiting
for him to slip up), and Hatsuho still seems to be taking too much of
an interest. More misunderstandings, too, when Mizuho catches him in a
suspicious situation with Herikawa...
If I was Kei, I'd be having great fun with Herikawa by now. But I digress. I really had feelings of deja vu during episode 6 here - there are just too many similarities to the Oh! My Goddess OVA's. Much as I loved O!MG,
I feel a bit more effort could have been put into Hatsuho and Maho's
personalities to make them feel less of a rip-off (or homage, if you
prefer). Maho even looks like Skuld.
Otherwise, the usual routine of Kei & Mizuho trying to hide
their relationship when the rest of the class runs into them gets
repeated, repeatedly, as does the "Kei and Herikawa caught together
again" routine - so I'll be polite & say we seem to be stuck in a
mid-season rut, storywise. There are little bits and pieces of progress
- Kyousuke & Misumi getting together, Kei seems to be working
towards being honest with Herikawa, and Kei & Mizuho finally lock
lips - but it's slow going.
Overall, then, this disc seems to go out of its way to show that Please Teacher
is a deriviative romantic comedy, and seems to suffer from a lack of
story ideas. That said, it's saved from slipping into the 'boring &
tedious' category by a bunch of likeable characters - there's still fun
to be had watching it, but don't expect too much depth. Here's hoping
volume 3 picks up the pace again.
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