Minami-ke — Episode 5
Just shy of halfway in, and we get the swimsuit episode (as per required of just about every anime regardless of target audience.)
This episode was split into three fairly even parts. The first part was the decision to go to the beach because it was hot, purchasing of swimsuits (not shown, but Kana convinces Chiaki that Haruka will be shamed if she doesn’t have a skimpy swimsuit, so that’s what they pick out for her), and willing away of the rain. Chiaki gets used as a teru teru bouzu, and eventually ’succeeds’ in getting the rain to clear out so they can go to the beach.
At the beach, there was a bit of a reference to “Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini” as Haruka takes her dear sweet time getting out of her cover up. It’s not until she sees classmates wearing similarly revealing suits that she finally takes off her t-shirt and jacket. Also, Chiaki and Kana get into it a little with Chiaki saying Kana’s pretty much worthless to her. There was a momentary sad moment as Kana walks off and Chiaki feels guilty, but all of that goes away when Kana returns to put a large seashell on Chiaki’s head.
The final portion of the episode was that night after they return home. Kana teases Chiaki’s poor friends (telling them they’ll either go bald or shrink due to their sunburns and peeling), and the girls consider what it would be like if they all had the same personality. It was notable, at least to me, that none of them imagine what it would be like if they were all like Kana. Implying that that would be too scary to even think of, and no one would be crazy enough to consider it, not even Kana herself, perhaps?
Anyway, even this was a fanservice episode, I tend to like swimsuit episodes as a whole. You know what you’re getting into with them, so there’s no surprise to the fanservice. And besides, who doesn’t wear a swimsuit from time to time? Plus, they had some really good designs for suits. I was especially fond of Chiaki’s, but the color was kind of ugly. I really don’t like brown.
