Hooray! It’s finished!

Final Thoughts:

Screw impressions for this episode. Doujin Work was plagued by a number of things. Mediocre art and animation that only got worse as the series continued, recycled jokes over and over and over again, and a gradual shift in focus from the strong characters of Tsuyuri and Justice to the boring as hell Nitou and Hoshi. The more it left Tsuyuri and Justice’s antics and the more it got into the more mundane nonsense about doujin making, the less engaging it was. I started having flashbacks to the insipid original Comic Party adaptation where Kazuki would do various things associated with the doujin world… and then ignore them all and produce trash so he could be sad that everybody hated his trash.

Anyway, the first few episodes of Doujin Work were entertaining enough, but that’s really all it had. It cut out a ton of the innuendo (in-your-endo) and every single one of the doujin world’s injokes. For example, Najimi wanted to draw a character, but couldn’t figure out how to get her ending… which of course ended up being poor Sacchin from Tsukihime. Isn’t it sad, Sacchin?

Anyway, diverging from the source isn’t a sin unto itself, but the problem is that instead of replacing it with similarly clever writing, they replaced it with the same jokes as they already used, just in different locations and with new characters. Tsuyuri’s teasing dropped off and Justice was almost nearly written out altogether. Talk about not playing to your strengths.

In the end, Doujin Work is pretty forgettable. After the initial couple episodes, you’ve seen pretty much all the best it has to offer. All that’s left is some yaoi jokes and awkwardly drawn fanservice. It’s a shame that the very funny manga got adapted as something this… well… bad… but such is life. Maybe next time.

Yeah, I’m not sure what they’re doing either.

Impressions:

As soon as it was clear that the episode was going to be about Hoshi’s manga purist brother, I totally tuned out. Honestly, an episode centered around Hoshi and this putz? Ew. Just ew. Somebody put this show out of its misery. I’m not even remotely interested in Hoshi’s little promise/challenge. When did he usurp Tsuyuri and Justice to become the second main character anyway?

This time with added yaoi.

Impressions:

Hoshi’s bishonen brother is also apparently a manga artist and left his latest work in Hoshi’s car accidently. Off to the beach he goes to flirt with the girls while they pick up some random guys to engage in yaoi posing. Didn’t this show use this joke two episodes ago with Justice and Hoshi? Meh. I’m totally on autopilot at this point. I mean the joke’s okay, but there’s literally been about 12 minutes of content between doing the exact same thing again. Are they really that strapped for ideas after only two hours worth of show? Only four more weeks until (hopefully) something else starts airing on Tuesdays to pay attention to.

+10 Fumyuun points and an automatic First Down if you get that reference.

Impressions:

What do you do when you’ve run out of ideas and your show is being dragged under water helplessly by your (relatively) new character? Blatant fanservice episode. I use that term relatively loosely though. Najimi with her hair down was certainly cuter than normal, but poorly drawn people in swimsuits are somewhat more frightening than when you have textureless clothes to hide their textureless bodies. It’s not Najimi’s lack of curves, it’s the lack of… well… anything drawn there at all. She seriously looked like a PSX character with a white swimsuit painted onto her skin, and not in the good way. Maybe it’s just me, but I found the bare midriff t*shirts to be far more fetching than the swimsuits Hoshi and Justice were nose bleeding over. Tsuyuri somehow manages to take best in show with her “evil lady sipping a faux margarita” ensemble. She needs to do something about the shades though, those things are huuuuuge. Anyway, the episode is a flimsy pretense of a working vacation for the not-so-dynamic duo of Najimi and Nitou and all the same jokes as before are repeated and all that really happens is some minor Justice and Hoshi manlove fraternal bonding.

Another comic festival, another snorefest.

Impressions:

So, I have to admit that the animation and the art was actually pretty decent this week. Still not exactly good, but the best it’s been for at least a month or so. There were still a couple moments where Tsuyuri and Najimi lost their noses and looked like she had just come from a Peanuts convention, but for the most part, it was decidedly tolerable. That said, the series is just becoming tiresome. Nitou is like an anchor dragging everything else down, and it wasn’t like the show was on sailing through clear skies before she showed up either. She’s just so milquetoast and has all the dynamic excitement of dry spaghetti. Najimi’s also decidedly less fun when she’s enjoying a measure of minor success and not relying on Hoshi for at least some form of humor.

I suppose I’ll keep paying attention (though may be somewhat delayed as I’ve been stealing the raw from Spoonsubs and they’ve been having some FTP and otherwise issues), and make a note if something particularly happens, but Nitou has really killed an already somewhat floundering series in my mind and I’m not certain there’s much they could do to regain my interest.

Leave it to Doujin Work to make yaoi jokes boring.

Impressions:

Only a brief summary this week. Basically it’s Tsuyuri plotting and manipulating Nitou for her own amusement, but she just set the stage and then disappeared. She brings Hoshi in as an educator of sorts into the world of hentai and has him pretend to confess to Justice (convinced him as some kind of terrible roundabout plot to get Najimi) so she can get the concept of a yaoi situation to draw. He instead diverts into his own rant about Najimi, so Justice then gets pissed and threatens him, which Nitou of course incorrectly interprets as her desired Justice on Hoshi action. 

The art was even worse this week. Tsuyuri’s eyes occasionally migrated nearly completely beneath her bangs, and Nitou often looked more like a frog than a human. The flowers Hoshi had didn’t even look like they had finished being drawn. Now that the initial appeal of the characters has worn off, this series is really starting to wear thin for me, and the painful art and animation certainly isn’t helping things. Nitou is just an extremely boring character, and Hoshi is only marginally better. Putting them at the forefront of two episodes now is just painful to watch.

The life and times of Kaneru Nitou.

Impressions:

This show is on a pretty steady decline and this episode was no exception. Nitou is just a really boring and lame character. The show already has Najimi… Nitou is basically the same thing, only clumsy and supposedly has large breasts. The animation and art quality also was noticeably pretty awful this week. Ugh.

Summary:

Najimi and Tsuyuri are riding the train for Najimi’s latest “challenge.” Doujin selling is a contest after all, and she’s ecstatic whenever she sells a comic in front of her rival.

We get a brief introduction to everywoman Nitou, salarywoman by day, queen of doujins by night.

Back to Najimi, Justice, and Sora… who is cosplaying as a bee for some reason… Justice thinks back to scarring poor Hoshi with his manga from the last episode. He’s still being possessive over Najimi and trying to get her to stay away from him, but she doesn’t understand him at all.

At the otaku store, Najimi sees a book she was looking for. Nitou also sees it and the two make a play for it and start arguing over who should have it. Nitou offers to Rock Paper Scissors her for it, and despite being slow on the throw, still manages to lose.

Justice and Sora come up to see what the commotion is all about. Nitou finally gets introduced formally to Najimi and her one-man harem. Nitou had heard of Justice and her circle and is a true fan. Najimi senses her feelings and gives her the book, and lets her know that the two are childhood friends, though aren’t in any sort of relationship. Justice is still his usual possessive self though.

Later, they’re all headed over to Nitou’s house to help Najimi and Nitou with their art. Tsuyuri introduces herself, and sincerely compliments Nitou, much to Najimi’s annoyance. Najimi and Nitou then compare art, and both look pretty similarly bad, so Nitou does something creative… and makes a crane out of it.

Justice then dispenses some bullshit zen advice about drawing which everybody says that they understand. Tsuyuri pulls out a subject for them to draw… a frog, which sends Najimi off hiding behind a curtain. The frog meanwhile eats Tsuyuri’s usual bloomer dancer and then hops on her head.

Tsuyuri suddenly sees a bear and points over to it. Not the bear in Midou’s hands… but her collection of bear underwear hanging by the window. Nitou is flustered and knocks down all sorts of things trying to hide it. Embarassed, she ends up going into the other room and dousing herself with water to cool off.

Justice really needs a sarcasm detector installed in his frontal lobe.

Impressions:

More and more, Tsuyuri is the only really solid character holding this show afloat. There’s still humor to be had, but I kind of cringe at thinking about what would happen if there was an episode without her egging on Justice or Najimi in her own way. It also doesn’t help that the animation has been on a very noticable decline over the last two episodes. Characters pretty much just don’t move at all anymore. Given how verbal the series is, it’s not a major deal, but it means that there’s so little interesting going on to keep your visual attention that my mind starts wandering elsewhere… which is especially bad since the episodes really are only 12 minutes long.

Summary:

Najimi is getting a bit burnt out on doujin making without something to drive her, so Tsuyuri suggests that she find a rival, which Najimi immediately latches onto as the answer.

Later, Justice and Tsuyuri are on the train. Justice is mumbling about his recent trials and troubles concerning Najimi and then ends up expressing his fears as a doujin of the male guy (Hoshi) picking up Najimi and heading to a love hotel with her.

Justice is in his delusions, so Tsuyuri takes the chance to poke some fun at him and say all the things that could be happening. A bit later, they’re all working on their comics together. Tsuyuri tries to help Justice hook up with her, even to the point of asking Najimi about going to a hotel, but he freaks out, calls her a pervert, and runs off to express his frustrations in his own comic alone. Tsuyuri keeps razzing Najimi about hotels.

Justice’s manga is continuing off in its own direction with Najimi as some kind of waitress being kidnapped by Hoshi the pirate… only it’s just a dream. Najimi and Tsuyuri show up to see if he’s okay, but he’s pretty haggard, and even freaks out Sora with his sweatiness and desperation. The girls decide to work there while he rests from his writing spree. He tries to nap, but constantly hearing Najimi scream and talk out loud about what she’s doing keeps him up, so he ends up kicking them out.

At the next comic festival, Najimi and her rival end up accidently greeting each other since they’re sharing an area, and then exchanging comics for the other to see. Both laugh at the other’s and then formulate the same ‘compliment…’ before realizing that both are doing the same thing… etc etc. Hoshi is also hanging about, but runs into Justice and is frightened off. Sora and Tsuyuri are managing the stall while he does his shopping and other chores… which include harassing poor Hoshi in the bathroom.

The comic festival eventually ends with neither Najimi nor her rival having sold particularly many (well… any) manga and both blaming the other for it. Justice has also cornered Hoshi and is trying to present him with his epic comic, assumably the one with him as an evil pirate abducting Najimi.

Work it, girl.

Special thanks to PEM from #SpoonSubs hooking me up with a raw for this week’s episode since nobody wanted to torrent it and Share/WinNY hate my network. 

Impressions:

To go off on a sidetrack, the OP and ED singles are out this week, and combined, they’re probably my favorite tracks of the season, though the Umisho OP may edge at least this OP out.

Anyway, a rather fun episode about Najimi’s part time job in an otaku cafe. I could have used a little more Justice and Tsuyuri perversion during it, but Najimi’s outfit really wasn’t particularly revealing anyway. It certainly accentuated her non-existent chest though.

Summary:

The doujin veterans are discussing Najimi’s mysterious part time job. She won’t tell Tsuyuri what it is though, which leads to Justice and Tsuyuri coming to their own… conclusions about what she must be doing with herself. They end up following her, leaving Justice behind on the train at one point.

They follow her back to the game store from before, but still can’t figure out what her job is until they see the ads for a neko mimi cafe. They walk in, and Najimi greets them with an “welcome to the store, master,” dressed complete in cat ears and tail.

They get all settled in, and a little later, the guy from before comes in. She greets him familiarly and he says “I’m back.” Justice calls her over and asks how often he comes in, and gets annoyed when Najimi tells him that he’s in every day. She doesn’t find it particularly weird though.

Najimi eventually brings them their food and tries to write a message in it for them as per cafe custom, but Tsuyuri takes advantage of it to fluster Najimi and ends up with a plate full of sauce. On the other hand, Najimi is apologizing to the still-nameless guy for messing up the chocolate on his food. He’s all blushing and trying to hit on her, but Justice sneaks up behind her and starts being all cranky at him.

In response, he says that he has a special kind of magic. He whips out his “frequent customer” card, and uses it and his special favors to get Najimi to start spouting off various cute cat noises… needless to say, Justice is defeated. The two pose for a picture, but he sneezes during it. Justice and the guy have one last exchange about who gets to talk to Najimi before he tips her and takes off.

Justice grills her about why she’s even working in such a place, and she tells him that it’s all for her manga and to learn about the doujin culture. He’s touched by her will and moves himself to behind the counter to help her, to her distress.

Najimi’s first sale!

Impressions:

Kind of a weak episode honestly. There was some humor from the deliberate misunderstanding of Najimi whoring herself out, but most of the stuff at the convention was fairly trite. Our nameless male is just a little too boring and normal for him to be a good foil against Najimi. Still, I can’t get the OP or ED out of my head. I think I have a weakness for dancing in EDs.

Summary:

Najimi is on the train with Justice plotting once again about how to turn doujins into money. He starts teasing her and tells her that it’s all about love. She seems to get the message that she needs to understand love in order to master doujinshi.

Over at the campus, Justice and Tsuyuri are waiting for Najimi. She comes floating in saying that it’s done. Tsuyuri misunderstands what she’s talking about, and they get into a conversation where Najimi is talking about her doujin (Love Typhoon) while Justice and Tsuyuri are talking about Najimi selling herself and getting pregnant. Eventually it turns to price, which Najimi blurts out, prompting steam from Justice and a slap from Tsuyuri.

Over at Tsuyuri’s, Tsuyuri is looking at Najimi’s virgin attempt at a doujin. She says that it’s okay, but is curious about the name on it. Najimi says that it’s her pen name… Beauty Love.

At the next convention, Najimi’s burning spirit has awakened and she’s ready to sell out. Justice is helping her set up, but is somewhat ‘amazed’ by her manga and can’t hold back his sarcasm. Sora tries to pick up a copy, but can’t bring herself to touch it.

Later, despite the lines on either side, nobody is checking out Najimi at all, except for one girl (chesty from the OP) who looks through it and smirks at poor Najimi. Their fighting spirits awaken, but we cut over to Justice and Sora who are selling out his group’s manga without problems.

Back with poor Najimi, she realizes that at this rate, she’s going to lose money on this instead of earn it. The guy she met the previous day swings by and picks up a copy of her manga to check it out. She’s embarrassed since he does sort of know her. He asks her about it, and she turns super embarrassed before yelling out that he’s sexually harassing her. The screams of sekuhara bring over all the nearby otaku who grab copies of her manga, but are all shocked by it.

He says that he likes her manga, and she’s so overjoyed that she hugs him. All the other otaku offer to buy copies if they can be hugged too, but Tsuyuri scares them away. The guy feels a hand on his shoulder once Najimi disentagled from him, and he turns to face a wrathful Justice, angered at someone else being with Najimi.