10 Second Anime - Grand Blue - Episode 12 [END]

The Peek-a-Boo diving club goes to Miyakojima for open water diving and a big bout of drinking. Season Finale.

Episode 12 - "Otori"

Hmm.

Aww, it's over. All the scenes hinted at in the opening credits made it into a real episode, but I was left hanging on a couple of things. First, Iori and Chisa's past event that makes Chisa feel responsible for Iori's fear of water never got airtime. I suppose we would only see that when Iori actually gets his diving license. And second, Kaya the idol who was always in the end credits never made an appearance at the dive shop. I wanted to see Kohei go crazy and confirm my hunch that she was actually going out with Tokita.

Oh well, at least we got to see Aina get drunk again and try to get closer to Iori. Baby steps, Aina, baby steps. Or, take a big swig of Otori mix and rip his shorts off!

Heh.

And now we're suddenly on Miyako Island (Miyakojima). Oh, so the Okinawa trip was just to get the juniors their diving licenses before joining the rest of Peek-a-Boo for the official diving event.

The older guys are quite excited about this drinking custom Otori. The local restaurants are not so excited about sharing Otori with Peek-a-Boo...

Ah, so there's that boat from the opening credits.

Gotta have a diving montage. Cute! Baby sea turtle!

Since Iori doesn't have his diving license, he has to do trial dives with the amateurs who also came on the boat. Chisa feels bad he's being left out.

The joke is going to be that Iori isn't moping around the boat.

And yeah. He's just seasick. Chisa wants her expended caring feelings back.

But they're okay. Iori just has more motivation to get his license and make another trip with Chisa. Did... did she just flirt with her cousin? Yes, I think she did.

And now, endless drinking with Otori. This is apparently a Miyako Island drinking tradition with lots of toasting.

No escape for the juniors!

Ha! Tokita and Kotobuki want everyone never to forget this moment of youth, but Kohei and Iori complain they're going to make everyone forget by getting plastered!

And everyone gets naked and drunk, as usual.

Aina made a strong move to get Iori alone with her. Too bad he forgot to wear his clothes and they got pulled over. Now Aina has a strong reason to get drunk too.

Drunk Aina is forward. Drunk Aina is so aggressive. Drunk Aina is not cute and wants to rip people's shorts off!

Yay! Picture memories and end credit montage. Fun. Some of those pictures in the credits were actually Chisa's pictures.

Bye, bye Grand Blue anime. You were a perfect summer comedy.

Final Thoughts.

Along with Harukana Receive and Yuragi-sou, this show was on the other end of the spectrum for a great Summer comedy anime. There were ocean views, sexy girls in bikinis, and lots and lots of college age drinking. I loved it!

I always look forward to any anime that isn't set in high school or has older characters, so Grand Blue definitely caught my eye. It was also the pure opposite of a diving procedural comedy slice-of-life from the previous season of Amanchu, so that made it much easier to appreciate the gag setups for reaction humor.

There were a few anime conventions to hang some joke hooks on, like a siscon older sister in Nanaka, a sexpot bisexual in Azusa, and of course all the naked drinking, but there were hints at some deeper emotional care, like Chisa's concern for her cousin Iori and Aina's appreciation for Iori and Kohei's sense of righteousness for how women should be treated. Having great characters makes the episodic nature of anime easier to connect with an audience and having a sentimental air behind the humor takes the edge off the mean barbs and violence. Grand Blue struck that balance pretty well for the whole season.

But seriously, Azusa made the whole show worth it. If you like drinking, sexy girls, and near naked sexy girls drinking, then she got you covered! Overall, this was a fun show, but Azusa put it over the top for making you look forward to each episode. Plus, the opening credits song was easily one of the best of all the Summer anime. I recommend this show for anyone looking for anime featuring more adult characters, but I have to warn you they definitely don't act like adults. This is a comedy after all.