Episode 10 – “You Seem Pretty Stiff, Senpai / I'll Do It for You, Senpai!!”
Hmm.
This week, Nagatoro-san proved that Nagatoro is Senpai’s number one fan. Since the first episode, her motivation in teasing Senpai is making him into a better man. The first half showed that with her turn as a sexy running coach. Nagatoro shined in the second half as Senpai’s muse, willing to do anything to help him display his artistic talent to the world. That includes game character cosplay!
Standing in dramatic opposition is the Art Club President. This is counterintuitive since someone in charge of art club juniors should mentor and promote the club during the school cultural festival. Nagatoro-san doesn’t explain Miss President’s motivations, but I see a similar possessive character trait to Nagatoro. She didn’t like how Senpai turned the art club room into a harem den! She’s the only one to whom Senpai should pay attention and admire.
Miss President and Miss Nagatoro make a nice contrasting pair vying for Senpai’s inspiration. They’re opposites superficially. One is short, the other tall. One is tan, the other is fair. One speaks colloquially, the other properly. And one has, uh, firm cups, while, er, the other’s jugs runneth over.
The timing is right for Nagatoro-san’s season to introduce dramatic tension with a love rival to carry into a satisfying ending. By satisfying, I mean for the overall story because there is no way Senpai and Nagatoro will declare their love for each other before the season ends. This is a romantic comedy anime adapted from a continuing source manga. Let's not hope for impossible things.
Heh.
The Nagatoro-san prologue delivers a wordplay joke that makes Senpai think naughty things when Nagatoro merely refers to her hot fried chicken. Now, I’m imagining naughty things...
Yes! The preview from last week’s Nagatoro-san showed Nagatoro in her spandex exercise gear. Let’s get to it! Senpai is out of shape, but at least he’s thin. The Nagatoro Family picked him out of his class as he slowly ran a long distance. Nagatoro sees an opportunity to spend time with Senpai and make him stronger. Senpai’s excuses are weak justifications. No one is asking him to have Olympic-level talent to run better. It’s a sports anime!
Senpai should be grateful to Nagatoro for ruining his weekend. Look at the benefits! Senpai is now fully awake! Enough teasing. Sports anime time for Nagatoro-san! Ha! Senpai has his motivation backward. He should be running to stay behind Nagatoro, not ahead of her to block his temptation to look. Kudos to the animators on shading Nagatoro’s spandex. I wear spandex and lycra for hours every day, so I can say this sequence is impressive and correct.
Hoho. Nagatoro found the right negative way to motivate Senpai. She called him a 雑魚 (ざこ, zako, small fry). For gamers, this is the lowest level creature of a monster class. Senpai has been a bully target for years, so a bully calling him a “wimp” should be no big deal. But using a gaming slang term is an insult he can’t abide by!
Senpai forgives all after the 5K run. Time to warm down and stretch. Senpai is not cooling down with Nagatoro’s antics. Hahaha! Yoshi happened upon Senpai and Nagatoro doing “fusion!” She’s a Dragon Ball fan!
Yoshi and Nagatoro have fun with Dragon Ball references in the eye-catches.
In Nagatoro-san’s second half, Senpai needs a model. Ah. It’s time for the cultural festival. He wants to do a piece for the art club display. He doesn’t want to use Nagatoro. Nagatoro shock! Don’t deny a cute younger girl when she offers her services! She’s too distracting for him. It’s also difficult to make eye contact with her. Senpai insists on drawing a dude. Nagatoro calls him out on his sexy character designs. Senpai is learning. Challenge Nagatoro to wear the same thing in the cat girl doodle. Nagatoro shock again! Senpai makes a reference to one of the Tales of Ikkyu. The witty Buddhist monk asks a lord to help him make his ridiculous request of capturing a tiger painted on a folding screen come true. Can Nagatoro make that cat girl jump out of Senpai’s drawing?
Yes! Yes, she can! Nagatoro-san made a real-life Nekotoro! Now Senpai needs to draw her! Nagatoro has friends in the sewing club who made the outfit for her. She’s a keeper, Senpai. An otaku needs a girl who will cosplay for him. Senpai and Nagatoro are so cute. She still can’t take a compliment. Nagatoro’s friends can’t believe their eyes.
The other girls stick around while Nagatoro models. I wonder if this will help Senpai’s self-consciousness. The girls talk about what they’ll be doing for the cultural festival. Sakura became friends with the group of gamers she imploded! Uh oh. Nagatoro-san flashback time for Senpai. He’s the only active art club member left from last year. The president should have done some recruiting before the older kids gave up club activities in their final year. Senpai will need to make a solo show for the art club this year. The other girls think they can spice up his exhibit with other things happening around the room, like a cross-dressing maid café! Nagatoro thought about that suggestion a long while before pronouncing it “too creepy!”
Uh oh! Senpai recognizes those steps on the staircase. It’s Miss President! Hide the slatterns! Miss President disapproves of the couch because it’s new. The snacks on the table look sloppy too. Nagatoro’s friends know which buttons to push. Ex-girlfriend. Older woman. There’s one enormous difference! Boing! Does anyone in the art club have a name? In the Nagatoro-san anime, it’s just Senpai and Miss President. She wants to show a piece for the cultural festival. And she heard rumors about the gyaru invasion.
Miss President is not a woman of culture. She’s not a fan of manga! Ultimatum time. Choose her or miss manga cat girl! Wait. She’ll disband the art club if Senpai doesn’t “take things seriously.” Nagatoro stands up for Senpai. She’s watched him sketch in the club room since the day they met on the first day of the school year. Ooh. Both Nagatoro and Miss President have hyper-detailed hair. Both girls are important for Senpai. Nagatoro noticed Miss President’s possessiveness. Nagatoro is an expert.
Miss President doesn’t like people challenging her opinions. Challenge! Senpai’s personal art exhibit needs to get more votes than hers to save the art club. Miss President is not a likable character in this situation. I hope that changes. Nagatoro believes in Senpai.
Next time, Senpai suffers a crisis of confidence. What else is new?
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