Gakuen Alice ep.2

November 6, 2004 | 7 Comments

Well, the Kodocha effect is finally here. Natsume and Mikan finally meet one another and the 'sparks' begin to fly out of control. The 'sparks' that appear here are not the romantic kind though. When it comes to these two, the 'sparks' are more of the flaming arrows and meteor rain types. It also seems to me that the 2nd episode follows the manga storyline quite closely and as a result, some of the situations presented in this episode are quite 'colorful'. They're all comedic in nature but there's a possibility that some people may be weirded out a bit by the joke. This episode is also prelude to a chapter where I started to dislike Hotaru's cold attitude. It's good to know that this will eventually be explained in the future but I can't help but feeling sorry for Mikan sometimes. Anyway, check out Matthew's blog, Momotato Daioh, JASCII, and Ume's Journal for more opinion on this series.

Continuing from the previous episode, this one opens with Natsume jumping off from a wall, trying to get away from the place. Before that can happen, however, the blond guy, Narumi-sensei, produces a vine-like whip that eventually turns into a leather whip and knocks the neko mask off Natsumi's face. Mikan is shocked upon seeing this latest development and hurries up to Natsume asking him if he's okay but Natsume looks as if he's about to produce a fire spell from his hand. Unfortunately for him, once again Narumi-sensei spoils his plan by stomping on his hand. :O Narumi-sensei then tells Natsume that even if he tries to escape using his 'Alice', his attempt will always be futile because Narumi willl use his 'Alice' to do that 'embarassing act'. Natsume promptly calls Narumi-sensei "perverted teacher" but before he can do anything, Narumi-sensei already blows some sort of wind into his ear causing the boy to fall unconscious.

Once Mikan gets inside the school, Narumi-sensei leaves her alone with the still unconscious Natsume. But Mikan begins to think that Narumi-sensei is some kind of S&M pervert who likes to whip the kids at the school. LOL. In the middle of her imagination, a guy barges in looking for Narumi, shocking Mikan. After explaining that he's one of the teacher, Misaki-sensei, Mikan immediately latches on to him, telling him that she's afraid of Narumi. Speaking of the devil, Narumi-sensei is seen inside a room talking to someone who sits behind a veil. Narumi-sensei tells the guy that he thinks he has found another Alice candidate in front of the school. The guy wonders if Narumi-sensei is sure about this but Narumi seems to be quite positive about it. Meanwhile, Mikan gets an explanation from Misaki-sensei about Alice powers, Narumi-sensei's pheromone power, and how different students have different powers such as flying, inventing, etc. He then leaves Mikan alone after telling her to press a button if Natsume awakes.

But Mikan forgets about the warning and eventually finds herself being pushed to the couch by the now conscious Natsume. He tells Mikan to answer his question in 5 seconds or else he'll burn her hair. Meanwhile, outside the school, Misaki-sensei finds a boy flying on top of him using an Eagle and heading towards the room where Natsume is located. The person turns out to be a friend of Natsume called Ruka/Luca. Seeing the situation going from bad to worse, Mikan decides to yell out for help. But unfortunately, the damage is done. Natsume and Luca manages to run away after Natsume manages to rip off Mikan's skirt. Mikan cries over her 'lost of innocence' but eventually cheers up when Narumi-sensei gives her a Gakuen Alice uniform and reunites her with the less-enthused Hotaru. Mikan is then taken to her classroom where the kids inside are using their Alice magics to do various bratty things. To make things worse, she ends up sitting next to Natsume and being bullied by her classmates because she accuses Natsume to be a pervert.

Impression:

Well, it looks like they decide to modify this episode after all. I thought Natsume's wild act is a bit naughty for television audience consumption. So what happens now is that instead of taking off Mikan's panties like in the manga, Natsume actually rips off her skirt. Of course it doesn't make it any better for Mikan but on Natsume's part, it makes him less of a kinky bastard. Despite that changes, this series is still interesting. The humor is spot on, the kids are charming in that twisted kind of way, and the background looks pretty. The mystery has also been laid out with the appearance of the mysterious person behind the veil. Who is this person and why does he allow Narumi-sensei to make that kind of guess about Mikan being an Alice? If they keep this up, I think this will be as good as Kodocha although I do wish that it won't get as mushy as the second half of that series.

© memento 2003