What’s the show? Wataten!: An Angel Flew Down to Me, Episode 2.
So how’s this episode? This one’s kind of difficult to review because it’s more or less ~exactly~ the same as last week, which for this kind of show isn’t a bad thing. But if I’m to draw comparisons (again) to ‘UzaMaid!’ episode 2 of that show wasted no time in giving us a whole heap of touching character development for its lolicon protagonist–whereas this show doesn’t even seem remotely interested in doing so. Which again, is fine, it’s just taking a different approach but yeah not the best for reviewing.
You say “exactly the same”, but surely it’s not? Tonally it absolutely is the same, all that’s changed is there’s a new friend to join Hana and Hinata in their predominantly housebound fun. The new girl is blonde loli Noa who we were briefly introduced to last week as she observed Miyako in an embarrassing cosplay outfit (and pose) from her window which is directly opposite hers. And at first we’re led to believe that Noa is going to use this information to blackmail Miyako but as it turns out she’s not that sadistic and seems to be just trying to get Miyako to come out of her shell and have more fun. Which you know, is nice and all, but she just met the woman–I don’t know that elementary school kids are that insightful and knowledgeable about picking up the societal anxieties of adults. But whatever it was pretty cute all the same.
RIght and so it’s just all fun and games in the house then? Yep. They all dress up and Miyako takes photos of them, then Noa gets a ~complex~ about not being the cutest girl in the room so they have a dress up competition, then they play some hide-and-seek, then they have a competition to see who can take the cutest photo of Noa and then they have a bath. This certainly isn’t complicated stuff but it’s still endearingly adorable, even if Miyako still hasn’t lost any of her ‘creep’ factor.
So not won over on Miyako yet then? Not by a long shot, I mean I tolerate her–I don’t dislike her because she has funny reactions but I’m still not endeared to her the same way I am our other characters on the show. Even the mother, who has just a single scene in this episode is more likeable.
So we’ve got three loli’s coming over for visits and the lolicon protagonist still only has eyes for Hana I assume? Yes. Although there was an interesting moment that was very ‘blink and you’ll miss it’ but made me wonder if the show was going to eventually head in a different direction. Miyako’s looking at Noa in one of the cosplay outfits and thinks to herself–rather surprised–about how cute Noa is. And the way she said it sounded exactly the way a harem protagonist who’d otherwise been hung up on another character would ‘observe’ another girl in his harem. And I was like “is this going to be a gay loli harem?”
I bet that got you excited at the prospect… Well it’d certainly be unique–especially the yuri part of the equation! Sadly(?) I don’t think this show is going to go that route, at least not in any official capacity, unlike something like ‘The Ryuo’s Work Is Never Done’ which (despite my dislike of its protagonist) seemed “all-in” on the loli harem aspect.
Right. So overall thoughts on the episode? It’s fun, I was smiling throughout which is always a plus but I think if the show doesn’t commit to some decent backstory or character development soon it’s going to lose some points in my book–even though I freely admit it’s still ticking all my buttons aesthetically.
Previous ‘WATATEN!: An Angel Flew Down to Me’ Reviews:
Angel Sweets – Episode 1 Review
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Anime QandA 
I think the show is a lot more forgiving of Miyako’s hangup than UzaMaid was of Misha’s solitude. It was definitely obvious from the start of UzaMaid that part of the character arc was to be therapeutic for Misha, reintroduce her to the outside world and friends, and help her move on from the trauma of losing her mother. WataTen is a lot more just slice of life about Miyako’s life, and given the setup I think it’s just not very interested in that kind of character arc. We get no setup about why Miyako is a hikikomori, no reasoning why she is afraid of the outside world (although we’ll probably get some of that later, but I don’t expect much out of it). The show even seems to make a point that she’s not a NEET, she’s a “college student” although she never goes to college, but that might be a lot more about her family not wanting to admit she’s a NEET. Yeah, mom wants her to get her ass moving and out, but that’s more of an arm’s length goal rather than something she’s actively forcing on Miyako. I think if anything about Miyako ends up being rehabilitated, it’s her creepiness towards Hana, but that’ll be a long time coming.
I didn’t really care for Noa in this episode, she’s a bit too outgoing for my tastes and her character type kind of sucks a lot of the air out of the room, particularly when they’re introducing her. I think that by the end of the episode they were showing that Hinata was getting really good at handling and deflecting Noa, and that’s a good dynamic. I think that Hinata is my favorite character in the show, to be honest.
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