Nijuu Mensou no Musume: It’s like the 2nd season of Emo Ramen… I wish.

When I first heard of Nijuu Mensou no Musume (Daughter of Twenty Faces or however you want to call this show), I was pretty pumped for what could have been the sequel to yet another LOL series I wished didn’t have only 12 episodes… Well, it didn’t take long for me to find out how wrong I was ORZ (Okay, so I was still hoping for a while…), but at least both Musume shows share the same director, plus I’m a sucker for mystery type shows – and failing that, thieving and trickery still does the trick =D

Oh and did I mention BONES is involved?

(Hirano Aya too, but… nyeh)

Well despite being one of the series I mentally tagged to watch for the season, it almost totally flew under my radar because I somehow didn’t notice the subs getting released so it took a long while before I did eventually sample the first episode. Unfortunately that was at a time when I was already fixing up a watchlist (not that that’s anything I actually adhere to, but I thought it’d be good to have things in order for once) and was getting tired of first episodes that I fixed a prejudice in my mind that if it wasn’t blowing me away, I won’t bother watching anymore.

It didn’t blow me away.

Chiko at the start was this quiet girl who still manages to to rebel against her parents by refusing the glorious meals they serve to her. Talk about EMO and INAPPRECIATIVE??? (Okay, maybe I was hungry when I was watching, what’s new) And there was this cheesily freakish Wolverine wannabe featured in the episode that just screamed “lousy villain” which was another major turn off.

It was then that I started recalling that there are 2 types of BONES shows I’ve come across so far – the ones with the budget put to good use in distinctive styling and story-telling (Jyu Oh Sei, Darker than Black… Duh, Ouran :P ), and the ones that… aren’t bad per se (BONES is another one of those reliable studios that I can’t say produces ‘crap’, only shows that ‘aren’t for me’ whenever I choose not to watch one of their shows), but seriously how many of you bothered to watch The Skull Man last year? So in BONES terms, if Soul Eater is this year’s Darker than Black, then Nijuu Mensou no Musume would be Skull Man, which did not bode well for me (Watched only one episode of Skull Man and didn’t need any more)

BUT (and of course there’s a ‘but’, why else would this post exist?), the episode did redeem itself in the end by practically laughing in the face of the so-called jaded skeptic that I was by revealing it’s ZOMG plot twist spoiler: show

It still didn’t blow me away, mainly because it was rather cheesy imho. But at least it did interest me into watching the next episode (because Carmen Sandiego -whom btw, shares the same birthday as I do :P -rocks!)

And I’ll admit, the next few episode didn’t exactly blow me away either. Not saying they were bad in any way, those were solid character building episodes if there ever were some, Chiko’s character grows steadily, then in leaps and bounds, and it’s all very pleasant entertainment, but not very mind blowing in any way.

BUT (and there I go again), there was one thing I did realize as I proceeded to stick to the show despite my early self-inflicted prejudice about this show. It’s a trend that I then noticed with roughly half the shows I’m following this season. (The other half just makes me laugh my ass off or cringe in pain *coughs*Maid Guy/Code Geass/S.A.*coughs*)

Every episode of Nijuu Mensou no Musume put a smile on my face.

No, not that kind of smile -_-” I’m trying to be serious for once here.

As corny as I made it sound, it has in fact happened consistently throughout the first 5 episodes. Despite the being very stock character development material and “just as planned” moments per episode, I just couldn’t help myself but enjoy Chiko’s parts in all of 20 Faces schemes and how she acquires her thievery know-how as the story progressed. So whether it was the wry smirk at firs or the eventual Chiko-like ‘hah, gotcha’ grin that developed on my face a few episodes back, the fact remained that this show was delivering that all important aspect I go for in my animu – entertainment.

Sharp objects? Crazies? Why are you NOT watching this show?

More spoilers after.

Of course, that’s all swell and all, but there’s also the not very subtle hint that it’s all been really a teaser and development for the main part of the story to come – once Chiko actually takes the role of 20 Face’s Daughter and her place as the central figure of the story. The turning point has probably occurred in episode 6, which well, to put it crudely sees a lot of BLOOD and PEOPLE DYING, OH NOES!YES? And when I stopped smiling this episode, I realized that I’ve become invested in this story and with the necessary plot elements it had to introduce in this episode in order to get to the next level *sniffs Gurren Lagann plot progression potential*

So yes, I am fully following Nijuu Mensou Musume now, which has acquired quite a high spot on my current watchlist despite being a latecomer. I don’t want to put my hopes up too high though, since there’s an inevitable shift in story which will be occurring right about now, so I’ll reserve a full judgment of the show once I’m done with it.

Oh, and for the record, I do think that Hirano Aya is doing a good job as Chiko, it’s a throwback to her role as Layla in NANA (though not as slutty XD). It’s a pity that she’s cast here though, since her legions of adoring fans probably aren’t as keen on a show like this as opposed to say, Zettai Karen Children, while those who hate her may not want to watch 20 Faces because of her – so it’s kind of a lose lose for this show :(