Yuuto Ayase is a normal high-schooler that has sworn off girls due to the influence of living with two crude women, his older sister and his schoolteacher. He is constantly teased by his friends for not being interested in girls, but even Yuuto himself can’t deny the alluring charm of the school idol, Haruka Nogizaka, a beautiful girl skilled in all areas and revered by the entire student body.

Yuuto is indifferent to anime, but his otaku friend, Nobunaga, comes to his class and speaks at length about the most recent episode of the Clumsy Aki anime. Nobunaga also reports that the library just received issues of the popular anime magazine, Innocent Smile (Think Megami). Haruka’s ears perk up as she overhears the discussion. Later in the day, Nobunaga is (very embarrassingly) called on the PA to return the overdue issue he checked out.

Nobunaga asks Yuuto to return the magazine to the library for him. It is there that Yuuto has a fateful encounter with the school idol, Haruka Nogizaka. By a turn of events, Yuuto discovers her checking out an issue of Innocent Smile and stumbles onto her dark secret; She is an otaku. Upon having her secret discovered, Haruka runs off crying and leaves her stuff behind.

Yuuto takes Haruka’s bag home with him and contemplates the school idol being an otaku. He goes to school early the next morning and returns the bag to Haruka after bumping into her by the school gate. Afterwards, Haruka continually avoids contact with Yuuto and runs away from him when he gets near, leaving a bad impression with everyone that sees this happen. Having had enough of her avoiding him for two days, Yuuto confronts Haruka. He chases her out of the classroom, but Haruka’s self-appointed guards take it upon themselves to stop him. Yuuto escapes their clutches and finally makes it to the roof where he tells Haruka that her reputation and secret are safe with him. He also states that she doesn’t seem so far away now, knowing that she has that kind of hobby. She profusely thanks him for keeping the secret, signifying the start of their friendship.

Yuuto receives a call from Haruka later that evening. She tells him that she forgot to return the magazine that was due today and asks for his help in returning it before her secret is exposed to the whole school, via the PA and bulletin board. They sneak into the school, return the magazine, and clear her name from the library’s record. The mission proves to be a valuable bonding experience for the two as they become more acquainted, and decide to call one another by their first names from now on.

OP: Miran Himemiya and Chocolate Rockers - “Tomadoi Bitter Tune”

Very fast paced opening. Everything happens so fast that it’s hard to see anything. The song is catchy though.

ED: Kana Ueda, Mai Goto, Rina Satou, Kaori Shimizu, Mamiko Noto - “Hitosashiyubi Quiet!”

Great. Another ED that forces a dance on us. Will we be seeing bad attempts at the Haruka Nogizaka dance soon?

Thoughts:
Yet another light novel to anime adaptation where a boring guy meets a cute and interesting girl. Kyon and Haruhi, Saito and Louise, Yuji and Shana. Now we have Yuuto and Haruka. Yes, the boring guy is supposed to represent the target demographic so they can identify with the male leads, but it’s become a tired cliche by now hasn’t it?

Why doesn’t Haruka just buy the damn magazine herself? I know the show states that issues are expensive, but isn’t Haruka from a rich family? It would be much easier to keep her secret under wraps to buy her own copies. She only heightens the risk of exposure by making her hobby so public. Why does a school library carry anime magazines in the first place?

This summary wouldn’t be complete without mentioning Mamiko Noto. She does a good job as Haruka, but somehow the role feels miscast. I can’t explain why at this point in time. I know she can do ‘quiet school idol’ because she was perfect as Yakumo in School Rumble. Somehow her Haruka seems a bit loose at the hems in comparison… Maybe I’ll return to this later after more episodes have aired.

So despite a couple shortcomings, Haruka Nogizaka was still entertaining. It’s not my favorite show of the season but still definitely worth watching.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 15th, 2008 at 10:53 am and is filed under Anime, Haruka Nogizaka's Secret.You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.