TONIKAWA: Over The Moon For You

Episode 4

In scenarios where a girl insists that she is married (or at least engaged) to a young man, a common approach in anime is for the girl to try to impress the young man by being a domestic goddess. So what is poor Tsukasa to do when the young man who really is her legal husband proves to be plenty competent on his own on the domestic front?

That twisting of the staple romantic comedy situation makes for one of the episode's better early jokes, although it probably comes off as funnier (or at the very least more ironic) to those who are well-familiar with that trope from previous romcoms. That is far from the only otaku-centric moment in the episode, as I counted at least three other references to anime and manga titles spanning the last 40 years:

• Lum is a reference to the alien who mistakenly thinks the protagonist Ataru has proposed to her in defining comedy classic Urusei Yatsura.
• Command Seal is a reference to the magical directive a Master can force on a Servant in the Fate/ universe titles.
• "Aku Soku Zan” (aka “Slay Evil Immediately”) was a line used by Hajime Saito in Rurouni Kenshin.

I also felt like the giant sword that the one maid uses might be a reference to something, but I could not place that.

The aforementioned scene where Tsukasa is trying to figure out some way to impress Nasa (she does not seem to understand that she could pretty much do that just by breathing) and the media references are only a small part of the episode, however. Most of it involves introducing Chitose, who is the blond girl featured in the opener and closer. Tsukasa apparently lived with her prior to marrying Nasa, which begs the question about why she left, especially considering that Chitose's wealthy family went far out of their way to accommodate her. Actually, that may not be so much of a mystery, since Chitose comes across as very clingy and possessive, to the point of trying to sabotage Nasa in order to win Tsukasa back. She is not a total stereotype of the rich girl who won't take “no” for an answer, but she is pretty darn close.

Nasa's encounter with her at the mansion only amps up the mysteries surrounding Tsukasa, as does the opening scene of Tsukasa walking towards a large, full moon away from blood-splattered snow. Given the way Tsukasa is dressed in that scene, it probably happened during episode 1, right before Nasa found Tsukasa at the bus stop. Again, the moon symbolism is heavy, but that is nothing compared to the presence of a moon rock at the mansion to “make Tsukasa feel more comfortable.” Whatever the truth is about Tsukasa, Chitose would seem to know it, but frustratingly (and predictably), any such revelation gets cut off, so the mystery remains. Is she Princess Kaguya (or something equivalent) after all? At least this explains how she was able to track down Nasa; the resources of a wealthy family would have been quite useful there.

The episode ends with more dedicated romance content: Nasa more formally proposing in a defunct church and the two finally kissing. They make a sweet couple, and the mystery here is interesting, which makes it such a shame that the artistic and animation efforts are so mediocre.

Rating:

TONIKAWA: Over The Moon For You is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.