Code-E – Episode 1
15 July 2007
Code-E I watched out of boredom, it wasn’t on my “need to see” list of the summer season, but I can’t say I regret the decision, or regret not having it on my list. It was cute, fun, and it looks some what promising. My first impressions have been often wrong, for better or for worse.
Opening The opening was instrumental, it was nice, though I didn’t really understand why it was so. It sounded a lot like happy, jazzy James Bond, spy music. Anyways, I liked the way it focused on the four main characters and at the same time managed to fit everyone else in the show in. It’s not anything to write home about, nothing to dismiss either. I was quite indifferent, slightly perplexed by the choice of music, but I’m not complaining.
Plot Seventeen years ago, a meteor hit Amizawa Lake, due it’s small size, it disappeared after impact and time passed. Seventeen years later, Chinami Ebihara, the normal high school student, found of reading, cooking and gardening, has just moved midsummer, to a new house, and a new school.
Her father, a computer whiz, I’m assuming, works in the basement with his ceiling taped and insulated. Chinami cooks breakfast for her parents, her mother being a business woman. As she leaves for school, her father gives her a map and tells her good luck. Her mother offers her a ride and she declines, saying that it was a nice day to walk. Tripping on some leaves, Chinami makes it to the bus stops. The electronic sign fizzes out, she backs away from the sign post. Relieved that the bus arrived, she gets on. She gives up her seat to an old lady. Then a curious baby grabbed her butt, and things went haywire from there. She squeals, thinking that some pervert grabbed her and all of the electronics on the bus starts to malfunction. A boy reading a book in the back of the bus looks up at all of the commotion and notices Chinami’s reaction and takes interest.
Chinami arrives in school, introducing herself. Someone asks her what her hobbies are, before she could respond, another girl whips out her cellphone and takes a picture to celebrate. The cellphone freaks Chinami out and the electronic black board behind her sparks and then dies. As the teacher takes attendance, the girl sitting in front of her, Keiko befriends her. One boy missing from the roster in Kannagi Kotaro. Someone cracks a joke about Kotaro submitting work to a science god. A girl named Saihashi Yuuma, I’m guessing the serious, no non-sense one of the serious, glances at her.
Keiko and her friends asks Chinami for her email and cell number. She replies that she has neither, she’ bad with electronics. They shrug it off, saying they’ll ask for it later. Keiko shows Chinami around the school, Chinami taking notes of all of the electronic hardware. Passing the fine arts room, two boys carrying a hologram passes by, Chinami causes the projector to turn on and the two boys bicker over who did it. Keiko confesses that she’s bad with electronics as well and calls herself Chinami’s comrade of sorts. This gladdens Chinami, to a point where as they pass a fire extinguisher, Chinami’s (now obviously) powers causes the lights to shine. As they pass by the science room, Keiko tells Chinami that Kannagi Kotaro, dubbed ‘Gifted Kannagi’ was the sole member of the science club. Gulping, Chinami slowly walks by the room, fearing her presence in the face of so many electronics. Kotaro sees her through the door and recognizes her and is elated when her abilities lit up his computers. Seeing this reaction from the hardware, Chinami runs off.
Later, Sonomi, another girl, visits Kotaro and gives him cake she made in cooking class. She, obviously, has the largest crush on him and asks him to go shopping with her. Nonchalantly, as he eats the cake, he agrees. Leaving and making sure he remembers, Sonomi’s friends bug her about what happened. At the end of the day, as she’s packing up to go, Yuuma from earlier tells Chinami to be careful. Before she can say goodbye, Yuuma leaves. On her way home, Chinami stops by a small pond to reflect on beautiful it was. Then she realizes that she left at school her father’s map. She rushes back, finding her notebook and her map. About to leave for a second time, Kotaro confronts her. Asking her to go out with him, saying that he has an immense interest in her body and needs confirmation. This baffles and scares Chinami, causing the entire school to go haywire, light bulbs breaking, the electronic black boards crackling.
Ending The ending was pretty plain as well. Changing backgrounds with clips of the episode. Cute, soft, almost like Chinami in character. Nothing to complain about here.
Preview Chinami and Kotaro isn’t exactly going to hit it off right away. She’s running away from him, thinking he’s a pervert. He’s chasing after her, thinking she’s his next discover or experiment.
Impression It was alright. I’m not sure about blogging this, unless something major happens. It was pretty slow, even for a first episode. The meteor thing in the beginning had me going for a minute, but the shift from that to Chinami was a bit abrupt. I was confused as to exactly what was causing the electronic malfunctions until the thing with Keiko and the light happened. It’s all somewhat stereotypical. I think they could’ve done with out Yuuma, who is adding more loose ends. As well as Sonomi, but I think it’d turn out to be pretty interesting with her, seeing how she likes Kotaro, but he just asked out Chinami on her first day. As for Chinami and Kotaro, from where they’re starting off now and the preview, I’m kinda skeptical as to how their relationship will develop. Depending, really, on what’s going to happen. The one thing I don’t like about first episodes, it’s always “depends on what’s going to happen.” There’s no direction and it’s all up in the air how it’s going to happen.
I might just watch this for the sake of knowing, but I’m not too hyped about blogging consistently and religiously about this show. Sure it was fun, sure it wasn’t a waste of time, but there’s nothing…striking about it. The character designs were a bit weird, there’s something about the people not having visible noses that just bothers me. Saikano was kind of the same, but the story overrode all of my misgivings. However, Code-E is looking too generic and too plain, but then again, you never know.
My take on this, I have no take on this as of yet. It’s either a hit or a miss, it’s hanging in the middle right now and I’m hoping it’ll speed up and get better.