Episode 13 — “A Dark Shadow over Familia”
The Bathos Meter is Back, Baby!
The second season premiere of the continuation of The Café Terrace and its Goddesses amounted to a harem farce recap clip show. I am here for it! But let’s do our own recap of why Kouji Seo’s works deserve calling out their descents into melodrama and bathos. Evoking sympathy in a dramatic narrative is pathos. Going too far in eliciting pathos but then landing on an unserious resolution is bathos. Seo’s manga plots usually relied on bathos to keep the serial nature of his manga plots rolling so none of the characters would ever commit to a conclusory change in their relationships.
That’s the nature of weekly serials: the mangaka continues juggling the harem balls until the readership has had enough and starts walking away. Only after does the editor pull the plug with an announcement like “such and such manga to end in three chapters.” Unrequited bathos is why harem manga have such unsatisfying endings. The readers of Fuuka and Suzuka, Seo’s previous works, can only hope The Café Terrace and its Goddesses ends in a well-planned manner, but they’re not holding their breath.
So, does the first episode back from a one-year hiatus have a bathos sequence? Of course! Four of the five goddesses expressed their feelings for Hayato out loud. But the scene devolved into a slapstick gag scene without awarding harem points. One girl even complained about “getting ahead” of the others!
I must point out one thing from the first half of The Café Terrace and its Goddesses: four of the five goddesses had bathos origin story arcs. Ami is the one girl who needs a backstory for how Grandma Kasukabe took her in. Let’s resolve that quickly, please.
Goddess Café Terrace Harem Points
Of course, I brought back the five races within the harem race for Hayato’s heart. The five goddesses (Ouka Makuzawa, Riho Tsukishima, Akane Hououji, Shiragiku Ono, and Ami Tsuruga) occupy five celestial realms. But, sometimes, these goddesses cross over to steal harem points away from their rivals. Sometimes. Rarely. That’s the spice of watching an episode each week for those surprises. Did that happen in this episode? Let’s find out!
The five goddesses act as avatars for harem archetypes, but I enjoy watching each one for their respective primary characteristics. Ouka is Grandma’s Little Girl, Riho Protects the Nest, Akane exudes Cool Charm, Shiragiku becomes a maneater as a Drunk Girl, and Ami provides the most comic relief through her Baka Charm. We hope a Café Goddess Terrace episode features a scene showing off these fun traits, but the girls can trade or mix and match. Who scored harem points after a year-long hiatus?
Protecting the Goddess Café Terrace Nest Points.
Ouka scored the most points here by falsely confessing her feelings for Hayato to stop Shiragiku and Akane’s public displays of affection in the café. Would Shiragiku and Akane flirting with Hayato affect customer service? Really? Debatable. Of course, the bathos dynamic ensured her maneuver would backfire comically.
Grandma’s Little Girl Points.
The points for this archetype only score if the girl impresses Hayato with how close the goddess was to his grandmother in the past. Did any of the girls do that in this Goddess Café Terrace episode? No, but one “boy” did. Sachiko (the cat and newest boarder in the Familia share house) found a fateful photograph in Grandma Sachiko’s family altar.
Baka Charm Points.
Ami always cleans up in this department. She deserves bonus points for a Looney Tunes banana peel gag topped off by a water basin drop on someone’s head.
Drunk Girl Points.
Hear me out. The reason for this archetype is not about intoxication. Shiragiku, after she gets drunk, loses her inhibitions and expresses her sexual fetish. That’s the point of the Drunk Girl in Seo’s works. Last season, we saw the funny and sexy scenes Shiragiku created when even a whiff of alcohol crossed her nose. Then the actual joke started: she had a smell fetish for male sweat. So, who’s the Drunk Girl in this episode? Ouka! She discovered her dominatrix fetish! How will she torment Hayato in the future? And what incredible sets of circumstances will Goddess Café Terrace concoct to allow Ouka to enjoy Hayato’s humiliation? I’m more excited about this season now.
Cool Charm Points.
Akane usually wins the most points here because her calm demeanor flusters Hayato. But she turned her coolheaded charm on Ouka to fluster her about sexual experience. However, Akane endeared herself after she revealed her vulnerability: scaredy cat over ghosts!
Goddess Café Terrace Makes Me Go Heh.
Ooh! The Familia Café Terrace continues from the summer drama and moves into fall. How do I know? Riho tells the regulars about a new fall menu. Ami has new funny Groucho glasses. Oho. Shiragiku and Akane hanging all over Hayato annoys Ouka. Jealousy? Appropriate public displays of affection? Harem drama! The workplace lacks discipline! Uh oh. Five girls declare war on the Familia Café Terrace. Who are they? Five new harem archetypes to worry about.
Serving Supersized Biscuits at the Goddess Café Terrace
Ouka scolds the other goddesses. The café needs discipline! Ami is all about it! Ouka accuses Akane and Shiragiku of being in love with Hayato! Uh duh. But don’t impede the café’s service experience! They didn’t. Riho! Back Ouka up! Uh oh, again! Riho is in love with Hayato, too! Ack. Riho also has a “history” with Hayato in Goddess Café Terrace. Oh well. To protect the café, Ouka will cede harem advantage points to win the war! What war are you trying to win, Ouka? She’s also in love with Hayato! Nobody believes her, even after all the biscuit discussion. Because hearing young adult women almost say “chin-chin” is hilarious, am I right?
Cover Ami’s ears. Akane, the most “adult” of the goddesses when Shiragiku is sober, cross-examines Ouka’s “relationship” with Hayato’s biscuit. Chinsukou is an Okinawan biscuit that looks like biscotti, but the pun with chin-chin is too easy not to ignore. Ouka did more than look at Hayato’s biscuit, right? Akane calls Ouka’s bluff! Goddess Café Terrace has censored dialogue! Akane is so bold! Akane would have done “this and that” to Hayato’s biscuit without hesitation. Not fair! Riho complains about Ouka “getting ahead” of everyone else’s turn to eat biscuits! Riho’s in love with Hayato, too!
Hahaha! Both Akane and Shiragiku admit they’ve already confessed their love to Hayato. Forget all that. Riho wants to know from Ouka how Hayato’s biscuit tasted! Eep. Ami is the odd one out. When will Goddess Café Terrace show her growing up? Har. Ouka claims she’s lying about everything. No one believes her! Ahahaha! Ami never fails to disappoint! Hayato, tell the girls about your grown-up biscuit! Uh oh. Hayato blames Ouka for teaching Ami “adult” language.
Play Adult Games, Goddess Café Terrace Wins Adult Prizes
Ami still plays retro video games, like Street Fighter II. She keeps the cartridge in a safe place. With her mask collection! “Blanka” demolishes “Cuile.” Ouka needs “girl talk” with her sister, Kikka. Hayato has a harem! And the other girls “got ahead” of Ouka! Kikka’s twin is not ready to admit she has feelings yet. Too much serious talking for Goddess Café Terrace now, so it’s time for loud yelling while naked in the bath! Steamy contrails of censorship! Ouka sees Hayato’s biscuit!
Oh. Ouka now likes Hayato. And that biscuit. Ha! Ami’s banana gives Ouka bathroom flashbacks. Oh, dear. A literal banana peel gag. And a water tub dropping! Big sis Ouka wants to tease Hayato. She awakened her dominatrix side! How often will we see Ami’s TRI (Tub Releasing Instrument) weapon?
Ack. This ghost story drama will end flatly. Bathos, people. That shadow looks like a cat sneaked inside the house. Ah. Goddess Café Terrace has an excuse for Akane fanservice and to introduce a vulnerability. She needs help to go to the toilet because she’s too afraid of the “ghost!” How embarrassing. The usually calm, collected Akane is a fraidy cat. This show has the best lines, “Just pull your underwear up already!” And she fainted after looking at a cat. Underboob is our reward.
Poor Hayato. He has another mouth to feed. Hahaha! Riho hates the Longcat meme! Even though it’s a boy, the kids named the cat after Grandma Sachiko.
Forward to the Past Before Back to the Future
Here we go. The grandmothers of the goddesses of the Familia Café Terrace have maiden names that Grandma Kasukabe recognizes. A bathos backstory develops for the summer season. Aha. Sachiko the cat found an old photo with six girls in it. Generational harem story!
Next time, the Familia Café Terrace has a knockoff café for competition. I like the tan one.
The Café Terrace and its Goddesses streams on Crunchyroll in Japanese audio and multiple language subtitles.
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