Subculture Anime Blog

Like, let’s hold hands!

Summary:

While preparing in the morning, Yumi recalls her crying in front of Kouichi the previous night. Noticing the short amount of time she has left, she declares her need to bring out her courage before leaving for school. Mao wakes up to find Kouichi watching fortunes on the television. She scolds Kouichi for finding Yuumi’s fortune rather than his own, and tells him to worry about more practical things like the weather. Kouichi suddenly asks Mao about reasons girls would cry, but he quickly changes his mind and runs out before her. Looking up at the sky, Kouichi returns to the house to get something just as Mao is leaving. When Kazuki catches up to Kouichi and Mao on the way to school, the two find that he is in an extremely good mood. Nana guesses reasons for her brother’s high tension, but the reason is obviously his previous kiss with Eriko.

Kazuki surprises Asuka with his good test results when they arrive at school, while Kouichi and Yumi reveal to each other that they have done decent. Noticing her good mood in class, Kouichi decides that Yumi’s crying did not carry any particular meaning. Nana and Narumi find Eriko in the halls during lunch break and begin following her. When Narumi begins talking about new udon dishes again, Eriko suggests a solution to one of her questions. When Kazuki meets Eriko afterwards, he brings up her slightly imperfect score. Eriko blames this on a careless miss, though it is the first time that it has ever happened. Bringing up the previous experiment, she mentions that she is also unsure of her own feelings for the first time. She states that it is not a bad feeling, however, putting a smile on Kazuki’s face. Mao sees Kouichi and Yumi walking home together, as Eiji approaches behind her. Mao expresses how lonely it feels, but assures Eiji that it is not what he thinks. Mao promises Eiji that she will see him later, before getting back to her duties.

Yumi suggests to Kouichi that they visit a shop to eat, so they begin searching for a suitable one. Bringing up Kouichi’s scenario in progress, Yumi begins describing the feelings of love. She then asks to hold Kouichi’s hand, which he agrees to as they continue walking together. Kazuki practices soccer with Asuka after school, but he accidentally injures her. The two find that no one is in the infirmary, but Kazuki refuses to take Asuka’s important foot lightly. Kazuki has Asuka ride on a bike with him, while she notices a side of him she had not known before. Kazuki speeds up as it starts to rain, so Asuka takes a tighter hold of him.

Kouichi and Yumi notice that it is raining as they leave a shop, so they both bring out their prepared umbrellas. After giggling at their timing, they decide to just use Kouichi’s. Yumi almost says something to Kouichi while walking with him, but she decides not to as she sticks closer to his arm. Akira unfortunately has no cover for the rain when he sees it outside, but Mitsuki appears to help him. Akira is offered to ride in Mitsuki’s limo, but not before her dog takes a liking to him. Mao hurries herself in the rain, but she stops when she sees Yumi sticking to Kouichi in the distance. Asuka discovers that her injury is not that serious at the clinic, so she thanks Kazuki. Finding that the rain outside will not stop, Kazuki mentions his ironic fortune to Asuka. A blushing Asuka is unable to say anything, while in her usual room at school, Eriko watches the rain pour outside.

Preview: Uh oh….I dunno.

Impression:

So Kazuki is so happy to be with “Futami-sempai” now that he’ll eat the same crazy dishes she does? My prediction about the half way points in anime is proving to be true, because this episode was actually a lot of fun. I’m pretty sure I originally didn’t like Asuka that much, but she was really cute in this episode. Eriko has obviously changed quite a bit with her careless misses (I was down two points……OH NO!) and smiles, so I guess they needed some other factor to keep Kazuki’s arc from concluding right here and now. It just kills me how ignorant as ever that guy is. The bike scene in the rain was really nice though. It just had a nostalgic feel to it, even though it still surprises me how much I see that kind of thing in anime (does that really happen that much in real life?). Speaking of the rain scenes, I totally loved that theme with every pair up. Mao’s stopping in her tracks and Eriko’s last shot at the end in particular were quite awesome, but I’ll save my usual spiel for another time.

I can’t believe they are still refusing to tell us what is going to happen to Yumi. They’ve hinted at a lot of things, and it’s obviously something major enough to make her push her feelings, but come on. Should I assume that it’s a moving away like everyone else is? Honestly, as much as I liked the transition to the ED at first, it’s starting to make me very frustrated. I wonder if this show would be more easily appreciated in a marathon without all the cliffhangers. Well I guess it wouldn’t be as fun for you guys, since you wouldn’t get to see me rant my head off after every episode. The next ep looks pretty crazy, but it’ll be awhile before we get to see it. By the way, did everyone else notice the drop in quality in this episode? It was almost as weird as the random style changes a few episodes back!