Subculture Anime Blog

Chiaki of the Counterattack

Summary:

Kana borrows a large amount of manga from Fuyuki, getting in a conversation with him about the need to read the series all at once and their favorite characters. As Kana leaves Fuyuki with gratitude, Chiaki watches with a bit of surprise not too far away. While Kana reads the manga later, she wonders why Chiaki was so late coming home. Chiaki eventually reveals that she was taking care of the class hamster, as Haruka arrives at the apartments below. Chiaki brings up Kana’s borrowing of Fuyuki’s manga, making Kana describe Fuyuki as much better than Chiaki. The two get into an argument about this, ending in Chiaki’s ignoring Kana. The sisters begin discussing the cold weather outside when Haruka comes home, then finding that they do not have many ingredients in the house to make dinner.

Later, Haruka expresses that she will have to do the groceries the next day. She further brings up that their neighbor is leaving for work in the current weather. The girls go outside to see the snow, but Haruka soon suggests that they go back inside because of the cold. Kana has her own plans, however, having her sisters play outside with her. The girls get into a snowball fight, which Chiaki doesn’t do so well in at first. On the ground, Chiaki looks up to see something in the apartments above. She doesn’t have much time to think about this, however, as she returns a counterattack on her sisters. After a bit more fun outside, the girls return inside to enjoy a bath. The three get under their kotatsu afterwards, but they are slightly troubled when a blackout occurs.

The girls express their troubles afterwards around a lit candle, but Kana leaves for the bath when her sister annoys her. She returns after a scream, as it was cold from the window being open. This was, of course, Kana’s own fault. Kana and Chiaki keep warm with the one heat pad they have left, discussing their shortage of food. While the girls continue to be troubled about the power shortage, Haruka remembers that Fuyuki’s father is away. When Kana brings up that Fuyuki may have a lot of supplies, the sisters go to check on him.

The girls guess that Fuyuki may be asleep when he does not answer the door, but Chiaki realizes that he is there. Fuyuki finally greets the sisters after several of Chiaki’s knocks, inviting them in. Chiaki wonders why Fuyuki would not open the door, but she is baffled after hearing the explanations he gives. The girls invite Fuyuki over after he gives them some supplies, but he denies because of the circumstances he has. Chiaki believes that Fuyuki is again being untrue to himself, recalling that it was him that she saw when she looked up to the apartments earlier. Chiaki realizes that Fuyuki is still standing behind his unlocked door, opening it and dragging him out.

Fuyuki stops Chiaki, but she again wonders why he will not be true to himself. Chiaki states that Fuyuki irritates her, forcing him to say what he really wants. Fuyuki does not understand why Chiaki always talks to him like this, starting to throw snowballs at her. Chiaki replies by sending some snow his way, and the other sisters eventually appear to join in. They all organize a snowball fight, where Chiaki and Fuyuki are paired together. The group returns to the apartment and a flame afterwards, and Haruka suggests that Fuyuki stay over. He actually agrees, surprising Chiaki a bit. The girls and Fuyuki fall asleep while gathered closely together under blankets, but the sisters find that Fuyuki is already gone when they wake up in the morning. When Kana and Chiaki look for him, they find that he is below shoveling snow. This makes Chiaki realize that this is the kind of person he is.

Preview: Fun times at home….much like the first season?

Impression:

Aw, what a great episode. I think this might have been the closest to some of the first season’s episodes we have gotten so far. They even mentioned the old Teru Teru Bozu antics! The situation the girls found themselves was really true to life, and I loved the typical conversations they all got into. Some say that Kana is the driving force out of the three sisters, and I could definitely agree with that after watching this episode. If it wasn’t for her, the girls probably would have spent a boring cold night inside. I really loved watching the snowball fights, and I couldn’t help but smile as poor Chiaki got ganged up on.

As I suspected last week, we did get some Fuyuki development. I really love Chiaki’s seeing right through him, and I still believe they have a great chemistry. I can’t help but wonder if they are trying to build up to something with Fuyuki, especially after having quite a drawn out introduction for him. Also, I laughed at Chiaki’s realization that their snowball teams were totally imbalanced. Haruka and Kana are pretty mean for sticking their little sister with the noob. The next episode looks more like the typical fun, so hopefully I’ll be able to find the time to watch it on time. Speaking of which, I should really be studying for a trig test right now…