Subculture Anime Blog

The most epic banana peel slip in anime history.

Summary:

During the girls’ usual rounds, a conversation is brought up by Alice about how she will be spending her time with Athena the next day. Akari and Aika become surprised that it was not Athena who suggested the event, but Alice. Alice begins making preparations for the next day when she gets home, such as a map of events and lunch plans. Alice takes a bath with President Maa shortly afterwards, then finding that Athena has returned home when she is done. She discovers that she is asleep, however, and assumes that she is very tired when she does not answer her calls. Alice simply leaves the note that she wrote on Athena’s pillow, before going to sleep herself. She is woken by the sound of Athena leaving the room later, however, making Alice worried about Athena going to work that morning.

Alice waits with President Maa during the day, but Athena does not return until much later in the day. Holding the letter in her hand, Athena aplogizes to Alice and attempts to convince her that they can still go out at the moment. Alice wonders why Athena is apologizing, as she starts leaving the room. Athena turns to stop her, but she slips on a banana peel from President Maa. Meanwhile, President Aria accidentally breaks a cup in the Aria Company. Akari panics at this, but she is sent to answer the ringing phone while Alicia takes care of the mess. On the other end of the line is Alice, who announces a big S.O.S..

When Akari and Alicia visit Alice, they find that Athena is acting very distant from them. Alice explains what happened after Athena fell over, and it turns out that she is suffering from amnesia. Akari notices that even Athena’s personality has changed, then suggesting to Alice that a clinic may be the first priority. The group finds that Athena remembers President Aria’s name shortly afterwards, however. Athena does not remember Alice or Akari’s names when they test her, but she does remember Alicia. Without giving a proper explanation, Alicia suggests that they just watch over Athena for the day. If she does not become well after that, they would take her to a clinic.

After Alicia leaves, Akari wonders if they should take Athena to familiar places to improve her memory. Seeing that she is now very tidy and responsible, however, Alice almost believes that it would be better for her memories to stay gone. When the girls visit a shop Athena usually frequents, they find that she remembers President Maa’s name after seeing a dish she usually has. Athena still cannot remember Alice’s name, however, so Alice angrily suggests that they go back to the Orange Planet after finishing. Alice has Athena pick out her oar out of many at the company, and Athena amazes the girls by picking hers out successfully. She remembers Akari’s name afterwards, but Alice despairs that this came before hers. The girls begin heading to the Aria Company to meet Alicia, but Akari finds that Alice is still troubled over being the only one who cannot be remembered.

Once the girls reach the Aria Company, Athena meets a troubled Alice outside. She begins asking what she was to Alice, and if she was hated or liked by her. Alice begins falling into tears, so Alicia appears to wonder if Athena has done enough. Athena agrees, finally revealing that her having amnesia was a lie. Athena reveals how troubled she was about how Alice thought about her, and that faking amnesia was her plan to find out how she really felt. With a little bit of tears left in her eyes, Alice states that she really hates this part of Athena. While Athena chases after Alice in apology, Akari wonders if Alicia had realized the situation the whole time. Akari is surprised that even one of the great water fairies could become troubled, but Alicia states that they are normal girls as well. Akari wonders if Alicia is ever troubled about her as well, but Alicia keeps this a secret.

Preview: Another Aria adventure~

Impression:

Did Impz die? Probably. With all of the “T.T uhhhh~” and crying, I almost fell for Alice too. Having Aika being exempt from most of the episode didn’t help! I definitely teared up during the final scene too, and I am continually amazed by how well the seiyu and directors do on this show. I still can’t help but think in the back of my mind about how these situations are set up though. If someone had amnesia, wouldn’t you tell them your name rather than wait for the person to remember it? I realize that storytelling is always set up this way though, and there’s definitely no complaining when it is presented so perfectly.

Even though her actions were very strange as usual, Athena’s methods of finding out how Alice thought of her were spectacular. Athena and Alice’s interaction is always a treat to watch, especially with Alice struggling to be herself like most anyone does. Some of the great animation work shown during a lot of the scenes just enhanced the great feelings I had, especially while Alice was sitting at the Aria Company. I feel like Aria is moving just a bit faster now development-wise this season, with things like Alicia revealing similar thoughts to what she had in episode six. Alicia is becoming more real, even blushing in front of her junior! Speaking of juniors and seniors, I’ve totally been getting spoiled by Shirukii lately. Why do people have to write awesome blogs that I feel required to read? What a jerk! The next episode looks like another mystifying feel good episode, but all I can think about for next week is spring break…