Subculture Anime Blog

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Summary:

Aika and Akari decide to spy on Alice to see how she is doing now that she is a prima. Alice is able to please all of her customers, but the girls see that she is very nervous throughout the day. Alice eventually finds out that the girls have been watching her, but instead of being angry, she asks for a clear report on how she appeared. Hearing from Aika that she was stiff like a robot, Alice worries to herself again. To change the atmosphere, Akari suggests that they watch the moon later. While the girls sit outside the Aria company that night, they enjoy dangos due to the tradition on Man-Home. After the girls enjoy themselves in their usual way, Aika brings up that Al is late. Alice wonders when it was decided that he was coming, causing quite a bit of embarrassment for Aika. With this, Aika leaves to check on Al. In her absence, Alice takes the chance to thank Akari for the night. Shortly after, she wonders where Maa has wandered off to.

Out in the city, Aika finally finds Al. Al explains that he was late because of work, but he is also thankful because he was given the chance to watch the moon in his current state while walking Aika. Aika jumps on top of a well in her excitement, but she falls through the wood as it suddenly breaks. When Al attempts to help Aika out, he ends up becoming trapped along with her. The two continue trying to escape, but find that it is impossible. After discussing the past use of the well for awhile, Aika and Al are relieved to see President Maa above them. Aika attempts to get Maa to call Alice for them, but her orders to not seem to reach the kitten. Seeing the moon above them, Aika wonders about its appearance on Aqua. Al ends up giving a scientific explanation about this, giving Aika her usual thoughts about him. Aika is troubled when she bumps Al a little, and continues to become nervous as they sit in silence.

Al continues to bring up detailed conversation about the moon and other things, making Aika state that this is not allowed. After awhile, Al mentions how dark it is inside of the well. This makes Aika realize Al’s fear of the dark despite the work he does, making her tease him for a bit. The two are suddenly able to see the two moons above them, and Aika is only able to notice its beauty. After hearing Al’s explanation about the moons’ distance between each other, Aika is brought to tears because of her own situation with Al. When Al finishes his reasoning about the phenomenon, however, Aika’s mood changes. Before Aika is able to make a move, her stomach rumbles to ruin the moment. Akari and Alice appear soon after to save the two, teasing Aika for a bit on the way back. Al grasps Aika’s hand on the way there, surprising Aika and putting a smile back on her face. Reaching the Aria Company again, everyone enjoys themselves in the moonlight.

Preview: Alice makes a dramatic call in the rain about the hat Aika lost….just kidding.

Impression:

orz. I almost thought Al was going to turn out to be another typical dense male of anime, but the ending definitely changed my mind. Anyways, this episode was pretty great. I would say that I expected a little more after the constant stream of excellent episodes we’ve been having until now, but this episode was fine by itself. Being an Aika and Saito Chiwa fan definitely helped too though. There were a lot of funny parts to this episode, especially with President Aria’s usual antics and the dangos. I always like to imagine what the seiyu felt like while doing those types of scenes. There was a bit of continuation from the last episode towards the beginning with Alice’s advancement. I thought the moon viewing was a really great way to transition Alice’s struggle with her new position, though it looks like it may continue in the next episode as well. The rest of the episode was all around beautiful, especially with the parallel between the two moons and Aika’s relationship with Al. Love power! With only a few episodes left, I’m not sure if I want to be sad for excited anymore…I’ll be enjoying it till the end though.