Subculture Anime Blog

…then I’m not giving you any chocos!!!

Summary:

When Yuno and Miyako wake in the morning, they find that it is quite cold outside. As the two make it down the steps from their apartments, they see that Sae has been waiting for Hiro. Miyako quickly becomes attached to Hiro when she arrives with what seems like a package of food, but while this happens, Sae leaves in what seems to be slight annoyance. During class, Yoshinoya-sensei brings up that Valentines Day is coming soon. Yuno receives a mail in the meantime, becoming surprised that it is from Sae’s younger sister Chika. Discussing this with Miyako afterwards, the two realize that Sae must be worried about Chika’s entrance exam scores. When Miyako sees that Yuno is slightly anxious, she takes her to look outside where they first received their entrance scores. The two recall how happy they were on that day, and that it has already been one year since that time. Yuno continues to be anxious throughout the rest of her classes, but she and Miyako are overjoyed when they find that Chika has passed. When the two attempt to find their seniors, they see that Hiro is already watching Sae congratulate her sister on the phone. When Sae turns to see her smiling friends, she becomes quite embarrassed as usual. Meanwhile, the landlady makes a delivery at the Hidamari Apartments.

During lunch, the girls find that Hiro had prepared a large meal for everyone. Sae questions this, since they weren’t sure of Chika’s results, but Hiro states that she had faith in her. When Yuno receives more mail from Chika, Hiro and Miyako decide to send some back as well. As the girls walk down from the rooftop afterwards, Sae’s classmate Natsume confronts them about it. When Sae states that they were simply having lunch in the good weather, however, she runs away in despair of her own situation. While walking home, Yuno brings up that Chika is not living alone. Although Chika wanted to, Yuno and Miyako realize that doing so is quite difficult. This makes the two remember the day they first met each other, and when Yuno brings up the rabbit drawings they did, Miyako enters her room to find hers. The girls gather to reminisce about this afterwards, but Miyako soon bothers Hiro about making them something to eat. Hiro panics when she finds spoiled oranges in her cabinets, but she soon has Miyako settle for a snack. The group then begins to discuss Miyako’s middle school uniform, which she always wears while doing cleaning chores. The conversation is interrupted when Sae receives another call from Chika, wanting her older sister to praise her again.

In the school infirmary, Yoshinoya-sensei asks Kuwabara-sensei who she will be giving her valentines chocolates to. She suggests that she would feel sorry for the Headmaster unless she gave him some, and despite Yoshinoya-sensei’s annoyance from the Headmaster’s scolding her earlier, Kuwabara-sensei makes her realize that she has no one else to give any to. As the Headmaster was listening in on this, he skips away in joy. Yuno and the others meet the landlady in the afternoon, who attempts to give them more pizza flyers. The girls realize how troubled she is while having to deliver these in the cold, but they still do not wish to help her take several of the advertisements. The girls prepare dinner after warming up inside the apartments, enjoying a warm nabe together. Yuno becomes nervous when completing the dish with the missing tofu, and Miyako is punished when she teases Hiro as usual. Sae takes off her glasses when they begin to fog, but produces results other than desired. Yuno and the others attempt to help Hiro with the dishes after the meal, but she surprises them by announcing that there is dessert as well. Yuno recalls how much she talked with Chika while in the bath that night, but when she returns to her room, she finds that Chika is still so excited that she cannot sleep. With this, the two continue exchanging mails.

Preview: Koma monster.

Impression:

Oh man, I laughed so hard at the Headmaster. If I got Valentine’s chocolate from Yoshinoya-sensei, I think I might have started skipping too. To sum up this episode, I’d probably have to call it a return to form. As much as I did enjoy the last episode, I’ve already gotten used to Shaft throwing over the top first episodes at us to start off series. Besides, with the Hidamari specials being paced the same way the first season was, I wasn’t expecting a major change in x365 at all. That’s perfectly fine, of course, since I loved this episode. Along with the usual slice of life greatness, we mostly saw the girls interact with Sae’s sister Chika through phone mails. The episode played in quite well with last week’s, brining back several items as if they were memories. What I think is so enjoyable about this show is that, while the girls simply discuss everyday things in the Hidamari apartments, it almost feels as if we are right there with them. While living similar lives, the conversations become unforgettable despite how simple they are.

And of course, I’m going to have to mention the artsy parts of this episode. Why? Because it’s one of the reasons I love this show so much. It was awesome seeing the photographic elements return to the show early on, mainly with Yuno’s alarm clock and her teddy bear. Subtle things like the drawings on her board were a real joy too see too. Any artist knows that if he or she is serious, a room would be very full of this type of stuff. Even if it was funny, the representation of Miyako’s room was very realistic. I’m not sure how many would have noticed this either, but when Miyako mentioned how much work she still needed while looking at her bunny drawing, she was talking about the imperfect line work. If any of you laughed as hard as I did during that scene, you’re clearly one of us. The cat paw mention was also great (common sense for anyone who cooks), as was Sae’s fogging glasses.

I’d also like to discuss Sae’s sibling relationship with Chika, since it plays on such a great combination of an energetic sister and a loving, yet dishonest one. Anyone who has siblings can see how realistic this type of interaction is, and watching all of Sae’s friends support her sister was just heartwarming. I also loved the focus on text messages, since it is such a common form of interaction in today’s society. And of course, any Kugimiya Rei fans probably jumped for joy from watching this episode, since she is Chika’s voice actor. But man, I feel like I’m starting to go a bit tl;dr now. That might be a good thing though, since the last season just didn’t have many shows that made me want to talk so much about shows I absolutely love. I think I’m going to replay the OP for the 20th time now…and wait for next week’s episode in excitement.