Subculture Anime Blog

Contains yuri.

Summary:

When Miyako enters her room as usual, she is surprised to find a large cat inside. She begins to feed the cat, and despite wanting to keep a lot of the food to herself, she is able to be generous because of her recent winning of quite a bit of meat. Miyako shows the cat to Yuno shortly afterwards, then establishing that it is male. The two attempt to search for the cat’s home as the sun begins to set, but they don’t have much luck. They almost think about keeping it at the apartments, but the girls realize that the landlady would not allow it. Miyako comes up with a plan, then taking the cat back to Hiro’s apartment. After Miyako gives Hiro a scare by playing a joke on her, Sae also enters to observe the cat. The girls wonder if the cat has been abandoned, but Miyako recalls that it did not have any messages attached to it that would imply this.

The girls meet Miyako in her room that night to give her some cat food, and Miyako even takes her bath with the cat later. Miyako leaves her veranda door open that night before going to sleep, but when she wakes, she finds that the cat has not left. After a week has gone by, the girls are still unable to find an owner for the cat. Having become attached to the cat, the girls wonder if they should keep it. This makes them express the need to contact the landlady about it, as well as coming up with a name for the it. Miyako and the others see the cat for the last time that night, however, as it disappears the next morning. Yuno is put to tears by the cat’s departure, but when the girls ask what Miyako thought about this, she reveals that she had believed that the cat being free was the best. Miyako goes on with her usual activities afterwards, only believing that she would one day meet the cat again.

On another day, Yuno has a hard time waking up in the morning. When she meets Miyako outside, she wonders if she has come up with what she wishes to make for the upcoming Yamabuki festival. To Yuno’s surprise, Miyako expresses that she has come up with her plan at that very moment. At school, Yuno has difficulty helping the rest of the students because of her sleepiness. Finding that everyone else seems to know exactly what they wish to do, Yuno struggles with her thoughts. On the school rooftop that afternoon, Yuno notices a lone plant flowing in wind. She begins to ponder how the plant is able to grow in such a high place, but then panics after believing that this isn’t the type of thing she should be thinking about. Yuno attempts to get help from Yoshinoya-sensei afterwards, but she finds that her teacher if far too concerned about other things.

Miyako expresses her need to work on her project when she arrives home with Yuno, and despite her true uneasy feelings, Yuno only gives Miyako encouragement with a smile. Yuno then decides to visit Sae’s room, and after Sae and Hiro are forced to clear up a misunderstanding, Yuno has Sae show her the painting she did for a previous festival. Kishi visits Yoshinoya and Kuwabara at the school, as they exchange tickets with each other for following events. As Yuno returns to campus, she encounters two students with a video camera. This makes her remember Kishi, who was full of inspiring thoughts and words. A sudden flash of inspiration suddenly hits Yuno, so she then goes to thank several of the students inside the school. With this, Yuno spends most of the night working hard on the drawing she wishes to present. With only a short time until the festival, Yuno works hard despite her need to rest.

Preview: I’d listen to Yoshinoya-sensei sing…if you know what I mean.

Impression:

Those lilies sure were nice. Sae is a really good painter, huh? For the first time in awhile, this episode of Hidamari actually contained two separate stories. This being the type of show it is, and being adapted from a 4 koma manga, it really wasn’t a problem at all. Shaft does this with several of its shows too, which I suppose is worth mentioning. Although I don’t have the most experience with pets or animals in general, I appreciated the first half of the episode since it revealed quite a bit about Miyako’s character. I really loved her mention about how being free is the best, as this is really what her personality is all about. The watercolor effects that were used during some of these scenes was really fitting too, and I don’t recall Shaft using it very often. I also loved the speech bubbles used, as well as some of the effects presented with the sfx that would have been found in the comic.

The second half of the episode hit home with me a lot more. Yuno’s struggle with coming up with inspiration is something that all artists face at multiple times during their experience. Things like seeing a fascinating phenomenon or hearing inspiring words from someone can all fuel inspiration, though it doesn’t usually seem obvious at first. Yuno’s struggle towards the end was a joy to watch as well, since persistence is also something that all artists have to have on a regular basis. I also love how Yuno put on a face in order to keep Miyako from worrying about her, as she did not wish to interfere with her work. Style-wise, I really liked the zooming effect they used twice in the second half of the episode. Using camera-like techniques in animation is something that Shaft has always imitated well, and I think that is inspiring in itself. The end of this episode almost suggested that the story would continue next week, but I’m really not sure if I should expect it with this being a mostly episodic show.

On a side note, the OP single was released recently. I don’t think the song has the same impact without the animation to accompany it, but I might change my mind after listening to it a few more times.