LET ME BE YOUR IMOUTO. My final impression is included.

Summary:

With time running out in the competition, Sachiko finally takes action by asking Yumi to stand. This is interrupted by Touko’s rushed entrance into the Rose Mansion, though Yumi certainly stands upon her appearance. Touko quickly asks for Yumi to make her a souer, shocking those who are in the mansion. The competition is soon announced to have ended, and when it comes to the red card, Sachiko decides that it is Touko’s belonging. The competition ends as planned, but a bit after, Yoshino and the others begin asking what Yumi plans to do about Touko. When Yumi next meets Touko, in hopes of handing her the rosary, the two decide to go on a date. This brings the girls to travel around the country via train and bus later, until the girls finally reach Touko’s grandfather in a hospital.

While visiting various places and meeting people in the hospital, Touko finally reveals her circumstances to Yumi. Her true parents were lost in a car accident, though she was saved as a small baby. Her current adoptive mother was actually a friend of her true mother’s at Lillian. Touko had overheard her parents talking about her true mother at times, and she followed her mother’s footsteps by pursuing drama. Touko eventually started to feel as if she was hurting her current parents despite how much she loved them, and had even previous left home because of her fate. Touko tells all of this to Yumi because of her wish to be closer to her, and on the train ride home, Touko describes how much she once despised her. Despite her belief that she couldn’t be with such a cheerful person though, Yumi had proved otherwise. With this, Yumi suggests that Touko would only have to wait a bit longer.

Impression:

Really? …….really? Looking forward to season five, guys!

Well, despite not being made official yet, Yumi and Touko did finally end up together by the end. So…..I guess I’m satisfied. This episode had a lot of highs, but a lot of lows to counter them as well. I was getting really giddy throughout the episode, from things like:

• Yumi’s using her butt to hide her card (who’s gonna touch that…ew!)
• The tsun tsun tsun DERE radar going off like crazy towards Touko
• Touko’s running around while holding a book in one of the most awkward positions ever
• Yumi’s constantly getting rosary-blocked
• Yumi and Touko holding hands and hugging

…..and quite a few other ridiculous things that normal people shouldn’t giggle uncontrollably at. But while I understand how necessary it was to go over Touko’s background, and exactly why she was always acting the way she was, the exposition laid out for this really made what should have been a climax a little slow. And adding to all that, the rosary scene from last week’s preview only ended up being some vision Yumi had of the future. Does this mean half of the fifth season will be just as draggy!? I kid, but still…

Final Impression:

Let’s be honest here. There were two shows this season that I normally wouldn’t have blogged on normal occasion, and one of them was definitely Marimite. I had already expressed my hesitation about covering the show at the beginning of the season, but as I always seem to do, I ended up doing it at the urge of fans. That said, this season of Marimite ended up being not too unlike the seasons proceeding it. While I enjoyed myself overall, I didn’t feel as enthused as veteran fans, and there were some parts that were too slow for me to feel in touch with. Still, I can’t say I didn’t enjoy writing about the show (I had quite a bit of fun with a lot of the episodes, actually), and the series was a guaranteed watch after the first three seasons anyways. I don’t have much to say to top the season off, since there will be a fifth season (according to novel readers and the open ending after this week’s episode), but I hope fans were at least able to put up with my silliness for the majority of this season.

This much love…in the mouth.

Summary:

After their previous engagement, Noriko notices that Touko has simply reverted to her usual self. On the day of the card searching event, Yumi takes the chance to give chocolate to Sachiko. The two meet in private to do this, happily exchanging their Valentine’s gifts with each other. Sachiko wonders if Yumi wouldn’t be giving any chocolate to Touko, and because of the previous misunderstanding Touko seemed to have, Yumi confirms that she would leave her alone for now. Yumi walks in on Shimako giving chocolate to Noriko, resulting in her usual embarrassing giddying. When the girls meet a waiting Yoshino in the mansion, they learn that she does not even know if Rei would be appearing.

Sachiko eventually passes Touko in the stairwell, then asking if she plans on running away. Touko wonders what she means by this, as this would not be appropriate if she simply weren’t entering the search, so Sachiko describes her belief that Touko is running from Yumi. After confirming that Touko is afraid of meeting Yumi, Sachiko states that she is as well. As Yumi is straightforward, it was if she was a mirror that could reflect all of the flaws in a person. When Touko then wonders why Sachiko is with Yumi, she replies that it is obviously because she likes her. If she were to show her current flaws to Yumi, she would simply change them. Sachiko goes on to describe Touko as the only rival she could see, since there was no mistake in Yumi’s choice of an imouto. Before Sachiko can leave Touko with these words, she stops her with determination.

As the competition starts, the Roses are surprised to see that Touko is actually entering the race. With the rules explained and clues spread throughout the school, several of the school’s girls search throughout the campus. As Rei arrives with hopes that she would still be able to find Yoshino’s card, she notices that it is taped to a wall nearby a calling student. Sachiko sits down for tea with many of her fans and the Roses around her, explaining that she has not given up with confidence. Touko meanwhile researches maps, with the conversation she previously had with Yumi in mind. When Noriko finds Touko in the small room she is in though, she expresses that Yumi would not have hidden her card in a place only Touko would be able to find. As Yumi’s heart is much larger than the small room, Touko is currently unable to understand her. Noriko believes that Touko has escaped such confinement though, giving her encouragement before parting with her.

Rei surprises the Roses by appearing at the mansion, but although it appears as if she has found Yoshino’s yellow card, this turns out only to deal with information about the treat she planned on making Yoshino upon returning. Rei had certainly found the card, but the actual carrier walks in next. This is a girl named Chisato – the girl Rei had seen earlier. While recalling her memories of Yumi, and realizing the meaning behind Sachiko’s liking of her, Touko runs towards the mansion. At the same time, Sachiko starts to take action. By the time Touko reaches the mansion in a rush, Yumi can only greet her with a surprised face.

Preview: BE MY IMOUTO.

Impression:

Mmmm. Sachiko’s lips. A cliffhanger!? In MY Marimite episode? I was clearly watching this show at a bad time during my last review, because I was loving this week’s episode. (1:00 a.m. in the morning clearly gives me a much better view.) Apparently I wasn’t the only one getting giddy, because watching Yumi have fantasies about herself and Sachiko had me rolling in my chair. So did her face after walking in on Shimako and Noriko, which was brilliant. It was nice to see Touko finally take some initiative as well, and the play on maps and rooms played in nicely with what we have heard from the cast earlier in the season. Sachiko and Touko’s “rivalry” makes for a nice theme too, though it’s clearly a super friendly one in this anime’s environment. Next week is the moment we’ve all been waiting for…..since the very beginning the season and earlier. Bring it on, already!

Also, I’m pretty sure Sachiko decided to have tea time because she just didn’t want to get up and walk around. Don’t listen to her lies.

More tsundere than twintails? T…t…t….TWIN DRILLS.

Episode 10 Summary:

• Yumi initially chases after Touko after the election results, but surprises Noriko by deciding to leave her alone soon afterwards. Noriko starts to believe that Yumi is abandoning Touko, but this is actually quite the opposite. Noriko attempts to figure out Yumi’s reasoning behind this throughout the day, but only feels as if she is drifting further away.
• Sachiko finds Yumi’s actions strange as well, and upon reaching home, she finally learns from Suguru that Touko had visited Yumi’s home before xmas and even the rosary presentation. Sachiko also sees that Suguru likes Yumi, though this is a different kind of like than he usually implies.
• As Mami appears at the Rose mansion later, she announces the upcoming Valentine’s event that would be repeating from the previous year. As this involves the hiding of cards, Noriko and Shimako both suggest each other for positions that are not quite clear in writing. In the end, the two girls reveal that they simply wanted the chance to find each other’s cards.
• After the meeting, Yoshino finally takes the chance to express and ask about Yumi’s current calmness. She relates this to her relationship with Touko, so Yumi simply implies that she no longer feels the need to rush things to get what she really wants. Yoshino takes this to heart, even hoping that Yumi wouldn’t leave her behind in turning into an adult.
• Alone with her in the Rose mansion one day, Noriko finally takes the chance to ask her if Yumi likes Touko. When she confirms, she is relieved from all the worries she had been carrying throughout the previous days.

Episode 11 Summary:

• Touko stays by her struggling mother’s bedside at night, then greeting her father who worries about Touko’s guilt. He suggests that Touko find her own path.
• Touko eventually returns to school, and is offered to become the drama club manager’s imouto. Touko has to decline despite the circumstances she suggests, as it would be wrong to do this simply because of Yumi.
• Suguru meets Touko at the school, but during a drive with her, he becomes angry towards her actions. He realizes that she likes Yumi, but also that she is purposely running away while hoping that someone would catch her. Before they part, Suguru also confirms that it is okay for Touko to be happy.
• When Touko sees the card flyers around school the next day, she recalls the first time she saw Yumi during the previous year’s event. At that time, she was amazed while watching from afar. Touko feels clumsy as she takes one of the flyers, and receives another one from Noriko later.
• When Yumi sees Touko after classes, she offers to walk home with her. She also takes the chance to apologize for her earlier actions, deciding that it would be fine if Touko was just herself. Touko eventually takes Yumi’s earlier offering as action taken because of her family, however, taking severe offense to it.
• Touko confronts Sachiko later, wondering if she had told Yumi the truth about her. This was that her parents were not truly her own. Sachiko had not known about this though, and as Suguru did not seem as if he told Yumi either, Touko is then overridden with guilt because of her misunderstanding.
• Counting to 100 as Yumi had earlier instructed her, Touko starts to feel as if she is losing everyone. When Noriko reaches her, Touko given a huge relief in tears.

Preview: I wonder who’s gonna find the card. Fufufufu.

Impression:

Uh oh! The dere alarm goes WEweweWewEwEwew~!

I’m starting to feel really out of touch with this series. The pacing seems extremely whacky right now, going from a slow and mostly unneeded episode 10 to the emotion-fest that 11 was. It’s much easier to understand Touko’s feelings now, but I still feel like a lot of the direction is really forced at the moment. The animators are obviously struggling with their budget in attempt to add drama to scenes too, as a lot of episode 11 seemed to come out of one really bad Code Geass episode. Touko’s feeling dirty about Yumi had me giggling for quite awhile, and I liked the majority of her despairing climax, but I ultimately feel like everything was rushed. Though I’ve already seen a lot of Noriko fans popping out in recent weeks, I can’t say I’m a huge fan of her character either. It would have been better if it was Yumi who greeted Touko in the end! ….Ah, but we’re obviously going to have to drag on for a bit longer to see that happen…. Knowing the inevitable makes it all worse!!!

Just as planned!

Summary:

With the start of the new semester in place, Yumi cannot keep her eyes off Touko. Noriko also notices that Touko has been acting as if nothing had happened, confirming this with Yumi in the Rose Mansion later. The rest of the roses express their concern as well, but they can only wonder if Touko has some sort of circumstance dealing with this. More important to the moment, Sachiko brings up the need to transfer their positions in the upcoming election. The three new Roses would be Shimako, Yoshino, and Yumi, bringing no major change to the council.

As the three apply later, however, they and several other students are shocked to see Touko appear in order to apply for one of the positions. Yoshino expresses her worry about this in the mansion later, not because she believes that only they are just, but because she does not want to be separated from her friends. The girls further bring up that Touko could have achieved one of the positions by becoming Yumi’s soeur, and though this causes Yumi to wonder about herself again, Noriko again states that Touko does not hate her.

Noriko confronts Touko the next day, wondering about her reasons, but Touko responds by implying that this is not something that she even needs to explain to friends. Noriko agrees, and though she expresses how much she likes Touko, she must side with the Roses this time. As tears generate from Noriko’s eyes, Touko parts with her for the time being. Tsutako finds a worrying Yumi in class elsewhere, easily seeing that she is worried about Touko. Tsutako mentions that they cannot figure out Touko because she is always wearing a mask, and because of this, Yumi would not be able to beat her in her current state. With this thought in mind, Yumi and Yoshino observe Touko in her classroom later. They find it strange that the atmosphere has not changed from the usual, and when Noriko meets with them, she further reveals that Touko has been ignoring the student’s talk about the election whenever they brought it up.

Yumi eventually meets an older woman, who has visited the school in order to deliver something to her daughter. Yumi offers to take the woman to her daughter’s class, but she instead has Yumi lead her to the teacher’s office. After all, her daughter probably wouldn’t like it if she suddenly met her in class. While on the way, the woman takes note of the flyers on the wall. She had heard a lot about the upcoming election from her daughter, who wished the best for the three Roses. With this in mind, Yumi becomes much more confident in the Rose Mansion later. This was not just about herself, but those who cared for her and the others.

Noriko later meets Touko in the classroom, worrying when she sees that she isn’t wearing her proper footwear. Touko denies that there is anything wrong, but this causes Noriko to only further worry about Touko’s seemingly having fun during all of this. The girls then visit the teacher’s office, where Touko receives her shoes that had been dropped off by her mother. When the teacher suggests how good of a mother she has, Touko can only agree with a genuine smile.

The day of the election finally comes, so the Roses all get their support from their older sisters. The girls each deliver speeches in their own ways, and as Yumi heads to the podium, she offers her support to Touko’s way of doing things. This would be alright despite her still wanting to make Touko her soeur, and even if she did not understand her actions. When the winners are announced later, the student body finds that Yumi and the Roses had won as expected. When Yumi looks towards Touko in the crowd, she finds her smiling with her support. Noriko then meets Yumi, expressing her realization that Touko had planned on losing from the start. With this, Yumi chases after Touko.

Preview: Key-holder.

Impression:

Um……what? I’m cornfused. Is Touko maso? An attention whore? Just a girl with needs??? If she just wanted to make Yumi look like some worrying wifu for half the episode, she definitely succeeded. (She was really subtle while spying on Touko.) We got a lot of hints towards Touko’s thoughts in this episode, though I still think Suguru will have all the answers for Yumi in the end. The suggestion that Touko wears a mask really hit base with me, as it’s one of those frequent themes that I always love. It was also humorous to finally see Touko’s mother, and hearing about how different Touko acts while at home. (This show really is into the dramatic irony.) Either way, I can only hope that Touko will finally become Yumi’s soeur by the end of what episodes we have left this season. I’m really not willing to wait for another season to see the inevitable.

Sad Yumi is sad.

Summary:

The Roses notice an awkward atmosphere in the mansion, so Sachiko explains that Yumi has been turned down by Touko. Most of the girls are shocked by this, but despite their feelings, Sachiko requests that they distance themselves from the topic in respect towards the two girls. Yumi continues to struggle with her feelings, but when the New Year comes, she is becomes excited upon receiving an invitation to a party from Sachiko. Over the phone, Sachiko informs Yumi that she has also invited Touko. While on the train to the meeting place later, Yumi meets Noriko. Noriko takes the chance to apologize for the feelings she pushed onto Yumi among other things, but as she suggests that it doesn’t seem like Touko dislikes her, Yumi guesses that she may have only messed up the timing or atmosphere of the situation.

The two meet Shimako upon reaching the train station, then making their way to the estate to join the rest of the girls. The Roses are soon treated to an elegant meal by Sayako, but even while they enjoy themselves, Yumi can only worry about Touko’s not coming to the event. Yumi’s mind is taken off of this after a series of games and further gatherings, and she even expresses her realization of everyone’s concern to Sachiko later. Before entering the bath that night, Yumi mentions that there is a cold wind in her heart despite how much fun she has been having. As she had said this out loud, the other girls clearly see that she has been worrying about Touko. When Shimako meets the group, she suggests that she feels this way because it is as if the room Yumi has created for Touko is empty.

Yumi takes Shimako’s metaphor to heart, and reflecting on it as she rests with the others that night, she has a dream where she has difficulty seeing Touko through a foggy glass. On her way home after the gathering, Yumi wonders if she should seek out Suguru as he suggested she do. She worries that Touko may not like this though, and as it would be against Touko’s will, Yumi starts to think that this would be an action unworthy of an older sister. Upon the start of the new semester, Yumi is surprised to see Touko in the morning. Further more, as Touko greets her, it seems as if she is acting like the previous event between them never happened.

Preview: Green is the color of choice!

Impression:

The majority of this episode really didn’t get us anywhere specific, but it certainly wasn’t a waste. From the new year to the start of the new semester, it only took 20 minutes to really feel an advancing of time; especially with Yumi’s constant worry about her future soeur. The metaphor about rooms was a nice one to play on too, even if it wasn’t the most powerful, especially with Yumi’s dream sequence towards the end of the episode.

Presentation-wise, there were a few silly moments this week. Touko’s face being in the sky, first of all, had me laughing out loud at the least expected moment. I mean, really… Is this an 80’s shounen anime, or what? Some of the animation wasn’t great either, reflecting on a lot of peoples’ opinion about Pizza Hut not being enough to make this installment season three quality. Oh, and is that Yumi fanservice I see…..? I guess there are firsts for everything.

Notes:

• TAKE IT ALL OFF! Woo~! Sachiko is ready to get right down to business, huh?
• Er….I mean….uh……. Pizza Hut.
• Cheating Noto is a cheater.
• Yumi: “Nyoro~n.”
• Change of hairstyles galore. Count that one as a ribbon color, aurabolt.

Dere dere dere dere TSUN!

Summary:

Sitting next to her during church service, Yumi wonders if she should tell Sachiko about Touko’s visiting her house the previous night. When Yumi and Yoshino arrive at the Rose Mansion later, Noriko presents them with a package from Yoko. Inside are decorations for the upcoming party. The two further see that Shimako is preparing a roll cake under Rei, which Yumi realizes is Rei’s way of passing down something before she graduates. Yoshino leaves to get Nana as the rest of the Roses and guests arrive, but when she returns, she and Rei both freeze because of their lingering feelings. To Yumi’s relief, Tsutako saves them from this moment by gathering everyone for a picture. Sachiko has everyone sit down to introduce themselves to Nana afterwards, and despite Yoshino’s worrying about her having been seated away from her future soeur, the introductions go quite well. Touko’s becomes quite impressive, as she plays a part of a play to catch everyone’s attention.

The girls have free time afterwards, as Yumi takes note of Touko’s speaking with Shimako. Talking with Shimako in private afterwards, she learns that Touko was questioning about her family’s shrine among other things. Surprising Yumi, Shimako also mentions her brother to her for the first time. When the two return to the rest of the group, they find that Yoshino is quite angry with Rei. They soon learn that Rei had just revealed to Yoshino that she wouldn’t be attending Lillian’s university. Rei’s reason for leaving was her want to learn something that was not offered at Lillian’s college. Yoshino and Rei make up after a short while, but this leads Yumi to ask Sachiko of her university plans. When Sachiko announces that she would be attending Lillian’s college, Yumi is put to relief. Yumi prepares to give Sachiko a gift, but she leaves when she sees Touko exiting.

Yumi takes the chance to walk with Touko, starting idle talk with her. When she brings up Rei and Sachiko’s circumstances, Touko states that not everything always goes as planned for people. When Touko was younger, she had become very interested in drawing maps. However, she eventually realized that this would not go as well as she planned. In the end, Touko could not create the map that she wanted to. After awhile, Yumi finally asks if Touko would become her soeur. Even as she prepares to hand over her rosary, however, Touko turns down the offer after expressing that she is not someone who would go along with such a thing so easily. Left alone in the aftermath, Yumi meets with Sachiko who takes the chance to present her with a gift. Yumi replies with her own gift, but soon after, she starts falling into tears because of what had just happened. With this, Sachiko advices her to simply keep trying. Yumi’s feelings were different than Sachiko’s, who had thought it didn’t matter when she was turned down by Shimako, Yumi agrees, but she still takes the chance to cry in Sachiko’s arms.

Preview: Yukata time.

Impression:

Touko, you freaking jerk!!! Yumi must have not built up enough hearts before going in for the kill! But really, what a disappointment. I was so ready when Yumi busted out that rosary, only to see Touko go “Just as planned!” and run off like the little girl she is. Should have known! I guess we really are going to have to wait for Suguru to tell Yumi her secret before this will become anywhere close to getting resolved. I also loved Touko’s flashbacks to her map coloring antics; an excuse to show her as a loli IMHO. The rest of the episode really didn’t get us anywhere new, though it wasn’t boring at the least. Rei finally made up with Yoshino, and it seems like Nana is guaranteed her spot with the Roses now.

Notes:

• No, Yumi. Telling Sachiko about Touko and your room would be very very bad.
• Nice burger king crown, Rei. Hope Pizza Hut wasn’t watching.
• Kanako would join the basketball team.
• Needed more twister screen time.
• The wind really picks up at the most convenient moments.
• The only places that Yumi can cry are in the bathroom or Sachiko’s chest.

“But Yumi-sama…”

“Are you sure this is going to be okay?”

“….”

“Huh? Mom!?”

“So how did last night go?”

“Score!”

“Yumi…how could you…”

“Look Yumi, about last night…”

“It’s okay! I will support you!”

“Yumi…!”

Seeking comfort elsewhere.

The end.

Have I ever mentioned that I’m a fan of Zyl’s work?

• Marimite 4th Season – 06

Bringing in the love love cliches for great justice. Thanks, Yumi’s mom.

Summary:

• While thinking about the previous events at the theme park, Yumi feels as if someone is calling out to her.
• While questioning her mother about this, Yumi gets a call from Suguru who tells her that Touko has gone missing from her home after an argument with her family.
• Elsewhere, Rei expresses her worry about Yoshino’s gaining a potential soeur to Sachiko, who in turn gives her sympathy. Rei reveals that she will not be attending a Lillian university, but Sachiko will be in order to be close to Yumi.
• Touko eventually shows up at Yumi’s house, after being found by Yuki. Yumi denies that she has contacted Touko’s family, then noticing that Touko is very cold from wandering outside for so long.
• After dinner with the Fukuzawa family, Touko decides to finally go home.
• The next day, Suguru appears to offer his giving Yumi one of Touko’s secrets. Giving her time to think about this, he leaves her with thanks from Touko’s family.
• In the Rose Mansion, Yoshino asks Yumi to invite more people to the upcoming party so that she could invite Nana more naturally.
• When Yumi asks Noriko to invite Touko and Kanako, she refuses in annoyance. In the end though, Shimako suggests that they all go to invite them.
• Yoshino privately apologizes to Noriko while in the halls, then guessing that she truly just wanted Yumi to ask Touko to come herself.
• Touko and Kanako announce that they will be busy during the day of the party, but they agree to go if they are released from activities early.
• As Yumi leaves, she sees Touko bow to her to express her gratitude. She soon realizes that if she did not take some sort of action, Touko would become even more distant from her.

Preview: Things heat up at the party!

Impression:

Just went I started to feel like this series was getting draggy, this episode dished out a whole lot of awesomeness to make up for it. Yumi’s obvious reactions towards her mom were hilarious (T_T), and her interaction with Touko caused all kinds of unintended giddiness. The themes of friendship showed through so much in every scene in this episode, from bike rides to hand holding, making for all kinds of win no matter how you look at them. Yumi is clearly getting closer to Touko now, with her mecha anime-esque visions with her, and it looks like this won’t even be the end of Sachiko after the next graduation. With this, Yumi’s harem can only get bigger! We can’t say the same for Rei, but at least Yoshino has a lot of flashing to look forward to in the following years.

I wonder what Touko’s secret is…

EDIT: aurabolt has started counting the number of times Yumi changes her ribbon in each episode.

No jet-coasters allowed!

Summary:

Yumi arrives at the train station early in order to meet Sachiko, but is surprised to see that she is already there. As the two have idle chatter on the train afterwards, Yumi recalls the events that led up to this point. Previously, Yoshino and the other roses wondered what they could do to motivate themselves for the upcoming exams. This lead to Sachiko’s suggestion of going to a theme park, and despite her initial reactions, Yumi was excited to find that she would be going alone with Sachiko. When the two girls arrive at the theme park though, they are both surprised to meet both Suguru and Yuuki there. Yumi tries to get information from her brother, but he can only truthfully state his being dragged along by his senior. Suguru suggests that Sachiko and Yumi think of their being there on their own, which Sachiko agrees to do while continuing to buy tickets with Yumi.

While the girls attend attractions throughout the day, Yumi cannot help but continue to look back at Suguru and Yuuki who have obviously been following them. The two groups eventually stop to talk, and Sachiko shocks Yumi by having her ride a roller-coaster with Suguru so that she can watch. While alone with Suguru in line, Yumi finally realizes that he had come to the theme park in order to do something like look over Sachiko. She further recalls that Suguru would have known many of Sachiko’s traits far before her, because of being her fiance. After attending a few more attractions, Sachiko eventually collapses. Suguru quickly helps her, with Yumi only able to put on a look of distress. Sachiko recovers after a short while, but Suguru and the others agree that they should stop for the day to prevent worry.

As Suguru drives the group home, he explains to Yumi that Sachiko does not do well around large groups of people. When Yumi wonders why he then allowed her to attend the theme park, he expresses that it was because it seemed like she was having a lot of fun. He had never seen her smile in this way while around him, so it meant that she simply wanted to do many things with Yumi. As Sachiko sleeps, Yumi clasps her hand in concern and empathy. Yumi and Yuuki meet more of Sachiko’s family when they reach her home. As most of them leave after becoming acquainted, Yumi has one more chance to be alone with Suguru.

This leads Yumi to question Suguru’s liking of Sachiko, but he only responds with the fact that he likes several other people and things as well. Though he likes Sachiko, it is not the type of like that makes him want to marry her. Yumi starts to believe that she has lost to Suguru, but he encourages her to aim even higher to beat him. She also gets encouragement from Sachiko in her room afterwards, as she expresses how much she likes her. For example, it was her hand that she wanted to hold while she was resting earlier. While Suguru drives Yuuki and Yumi home later, he tells Yumi about his initially asking Touko to come with him. However, she had promptly refused. Holding onto the gift she had received from Sachiko’s family, Yumi continues the game she had been playing with Sachiko while looking up into the sky in thought.

Preview: Touko assault!

Impression:

Riding on scary rides is not preferred here! ….unless you are Yumi…and everyone else gets to watch. This episode had quite a bit of development with Yumi, Suguru, and Sachiko, but besides paying attention to a few important dialogs, I spend most of this episode giggling at random happenings in the theme park. The combination of love sparkles, chibis, and Yumi’s typical giddiness made most of the initial scenes really great, and I was laughing out loud when Sachiko fixed Yumi’s jacket collar seemingly just out of habit. Yumi’s rivalry with Suguru was fun too though, and this eventually left Yumi with a lot to think about. It was really obvious that Sachiko was going to end up having to have Suguru help her though. This show isn’t exactly one to put strength into shock value.

But yea, I guess we know how Marimite was able to keep its production values in broadcast format! The Pizza Hut signs were huge in this episode, and Yumi’s taking a big bite into a pizza just made such scenes even more hilarious. Pizza Hut is preferred here; It is a very elegant choice for Lillian girls.

CODE MARIMITE: YOSHINO OF THE REBELLION

Summary:

With the tea party planned for the next day, Yoshino expresses her excitement to Rei. In her belief, she has finally started to understand how Rei felt about obtaining an imouto. The next day, Yoshino starts the party by having everyone introduce themselves. After introducing herself though, she quickly sees how many fans of Yumi there are in the room. Yoshino and Yumi soon take note of a girl named Naito Shouko when she makes her introductions, as she was the one who sent the rather demanding note previously. While getting to know the underclassmen afterwards, Yoshino refuses to speak to Shouko who thought either she or Yumi would be fine. Yumi takes an exit after being interviewed by several excited girls, then meeting Shouko out in the halls. Shouko finally explains that she became excited about the Roses upon seeing their sparkling appearances in the photos from the previous festival. Wanting the chance to appear in the same way, she wished to enter the Yamayurikai. Yumi quickly corrects her, however, as one wouldn’t necessarily have to join their group to put on an appearance like that. Realizing her mistake, Shouko easily sees that this is something like being turned down.

Gathering with with the rest of the Roses the next day, Yoshino and Yumi explain that they would further narrow down their choices by having some of the candidates from the previous day come to help at the mansion. As girls enter, however, all of the situations turn out to be disasters in various ways. Walking home from school, Yoshino expresses the worry she has about what to do about Eriko. She hopes that she would be too busy to meet, but this turns out to be far from true when Eriko, Sei, and Yoko meet Yumi and Sachiko the next day. Yumi does her best to deceive Eriko, but she easily sees through her fibs. This even leads to a game between the three upperclassmen, as they look around to guess who could be Yoshino’s new imouto. When Eriko points out Kanako and Touko, Yumi sees that they have suddenly started getting along.

Yoshino continues to worry during the kendo competition, until it is finally Rei and the others’ turn to perform. With Yoshino’s support, Rei is able to defeat her opponent by the end. Yoshino attempts to escape at the end of the competition, but Eriko catches up to her. Still looking for options, Yoshino claims that her imouto is in the bathroom. When she enters in a rush, she accidentally bumps into a girl named Arima Nana. Having her play along with her at the moment, Yoshino introduces Nana to Eriko as her new imouto. To Eriko’s surprise, this was one of the girls she pointed out earlier during the guessing game. The girls further act as if Yoshino cannot hand over her rosary right away, which Eriko actually accepts before leaving. Later, Yoshino tells Yumi that she would choose Nana as her imouto if she were unable to obtain one as they became third years.

Preview: Who are you?

Impression:

Marimite has clearly been taking influences from several popular anime that have aired previously. This episode contained high pitched screaming from kendo girls, sudden hair style changes, and PIZZA HUT. Marina Inoue as Shouko was a plus too, though her character ended up playing a much smaller role than what was suggested by last week’s preview. I found it funny how some girls were obviously going to be cast aside through their character designs (a common feature in anime), but I also liked how most every scene played some kind of importance by the end. As slow as things are progressing, at least Eriko’s randomly “correctly” guessing Yoshino’s soeur was a nice touch. I can only wonder if this will actually turn out how it is being suggested.

Notes:

• Last week’s episode could have been replaced by this week’s two minute recap, and nothing would have been missed.
• Yumi has so many fangirls!
• Staring so intently!
• Gokigenyou! ……KYA~!!!!!
• It’s written all over your face, Yumi!
• How many times are you going to change your ribbon color this season?