So suddenly, without mentioned at any point before, Horikita can suddenly kicks ass? Or that Horikita has been sick ALL THIS TIME? Or that Horikita still can kick some ass while being sick all this time? Since when the Class-D boys shrink into only Ayanokouji, Hirata and the 3 idiots? On that note, where is Sakura this week? It seems weird (and kind of sad) that she was dumped somewhere offscreen without anyone’s noticing when Class-D experiencing one crisis after another: panty thief, Horikita being sick (I don’t know how important of her being under the weather but the show sure is dead serious about that. Well, might as well include it here), Horikita lost her key card, and someone burned the manual to cause a ruckus among the class. Their objective? To stir Class-D up. Indeed, the girls have mistrusted the boys to the point they request the relocation of the boy’s tents, but isn’t it kind of defeat the purpose when the class, and eventually Horikita, find out that Ibuki was the one who stole the key card and RUN AWAY? Now that she has the key, it’s a matter of time before she hands it off to Nerriot Sparkling dude and class-C will definitely has an upper hand, right? Right?
Well, not really. Because after finishing this episode I don’t think Nerriot Sparkling is the one responsible for all this. In fact, there’s a good reason I believe Ayanokouji is the man behind all the incidents, and Youkoso has properly hinted many leads along the way. First, the most visible hint, is when Ibuki makes it clear that she didn’t have anything to do with the fire, and suspect Horikita for helping out the fire. That’s when it hits her that Ayanokouji was somehow involved in causing the arson. Second, he was the one who asked Horikita to show her key card, so that he’d know where she keeps her card. Third, he’s the one who talked/was seen with various “players” before they go off on their owns: he was patrolling with Tarzan before that guy went back to the ship (now I certain that he sent Tarzan to find out about other class’s leaders); he was talking to Ibuki before the whole key card incident happens; he might be the one who talked Yamauchi into putting the mud into Horikita.
If so, what is Ayanokouji’s objective. We know it pretty clear that his homeschool teacher “blackmailed” him to take some actions in order to move up the rank of class-D, so it’s safe to say that he’s doing it for Class-D sake, even if it means sacrifice some small fries and stir up the whole class a bit. Then, with all this scheming, what’s he about to do? Honestly I have no idea what good would bring if he steals his own class’s key card. Maybe it serves as a bait to for other classes? But HOW? Maybe it serves as a foil for other classes to think that Class-D is in trouble so they can have their guards down, but then, why deceiving Horikita as well? Also it is worth mentioning that Ayanokouji found out whatever Ibuki was trying to bury in a hole (maybe it has something to do with the lack of portable toilet???) and later we found out that the spot has been dug so whatever she was hiding is not there anymore. Youkoso once again brings more questions than answers, along with some ridiculous plot points (look, Horikita can do perfect breast-punching. Look, he was the last one who survived the experiment – the new Hitler!!) and some unbelievably character progressions. The only thing I expect from the coming finale is how badass Ayanokouji can be so Yokouso, make damn sure don’t disappoint me on that front.
I did more facepalming again with this week’s episode. I’m disappointed with the pacing of this show after episode 7. About the only thing I didn’t think was a silly reveal was Horikita’s ass-kicking abilities. I seem to recall it at least being mentioned that she was good at some sort of martial art, probably after Ayanokouji interrupts her quarrel with her brother early in the series. I think she only seems like a pushover there because of her weird inferiority complex with her brother. Also to be fair, he’s awfully quick to resort to physical violence despite being in the top position at school.
After half/most of an episode spent on the underwear theft and all the drama surrounding it, we still start this episode with the campsite being segregated (and some guys getting recruited to do the moving; which the girls find unacceptable but still won’t do it themselves???? Women can pitch a tent and move some stuff! What year is it!?). The girls trust Hirata to do the searches last week but now suddenly don’t trust him to move their stuff? Where the hell are they planning to be during the move, and if “the boys band together to protect each other,” (which is one accusation that is actually somewhat true!) why would having another boy help? SMH.
I’m glad Horikita’s illness finally became relevant. [Somewhat off-topic: Many anime shows still depict being wet/out in the rain even during summer as being a risk factor (or usually, a guarantee) for catching/exacerbating a cold. Is this a belief still present in Japanese culture or just in fiction? I honestly don’t even know how pervasive it is in western cultures since it’s seldom discussed, but most folks that I’ve talked with in the past decade seem to be aware that germs cause colds – not being cold/wet/anything else. It’s just a trope that happens to also be a bit of a pet peeve of mine.] Pretty much as soon as the mud attack happened I could envision the sequence of bath->stolen keycard->aggravated cold->consequences of illness. I was honestly pretty scared the keycard was in the fire. I guess that might provide a valid reason for changing leaders, which I think is one possible goal of Ayanokouji’s plotting.
I’m unsure of the significance of the fire other than to give Ibuki time to move so her confrontation with Horikita would be away from everyone. Burning the manual might prevent them from ordering anything else from the catalog and save points. Maybe it is to have some evidence of sabotage or maybe it’s just because it was flammable.
Hirata’s breakdown shortly after the fire is pretty interesting. Horikita’s personal notes on the various students a episodes few back mentioned that he was seemingly well-rounded and the reason for his inclusion in class D wasn’t clear. It suggests that perhaps he lacks confidence as a leader and gives me a suspect for panty thief. Maybe as you said in the comments last week regarding him keeping the underwear despite the risk; perhaps he’s just into stealing panties and framing Ike as the latter really took charge as the leader in this arc.
Assuming Ayanokouji orchestrated the key card theft, I can postulate a few motives: 1] To teach Horikita something about working as a team/asking for help or otherwise test her abilities to protect the card, determine the culprit, and resolve the conflicts arising from its recovery. You can generally extrapolate the results of such an experiment and make an educated guess as to how likely it is that another class knows the leader. She didn’t just “get careless” one time. One can presume that every time Horikita has bathed prior has left it just as vulnerable. Getting to A-class is going to require every individual in the class to perform better than over 75% of the other students in their year, so they’ll have to overcome many personal deficits. Horikita’s glaring weakness is her asocial behavior and arrogance. It’s somewhat hypocritical for Ayanokouji to tell her to be more open, but the show has made it abundantly clear that he has the ability to do pretty much whatever is required to solve a given problem. No one can deny that Horikita got seriously schooled this episode (even thinking to herself about how she had to win the fight or class-D was royally screwed); it was harsh, but she’s pretty damn stubborn and mistakes are life’s greatest teacher. I dated a girl not unlike her.. very smart but very inflexible.
-2] To smoke out and/or misdirect other teams as you mentioned
-3] To build trust with Ibuki and alienate her from her own class’s leadership
-4] To generate a “valid reason” for leader change as a late-game swap would add some much-needed security. Having your leader beaten unconscious while running a high fever and left in the rain after having the card stolen by another class is a pretty damn good reason. Might even waive the 30 point penalty for that.
I really wonder what’s in the hole by the tree where they found Ibuki. Class C’s key card? A dead drop for messages for Ibuki? I didn’t even notice the recently-filled hole or the dirt on Ibuki’s hands in ep9, so that was a good bit of subtle foreshadowing. Relatively sure that whatever it is provides some good leverage for Ayanokouji to use on Ibuki.
The Hunger Games arc has been pretty disappointing for me because it’s a setting where they can do so much interesting stuff. I was hoping with the runtime of a short movie that they would be able to flesh it out. It’s a few hundred pages of material so obviously many things get axed, but I really wish a quarter of that runtime wasn’t spent on gender wars even if the never-ending drama train did let us see Hirata beginning to crack. It’s hard being a leader. It’s *really* hard being a leader when your subordinates are immature and lack common sense.
OT: Thanks for the recommendations of PrinPrin and Gamers! Gamers failed the 4 episode test when I tried it a few months ago, but I just haven’t been in the mood for romantic misadventures recently. I’ll probably get around to it eventually. PP went totally under my radar only to blast up to an easy second place for this season. Last week was a bit disappointing, and I’ve no idea how they’re going to close it out with just one episode after its events, but prior to that I *really* enjoyed it. I never knew how much I wanted kickass steampunk Victorian spy lolis. Gorgeously animated, too.