Okay, I was wrong… this episode didn’t feature the climax of this series at all. All it did was just build up for the next one, while the local festival took place. I do say that Shinichiro’s a pretty good dancer. And he’s probably the first harem-lead ever that actually performs during a festival, because it’s usually the other way around.
In any case, this episode built up very well, along with the previous episode. For a large part, it follows Noe, as she tries to make sense of what to do next, and it subtly suggested that Noe would indeed jump off of somewhere at the end of the episode. After all, first we have Shinichiro’s story, where the chicken that wants to fly crashes down. Then she can’t make her own chickens fly. Shinichiro is also in top-shape, and he really is able to find something to do as he performs, and the scene cuts to a couple of pigeons and seagulls that actually do take off.
The portrayal of Noe as a chicken and Shinichiro as a seagull is quite appropriate. Shinichiro has really developed over the past few episodes. You can see that he’s been trying to sort out his own feelings, and with success. He may zigzag between Noe and Hiromi, but every time his feelings do move from one to the other, he gets a bit closer to fining out what he really wants to do with his life.
Noe on the other hand, has been going nowhere. She too is in the middle of some sort of love-triangle, but in this episode, her brother has basically scared her off now that he actually made clear that he loves her. The fact that she’s weird is basically a double-edged sword. On one side, this perfectly distracted Shinichiro from his own lovesickness about Hiromi, but on the other hand she basically alienated everyone else. Now that she’s lovesick herself, there’s nobody else for her apart from Shinichiro, and he has been occupied with Hiromi for quite a bit. Added to that, while Shinichiro has his dancing and manga-writing, all Noe has are her chickens and her strange theories to distract her.
And these are exactly who she turns to. In this episode, she realizes how Shinichiro has left her behind, and tries to take off herself. This time, though, it’s in the literal sense, and she jumps off the same tree as in the first episode, though this time it looks to be a bit higher.
So, the big question: what the heck is going to happen in the next episode?! Noe will probably end up in the hospital, but then? I still have no freaking idea about who Shinichiro will end up with. He’ll obviously care a lot about Noe, and make sure she’s treated properly at the beginning of the next episode, but it’s not like Hiromi will just stand still and do nothing.
What surprises me a bit is that one major question still hasn’t been answered: if Hiromi and Shinichiro aren’t siblings, then why did Shinichiro’s mother hate Hiromi?
Didn’t his father already tell that what Shin mother made up was a lie, and she herself also admitted to Hiromi.
I still don’t get why she hate Hiromi thoguh.
Considering she was cutting out the face of Hiromi’s mother in photos and proceeded to later on burn one photo it seems like she hated Hiromi’s mother. Why did she treat Hiromi like shit though and throw a random dart that went through her heart (you’re siblings!).
She’s the daughter of the person she hates, she looks similar to the person she hates, she might be taking away her son one day etc
It was her channeling her hatred of Hiromi’s mother towards Hiromi herself, now why did she hate Hiromi’s mother? Maybe we will find out next episode if they are kind enough to wrap up this subplot *rolleyes*.
I guess Noe is pretty much… going nowhere (why is she so desperate for Shin anyway?)
Maybe Hiromi is hated because the mother mistaken thought her husband and Hiromi’s mom had an affair or something?
I did sense the bro loved Noe.. very obvious, when a few episodes back he was fixing her helmet. I doubt the two are truly related by blood… the series hasnt indicate danything like this, but I do like Jun a lot. I do hope there’s a happy ending for this.
Thank you for blogging.. Im tired of waiting for the subs to come out!
Even if an affair hadn’t taken place, a (bitter) love rivalry between two women could easily extend to the children.
Assuming this is the case, I’d guess that it’s a matter of not wanting a rival’s offspring to equal her own in the family (accomplished by making Hiromi feel and thus act like a stranger). It’s selfish and mean-spirited, but Shin’s mother is clearly insecure with regard to the father’s affection.
stupid show
I hope for a happy ending with Shinichiro chosing Noe over Hiromi. I actually like the girl, she´s a nice lady that cares about him and has a interesting and entertaining personality. On the other hand, I dislike Hiromi for many reasons. She´s manipulative towards the boys (especially Jun), unkind with Noe regardless that she didn´t do anything to her, she lies and I don´t see that she loves Shinchiro so strongly like Noe does, seems like a whim to me, she creates a mess and don´t want to pay for the consequences…. Definetely wishing for a happy ending without Hiromi
On a random note, I’ve uploaded the preview of the show (RAW) which has voice actress interviews and production behind-the-scenes stuff:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=C5Q83ZDS
Wow Noe’s brother creeped me out in this episode. That was pretty much nasty. It almost seems that Shin views Noe as an important person in his life one that has helped him grow. Lovers I don’t see though. Hiromi ftw I’m sorry. Hiromi is kinda of cold in ways to people but I think she is trying to discover who she is as well. This anime has portrayed the feelings of teenagers very well.
Now is episode 13 the end of the season or series. I never caught that.
Hiromi looks like her mother everytime shin mom sees hiromi. She sees hiromi’s mother.
damnit, i wan a happy hiromi ending. noe can jump from the tree all she want.
“What surprises me a bit is that one major question still hasn’t been answered: if Hiromi and Shinichiro aren’t siblings, then why did Shinichiro’s mother hate Hiromi?”
If you didn’t notice, the mother of Shinichiro thought that her husband cheated on her, and the product was Hiromi. Hence the pictures, the scenes with the father, etc.
I think Shinichiro’s mom was jealous of Hiromi’s mom from the start. Their families are very close together and they don’t seem to be related… maybe Shinichiro’s dad and Hiromi went out in the past? Or maybe Shin’s dad had an unrequited love for Hiromi’s mom? You can see how gently Shinichiro’s dad treats Hiromi as Hiromi resembles her mother.
As Shin is her only child, she obviously loves him very much. She knows how Shinichiro feels for Hiromi, and how attached Hiromi is to Shinichiro. Maybe she didn’t want Shinichiro taken from her too, so she concocted that story to drive them apart. Jealous moms can be so scary! T_T
I’m rooting for Noe. Noe loves Shinichiro the best…she’s the only female in Shinichiro’s life who took the time to really understand him. Noe even loves Shin enough to let him go! T_T