Saturday, October 21, 2006
Alice Academy
Story:
Mikan and Hotaru grow up in a small town in the remote countryside. They are close friends. Suddenly, Hotaru moves to a school in a big city. Mikan misses Hotaru so badly that she decides to find her. She follows Hotaru to a school called “
Mikan is overjoyed to see Hotaru, but soon she has a quarrel with Natume, the boss of the class and faces the spiteful attitude of the other students in the class. Hotaru is of no help to Mikan. Natume and other students suspect Mikan has no special power at all and start to use their
| Character | Nickname | Age | Gender | | ||
| | ||||||
| | Polka-dots, Ichigo-kara (Strawberries girl) | 10 | Female | Nullification | ||
| Protagonist of the story. An energetic, good-natured girl, but time and again her clumsiness lands her into trouble. While she is below average in academics and the school's star ranking system, she has strong willpower and a happy-go-lucky attitude. Her " | ||||||
| | ||||||
| | | 10 | Female | Innovation | ||
| Mikan's best friend. She is extremely intelligent and rational. During the story, though she may appear to be rather cold and indifferent on the surface, it is apparent that she genuinely cares for Mikan. Her keen observations of Mikan's mistakes and shortcomings leaves others wondering if they are really best friends. Her | ||||||
| | | |||||
| | Natsume Hyuuga (日向 棗 Hyūga Natsume) | Black Cat, Natsume-kun | 10 | Male | Fire | |
| A genius but always ditches class throughout the story. He is thoroughly unhappy with the school, and is suspicious of the intentions of adults'. It seems that he is involved in top-secret missions for the academy. He is paired up as Mikan's "partner" by the school's buddy system. He possesses fire | ||||||
| | ||||||
| | Ruka Nogi (乃木流架 Nogi Ruka) | Ruka-pyon | 10 | Male | Animal Pheromone | |
| Natsume's childhood friend and often referred by Mikan throughout the story as "Ruka-pyon". He has a gentle and pleasant personality that balances out that of Natsume's. His animal pheromone | ||||||
| | ||||||
| | Sumire Shoda (正田スミレ Shōda Sumire) | Permy | 11 | Female | Animal Transformation | |
| Self-declared president of the Natsume and Ruka fanclub. She has a dog-cat | ||||||
| | ||||||
| | Yuu Tobita (飛田裕 Tobita Yū) | Iinchō | 11 | Male | Illusion | |
| Class representative, known as "Iinchō" by the majority of the class. He has the Alice of Illusion, and frequently helps out Mikan. | ||||||
| | ||||||
| | Nonoko (野乃子) | | 10 | Female | Chemistry | |
| A classmate of Mikan's. She has the | ||||||
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| Anna (アンナ) | | 9 | Female | Cooking | ||
| A classmate of Mikan's. She has the | ||||||
| | ||||||
| | Yome Kokoro (心読君 Kokoro Yome) | | 9 | Male | Mind reading | |
| A young boy from Mikan's class. He has the | ||||||
Faculty members
| | ||||||
| Faculty members | Age | Gender | | | ||
| | ||||||
| | Narumi (鳴海) | 27 | Male | Pheromone | | |
| Homeroom teacher of Mikan's class. He teaches Japanese and often deals with Natsume when he gets in trouble or tries to break out. He has the pheromone | ||||||
| | ||||||
| | Misaki (岬) | 27 | Male | Plants | | |
| A teacher of biology at the academy. Seems to be stoic in his expressions yet cares for the students. During his first meeting with Mikan, he helped her and introduced her to the academy. He has the | ||||||
| | | |||||
| | Serina Yamada (山田瀬里奈 Yamada Serina) | 29 | Female | Sight | | |
| A mysterious teacher at the school. Almost always seen with her crystal ball. Especially since her | ||||||
| | ||||||
| | Noda (野田) | 32 | Male | Time-travelling | | |
| He appears later in the series. He has the | ||||||
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| | Jinno (神野) | 38 | Male | Lightning | | |
| Teaches math. A cold-hearted teacher who does not hesitate in using his | ||||||
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| | Persona (ペルソナ) | | Male | Dissolving | | |
| A mysterious teacher. Wears a mask at all times, in fact. Seems to be the source of much of Natsume's troubles. His | ||||||
Others
| | ||||||
| Others | Age | Gender | | | ||
| | ||||||
| | 14 | Male | Shadow Manipulation | | ||
| A junior high school student who is one of the first persons to be kind to Mikan. Has the | ||||||
| | ||||||
| | Misaki Harada (原田 美咲 Harada Misaki) | 14 | Female | Doppelganger | | |
| A friend of Tsubasa and likes to pick on him a lot. She also belongs to the Special Abilities class and is one of the most normal looking people there. She has the doppelganger | ||||||
| | | |||||
| | Sono Kaname | 14 | Male | Making stuffed animals coming to life | | |
| Tsubasa's best friend. Possesses the | ||||||
| | ||||||
| | Youichi Hijiri (聖陽一 Hijiri Yōichi) | 3 | Male | Using bad spirits | | |
| Attached to Natsume, but seems to dislike Mikan at first, later he is seen to grow very attached to Mikan and once even kissed her on her cheek. Has the | ||||||
| | ||||||
| | Mr. Bear | | | | | |
| A mute teddy bear with a freedom-loving soul. Commonly referred to as "Bear." Despite its cute outward appearance, it is extremely short-tempered and as a result frequently lashes out his incredibly quick and heavy punches to any stranger that approaches him. Only listens to Kaname, its maker and Kaname's friend, Tsubasa Andou. Yuu best describes this creature as a 'homicidal stuffed animal'. | ||||||
| | ||||||
| | Piyo | | | | | |
| The gigantic mutated chick under the care of the Elementary Class B students. | ||||||
Story
Gakuen Alice or
In the story there are many types of Alice including controlling the natural elements, reading people's hearts, creating weird mechanics, creating illusions, neutralizing other alices, animal pheromone, and much much more.
The five main types of
1) Active Types - Alice that works when active; 2) Scientific Types - Alices based on Science and Technology; 3) Physical Types - Alices based on the body of humans, animals, and other things; 4) Special Ability Types - Alices that don't exactly fit in the three types of Alices above; and 5) Dangerous Types - Alices that are obviously dangerous, but sometimes consumes life span, like Natsume Hyuuga.
After a teacher at
Welcome to Alice Academy
The
There is a catch though...once you become an
Here in the Academy, you are provided with everything! Good and accomodating teachers, delux dormitories, playing field, a park, even a city. You cant use regular money here. The school provides you with your own money. The money here is called a "Rabit". One Rabit amounts to 100 yen. Money is given based on your grades.
You'll have fun here! But remember the only rule in this school...
Never judge a book by its cover.
Dont worry, the entrance test is easy. You just have to be friends with everyone in your class. You've got one week to accomplish the task. Also the teachers will be observing your
Rabbit
Isn’t that an animal? No, it’s
The star ranking system
Each student will be given a star ranking, which can change depending on his or her performance at
Types of
It’s a special school that only those with an
Mr Bear
If you think he’s cute and harmless, think again. With an evil glint in his eye, Mr Bear is actually the terror of the Northern Woods.
Giant Piyo
It is a mutated chick the size of the Statue of Liberty that chirps Pi-yo! It belongs to the Middle School Breeding Club. Because of its size, it sleeps in the Northern Woods.
alice
Episode 1
If you're interested, there are some scans from various anime magazine on the series info page. Ditto with other October anime series' info sections. Anyway, this episode turns out to be a rather good first episode. If you like Kodomo no Omocha I think you'll be amused at this little title. The choice of colors for the animation are also appropriate with bright colors dominating most of the scenes. Opening and Ending theme-wise, there's nothing out of the ordinary here. In fact, the opening makes the series looks too kiddy. Teddy also looks kind of crappy here. If you see the manga version, it actually has furs. Here, however, it looks as if someone has shaved its body or something.
The episode starts out differently from the manga with Mikan trying to prevent her school from being closed down. She then begins to memorise the time when she first met Hotaru in the 3rd grade and how the two became close ever since. One day, however, Hotaru tells Mikan that she's leaving for a school in
In the end, Mikan can't stand being separated from Hotaru any longer and decides to go to
Impression:
Ever since I read the manga, for some reason I developed an immediate dislike to Hotaru. It's just that sometimes I get the impression that she looks down on Mikan and only sees her as a tool or excess baggage. Admittedly, Mikan is not the easiest person to be with. She's loud, noisy and quite hyperactive. But I think it's perfectly normal for someone of her age. I don't know why they tone down Hotaru's atttitude in the anime version but she certainly becomes more likeable here. It makes me wonder how the animators will approach the chapter where the two eventually meet again. It's also nice to see that Natsume already making an appearance in this episode. I hope they won't tone his bad attitude down like they do to Hotaru though because that's what makes him interesting. If you think Hayama of Kodocha is one little devil, wait till you see the things that Natsume does to torture Mikan and others.
Episode 2
Well, the Kodocha effect is finally here. Natsume and Mikan finally meet one another and the 'sparks' begin to fly out of control. The 'sparks' that appear here are not the romantic kind though. When it comes to these two, the 'sparks' are more of the flaming arrows and meteor rain types. It also seems to me that the 2nd episode follows the manga storyline quite closely and as a result, some of the situations presented in this episode are quite 'colorful'. They're all comedic in nature but there's a possibility that some people may be weirded out a bit by the joke. This episode is also prelude to a chapter where I started to dislike Hotaru's cold attitude. It's good to know that this will eventually be explained in the future but I can't help but feeling sorry for Mikan sometimes. Anyway, check out Matthew's blog, Momotato Daioh, JASCII, and Ume's Journal for more opinion on this series.
Continuing from the previous episode, this one opens with Natsume jumping off from a wall, trying to get away from the place. Before that can happen, however, the blond guy, Narumi-sensei, produces a vine-like whip that eventually turns into a leather whip and knocks the neko mask off Natsumi's face. Mikan is shocked upon seeing this latest development and hurries up to Natsume asking him if he's okay but Natsume looks as if he's about to produce a fire spell from his hand. Unfortunately for him, once again Narumi-sensei spoils his plan by stomping on his hand. :O Narumi-sensei then tells Natsume that even if he tries to escape using his '
Once Mikan gets inside the school, Narumi-sensei leaves her alone with the still unconscious Natsume. But Mikan begins to think that Narumi-sensei is some kind of S&M pervert who likes to whip the kids at the school. LOL. In the middle of her imagination, a guy barges in looking for Narumi, shocking Mikan. After explaining that he's one of the teacher, Misaki-sensei, Mikan immediately latches on to him, telling him that she's afraid of Narumi. Speaking of the devil, Narumi-sensei is seen inside a room talking to someone who sits behind a veil. Narumi-sensei tells the guy that he thinks he has found another
But Mikan forgets about the warning and eventually finds herself being pushed to the couch by the now conscious Natsume. He tells Mikan to answer his question in 5 seconds or else he'll burn her hair. Meanwhile, outside the school, Misaki-sensei finds a boy flying on top of him using an Eagle and heading towards the room where Natsume is located. The person turns out to be a friend of Natsume called Ruka/Luca. Seeing the situation going from bad to worse, Mikan decides to yell out for help. But unfortunately, the damage is done. Natsume and Luca manages to run away after Natsume manages to rip off Mikan's skirt. Mikan cries over her 'lost of innocence' but eventually cheers up when Narumi-sensei gives her a Gakuen Alice uniform and reunites her with the less-enthused Hotaru. Mikan is then taken to her classroom where the kids inside are using their
Impression:
Well, it looks like they decide to modify this episode after all. I thought Natsume's wild act is a bit naughty for television audience consumption. So what happens now is that instead of taking off Mikan's panties like in the manga, Natsume actually rips off her skirt. Of course it doesn't make it any better for Mikan but on Natsume's part, it makes him less of a kinky bastard. Despite that changes, this series is still interesting. The humor is spot on, the kids are charming in that twisted kind of way, and the background looks pretty. The mystery has also been laid out with the appearance of the mysterious person behind the veil. Who is this person and why does he allow Narumi-sensei to make that kind of guess about Mikan being an
Episode 4
Please be aware that the following episode contains violence perpetrated by a stuffed animal. Grown-ups who have fear of dolls, clowns, and stuffed animals, are advised to stay away from this one. I am not going to be responsible for the massive therapy bill you'll incur on your side once you see this episode or read this recap. Similarly, small children are advised to divert their attention away from this episode unless they want to become one of those traumatised grown-ups.
Joking aside (or not, depending on who you are), I can't be the only who think that this episode reminds me of that song, The Teddy Bear Picnic. Having said that, judging from the lyrics in the manga, it seems the song that Tachibana-sensei had in mind is actually Mori no Kuma-san. Because of this, I ended up scouring the net looking for its lyrics and along the way, stumbled upon some amusing Japanese teddy-bear related articles. These include: a literal Teddy Bear Picnic, a recipe for 'Bear in Forest' cake, and an awesome Flash animation.
Anyway, the episode begins with Mikan, Hotaru, and Tobita (Iincho) encountering an axe-wielding teddy bear. Mikan is impressed to see the doll moving around and wonders where she can find the remote control. Tobita, however, immediately freaks out when Mikan begins to touch the teddy bear and tells her that she better stay away from it. Well, I'd have said 'run for your life!!' but some people tend to underestimate situations like this. Before Mikan can fully understand what Tobita means, however, she is suddenly sent flying upwards by the bear's punch. Meanwhile, in the classroom, Mikan's future classmates are placing bets on whether or not she can make it out alive out of the forest. Natsume, however, is uninterested and is more concerned with the fact that he still hasn't been able to figure out Mikan's
Meanwhile inside the woods, poor Mikan is still being pummeled by Mr.Bear so Iincho tells Hotaru that they have to help Mikan. Hotaru, however, is seen hiding inside a caterpillar-like sleeping bag. She claims that the bag is cold, heat, and sound resistant as well as shock-proofed so it'll be safe to hide there. Heee. However, when Mr.Bear is about to deliver the final KO punch on Mikan, Hotaru calls upon a pink Elephant car which then throws bucketloads of water on top of Mr.Bear, rendering it lifeless. Hotaru then tells Iincho to put Mikan on top of another car in the shape of a giraffe. They then flee the place before Mr.Bear regains consciousness. Inside the car, Iincho explains that once upon a time, a student made a doll and then uses his
The three eventually stop for food. While resting, Mikan gets some background information on Natsume from Iincho and Hotaru. Iincho thinks that it's better if Mikan don't cross Natsume's path too often. Hotaru thinks that his fire ability is as good as any adult to the point that he can do it in an instant. Natsume also hates this school for an unknown reason. Upon hearing this, Mikan remembers how she thought that Natsume's eyes are cold. Before she can think further, however, she's surprised by the horror look on Hotaru's and Iincho's face. It turns out that a humongous chicken called Giant Piyo has appeared behind them. As a result, the three once again flee for their life and eventually manages to hide themselves from the bird. They, however, can't go back because they will then encounter Mr.Bear again and they can't go forward because Giant Piyo is still rampaging the forest.
Iincho thinks that they can pass Giant Piyo if there is Ruka around because his
Ruka at first refuses to help them getting rid of Giant Piyo. But after Mikan told him that Hotaru is going to subdue the bird with an arrow if he won't help them, he agrees to do their bidding. A very disturbing scene then occurs where Ruka....uhm, expresses his unhealthy love for Giant Piyo. Meanwhile, Natsume receives the news from his underlings that they saw Ruka heading towards the North Woods not too long ago. Upon hearing this, Natsume looks as if he's about to kill a cow, or Mikan. Back in the forest, a group of Academy seniors come and help the juniors to contain the Giant Piyo. Once they left, Mikan and the others make fun of Ruka's animal-hugging ways by showing a picture of him frolicking with Giant Piyo and calling him Ruka-pyon. Mikan, however, wonders why before this Ruka always looks as if his cat just got killed.
Ruka explains that it's because he promises Natsume back then that if Natsume does not laugh, then he won't laugh either. He refuses to be happy when Natsume is in pain. Upon hearing this, Mikan wonders why Ruka befriended a killjoy such as Natsume. Ruka is angry and tells them not to assume bad things about Natsume when they don't know him. Anyway, the four eventually decide to return to the class. Mikan is disappointed because she still hasn't been able to find out a clue about her
However, Natsume then uses his fire to surround Iincho with flames. Everyone including Ruka asks Natsume to stop his power but Natsume refuses to listen. In fact, he uses his
Impression:
I think one of the reasons that makes Gakuen Alice so entertaining is its creative reuse of several childhood stories, music, and playthings that some of us once saw, heard, or used as a child. The constant reference to Alice in Wonderland in some of the illustrations as well as the use of children song as a base for the storyline are good examples of this. I also think that
Anyway, I can't believe that the summary ended up being this long but this is such a good episode. I think I laughed so much while watching this episode that my stomach is in pain now. :P That scene where Hotaru is pummeled endlessly by Mr.Bear is fantastic. It's so good to see this scene animated because now I can see how many times Mr. Bear actually punches Mikan. What's even better, however, is the scene where Mikan's
Episode 5
And the procrastination continues. Having said that, I'm not a believer of 'all study and no play' is a good thing prior to exam so yay! to procrastination. Anyway, this episode is another good one for the series. I'm really tempted to say that this is a keeper but I'll wait until a few more episodes. But if they keep the quality like this, I'm sure I'll be quite keen to have this on my DVD collection. Plot-wise, I realise now that despite its outer similarity to Kodocha, this series seems to focus more on the adventure/mystery/comedy aspect of the story instead of on the serious drama path that Kodocha often takes. It doesn't affect my enjoyment of the series but it does require me to adjust the initial expectation that I had when I first watched this series. Besides, I find it hard to believe that Mikan is capable of angsting longer than a couple of minutes.
The episode begins with Hotaru still acting indifferent towards Mikan and chooses to go to the class on her own instead of together with Mikan. As a result, Mikan ends up walking to the class on her own. On her way, she meets Iincho and Narumi-sensei who are having morning tea in the middle of a garden. Narumi-sensei decides to give Mikan a brief tour of the school's area by using Iincho's
His anger seems to be directed mostly towards Narumi-sensei so the two end up in another explosive match. When things are over, a bleeding Narumi-sensei tells Natsume that he'd be better off running away quickly since Narumi can't help him anymore now. Later on, Mikan gets to re-introduce herself at the B class. Most of her classmates seem to be happy to accept her now, well, everyone but Sumire so she decides to ask Narumi-sensei what is Mikan's star rank. Mikan is confused about this, so Iincho gets to explain how each student has their own star rank, which seems to correlate to their performance as a student. There are five levels of the star system: nothing, single, double, triple, and special. Some students like Iincho and Hotaru are three-stars students. Natsume, however, is in a class of his own since he seems to be the only student who gets the 'special' star treatment. Speaking of the devil, he suddenly appears inside the class wearing his black cat mask again.
According to other students, the mask is in place to prevent him from using his magic. It works by sending electric current to Natsume's brain if he tries to use his power. Mikan also notices that Natsume now has some fresh scars in some parts of his body. Anyway, later on Mikan gets on the wrong side of Jinno-sensei thanks to Sumire's prank. And since they haven't decided what her rank will be, Jinno-sensei decides that hers will be zero. That means she'll get the worst in everything from accommodation to food. She's even more depressed when she realises that Hotaru doesn't care much about it. However, when she overhears a child saying that he doesn't want to be in school, Mikan realises that she came to the school on her own volition so she decides to keep her chin up. The next day, Hotaru comes over to give Mikan some encouragement. This, however, doesn't stop Hotaru from using her invention to smack Mikan to the wall when the girl tries to hug her.
Impression:
The school's system turns out to be darker than I originally thought. The scars on Natsume's body are a bit disturbing. I really want to know who or what caused them. Even without the scars, the concept of putting a mask that sends electricity to one's brain to stop one's ability to use magic is quite disturbing. Having said that, this is what I like about the series. Despite its cute design and funny moments, it never hesitates to delve into dark issues. Speaking of funny moment, I'll say that this episode is probably the second best episode after last week's. It has the right amount of comedy to make me laugh a lot. The concept of star system and the way each student is treated differently is also funny and at the same time shows that the school encourages competition. It's amazing therefore to see Mikan manages to be happy despite having the worst luck of them all. Although it doesn't take a genius to figure out that she'll be happier if Hotaru acts less cold towards her.
Episode 14
It's kind of disappointing to know that the drawings for this particular episode are not as good as the other episodes. Once the setting moves out of the school area, it seems that the designer have no clear idea on how the outside world should look like and as a result, the surrounding background images look dull and uninspired. The city looks like a bunch of tall boxes lined up one after another without any interesting feature to distinguish one set of buildings from the rest. Thankfully what the episode lacks in style, it makes up a lot in the storyline. I think plot-wise, the series is definitely heading in the right direction. It's good to see how some of the minor words or conversation that seems meaningless in the previous episodes finally becomes clear in this episode.
This one begins with Hotaru finding the recording ring that she gave to Mikan one episode ago. At the same time, B Class teacher alerted all of the other teachers about the two runaway students. Jinno-sensei is especially unhappy when he finds out that the students are Sumire and Mikan. The two girls themselves are seen running out of breath trying to catch the car. Thankfully the two then spot a bicycle and uses it to chase the car. Unfortunately, several teachers have now been dispatched to catch the two. Sumire suggests that maybe Mikan should let herself get caught by the teachers so she can explain the situation while Sumire continue to chase after the car. Mikan who dislikes the idea ends up arguing with Sumire instead of focusing on steering the bike. Not surprisingly, the bike ends up hitting a sidewalk road divider.
To make matters worse, the teachers manage to catch the two and try to take the girls back to the school. Mikan tries to explain that Natsume was kidnapped but the teachers do not believe them. All of a sudden, however, the teachers are attacked by a bunch of Crows that are controlled by Ruka-pyon. This allows Mikan and Sumire to run away and jump into a truck carrying a bunch of pigs. Meanwhile, Ruka finds it hard to believe that Natsume is kidnapped. But when Hotaru plays the recording from the ring she gave to Mikan, he suggests that they find Narumi-sensei quickly. Back to the squabbling duo, they have now lost track of the car due to the incident. So Sumire has no choice but to use her
Meanwhile, Hotaru and Ruka is in the middle of explaining the whole situation to Narumi and Jinno-sensei. The teacher at first find it hard to believe until Narumi tells them that he found out that Reo never really broke his leg so his reason for entering the school's hospital is a suspect to begin with. Meanwhile, Mikan and Sumire manages to spot the car again so they starts to chase after it again. Mikan thinks that they should get a Taxi or at least hitchhike a car but Sumire disagree because Reo will be suspicious and they don't know what kind of dangerous
Upon hearing this, Mikan agrees to keep chasing after the car but it seems they don't have to do that because the car suddenly appears and stops in front of them. When the car moves again, it is obvious that they both have been captured as well by Reo and his henchmen. Meanwhile, the school cultural festival has started at
They also find out a bit information about Natsume and his 'Black Cat' identity. Apparently 'Black Cat' is a code name that Natsume used when he works as an illegal special military force under the supervision of Persona from
Impression:
It's good to see the episode stays consistently tense and dark throughout, despite some light comedy here and there. On top of this, the episode also does a good job in fleshing out the characterisation of Sumire. Her refusal to put normal people in danger in their quest to find Natsume certainly gives her character a bit more depth. The best thing about this episode, however, is the juxtaposition of the happy, funland park imagery of the school festival and the grim reality of how the school quietly train some of their students into secret operatives. It's interesting how within half season, the series has progressively change its perspective. When the series started, it seems that the main problem lies with the students and not the school.
By now, however, it's obvious that the students act that way because the school is notorious for mistreating its students. This is a school where a teacher can give its students a crappy living standard if he/she feels like it, or punish the students by inflicting pain or other corporal punishments. The school is also full of teachers who lie to their students, use their students as a tool for their own means, and mistreat them due to a personal vendetta that the students are not even aware of. It's ironic how some of the seemingly ridiculous things that Mikan imagined about the school back in episode 2 were not so far fetched after all. The problem is, this means that the school is as bad as Reo's group when it comes to treating
Episode 15
This episode is an awesome conclusion to the Reo arc. It's good to see this one turned out to be as dark and tense as I thought it should be. Credit also goes to the writers for being able to insert one or two additional comedy scenes into what otherwise would have been a rather dark episode. While some of the comedy scenes feel slightly inappropriate, their inclusions are generally well thought of. In addition to this, the episode also presents some interesting background information that I hope will be developed in the remaining episodes. It's unfortunate that this is only a 26 episode series because I can really see the storyline going into a second season if they have the budget to produce it.
Anyway, the episode itself begins with Hotaru taking Yoichi to the school festival. Unfortunately, it seems that both of them are too anxious about their missing friends to be able to enjoy the festivities. Meanwhile inside the warehouse, Mikan tries to use her teeth to release the rope that binds Sumire's hands but when she fails to achieve a significant result, she realises the futility of her attempt. The girls, however, are relieved when they find out that Natsume finally regains his consciousness. Because of this, the two quickly inform him that they are being held inside a warehouse and it seems that there is a barrier that prevents them from using their
After thinking about the situation for a while, Natsume notices the Panda-styled muffler that Mikan wears and decides to inquire its function from the owner. This reminds Mikan that she can actually use the muffler to communicate with Hotaru. Meanwhile at the school, the teachers are in the middle of discussing Reo's betrayal when all of a sudden Hotaru's muffler indicates an incoming call from Mikan. Thanks to the device, the school can now communicate with the kidnapped students. Narumi-sensei informs Mikan that normally, Natsume's power can penetrate the barrier and burn the rope. But since his body is kind of weak right now, this maybe impossible for him to do.
Upon hearing this, Natsume burns his own rope even though the effort seems to cause him a lot of pain. While Natsume unties Mikan, Jinno-sensei talks on the mike and informs Mikan that they must try their best to conceal their
Reo tells the students that they may know about his voice pheromone but what they don't know is that he uses the earring on his left ear to control his power. As he says this, he begins to use his voice to force Sumire to reveal her
Suddenly it dawns on Reo that Mikan possesses cancellation
When he finds out about this, Natsume tells Mikan and Sumire to run towards a lightly guarded door once he gives a signal. He wants them to continue running towards the school and to tell the teachers the location of the warehouse. Natsume then orders Mikan and Sumire to run away while threatens the kidnappers that he'll use his
Meanwhile, Natsume remembers how Persona once told him that in case he is captured by an enemy and all ways of escaping are severed, he has to sacrifice his own life. It seems that Persona once threatened Natsume that if he ever becomes the enemy of the school, something will happen to his important people. Back to the present, Reo informs Natsume how all of his efforts to help the girls are for naught because sooner or later, the girls will get caught by his henchmen. Natsume becomes angry upon hearing this and tells Reo that this doesn't have to be a useless effort because he will now turn the warehouse into a sea of fire and kill all of them.
Thankfully before Natsume can proceed with his kamikaze plan, Mikan arrives in time to stop him. However, the distraction provides Reo an opportunity to use his
Because Natsume is still weak, however, the two have no choice but to go into a temporary hiding place. Meanwhile, Sumire manages to run away from her captor but then runs into a dead end alley, allowing her captor to corner her. Thankfully, Tsubasa and Misaki then appear to help her. Back to Mikan, Natsume tells her to go and save herself but she refuses on the grounds that everyone, from Ruka to Sumire, expects Natsume to returns safely as well. So she doesn't want either of them to give up now. Unfortunately their location has now been detected by Reo's henchmen. As usual, however, Mikan refuses to give up and puts up a brave fight before neutered by the henchmen.
Thankfully for Mikan, Tsubasa and Misaki arrive on the scene in time to save her. Reo, however, manages to escape and one of his henchmen succeeds in capturing Natsume. Mikan, who tries to stop the henchman ends up getting knocked back to a wall. When he sees this, Natsume becomes angry and releases giga flare that causes huge explosion throughout the warehouse. When Mikan regains her consciousness, she wakes up in a hospital bed surrounded by her friends. Ruka then thanks her and Sumire for saving Natsume. Apparently Natsume needs a lot of quiet rest but otherwise he'll be okay. Narumi-sensei then gives Mikan a surprise: because of her bravery, Jinno sensei decides to give her a single star.
Impression:
There was a discussion on last week's episode summary about the fate of Natsume's sister. Is she still alive or is she already dead? I always get the impression that she actually is still alive and being used by Persona as a bargaining chip to control Natsume. I don't see Natsume as the sort of person who wields to other so easily unless there is something at stake. This episode doesn't exactly confirm that but I think the possibility is there. While it is very likely that the 'important people' Persona mentioned are actually Ruka and Natsume's other friends, I think it makes more sense if one of those 'people' is his sister. Well, with 11 more episodes to go, I wonder if the writers can squeeze in this plot as well as Mikan's background, especially her similarity to 'that person'.
Episode 16
Sorry for showing the unfinished summary beforehand. I forgot to tell MT not to publish it just yet. But the whole thing is completed now so you can go ahead and read it. This is a fun and entertaining episode that offers a nice break after last week's dark episode. The focus here is on the Tokuryoku group's Aladdin and the Magic Lamp RPG. Because of this, the majority of the episode is spent showing what the game participants do in order to pass the goal. In addition to this, there is development in the Natsume/Mikan/Ruka triangle here. It is obvious by now that both Natsume and Ruka like Mikan a lot. The problem is, Mikan only see the two of them as friends. Well, in Natsume's case, she sees him as that annoying boy who tries to grope her. :)
The episode begins with Mikan and her Tokuryoku group decked out in their Aladdin and the Magic Lamp outfits, ready to welcome the visitors to their RPG. The problem is, their RPG doesn't seem to attract any visitor. It seems people prefer to visit the shows created by the other groups. On top of this, the location of Tokuryoku's RPG game is quite far from the rest of the school festival. Mikan and the group are depressed about this especially after three people who happen to pass by their RPG refuses to play the game. Tsubasa, however, encourages the group to not lose their spirit. They failed to secure those customers because the customers don't know what the RPG is about. So from now on, they should have some people standing on the starting line to explain the game.
Thankfully not long after the incident, Narumi-sensei, Ruka-pyon, and Sumire arrive at the location to see how the group is doing. Ruka-pyon and Sumire are decked out in a costume similar to the rabbit and Cheshire cat from Alice in Wonderland so Sumire asks Mikan what kind of costume she wears. Mikan tells her that she dressed up as a Lamp Djinn/Lamp Spirit and proceeds to ask Ruka-pyon if she looks good in it. Ruka-pyon, however, is too enchanted by Mikan at this point. As a result, he's unable to say anything coherent without embarrassing himself. Anyway, Narumi-sensei looks rather keen to play the RPG so Tsubasa tells him that Aladdin and the Magic Lamp is a game where the participant enters a maze and must defeat the evil spirits who are played by the members of the Tokuryoku group.
However, there are a couple of rules to follow. First, the participant must not use violence in the game. Secondly, they must randomly pick a weapon from a weapon box to be used in the game. Narumi-sensei gets a flashlight, Sumire gets a talking earplug, while Ruka gets a seemingly useless rope. Finally, in order to win, the participant must defeat the Djinns inside the maze using a combination of their weapon and their wits. Unfortunately before Ruka-pyon can figure out the use of his rope, the game already starts. So he has no choice but to enter the maze and encounters his first challenge: Misaki Djinn. She tells Ruka that if he wants to pass this level, he must finds out the real Misaki out of her many doppelgangers within 30 seconds. Ruka-pyon fails miserably.
Narumi-sensei, on the other hand, is confident that he can passes the maze easily after defeating his first enemy using his pheromone
While inside the maze, Sumire wonders kind of a weapon her earplug is supposed to be. For an earplug, this thing is unusually noisy, singing a song the entire time. Before she can find out its use, however, a Genie appears and tells her that in order to pass the area, she must not laugh within 30 seconds, no matter what he says. The problem is, this Genie is played by the same Tokuryoku member who has the ability to make people laugh - even though what he says is not funny whatsoever. Sumire suddenly remembers that she can use her earplug to stop herself from hearing the Djinn's words. Unfortunately, the earplug is now sleeping peacefully and as a result, Sumire can't use it to block the the guy's voice. In the end, Sumire can't stop her laughter and ends up losing the game just like Narumi and Ruka.
Soon, the news about the group's interesting RPG travels from one student to another. The three students who first refused to play the game are now surprised to see other students lining-up in queues to play the game. Some people are keen to see if they can pass the game's difficult level while others want to get either Tsubasa or Misaki to do their bidding. The popularity of the game eventually attracts Kokoroyomi-kun and Natsume so the two decide to check it out. Ruka, who's been helping the group selling tickets ends up becoming Natsume and Kokoroyomi-kun first bully victim. The two decide to tease Ruka by pulling her rabbit ears left and right. Sumire, on the other hand, is excited to see Natsume and asks if he's there to save her from the captive of Tokuryoku group. The answer is a big 'No'.
Natsume then turns his attention to Mikan who appears to greet him. He quickly asks her what kind of costume she wears. He also wants to know where she hides her breast and proceeds to pull her top to check it out. Mikan is traumatised by this and runs over to Tsubasa crying. This, however, makes Natsume jealous. So when Tsubasa asks if Natsume has come to try his RPG, Natsume decides to take up the challenge. He and Kokoroyomi-kun then begin to pick a 'weapon' and respectively receive a flower and a talking roach. Once Natsume enters the Maze, he encounters his first challenge: a girl in a mirror. The girl djinn steals his roach and tells him that in order to pass this leve, he must regain his weapon within 30 seconds. However, when she realises that Natsume's weapon is a roach, she is quite happy to return it to him.
Kokoroyomi-kun, on the other hand, manages to pass the girl djinn by reading her thoughts out loud, revealing her secrets. The girl, who's embarrassed by this has no choice but to return his flower. Meanwhile Natsume encounters his second challenge: returning the soul of a guy to its original body without touching the actual body itself. No problem. Natsume simply uses his fire
Natsume then encounters Tsubasa in his next challenge. In order to pass Tsubasa, Natsume must be able to touch him within 30 seconds. However, Natsume has now been captured by Tsubasa's shadow
Natsume eventually reaches the final obstacle in the maze: Mikan Djinn. The rule is still the same. Natsume must get her to step down from her 'Flying carpet' without using any physical means. After not getting reaction by throwing a cockroach at Mikan, Natsume pretends that he feels sick due to an overuse of his
Impression:
As I said before, this is a good, entertaining episode that basically shows that the Tokuryoku group is quite a resourceful bunch. I am glad to see other students lining up to see Tokuryoku's RPG because prior to this event, the group has been undermined by the majority of the students at the academy, and seen as the useless and untalented group. It's also nice to see Ruka and Sumire helping out the group selling the ticket. Sumire has certainly come a long way from the obnoxious girl that she used to be. I also like the interaction between Mikan and Natsume in this episode. This is actually a part of the series that reminds me a bit of Kodomo no Omocha. Natsume can be rather juvenile sometimes but this episode shows that he is actually an intelligent and resourceful kid.
Episode 17
Hmm, the animation in this episode is a bit inconsistent. There are instances where the characters (mostly Iinchou and Ruka) appear all of a sudden and then conveniently disappear when the next scene comes up. Apart from that though, this is a relatively good episode that differs slightly from the manga. The animators have chosen to combine two Hotaru-related stories and place a few transitional scenes to connect the two. The result is actually pretty good and the transition from the two stories are well done. BTW, is it just me or does that bucket/scoop shot in Hotaru's flashback reminds other people of that 'Rosebud' scene in Citizen Kane? Both stories deal with the lost of a child's happiness because the child is taken away from their parents and happy environment.
This episode begins with Mikan being forced to come along with Natsume and Ruka to the school's festival due to the misfortune that happened on last week's episode. But since Mikan by nature is a happy person, she can't contain her excitement and ends up talking animatedly here and there. Natsume who can no longer stand her noisy voice decides to throw a biscuit down her throat. The biscuit instantly transforms her mouth into a bird's beak. Iinchou then magically appears out of nowhere, thanks to the inconsistent animation, to explain how anyone who eats one of the biscuits will sound like a bird. As if that's not bad enough, later on Natsume puts a leash on Mikan's neck to prevent her from running away whenever she pleases. That, however, does not stop her from cutting the leash off when she spots a store/stall belonging to Hotaru.
However, when Mikan runs towards the store, she is knocked back by a tremor that is caused by the arrival of Hotaru's new invention: a giant robot called Piglet. Inside the robot, Hotaru demonstrates how the big hunk of a machine can turn into a flying ship called Pig-Bird. The ability of the robot impresses the investors who come to see Hotaru's invention, to the point that they start bidding on the invention right away. Mikan and the others are equally impressed by the invention and even more so when Sumire comes and explains how Hotaru's invention has increased the number of sponsors for the Gijutsu-kei group. As if that's not enough, Hotaru has also created a 'capture the flag' game that utilises a bunch of robotic chicken. Upon seeing the game, Mikan and the others are keen to give it a go.
Meanwhile, a young boy called Kenji is disappointed because he's not allowed to play the game and decides to secretly sneak into one of the robots. The game then begins and Mikan starts to whip the floor by taking the flag on her opponents' helmet. However, her own flag is then captured by the little boy, forcing Mikan to chase after the boy. In order to avoid getting captured by Mikan, the boy uses his robot to fly into the sky. Unfortunately not long after he's done this, there's some kind of malfunction in the robot's engine and things quickly go out of hand for him. Because of this, Mikan asks one of Natsume's lackeys to use his levitation
Everyone seems to be relieved to see Mikan successfully controlling the robot again. But unfortunately, the robot starts acting out again and eventually crash landing into the forest. Thankfully, neither the boy nor Mikan is harmed because of this. The boy's older brother thanks Mikan for saving his brother but unfortunately, Hotaru doesn't have the same luck. Because of the incident, people starts to wonder about the safety of her inventions. Mikan tries her best to defend her best friend, but no one is convinced of her argument especially since she almost got killed because of that said invention. Not long after this, the student council comes to the location to inspect damages. One of these principal students turns out to be the young guy with the glasses that appeared back in episode 14.
The guy, who is known as 'Imai-senpai', walks over to Mikan and asks if she's hurt. Upon seeing the big gash on Mikan's leg, he puts his hand on the wound and immediately takes the wound away. Iinchou explains that Imai-senpai has an ability to cure wounds. Everyone seems to be impressed by Imai-senpai's ability but he seems to be more concerned with finding the person responsible for the game. However, just when Hotaru is ready to take blame for the incident, the little boy then tells Imai-senpai that he's the one to blame because he used his Alice to control the vehicle. Mikan is relieved to hear this and thank the boy for admitting his mistake. Unfortunately, someone should still get the blame and Imai-senpai decides that the fault lies squarely on the older brother's shoulder because he did not pay attention to his little brother.
Imai-senpai puts his finger into the older brother's forehead and transfer the pain from Mikan's leg into the older brother's forehead. Iinchou explains that Imai-senpai's power is like the two sides of a coin. It can takes away the pain from a person and gives the pain to someone else. Once he's done this, Imai-senpai tries to leave the area but is stopped by Hotaru. Imai-senpai's followers rudely asks Hotaru to move aside. But she remains stationary as the two greets each other with "Hajimemashite". Imai-senpai then tells his follower that the girl is probably his younger sister, shocking everyone in the area. Okay, I guess I have to explain this a little bit to make the scene more understandable. "Hajimemashite" is a greeting that a person use to greet another person that one has not met before.
For example, it's okay for me to use "Hajimemashite" the first time I see a person. But I can't use "Hajimemashite" again the next time I meet him because the word 'Hajimemashite' more less means, "This is our first meeting with each other". Now, if you put this in the context of Hotaru and her brother, one would think that as siblings, they already know each other. But the fact that they use "Hajimemashite" when they see each other here implies that they had never seen each other beforehand. True enough, as Mikan, Iinchou, and Ruka-pyon follow the two siblings, they hear how the two only know of each other's existence based on what their parents told them. Nevertheless, when Hotaru entered the school for the first time, her brother realised that maybe he'll get to meet her one day.
Hotaru then cuts to the chase and asks her brother why he never visited their parents or wrote a letter to them. Her brother coldly replies that while he appreciates the fact that their parents gave birth to him, he doesn't feel anything else for them since he and their parents live in two different worlds. This answer surprises Hotaru and anger Mikan at the same time. But thankfully before Mikan can open her big mouth, Iinchou and Ruka manage to restrain her. LOL. Anyway, Imai-senpai says that now that Hotaru is also a student at this school, she can visit him and asks for any help. Imai-senpai then bids goodbye to Hotaru, who knows well that her brother's last words were just pleasantries. She recognises all of his uncaring body language: the business-like attitude and the cold eyes.
Once her brother left, Hotaru explains to her friends that in some ways, she kind of expect this to happen since her brother hasn't seen his family ever since he was five years old. Having said that, Hotaru thinks she and her brother are alike, much to Mikan's disagreement. Hotaru then remembers how her mother cried a lot when she first found out that Hotaru has an
Impression:
This is a really good episode that gives Hotaru the character development that she really needs. It's sad to see her brother turned out to be one hell of an ingrate. But I'm not sure who's to blame here. I guess one can blame Hotaru's brother himself but at the same time, one can argue that since he doesn't know his parents that well, his emotion for them is stunted. I refuse to blame Hotaru's parents because they don't have much of a choice in this matter. They tried their best to keep Hotaru away from the school and in the end, they know they can't run away from the school forever. So in the end, I'll put the blame squarely on the school. It seems there is a need for the school to reform and change its policy for the sake of the children and their parents.
While the school's rule protects the students to a certain extent, it also cuts them off from their family and friends, turning them into emotionless, and sometimes unkind children. And in worst case scenario, it turns the kids into people who can't appreciate the people who are close to them. I think this is why Narumi-sensei believes that Mikan can be the strength that everyone else in the school needs. It's obvious that her presence helps to soften everyone else in the school. To a certain extent she reminds me of Tohru from Fruits Basket in the sense that everyone becomes a better person as they get to know her. Because of this, I hope the leechers on this school treats Mikan better from now on.
Episode 18
Gah. I really like this show but the animation and the pacing in this episode are really horrid. It feels as if the animators were running out of budget and therefore couldn't be bothered to draw the characters' face correctly. The character design in this episode is ghastly. It's not even supposed to be super-deformed. On top of this, the writers clearly try to stretch what should have been a half episode material into a full episode story. Because of this, expect some unnecessary paddings and flashbacks. Manga readers will also notice that several scenes which are considered as either 'too naughty' or 'controversial' have been changed in the anime.
Anyway, the episode begins with Mikan, Natsume, and Ruka sitting in an outdoor cafe. Mikan wishes that the festival can go on forever but her enthusiasm disappears when she realises that she's hungry. Thankfully for her, Anna-chan then appears, bringing with her a Wine Banana Miracle Pie. Mikan thinks that the pie looks delicious but Natsume and Ruka know better and I have to agree with them. That cake looks disgusting even without the germs dancing around in it. Oh right, the germs. Well, Natsume notices that there is this little creature dancing around in his pie and realises that the pie is not good to eat. When he realises this, he decides to splash his tea into Mikan's face to prevent her from eating the cake.
Mikan becomes angry and demands an apology. She claims that Anna-chan has worked very hard to make a pie for them. Anna's supervisor, however, tells the kids that the pie looks like it should have expired one hundred years ago, alerting them to the existence of the disgusting little creatures. After Mikan and Ruka left the cafe, Ruka tells Mikan that Natsume's action was just his way of warning them not to eat the pie. Mikan retorts that if that was the case then there are better ways of conveying the information. Ruka, however, believes that Natsume did it because he doesn't want to embarass Anna in front of the customers with his complaint.
Ruka also tells Mikan that the truth is, Natsume is really kind. Even though he is misunderstood by many, Natsume is actually the sort of person who always think of others and do not abandon them till the end. In fact, for the sake of his friend, he always keep it to himself even when he is hurt. Upon hearing this, Mikan comments that Ruka must really like Natsume. And in a way, she can understand this because she also feels the same about Hotaru. Although Hotaru does not get along well with other people, she's basically a kind person who's willing to throw everything out to help others. This is why Mikan likes Hotaru a lot and she believes Ruka feels the same way about Natsume.
Not long after this, Mikan, Natsume, and Ruka are seen heading towards Senzai-kei group's attractions by using a flying broomstick controlled by one of Sumire's friends. The three then arrive at Iinchou's haunted house attraction which seems to be rather scary by the kids' standards. Meanwhile, inside the control room, Iinchou is seen using his power to create a monster out of nothing to scare the visitors of the haunted house. Iinchou seems to be proud of his ability and gladly ushers in his friends into the darkened hall of his haunted hall. At the same time, Sumire is not happy that Natsume has gone inside the haunted house without her. She decides to follow him while taking Jinno-sensei with her.
Meanwhile, inside the haunted house, Mikan doesn't even bother to hide the fact that the experience scares her terribly. When a body-less arm suddenly reaches out and grabs her leg, she can't help screaming around without even realising that the arm is just a device controlled by another kid inside the haunted house. She then latches herself onto Ruka's arm and in the process makes Natsume to be a bit jealous. Sumire, on the other hand, is braver. Instead of screaming around when the hand grabs her leg, she ends up kicking the hand away. The only thing she's afraid of seems to be Jinno-sensei's wrath. For now, however, she doesn't have to worry about this because Jinno-sensei is too traumatised by the haunted house.
Mikan, Ruka, and Natsume then encounter a creepy old lady. The old lady wonders if they can carry/take her to the position across where she currently stands. However, Natsume decide to ignore the old lady despite the repeated requests. To be fair, the distance if not that far but at the same time, the old lady seems kind of blind. Mikan tries to protest Natsume's ignorance but she and Ruka end up following him as well. Unhappy with the kids' ignorance, the old lady suddenly opens her eyes, revealing scary red eyes. She then begins to crawl with her hands and legs and try to catch the kids. Yikes! The moral of the story is: if you see an old lady try to cross the street, help her or else, she will have a grudge on you.
In their attempt to escape from the scary obaa-san, Mikan and Natsume are seperated from Ruka. To make matters worse, Mikan passes out when she encounters a scary-looking statue and inadvertently causes the statue to fall on her. Natsume has no other choice but to protect Mikan's unconscious body with his own body, injuring his leg in the process. In addition to this, a wall suddenly appears and blocks their way out. So now both Mikan and Natsume are trapped inside the haunted house. Meanwhile, inside the control room, Iinchou focuses his attention on creating scary monsters for his visitors. He successfully conjures one up for Jinno-sensei. The problem is, Jinno-sensei is freaked out about this.
Jin-jin's fear causes his thunder
Mikan is annoyed about this and asks Natsume if he wants to get out or not. Natsume tells her that the only way for them to get out of here is to break down the wall. Mikan, however, disagrees with this method since Senzai-kei group has worked hard to create the place. So she doesn't want him to destroy the place as if it's nothing. Heh, there's nothing pleasing her. Natsume then calmly tells her that if that's the case then maybe they should wait for the rescue. But that doesn't seem to make Mikan happy either especially after some rocks begin to fall from the ceilings. Meanwhile Ruka finally manages to get himself out of the haunted house. He, however, quickly realises that Natsume and Mikan are still inside.
Back to Mikan and Natsume, Mikan tries her best to be brave but can't stop herself from freaking out when she hears the sound of a rattling chains. The two then turn silent towards each other and Mikan realises that she finds it hard to know what's inside his mind. Unlike other children, it's hard to engage Natsume in a conversation. She also realises that she never saw Natsume laugh before. Because of this, Mikan tries several different ways to make Natsume laugh. However, just when she almost succeed in doing so, she notices the that Natsume's leg was injured. She realises that Natsume protected her when she was unconscious. Mikan becomes appreciative of Natsume's effort and starts to become mushy.
Natsume, however, tells Mikan that he knows what a strawberry panties user like her tries to say, causing the girl to realise that Natsume managed to take a look at her panties. Mikan is pissed off about this and ends up wrestling Natsume. Unfortunately, Ruka and Hotaru then arrive and see Mikan sitting on top of Natsume's body. Mikan tries to explain that this is not what it looks like but Natsume intends to make her look bad by saying that she tries to molest him while no one sees them. Later on, Mikan tells Ruka that despite everything, it's been an enjoyable day with Natsume. Ruka then tells her about his and Natsume's future dream of living peacefully in a place where there are a lot of animals. Mikan then assures him that one day his wish will surely become a reality.
Impression:
What? No skirt-lifting scene? Why not? And I can't believe that the animators chose not to animate the scene where Mikan hugs Natsume due to her fear while Natsume looks like he's enjoying every minute of it. And what's wrong with Iinchou falling unconscious because he overuses his power? Why do they change that story in this version? Surely by now most people now that in this school children work as hard as adults. Plus, the scene confirms that overuse of
Episode 19
I'm sorry for the late recap but I had to finish a design job and didn't have the time to complete this until a couple of hours ago. I am also a bit disappointed with this episode. I think that overall this is not as funny as the manga version. Anyway, it looks like next week's episode will be the dance party chapter. Everyone looks good in the preview and I hope that episode will be better than this one, and especially last week's episode. With 7 more episodes to go, I also wonder how the anime writers intend to wrap up this series. I think the only way the series can have a satisfying conclusion is if it actually jumps a little bit plot-wise, and uses the plot from the start of volume 6 of the manga involving Iinchou.
The episode begins with Natsume and Ruka sitting on a rooftop watching the night stars. Ruka looks as if he's about to ask something to Natsume but at the last minute decides to cancel his question. The next morning, Ruka is seen trying to stop his friends from following him like a bunch of groupie. It soon becomes obvious that the reason Ruka doesn't want anyone to follow him is because he's embarassed about his role as Snow White in Taishitsu-kei's theatrical performance. Unfortunately for Ruka, those pesky friends of his manage to find out his dressing room and take a look at him in his full Snow White costume (the Disney version). Ruka becomes even more embarassed when some of his friends say that he looks like a real girl in that dress.
It also doesn't help that Hotaru keeps taking picture of him in the dress. Ruka finally can't take it anymore and proceeds to give Hotaru a chase. While the two have their usual fun, Narumi takes the rest of the group to see the entire backlot. Narumi explains to the group that the play is basically a combination of Sleeping Beauty and Snow White. Before he can say anything further, however, he is interrupted by a bunch of squealling fangirls who's in the middle of worshipping someone who is about to play the Prince. Narumi, however, explains that the truth is, the person who's about to play the Prince is a girl called Yuri. They picked her because her
Narumi then shows Mikan the packed auditorium and tells her that Ruka's animal pheromone and Yuri-chan's female pheromone help to attract those audiences. Mikan then asks Narumi if Ruka was selected to become Snow White because of his ability to attract the audiences. Narumi unabashedly confirms her guess. 0_0 Isn't this some kind of misuse of the students'
The balls are then propelled on top of the performers' head due to the wind that comes from a big fan and immediately unleashes its sticky effect on the victims. BTW, is it just me or does Mikan's cancellation
Natsume refuses right away, asking why he should help Narumi. Upon hearing this, Narumi tells the kid that he has no choice but to cut down the number of Dwarves from 7 to 6 since the kid is stucked to Natsume. When he sees the kid looking sad, Natsume seems to change his mind. Nevertheless, he decides to leave the area without saying a word to Narumi or Mikan. Not long after this, however, he returns to the backlot wearing a cat costume. Mikan and the other girls immediately squee over his cute appearance. But Natsume quickly shows Mikan that a boy does not appreciate being called 'cute'. He also gets his revenge by telling Narumi that Mikan will make a good Prince. At first Mikan is uncomfortable about the role but Hotaru then comes and assures her that she can do it.
Ruka then comes into the dressing room and immediately becomes tongue-tied again upon seeing Mikan. Mikan tells Ruka that she doesn't have experience in acting nor is she ready for this but Taishitsu-kei and everyone else has done their best and she doesn't want to ruin it. Because of this, she asks for Ruka's guidance. Ruka tells her that all they have to do is to just do their best. The play then begins with the usual "Once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess in a faraway kingdom. However, when the Princess was born, an evil witch came and gave her a sleeping curse". But since this is a messed up version of Sleeping Beauty tale, the Sleeping Beauty in this version is actually more like a Sleepy Beauty (ie. she likes to sleep). And oh, Sumire gets to play the role.
Sumire starts her role by complaining that she can't find any good boys around but then all of her sudden her cat/dog
Later on Mikan tells Ruka that as she expected, she's not good at all. Ruka, however, tells her that she did a good job. Ruka's encouragement makes Mikan happy again and the two begin to laugh together. They, however, don't realise that their conversation is observed by one unhappy Natsume. The weird play then continues by short appearance by Neko-Natsume, followed by a singing and dancing Ruka and his animal friends. I have to say that the singing on this scene was attrocious. Meanwhile Sleepy Beauty is fuming because the Prince prefers Snow White than her. So she goes to her mirror and asks who's the most beautiful girl of them all. When the mirror, aka Kokoroyomi-kun, tells her that it's definitely not her, Sleepy Beauty lost it and swears revenge on Snow White.
Because of this, Sleepy Beauty sends a hunter to find Snow White. Snow White ends up being terrified of the hunter but not because of his murderous intention but more because he threatens to kiss her. When Snow White asks the hunter who sent him, all of a sudden evil Sleepy Beauty appears and tells Snow White that the hunter is her subordinate. Sleepy Beauty then laughs like a maniac and informs Snow White that she will die now. Upon saying this, Sleepy Beauty throws a "Super poisonous-bite Apple" at Snow White. The Apple manages to bite Snow White's neck, instantly killing the Princess. The Prince then arrives and tries to awaken Snow White but is surprised when he sees evil Sleepy Beauty standing next to him. Mikan quickly goes out of character and asks Sumire what is she doing here.
Sumire points to a guy flashing a note saying from now on, everyone must ad-lib their own scenario. Mikan is shocked about this and even more so when Sumire suddenly bares her fangs and claws and launches herself to attack Mikan. So the two then ends up in a deadly duel with each other. All of a sudden, however, someone flings a bone to Sumire. Sumire who's still in her cat/dog state ends up chasing after the bone. The Prince continues his attempt to wake up Snow White by kissing her. Mikan is embarassed about this but she has no choice but to kiss Ruka. However, just when she is about to kiss the boy, an apple hits her head, stopping the kiss. The stage then suddenly goes pitch-black. It seems Hotaru was the one who turned off the light and Natsume was the one who threw the apple.
Impression:
I have to say that I'm a bit disappointed with this episode. I think the plot execution is funnier in the manga. I blame this on the lack of over-the-top reaction from Mikan and her friends. In the manga, Kokoroyomi, Hotaru, Nonoka, and the others always look silly everytime they are surprised about something. For example, when they found out that Sumire gets to play Sleeping/Sleepy Beauty, their expression was priceless. Unfortunately there is no such reaction in this episode. I also miss the part where Mikan is pressured by his peers to accept the role of the Prince. In this anime, she just resigns to her fate so easily. Oh well, at least the character development is still there. It's obvious by now that Natsume clearly wants to be able to have the same kind of friendship with Mikan that Ruka has with her. He, however, has to try harder if he wants to catch up with them.
Episode 20
Wow, can someone please check if Hell is frozen over? I'm so used to seeing Mikan suffering within this series that seeing so many good things happening to her at once is a bit of a shock. It helps that the animation in this episode is unusually good. I think I'll be quite happy if the series had ended with this episode because the story has a nice resolution feel to it, with everyone being happy in the end. I'm not sure how weird it'll be to see everything turns bad again in the next couple of episodes. I also noticed that this is the first time Natsume laughs like a normal kid. It's quite a change from the manga where he doesn't even smile that much. Anyway, please note that I had difficulty understanding some of the dialogues in this episode, so if I make some mistakes, please let me know.
The episode begins with Tsubasa informing Mikan that the attendance level for their attraction is 3 times higher than last year and the customers are still rolling. It seems people find the RPG to be really interesting after all. Meanwhile, Narumi-sensei is seen looking at Mikan from afar while holding what looks like a brown envelope. Cut to a flashback where Narumi-sensei visited Mikan's grandfather. It's obvious now that the envelope is a letter addressed to Mikan from her grandfather. Back to the present time, Mikan, Kokoroyomi-kun, and the rest of the gang are seen on the rooftop trying to see the parade on the street. Mikan thinks that the whole thing looks cool but laments the fact that it's quite far from where they are standing at the moment. As if right on cue, Hotaru suddenly appears, riding in what could be the solution to their distance problem: a flying swan bike.
However, since Hotaru is being Hotaru, she decides to enjoy the more close-up view of the parade on her own. An unhappy Mikan decides to return to the classroom with Nonoko and Anna and in the process gets to see Natsume's and Ruka's fangirls cooing over the two boys. Mikan is confused about this and is therefore informed by Anna that the girls are trying to ask the boys for the 'Last Dance'. This is a dance event that happens at the dance party where supposedly the girl and the partner who have last dance will be in love with each other. Unfortunately, Mikan doesn't seem to understand the concept of love. Never mind that, she doesn't even know whom she'll have the last dance with. Meanwhile, Natsume is finally fed up with the entire fangirls and decide to take a walk outside. Mikan tries to ask Ruka what is wrong with Natsume but for some reason Ruka is also being evasive.
Fast forward to what is possibly a couple of hours later, Mikan and Tsubasa are seen in a group ceremony to award the winners of the School Festival. During the ceremony, Mikan gets to see the three Principals for the first time and is surprised when she knows that one of them is a little kid. Jinno-sensei is not happy when he sees Mikan being noisy but before he can say anything further, Serena-sensei whispers something to his ear. It turns out the teachers have found out that Narumi intends to give Mikan the letter that her grandfather wrote. Upon hearing this, Jinno-sensei becomes angry because the act is against the school rules. Narumi, however, argues that he wants to keep the promise he made to Mikan. He believes that the school will have no future unless teachers can be trusted by their students.
Meanwhile, the award ceremony continues outside the building. The first award up for grab is Class championship. And the winner is Gijutsu-kei group (Hotaru's class). As a reward, the group receives 10,000 rabbits. The next award is for the King championship. The winner is a Gijutsu-kei boy who invents some kind of hair product. Unfortunately, there is no winner for the Queen championship but Mikan is very happy when she finds out that Hotaru is the winner of Rookie of the year award. The biggest surprise of them all, however, is the winner for the Special award, which goes to Mikan's group, Tokuryoku-kei. The group are ecstatic about this because it means people like their RPG. Mikan's good luck then continues when she encounters Narumi-sensei who gives her the letter from her grandpa. I guess good things do happen to good people who perseveres.
The second half of the episode begins with Natsume helping Yoichi to light up the Dance Party's fireplace. Meanwhile Mikan is seen inside a dressing room still reading the letter from her grandfather. Hotaru quickly reminds her that the dance party is about to start so she better change into her Angel look-alike costume. Once the two go out, Mikan gets to meet Tsubasa and Misaki again. Tsubasa blabs to everyone that Misaki fell over during last year's last dance. Misaki retorts that the incident happened because of Tsubasa's lead or lack thereof. Once Tsubasa and Misaki leave to get some food, Nonoko-chan gushes that the two look like a couple. Anna-chan believes that it must be the effect of last dance. The still confused Mikan tries to ask which person Nonoko and Anna want to dance with. She gets her answer right away when both girls ask Misaki-sensei to dance with them.
An embarrassed Misaki-sensei has no choice but to pretend that he has some business to attend to. Because of this, his fangirls proceed to chase after him like a swarm of bees. Even after all of the examples, Mikan still doesn't understand the concept of 'love' because she's still a kid after all. So she decides to ask for some advice from Hotaru. This, however, turns out to be a very wrong move. Even though Hotaru has her annoying sempai and various other investors waiting to impress her, she seems to prefer the company of a plate full of delicious-looking crabs. The episode then shows another batch of weirdos: a group of older looking girls trying to ask a pissed-off looking Natsume and a scared Ruka-pyon to the last dance. The girls even badmouth Mikan when they think Ruka prefers to dance with her. Of course, Mikan becomes angry when she overhears the conversation.
She asks the girls why they badmouth her even though she hasn't even made a decision about the person she'll have her last dance with. To mask his interest in Mikan, Ruka says that it doesn't matter with whom he dances with. But Sumire then appears and scares the girls away, leaving Mikan alone with Natsume and Ruka. Natsume seems to know that his friend likes Mikan. So he pushes Ruka towards Mikan then leaves the two alone. Ruka blushes as usual but Mikan seems oblivious about this and asks the boy to dance with her for a while. So the two end up dancing together while Natsume looks on from afar. After dancing with Ruka for a while, Mikan dances with Tsubasa, leaving poor Ruka at the mercy of Hotaru. She knows that Ruka has a crush on Mikan and doesn't hesitate to blurt it out unless he brings her some food. Poor Ruka immediately agrees to deliver her demand.
Meanwhile Mikan is seen walking alone into the forest and accidentally gets to meet Natsume. She kindly greets him and asks him why he didn't come and dance together with others. Natsume, however, tells her that she and everyone else shouldn't be concerned about him. Meanwhile, Ruka, who's in the middle of fetching some food for Hotaru, accidentally spots his two friends and decides to eavesdrop on their conversation. Natsume continues to tell Mikan that she shouldn't get too close to him because there's nothing inside his head other than darkness and he doesn't want her to see this. Mikan becomes worried upon hearing this but Natsume tells her to go away and begins to name-calling her again. Mikan is angry at his attitude and doesn't understand why he goes from being nice to being a jerk. She's also tired of him name-calling her instead of using her real name.
Much to Mikan's surprise, however, Natsume suddenly calls her using her real name. She is so shocked that she ends up walking away from Natsume without any protest. Ruka, however, notices that Mikan blushes as she leaves Natsume alone. When Mikan returns to the main area, Nonoko and Anna asks why her face looks red. Mikan, however, is too busy wondering why Natsume suddenly calls her name in serious manner. She also realises that her heart is beating fast when Nonoko and Anna asks if she knows who she will pick for the last dance. A confused Mikan begins to run around in panic, inadvertently making Hotaru curious. Meanwhile, Ruka decides to have some heart to heart talk with Natsume. He asks Natsume if he'll come to the night party. Natsume refuses but he thinks Ruka should go. In reply Ruka tells his friends that he already danced not too long ago.
Ruka then tells Natsume that was the first time he heard Natsume calling a girl by her name. Natsume is embarrassed about this and pretends that he's just trying to stop Mikan from being noisy. Ruka, however, does not believe this and argues that Mikan probably want to have her last dance with Natsume. Natsume disagrees and tells Ruka that she probably want to dance with Ruka instead. So the two boys then continue to tell each other that the other should be the one who takes Mikan to the last dance. As it turns out, the two shouldn't be so self-sacrificing because Hotaru is always willing to step in and take Mikan from them. True enough, in the main area, the host announces that the next last dance will be between Hotaru and Mikan. Upon hearing this the two boys laugh and the tense situation between them suddenly goes away. The episode then ends with Natsume telling Ruka that they should go and see the dance.
Impression:
This is a really good episode that deals with various emotions of the three main characters. Mikan is clearly confused about love and it doesn't help that the two boys who are interested in her give her mixed signals. It's interesting to see the anime ratcheting up the triangle to this degree. I don't remember it being this obvious in the manga. However, it looks like Mikan has unconsciously made her choice here. Poor Ruka gets to see her blushing as well. It's also interesting to see the two boys trying to be selfless in the episode when it comes to competing for the girl. Having said that, I have this impression that underneath those pleasantries, the two knows very well that they are competing against each other for Mikan's affection. Well, it looks like they have their work cut out for them because in the end, Hotaru is the one who has the last dance with Mikan. :)
Episode 21
I'm sorry that it took me this long to come up with this recap. But I barely have the time to clean up my room, let alone find the time to watch and write something. Having said that, here's a quick entry for this week's episode. First thing first, this is a mediocre episode especially when you compare it with last week's episode. The episode also contains some unnecessary filler which I think should have not been included to begin with. With only 5 more episodes to go, I think the writers should have condensed next week's episode along with this week's episode. That way they'll have a lot more time to complete the series properly. The animation also takes a slight nosedive from last week's episode. But that's to be expected since the animators probably want to conserve the budget for the finale.
Anyway, the episode itself begins with Narumi announcing to Class B that next week is the start of the end of term examination. Mikan is shocked about this and even more so when she hears Narumi telling the class that the results will greatly affect the assessment of their star rank, as well as the race for an honour student prize. Narumi then asks the class to do their best and leaves the poor students to be miserable. As if that's not bad enough, Misaki-sensei then arrives to announce a truckload of subjects that will be in the examination. These include language, arithmetic, science, fine arts, music, and cooking. He also informs the students that anyone caught using their
Once the teachers left, Mikan reveals the obvious: she hates exams and she's afraid that failing means having to face her grandpa's wrath. Upon hearing this, Hotaru, Kokoroyomi-kun, and another classmate begins to tease her and calling her stupid. Iinchou, on the other hand, tries to encourage her by saying that not everything about this exam is bad. He tells her that those who do a good job at their exam will be rewarded. Cuts to a scene of Narumi-sensei explaining that the honour student will be rewarded with a chance to go back to their family for a week as well as a
As cruel as that sounds, Hotaru is probably right because Mikan sucks at every single subject from Arithmetic to Science. When her classmates find out about this, they begin to wonder if she'll survive this examination. Mikan, however, refuses to give up and decides to ask for Noda-sensei's help. She believes that Noda-sensei's time tripper ability makes him an expert in history. Nodacchi, however, ends up giving her some secret truth about several past historical figures. Because of this, Tsubasa tells Mikan that she'd be better off finding out the sort of question that the examiners normally put in the exam. The problem is, Mikan becomes stressed out when she realises that the questions are difficult. It doesn't help that some of her classmates keep telling her to give up and just play dodge ball with them. Mikan is also surprised to know that Ruka is not aiming for the award.
Mikan, however, perseveres and keeps up with her intention to study well because she wants to return home and see her grandpa. Eventually her enthusiasm to study rubs off on her classmates and one by one they also begin to study for the exam. Natsume's lackey complains that it's all Mikan's fault that everyone ends up studying now. However, it seems Natsume has also got the study bug and does not mind when some of his classmates ask him to help them with their study. Having said that, I get the impression that half of the reason he helps out is because he wants Mikan to notice him. :P Sumire is the only one who feels a bit left out, mostly because Natsume does not pay the slightest attention to her. Later on that day, Natsume, Mikan, Kokoroyomi-kun and some of their classmates are seen happily walking together. They, however, are not aware that they are being watched from afar by Persona.
Anyway, the next day, the exam starts with language as the first subject to be tested. Narumi-sensei is seen inside a class telling the students that this year's test will be fun. The students, however, seems to disagree when they find out that the test asks them to write a love letter to Narumi using at least 5 Chinese characters that they've learned in the class. The students who didn't expect the change to the usual test method are shocked about this and are worried about the change after completing the exam. Mikan seems to be the only one who think she did rather well and that the test was enjoyable. Hmm, I guess she's had practice writing all of those letters to her grandpa. By contrast, Natsume is not as enthusiastic about the test. He comes out of the room and tells Mikan that he left his paper blank. Anyway, the students then end up going to their next exam, science test with Misaki-sensei.
Misaki-sensei begins by telling the students that he's had it with the cheaters. So this year he brings with him a special Cactus. This one has the ability to figure out if a student has used dishonest method to complete the examination. If a student cheats, the Cactus will then appropriately administer a painful punishment to the student True enough, when Kokoroyomi-kun inadvertently uses his mind reading
Natsume, on the other hand, is not happy to see Persona. That night, he approached the teacher asking him why he came to the class wearing a disguise. In reply, Persona tells him that it's an order from the Principal. He thinks that Natsume has been behaving well lately and sarcastically tells the boy that he never imagined that Natsume would sit down for an exam quietly. Persona wonders why Natsume bothers trying to be an honour student when he doesn't have a family to return home to. He then leaves after showing Natsume his power to dissolve objects. Meanwhile, Hotaru is seen telling Mikan that she's about to go to bed. Mikan, however, wants to study a bit more. So Hotaru tells her that she got some information from a Gijutsukei senpai. She thinks that if Mikan study them, she will have no problem in tomorrow's Arithmetic test. After Hotaru left, Mikan notices that Sumire is sitting alone in the park.
Mikan asks Sumire why she is in the park instead of studying. In reply, Sumire tells her that it's useless. Mikan is surprised by this and asks if she's not aiming for the student award. Sumire tells Mikan that the truth is she wants to be a special student like Natsume as well but she thinks she won't be able to do so because of one subject: cooking. Since it's a practical skill, no matter how much she learns, she can't do it. Because of this, Mikan offers to teach Sumire how to cook since she's pretty good at it herself. Sumire is surprised about this since after all Mikan has her own study to do. Mikan, however, tells Sumire that she can't do it while Sumire is about to give up her own dream. Sumire is embarrassed to hear Mikan being so selfless so she has no choice but to participate in cooking lesson from hell. The next morning, it's obvious that Mikan and Sumire have been staying up all night studying.
During the exam, the teacher tells them that they have to make a clear soup and fried rice within 45 minutes. So Mikan and Sumire begin their fun-filled, flying cooking style. Nevertheless, they managed to create a perfect fried rice and soup that they're happy with. They, however, are surprised when all of the other students are nowhere in sight. The teachers tell the girls that others have gone to the next test: Arithmetic. So off the two to their next exam. Unfortunately for Mikan, she's too tired to do the test properly so she ends up falling asleep while doing it. Fast forward to possibly a couple of days/weeks later, the examination results are finally out. Mikan doesn't get the student award but she did quite well regardless and got a B as her overall mark. Mikan realises that it's still a long way before she can see her grandpa. But much to her surprise, Sumire encourages her to do well next time.
Impression:
When I first started the series, I thought that Sumire will always be one of Mikan's enemy but it's good to see that doesn't seem to be the case here. In fact, I think the writers have done a rather good job at fleshing out the friendship between the two girls without the need to rush the process. I also think that Mikan's positive attitude begins to influence the usually gloomy Natsume. I do, however, wonder what the animators tried to achieve when they showed that quick glimpse of Ruka looking a bit gloomy when he sees Natsume surrounded by people asking for his help. Was this scene meant to suggest that Ruka finally sees Natsume as his competitor? Or was he simply surprised to see Natsume being nice to other people? Either way, it's funny to know that Sumire, Natsume, and Ruka used to be nasty to Mikan and now they like her a lot.
Episode 22
I'm sorry that this one comes out really late but doing recap while in
Anyway, this episode itself begins with Mikan playing soccer with other
Later on, while trying to recover from her bruises, Mikan spots a group of walking and talking stuff animals trying to carry a bucket of water. Upon seeing Mikan, one of the stuff animals asked for her help to carry the water because their master is in bad condition. Mikan agrees to help and in the process gets to know Sono Kaname, a student from B class. Not long after this, the two are joined by Tsubasa and the other Tokuryoku-kei members. Tsubasa asks if Kaname had just leave the hospital today and the guy confirms that he's on temporary leave for one week. Tsubasa then tells Mikan that Kaname is the one he talked about when he told her about a best friend whose
In addition to this, much to Mikan's horor, he is also Mr.Bear's creator. Despite this, everyone end ups talking to Kaname inside Mr.Bear's house. Upon hearing the horror story about Mr.Bear, Kaname asks Mikan's forgiveness for Mr.Bear's violent tendencies. Mr.Bear, on the other hand, doesn't look like he's about to befriend Mikan and the others anytime soon. Kaname then explains that Mr.Bear was the first moving doll he made. Since he didn't know his power well enough, the doll end up without the ability to talk. Having said that, he hopes that Mr.Bear and Mikan can be friends. Anyway, in the middle of the conversation, a group of high school girls comes into Mr.Bear's house bringing gifts for Kaname.
They tell the guy that they know he's back at the school because their dolls informed them that they were on their way to see their creators. Apparently Kaname had created those other talking dolls for these girls and they are highly appreciative of it. The girls also want to throw party to celebrate Kaname's return. Kaname agrees to this but for some reason Tsubasa doesn't look happy about it but Kaname quietly asks him not to say it in front of the others. So Tsubasa ends up saying that they don't have water in the house. When Mikan sees Tsubasa looking upset, she decides to ask him if Kaname is suffering from some kind of sickness. Because of this, Tsubasa tells his kouhai that Kaname suffers from the effect of using his
He reminds her that one of the
Mikan is weirded out by this but then she remembers what Tsubasa said about the kind of
The next day, Mikan complains to Hotaru that she doesn't understand why Kaname will continue to jeopardise his own life and why Tsubasa won't say a word to his friend about it. She becomes even more disturbed when she sees one of the high school girls happily shows her new doll that was just made by Kaname. Mikan decides to confront Kaname but ends up being asked if she wants him to make a doll for her. Mikan flat out refuses and asks Kaname to stop making the dolls. Kaname is grateful that Mikan worries about him but decides to tell a story of the first time he made Mr.Bear. He remembers how he can't played with his two friends because of his sickness. On top of this, his parents were always at work so he's always home alone.
Because Kaname wants some kind of a friend, he ended up creating Mr.Bear. When he touched Mr.Bear's nose and tells him that he's his precious friend, Mr.Bear suddenly came to live and began to hug Kaname. Ever since then he feels nothing but a sense of gratitude for his
Later on that night, Mikan's friend meet one another to talk about a restless soul they've been seeing lately. Even Ruka admits of seeing it at around 11 at night. Because of this, they decide to send someone else to confirm the existence of this restless soul/ghost and they decide to send Mikan. Mikan doesn't waste time crying and complaining that she is afraid of ghost but nevertheless, she gets dragged kicking and screaming by Hotaru. They eventually spots the so-called 'ghost' and it turns out that it simply is Mr.Bear carrying some kind of lantern. After following it, they realised that Mr.Bear is the one who's been placing a flower in front of Kaname's window.
This time, however, Kaname catches him in the act and tells the bear that he knew it'll come again today and that it was the one who put the flowers with the stepladder. The stuffed animal then sweetly gives the flowers to Kaname. Upon receiving the flowers, Kaname tells the doll that tomorrow he has to go back to the hospital even though it's earlier than he planned. He is kind of worried because then Mr.Bear will be all alone again even though he promised it that they will always be together. This makes Mikan wonder if there is someone who worries and cares about her well-being from the sky up there. Anyway, the episode ends with Kaname leaving the school and Mikan offering herself to take care of Mr.Bear. Of course, that last one didn't end well.
Impression:
Well, that was as much as I can say without having tears in my eyes. I hate it when an anime manages to do something like this to me. But at the same time, it is the very same reason why I watched anime to begin with. So far the anime has been rather good so if the rumour about the series being greenlighted for another 52 episodes is true, then I hope they maintain the quality of the last 2-3 episodes. But if that turns out to be just a rumour, then I do wonder how the animators are going to complete the series. I think the anime will be fine if it just covers the Iinchou part of the Z arc but the problem is, the Iinchou part of the story directly leads into Hotaru's part of the story. And once that happens, I doubt the writers can end the series at episode 26.
Gakuen Alice 26 (END)
Final exams are over and graduation comes, with Narumi giving the commencement speech. However, Mikan's more worried about Hotaru. There's talk that she's leaving to go overseas to study... One day her room ends up empty and that mail delivery turtle is back again, so she must've left. But... she actually wasn't going all that far. Only going to stay in her lab since she's going a presentation soon. Silly Mikan ;)
And so we end pretty much exactly how we began. I can't say I really liked the conclusion here, but since there were only 26 episodes there wasn't anything to be done about it, I suppose.
Gakuen Alice is one of those shows that could've been that much better (given the source material) given a better budget and more time, like last year's Twin Spica (cut short at 20 episodes). However, that doesn't mean that I didn't enjoy it. Mikan's certainly a likeable character and Hotaru is well.. Hotaru, with her own way of showing her love to Mikan ;) Natsume and Luca-pyon, the whole cast was an interesting bunch. Plot-wise, we had our ups and downs, with the threads about Natsume being most interesting to me. Wish they would've had more time to explore that among other things that weren't fully explained, but given that the manga's still in serialization and the episode count we got what we got.
Now, there has been talk of a 2nd season of Gakuen Alice, but nothing official has been said yet. With the events of this episode they've kinda broken the setting for the next major plot thread so I dunno where they'd pick up.... But we shall see about that.
Thanks to Garten for getting me all involved in watching and reading Gakuen Alice, and blogging it (much better than I have) along with me. When he gets around to it y'all go read his thoughts about the show. It's been fun :) I'm still going to read more of the manga as my budget permits (who knows when that'll be) so if there's interest I'll write about it. I'd definitely recommend reading it to the Japanese-capable out there ;)
Gakuen Alice 25
That girl Narumi and Reo liked was Mikan's mother... Naru gets word that Reo's circus animals are on the loose -- made to wreak havoc on the school by Luca-pyon's
Reo starts broadcasting over the school's intercom using his
Nothing much to say here besides that we got to the climax, finally revealing the connection between Narumi and Reo and Mikan's mother. Next time we finish up... with Hotaru leaving to go somewhere far away again? I'll save most of my thoughts now for the wrap-up after watching the last episode tomorrow. I should be on time this week ;)
Gakuen Alice 24
Reo tells Luka-pyon of the darker side of Gakuen Alice and a bit about his past with Narumi-sensei and also another girl that was very much like Mikan... Natsume's
So we seem to be heading towards a resolution of things... though not building up to it next episode as it's a recap episode. (Upated: The recap episode isn't numbered so there will be two more episodes after it. Thanks for telling me, Nanami.) so I won't be watching/blogging next time. Anyways, putting that aside, as an anime original episode it wasn't too bad, so we'll see where things end up in a couple of weeks.
Gakuen Alice 23
The circus comes to Gakuen Alice, but the person who's running it seems familiar -- well, it's completely obvious who it is. After Luca-pyon notices how badly a lion's being treated he gets worried and goes backstage, getting to know one of the workers there who used to go to Gakuen Alice, but since his Alice was one that disappeared when he became an adult, he left. Luca-pyon finally does meet Reo, who says he'll tell him about the secrets of the school...
Gakuen Alice looks to be taking the anime original conclusion route here. I was somewhat worried last time, but after things this time I'm not quite as much. Revealing more of Natsume's past this time, and more of his relationship with Luca-pyon was well done. The obvious comparison of the poor kid lion who was forced to perform to Natsume, who was forced to do those "missions" for the school though a kid, also made the choice of the circus coming this time make more sense. As for those "secrets" of the school, I don't have any idea what it could be since those haven't been talked about in the manga I read, so we'll see exactly what Reo has to say about things as Gakuen Alice approaches a hopefully good climax :)
Gakuen Alice 22
Mikan meets the guy she heard about from Tsubasa-senpai, the one who made Mr. Bear (cue the Rocky music!), Kaname. His
A well done, kinda touching episode this time :) But the next episode preview made me uneasy. Yet another anime original story with only a few episodes left? But, can't judge before seeing where they take us these last few episodes... I'm assuming they'll stop it at a particular story, but we'll see how it wraps up.
Gakuen Alice 20
I'm going to resist the urge to write something in red text here (Y'all probably know what I was going to write, hehe). Anyways...
Mikan finally gets a letter from Jii-chan as the last night of the school festival comes and it's time for the big dance. Mikan hasn't asked anyone to dance with her for that "Last Dance" yet, though, unlike the other girls. But she does have her share of fun dancing with everyone, and in the end, Hotaru (after eating who knows how many crabs) asks her to dance with her for that last dance. Fitting :) And even Natsume laughs for once this time.
Looks like we'll be starting the next major plot arc next time as final exams come. Whoever does the best on them gets to return home for a week... and I can't say anymore because I know what happens (we're almost at the end of volume 5 of the manga).
Gakuen Alice 19
Gakuen Alice hops on the gender-bending bandwagon along with Mahoraba and GIRLS Bravo with a production of the ever popular Snow White and Sleeping Beauty mixed together. Luca-pyon plays Snow White, with Yuri-senpai -- not a coincidence Yuri-senpai's
And with Luca-pyon Snow White, Mikan the prince that means... they have to kiss.. but someone seems to be jealous and makes sure that doesn't happen ;)
Next time, it's the last day of the festival and the big dance.. so who's Mikan going to dance with? ;)
Gakuen Alice 17
Mikan goes with Luca-pyon and Natsume to have fun at the school festival and visits Hotaru's shop in the 技術系 area. But an accident brings Hotaru's brother, one of the school principals in...
And he's an example of what happens after you've been at that school for a while. Cold, unfeeling, almost machine-like responses, never really felt a need to see his parents after being sent to Gakuen Alice... Hotaru, however, won't become like that.. she's got Mikan ;)
Good very much needed character development for Hotaru this time, showing that she's definitely not that unfeeling compared to others out there. But she won't stop abusing Mikan when she's causing trouble, of course ;) Next time Mikan has fun with Natsume in Tobita's haunted house (that actually happened before this episode's events in the manga).
Gakuen Alice 16
This time was a break from the seriousness of the past few episodes, back to the lighter tone that characterized the earlier episodes of Gakuen Alice. Mikan was extremely kawaii this time, wasn't she? So was Neko Mimi Mode Sumire ;) But poor Mikan, getting harassed by Natsume again, and on top of that having to grant Natsume 3 wishes.. she'll have fun with Natsume at the festival, if things go as they did in the manga ;) Judging from the next ep preview, the situation in which Mikan learns Hotaru's secret has been changed a bit for the anime (I don't recall Hotaru's robot going crazy), but anyways...
Plenty more fun stuff to come up (if things go as the manga), but we'll turn back to more serious stuff eventually, of course. See where we go these last 10 (right?) episodes.
Gakuen Alice 15
See Garten for a detailed summary of what happened this time ;)
Same as Garten, I have to think that Persona's threat against Natsume, of losing people who are important to him, was only effective since Natsume's sister is alive somewhere. Though others like Luka-pyon would certainly be possible... It also seems like Natsume is able to kinda get along with, and even stand up to protect Mikan, because she somehow reminds him of his sister in some way. Though all of that still isn't too clear after reading through 6 volumes of the manga. Same with Mikan's connection to "that girl" from 10 years ago...
I do have some worries about whether or not the writers will be able get everything important into the last 11 episodes... However, if there were a second season, stretching it out to 52 episodes, it might be too much considering the pace we're going at now -- they'd have to insert filler somewhere or really slow things down... Another worry is that since the manga is still ongoing there's the possibility of an open "ending". Or perhaps the anime will catch up and pass the manga, and will go to its own conclusion, resolving everything. We'll see.. Anyways, I'll be optimistic that they can get what needs to be done, done in what's left for now ;)
And okay, sure, maybe I do like Sumire a bit more because of the Neko Mimi. You can blame all of that on Hazuki (from Tsukuyomi) ;)
Gakuen Alice 14
Mikan and Sumire keep chasing after Reo who's kidnapped Natsume. Sumire finally shows her
I can't do much here besides echo what Garten said, but anyways. Animation could've been done better this time, but the story developments that we get make up for it as we learn about the dark side of Gakuen Alice that Natsume, the "Black Cat", has experienced. You can understand why he'd hate the school after hearing what Reo said, perhaps even side with Reo's organization that's opposed to the school. It certainly isn't always a welcoming place like the festival going on now would make it look. btw, after reading this part in the manga I started liking Sumire a lot more. She didn't seem like just a stuck-up brat after this happened ;) And if you were paying attention this time you noticed Hotaru's brother, but he and Hotaru's relationship is something to talk about later on. Anyways, looks like we'll wrap up this little arc next time, hopefully with things a bit better as far as animation.
Gakuen Alice 12
Head over to Memento for a more complete summary of this episode by Garten ;)
The transition to that darker tone that I and Garten have been talking about keeps on moving this time, with Natsume's pretty dangerous "work" finally revealed. At school, Mikan is all excited about the upcoming school festival, where each
I don't know what Ruka-pyon chasing after Hotaru had to do with anything, though, other than a bit of comic relief. The tone next time should be much more serious, though, and I'll leave it at that. We'll see how they handle it since until last time the tone was pretty bright and cheerful, glossing over the darker things..
Gakuen Alice 11
I'll send y'all over to Garten for a detailed summary of what happened this time. There were some funny happenings this time -- Mikan taking on opponents to practice using her 無効化
Gakuen Alice 10
The students get their monthly allowance based on their 星階級 star ranking, and go to
They all go to
Put on a play, "The Little Match Girl", and earn some money that way. It turns out to be a pretty comedic version of the story, but people love it and Mikan earns enough money to buy some howalon. She's in Heaven :) She gives one to everyone that helped, and even gives one to Natsume as well...
And now that I've read the manga, I'll be in the same spot as with Tsukuyomi, since I know what's going to be happening next :) Or well... it doesn't seem that what should be happening next will be happening next, something that really changes the tone of the story. I can't say any more than that :) But if you must know (highlight to read), the operative word is 誘拐 yuukai, kidnapping, and there's also the appearance of an organization made up of former students who are now opposed to Gakuen Alice, only called "Z" (pronounced "zet") (btw, other people who've read the manga, please, no other spoilers in the comments for now since you can't hide them like I can. Thank you :). And while we're talking differences here, there was something important that Natsume said and thought about in the manga that wasn't said here, a hint of his past. His character overall is not quite as developed as it is in the manga at this point. But, we've still got 16 episodes left, they'll have to get to that stuff eventually.
And, you're right Garten, the first part of the next ep preview isn't anywhere in the manga, but the part with Mikan doing special training with Nodachi is (see volume 4, chapter 17).
Gakuen Alice 8
Mikan once again gives a letter to the fruity Narumi-sensei to send off to her Grandpa, but for some reason she hasn't heard from him. So she gets a girl with a divination
So Mikan goes back to her room to be by herself for a bit.. but Luka-pyon and the rest have another plan to get her outside the school walls. However, it doesn't quite work and Mikan almost gets kidnapped (again) before Narumi-sensei saves her. They go back to Narumi-sensei's place for the night and Mikan ends up wanting to stay with Narumi-sensei. She wants to call him "Grandpa" at first, but Narumi-sensei says to call him "Father" since he's not that old.
Poor Mikan... There was a picture of Narumi-sensei with someone (see screencap above). Wonder who that could be? And what was that incident that caused Mikan's
As usual, see Garten's entry for some things that have been changed from the manga. I should be able to get the manga in a couple of weeks :)
Gakuen Alice 6
Zero star Mikan once again has to do the dirty work, cleaning dishes, but as usual things don't go too well. She's late to class the next day, then in PE when she thinks she has a chance to win a race a kid with a super speed
While Mikan's sitting all alone, the fruity Narumi-sensei comes and explains to her that there's going to be a joint class where students are separated into 4 different major groups based on their
潜在能力系 senzainouryoku-kei: This group includes your usual super-human abilities. Like Tobita's 幻覚 genkaku, or seeing through things, or the 瞬間移動 shunkan idou of the girl earlier who teleported. The atmosphere of this group is on average pretty normal since the abilities are so orthodox.
技術系 gijutsu-kei: Includes alices used for creating things, like Hotaru's 発明 hatsumei alice. Tend to be "my pace" types in this group.
体質系 taishitsu-kei: Luka and Narumi-sensei with their pheromone alices are in this group, along with mainly physical abilities like super speed.
Most of the students are in those three classes but there's one more:
特別能力系 tokubetsu nouryoku-kei (or 特力系 tokuryoku-kei for short): Includes whatever doesn't fit in the other groups. Including Mikan's 無効化 mukouka
Now there is a fifth group, the 危険能力系 kiken nouryoku-kei, for those with dangerous
On the way to the tokuryoku-kei class Mikan runs into Natsume, who's being looked for by a guy in a dark coat and a mask... he eventually goes away, but then some of the students in the middle school show up. Natsume gets pissed and sets one of them on fire (quickly put out). Then they take Mikan and tease her, thinking her to be Natsume's friend. Of course, Natsume doesn't care what happens. Eventually, another sempai, Andou, comes and stops them using his Shikamaru-like ability to control shadows. He's a part of the tokuryoku-kei just like Mikan so he shows her the way to class. And what's waiting there? A party for her :) Turns out the people in the class aren't all that bad. The sensei she had seen earlier who had told her that she was one of his students turned out to be the teacher of the class (and a "time tripper", which was why he was disappearing earlier). So Mikan feels for the first time since coming that she's found a place she can belong :)
Gakuen Alice 5
Mikan gets a rude awakening from Hotaru (ouch) and goes off for her first day of school at
Narumi-sensei introduces Mikan to her class and Tobita explains the "Star" system they have in place there. Higher number of stars, the better privileges you'll have. Tobita and Hotaru both are 3 stars, one below the top. And at the top? Natsume (somehow).. Mikan's rank hasn't been assessed yet. After that she needs a partner.. Hotaru refuses, holding up a sign in protest, so Narumi-sensei decides for her... It's Natsume?
In math class Mikan finally learns how many stars she has.. After Sumire and her buddies have some fun with her, making it seem like Mikan's doing things to the teacher, the teacher, seemingly mad because of it, decides her rank.. 0, zero, none, nada, stars -- 星なし hoshi nashi. But it seems like he had been intending to give her no stars from the beginning...
The life of a zero star sucks.. bad room, bad food, bad facilities, so on.. and Mikan is about to tell her grandfather in a letter that it sucks.. but after realizing that there are a lot of kids at Alice Academy that don't want to be there and she actually wanted to be there, she finally gets some confidence and decides to make her way up. Hotaru drops by and offers some advice.. no matter if you're 3 stars or zero stars you're still who you are.. awwwww, she can be nice :) She then proceeds to smack Mikan with another one of her crazy inventions when she comes to give her a hug...
So Hotaru is still Hotaru after all. Guess it's her own way of showing affection, lol ;) I counted four times she beat Mikan using one of her wacky inventions this time. But she did get back at Sumire (that was hilarious) for what she did to Mikan so I guess it evens out ;) Anyways, that's a pretty tough system they've got there.. poor Mikan. And with Natsume as her partner? Man, talk about some bad luck... About Natsume.. What were those scars on his neck? hmm.. still much to be found out about him and everybody else as well, ain't there? ;)
Oh, btw, y'all please go and wish Garten good luck on the JLPT (Japanese Language Proficiency Test) that's coming up soon. がんばって！ (I probably should have taken it this year, but oh well...)
Gakuen Alice 4
Garten wrote up a nice long summary for this episode (prolly better than I could do) so there ain't much sense in me doing a long one :)
Mikan, Tobita, and Hotaru run into the axe-wielding Mr. Bear. He ain't as nice as Mikan thinks he is, as she quickly finds out. After getting the daylights punched out of her Mikan's saved by one of Hotaru's inventions and they all get away.. only to be chased by a giant chick. Luka, Natsume's buddy, could control it if he were there, so Tobita uses his illusion
After that Natsume shows up, rather pissed off that they tricked Luka and he uses his flame
This one was full of laughs. Mr. Bear is a riot. He really went to town on Mikan ;) And Mikan was hilarious as usual this time. I already knew what Mikan's alice (and everybody else's) was because it was listed on her character page ;) but anyways, to the more serious things... Luka mentioned that Natsume didn't want his
Gakuen Alice 3
Mikan is bullied by Natsume and his buddies some more. The class rep, Tobita, tries to stop it but isn't successful. Hotaru doesn't do a thing to help.. The very stuck-up head of the Natsume Fanclub, Sumire, demands to know what Mikan's
Afterwards, Tobita takes Mikan around the school a bit and to Hotaru's laboratory. Hotaru's
Upon returning to the classroom, Natsume and Sumire tell Mikan they'll acknowledge that she has an
See Garten's entry at Memento for the perspective of someone who's read the manga. It does seem a bit like X-Men as he says.. Hotaru was still as cold as ever this time, seemingly not wanting to help Mikan at all, unless it could benefit herself. But we'll see... and yeeesh, Mikan cries a LOT ;)
Gakuen Alice 2
The fruity (as Momotato says) Narumi-sensei gets Natsume under control and he takes Mikan in to the
But Natsume already has her before she can do anything. And he's not too nice a guy. One of his buddies, Luka, comes flying in to join in. Narumi and Misaki come in to stop them... but not before Mikan loses her skirt. Polka-dotted pantsu, eh? ;)
Mikan cries a river over what Natsume did to her, but Narumi gives her her new
Over on Memento I saw Gakuen Alice compared to Kodomo no Omocha, and that seems pretty valid. Natsume seems to be just as bad as Hayama, and Mikan is just as chou-genki and crazy as
Gakuen Alice 1
Mikan's.. who btw, speaks Kansai-ben. Hope y'all have been studying ;)... leading a one kid protest movement against shutting down the school she goes to. She kinda lost her audience going over her memories of the school.. She talks about a girl that transferred to her school in 3rd grade, Hotaru.. whose favorite subject is nanotechnology. One day Hotaru asked Mikan to be her friend and go to a Karaoke contest with her and they've gotten really, really close since then.
However, today Hotaru leaves Mikan to go do something... a mechanical turtle carrying a message for Mikan comes.. Hotaru's leaving to go to school in
So Mikan decides to run away and see Hotaru at the
