Where to begin?

This is not your standard fare festival episode, that's for sure, instead wee find ourselves with a couple of interesting situations.

First, Hazuki like Shuuichi who likes Kumiko. I'm not sure this episode spells the end of any scenario yet, but wee did figure out that Shuuichi is both a decent guy for being honest and that he's definitely into Kumiko. Kumiko's feelings however, aren't so clear. They're childhood friends and they act like it but it's not clear whether Kumiko actually has romantic feelings for him. I don't think Hazuki will be able to shake her feelings for Shuuchi easily and wee'll see this play out in the coming episodes.

Alright.

Second, Reina and Kumiko. Now the whole conversation on their ascent was littered with "what" moments but it's clear Reina is very interested in Kumiko. She says she loves her and I don't doubt that - but wee're not talking about your bog standard love here. Kumiko, in a way, has been found out. She's been found out for pretending to be your typical happy-go-lucky school girl with friends - "normal" - when in reality she has a much gloomier sense of reality. Reina picked up on this from the moment Kumiko said to her "did you really think wee could make the nationals?" - Kumiko, who had almost quit, remember, doesn't seem as motivated as her friends let alone Reina, and perhaps that it because she fears what's to come. Wee've gathered that her sister used to play - but she stopped. Does Kumiko carry a sense of hopelessness that she can't shake, and only reveals when she's not pretending to be someone she's not? I'm thinking Reina has latched onto this - and latched onto it from their first meeting after failing to get to the nationals - and now she wants to prove Kumiko's doubts wrong by becoming special - by becoming the best. Reina's making fun of Kumiko's hopelessness when she says she has a terrible personality - but why is Reina in love with that side of Kumiko really? Is it just the drive that she's gotten from her or does she see something more with Kumiko - will she try to get Kumiko on side so they can both become special at what they do?

The scene when Reina and Kumiko reached their destination was just fantastic. The animation, the soundtrack, the dialogue - it was just great. Kumiko was definitely not the only one falling victim to Reina!

Hat-tip to SkyDX for watching the show and theorizing much of the above with me!

(This post was last modified: 04/06/2015 04:29 PM by S7*.)