I just found out that this series is 13 episodes long. That's one more episode than I had expected, and I'm astoundingly agonized. Why won't it just end?!
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| Poor Tokiya, dealing with this daily and nightly. |
This batch of episodes was an astounding waste of time, since there was really nothing new added to the story and there was very little entertainment value. Ep08 was focused on Haruka pining secretly for Tokiya, unable to stop thinking about him, and then ep09 was focused on the other boys attempting to make their moves while Haruka
still pined for Tokiya. It sounds a lot more eventful than it actually was; the scenes felt like repeats of each other (with every boy just outright
telling her that they named her as their partner) and Haruka's inability to do anything except stare was just maddening.
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| Is it just me, or is Chika strangely disproportional and fat? |
Ep08 began with the students arriving at the island, where their main job was to mingle and find their partners. It's amusing how almost no one seems to take the "dating is forbidden" rule to heart, as all the girls whispered and giggled about which boys they wanted as their partners. I found Chika to be quite the confusing specimen; since she's obviously an idol candidate, why doesn't she partner with Haruka? I don't understand what kind of friends wouldn't do that. They don't seem to really trust each other at all, not even attempting to work together
once. (Of course, in the next episode, Chika commented that she
wanted to be Haruka's partner, but then gave no concise reason as to why she didn't even ask. I guess something about Haruka being much too talented. How stupid.)
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| Are girls into this kind of fanservice? |
While the episode was filled with all of the boys (save for Tokiya) thinking about who they wanted their partner to be (or, rather, just how much they wanted to get with Haruka), it was only Otoya that approached her. For that, I'll have to give him credit. (Of course, the fact that Ren approached her at the very end of the episode took away some of Otoya's specialness, but it was never really shown what Ren said.) His approach was rather stupid, to the point where I actually got confused. I can't tell if he had really wanted to say that he liked her, or if he meant what he actually said (that he liked the music she made). On top of it, he ran off after confessing, like a moron, and turned around to only say that he would be writing her name on his "desired partner" form. I don't understand what kind of idiot would force his feelings on a girl like that; aren't you setting yourself up for some serious rejection possibilities? On top of that, Haruka pissed me off throughout the entire episode with her inability to
say anything. If it wasn't clear before, it really seemed clear after she and Tokiya "spent the night together" that she wanted to be his partner; how about letting the other boys that "confess" to you know that fact instead of just mindlessly staring? Seriously. Shoujo angers me.
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| I'm getting flashes of all things Disney. |
So, before Haruka was allowed to get to her scenes with Tokiya, she had to first go through a scene with the cat, who actually turned out to be a man. I have to admit that I actually did not see it coming; it was just that ridiculous. The cat was actually the Prince of Agnapolis, Cecile, from a country that's west of whatever island they're on at the moment. He seemed to come on to Haruka in some ways, although perhaps he was just being her muse (considering their god was named "Muse", too...). I wonder if he's a secret "interest" in the game; while I'm on the Tokiya-Haruka ship just because it's so canon, I can't deny that this guy has an interesting back-story. That doesn't keep me from getting angry and then
hurt over the cliches, though.
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| There's seriously only two teachers in this entire school? |
After the insert song, Haruka woke up back in her room and ran off to Tokiya, who was strolling on the beach just coincidentally. They mutually apologized each other (a nice trait for the relationship) and then Tokiya revealed the source of his angst. Right after debuting, he was extremely disillusioned and then even had an accident. While laid-up in the hospital, he encountered a child singing Amazing Grace, which gave him the inspiration to have all the children sing it. (Seriously, a Japanese song would be easier to learn and less of a backstab to the culture.) Those children (also seen in a moment's flashback previously) gave him the understanding that he wanted to be a singer, but for some reason he was floundering and losing all hope again. With Haruka's tearful pleas and insistence that he keep singing, he seemed to regain his confidence, and all seemed well for the lead pair. (Telling his story seemed to take all night, during which point both of them remained standing. How tiring.) The episode ended with her staring blankly, as usual, after Ren accosted her in the morning with a flower.
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| Tokiya's not here! |
Ep09 was all about the boys approaching Haruka, although both Otoya and Ren had already done it in the previous episode. The catch was that they had all already turned in their forms, with Haruka as their desired partner. Shouldn't these kinds of things be asked first? I thought Japanese society was a little more demure than this. Then again, in shoujo, it's typically the outgoing and assertive ones that win... At any rate, they all approached her one-by-one, though Sho and Natsuki overlapped for some reason and Masato wrote a letter instead, leaving her ever-confused. ...well, not really. The entire time she was thinking about Tokiya, just not acting on anything.
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| Ugh. His random English just cuts through me. |
Tokiya, on the other hand, delivered an amazing performance (apparently) to the class, at which point the principal let him know that, were he to continue on his current path, he would return to S Class. I've been wondering about the naming style of the classes - if there's only the S and A Classes, then isn't it technically actually the Good Class and the Bad Class? That's pretty harsh. Anyway, Tokiya made it a point to thank Haruka for her help with him, which gave her the idea that she wanted to be his partner. After all, writing a song for him would actually be writing a song for Hayato, which had been her dream to begin with. Ah, if only all dreams were so easily attainable...
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| Someone needs to ask her about her opinion! |
While the children ran around, doing their silly things, the principal and Tsukimiya-sensei talked about the "muse". They started off the conversation by talking about the deity from the island, but it was pretty clear that they were alluding to Haruka. Apparently, they've been expecting big things from her ability to inspire people, noting that she didn't even realize it herself. That kind of talk makes me think that perhaps the graduation song will actually be a
group for her. I mean, the ED hints that all the boys go together, doesn't it? It could only be for aesthetic reasons, but still... The way the boys are arguring amongst themselves and claiming that they won't give her up makes me wonder how they'll cope were they to blatantly lose (to Tokiya, of course). I really wish
someone would think about the fact that "love" is not allowed in the school. All the boys pretend that it's just the partnership that they want, but it's pretty clear that they (and their opponents) know better. Such a dangerous line to be treading...
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| I wonder if he's wearing anything underneath. |
Since ep09 ended with Haruka finding out that Tokiya also wanted to be her partner, I'm hoping the matter will
finally be settled in ep10. I don't care if it's just her and Tokiya, or her and all the boys (as an idol group); I just want this storyline to end already. It feels so long and useless...
~Aaro
