Thursday, June 1, 2006

   Strawberry Panic! Ep9
[Posted @ 3:18 PM]
I feel kinda tired~ 12 hours of sleep is not enough for lazy old me =).


The episode started with Nagisa narrating that she likes the summer, pool, sea and swimsuits. She’s not afraid of holiday assignments or storms or thunders but she’s darn afraid monsters, spirits and ghosts stories lol so stay away from her please? LoL. [Not surprising, Nagisa showed signs of being terrified of ghosts in Ep5] Hikari and Yaya paid a visit with some yummilicious cakes to Nagisa and Tamao’s room. Hikari noticed that Nagisa’s not around, it seemed that Nagisa’s in the bathroom with her swimsuit on and she’s embarrassed to come out lol. Yaya knocked the door and called for Nagisa but she refused to come out. Yaya tried the ‘threatening’ tactic by saying resistance is futile, so drop your weapons and walk out of the door with your both hands up in the air. Hikari added that if Nagisa made such a fuss, they might attract the sister but Nagisa seemed unaffected. Tamao, patted Hikari and Yaya on the shoulders and they planned the ‘seducing’ tactic LOL. Yaya started the ball rolling by tempting Nagisa out saying it’s such a waste for Nagisa to miss the yummy cakes she brought. Tamao continued by exclaiming how delicious the tarts looked, followed by Hikari and back to Yaya again. Nagisa couldn’t help it any longer, she peeped out of the door, the moment Nagisa opened the door, Yaya pulled her out lol. The three girls began to praise Nagisa in the swimsuit, causing Nagisa to whine lol. The instant Tamao mentioned that the cakes were waiting for Nagisa, she’s back to normal again.

After that, Hikari and Yaya walked through the hallway back to their room, Hikari commented that Nagisa has a nice style so she shouldn’t be that shy. Yaya agreed and said that in terms of proportions, Hikari seemed to lose out to Nagisa though lol. Yaya heard a crying sound and thought it was Hikari crying but Hikari wasn’t crying. The crying sound got louder and louder … The next day, Tamao told Chihaya, Noriko and Nagisa about what happened to Hikari and Yaya last night. Chihaya said that it’s the ‘Hallway Maiden’, Tamao added that it’s one of the Seven Mysteries of the Ichigo-sha. When Tamao and Chihaya elaborate on the seven mysteries, Nagisa was already scared outta her wits lol. As the two girls were listing out the seven mysteries, they realized that they didn’t know the same ones. Noriko tried to comfort Nagisa, saying that those mysteries were just fiction. Class started, but Tamao’s still deep in thoughts over the discussion with Chihaya and Noriko. During lunch time, Tamao showed Nagisa her research findings on the Seven Mysteries of the Ichigo-sha. Tamao deduced that the mysteries usually revolved around peers. From example, the similarities with Chiyo’s understanding of the mysteries and Chihaya were higher than Oosaki-sensei’s even though Oosaki-sensei was from St Miator too. Tamao’s really interested in the topic and planned to use it as her report for her club, starting from the ‘Hallway Maiden’. Nagisa realized that what Hikari and Yaya met might be ghosts, got agitated to the point of squeezing her cup of juice too hard till it squirted out lol. Tamao smiled and said, yep, that’s it LOL.


At St Spica’s swimming pool, Hikari and Yaya’s class were having swimming lessons =O, the underwater shots reminded of me Mai Otome LOL. Anyways, playful Yaya did this monster like action, charged towards Hikari and splashing water everywhere. Then they held hands and floated on their backs on the water, a cute, sweet scene. After the swimming class, they were approached by Nagisa and Tamao in the shower about what happened last night at the hallway. While Nagisa’s clinging on to Tamao like a wittle girl, so cute, the other girls were discussing about what could had happened. As Hikari was thinking of what to reply to Tamao, she suddenly looked behind Nagisa. On reflex, Nagisa looked behind, Yaya abruptly appeared and did her monster like action again lol. While doing so, Yaya’s towel which was wrapped around her body, slides down. Nagisa had a weird expression and action [Like Ultraman lol] on after that. Tamao said that seems like looking at Yaya naked had more reaction than seeing a monster lol. Yaya replied, huh why? [Whoa, Yaya had pretty well-endowed assets. =O Fanservice too, they jiggled a bit too LOL.] Back in their room, Tamao told Nagisa that she discovered something interesting regarding the Seven Mysteries of the Ichigo-sha. The older the students were, the less they knew about the ‘Hallway Maiden’ so it’s safe to assume that it’s a pretty recent thing. When Tamao related the story of the ‘Hallway Maiden’ to Nagisa, she was so scared that she covered herself under the blanket.

Tamao smiled and said they’ll ask the six graders tomorrow. Lying on her bed, Tamao noticed Nagisa standing beside her bed. [?! Kannazuki no Miko rip off!!!] Nagisa was too scared to sleep alone, so she asked Tamao if they could sleep together. Tamao apologized for scaring Nagisa, Nagisa replied that it’s okay, as long as they stay like this. Tamao remarked that it’s the first time they’re sleeping together, Nagisa added that she had always been lonely since she transferred in but she was too shy to ask to sleep together. Nagisa snuggled closer and held Tamao’s hand and Tamao was shining with so much happiness lol. Tamao told Nagisa that if they held hands while sleeping, they will have the same dream. Sleepy, Nagisa told Tamao not to dream of scary stuff ok? Tamao nodded and grasped their hands tighter. The next day, Nagisa and Tamao asked Rokujou-kaichou about the Seven Mysteries of the Ichigo-sha and the ‘Hallway Maiden’. Rokujou brushed them off saying that it’s stupid and told them not to go around asking for information regarding it. When Nagisa said that there’s someone who heard about it, Rokujou excused herself and left. A while later, Nagisa and Tamao went to the greenhouse to ask Shizuma, Mizuho and Hitomi. Shizuma asked Nagisa if they had asked Miyuki, Nagisa didn’t know who Miyuki was. Shizuma said, Rokujou Miyuki, Nagisa realized Shizuma’s talking about Rokujou-kaichou. Nagisa replied that Rokujou refused to answer and even warned them. Shizuma smiled and said that, then, she will refuse to comment too.


Nagisa and Tamao asked Chikaru and she told them everything she knew about the ‘Hallway Maiden’. Tamao told Chikaru that the number of students who know about the ‘Hallway Maiden’ fifth grade and below were higher than those sixth grade and above. Chikaru added that the incident was a hot topic when she first entered in Ichigo-sha. Nagisa asked Chikaru why isn’t she afraid, Chikaru replied that because the Ichigo-sha had been around for about hundred years and girls their age from different periods shared their joys, sorrows and feelings here, so isn’t it normal to have this kind of rumour? That night, Tamao thought Nagisa was asleep and wanted to go out alone to investigate but Nagisa was called her back and wanted to go with Tamao. The girl held hands and walked to the hallway Hikari and Yaya mentioned. The crying sound suddenly echoed in, Nagisa grabbed Tamao for dear life lol chanting, it’s alright, it’s alright, I’m not afraid, I’m not afraid lol. As they walked towards the source of the sound, they saw a cat and Nagisa quickly concluded that the cat had been making the sounds all along lol. But Tamao wasn’t that easily appeased. -Flashback- A girl was hiding in the hallway corner, sniffing and crying. Another girl called the crying girl, Miyuki and said that she’s crying at the hallway again? Miyuki called the other girl, Shizuma.

Shizuma continued that she knows that it’s normal to be homesick, held Miyuki’s hands and led her back. Shizuma added that rumours were going around about crying sounds in the hallway lol. Miyuki said, it’s alright now, she’ll do her best and Shizuma had come for her. Shizuma smiled and said then it’s okay that they don’t sleep together tonight then? Miyuki yelled out no and said that tonight, tonight would be the last time. [Awwww, kawaii Chibi Shizuma~~~~~~~~] -Back to present- Rokujou’s day dreaming in class =O and didn’t answer when the teacher called her. Shizuma called her, flustered, Rokujou got up but didn’t know which page, Shizuma came to the rescue again. While reading, the flashback, Rokujou Miyuki told herself that she’ll get a grip and one day she’ll be as strong as Shizuma. Present, after Rokujou finished her reading, Shizuma remarked that it’s rare for Rokujou to zone out like that and told her to get a grip. Rokujou blushed and thanked Shizuma, thinking to herself, get a grip huh … looks like Rokujou has a long way to go =). Meanwhile, Nagisa’s having fun in the pool and was back to her old energetic self till Tamao said she wasn’t satisfied with the lack of evidence from the ‘Hallway Maiden’ so that there’s six more mysteries of the Ichigo-sha to investigate lol. Nagisa went into hyper, god, please let me off mode and sunk down the pool lol. Tamao was actually teasing Nagisa and stuck out her tongue. - END -


From the yuri-filled fan service early episodes, Strawberry Panic! is moving in to characters developments, not that I’m complaining =). In this episode, we learnt of the relationship between Rokujou Miyuki [Miyuki is Rokujou, Rokujou is Miyuki, I'll stick to Miyuki when Shizuma calls her that, if not it's Rokujou] and Shizuma, they used to be room mates, not sure if they still were now and it’s surprising to see the usual collected Rokujou-kaichou to use to be dependent on Shizuma. Rokujou really reminded me of Youko from Maria-sama ga Miteru, ok besides from the hairstyle, their characters seemed to be pretty similar some way or another. Both admired their strong dependable friend, for Youko it’s Sei, for Rokujou it’s Shizuma. More similarities? Even Shizuma reminded me of Sei, Sei lost Shiori, Shizuma lost Kaori. Interesting =). I don’t think the Miyuki and Shizuma relationship can develop any further, like Youko, Miyuki’s afraid to lose, she would rather die than to admit to Shizuma her weakness. Unless, Shizuma force it out of Miyuki ... Oh Chibi Shizuma’s sooooo cute, her eyes were so big and innocent haha.

As for the swim suits, hm, the St Miator’s looked like normal Japanese high school swim suits but St Spica’s looked more stylish with the turtle neck cutting. Looking at the seriously terrifed Nagisa expressions was cute lol ahhh~ the bed scene ... really reminded of Himeko from Kannazuki no Miko, 'Chikane-chan, may I sleep with you tonight?', hugging the pillow, half hiding her face, muffling her voice ... really such a rip off lol. The Nagisa x Shizuma pair interaction seemed to drop to near zero as the episode goes while Nagisa x Tamao gets more brownie points ... Similarly with Amane x Hikari, everyone is rooting for the angsty Yaya-chan. As Chikaru said, it’s still too early to count the chicks before they hatch. Muahaha.

Art: 7/10
Story: 7/10 [Character development.]
Characters: 7.5/10 [Blushing Rokujou~]
Overall: 7/10

Sorry I took so long, I was getting lazy haha and tired. Didn’t managed to sleep well the last few days in Chiang Mai and sitting on the bus for hours didn’t help much.

[Signing off @ 10:45 PM]
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