Tegami Bachi (Letter Bee) episode 6 review; Lag’s Shindan, Jiggy’s true feelings, and the Bifrost will suffer no impostors.

       This episode begins with Nelli reaching the Bifrost bridge only to find the main span missing. She wonders where the bridge is when the guardian (Signal) tells her that he is able to verify the identity of all those wishing to cross bridge by using the smoke from his pipe. She tries to show the crossing pass but he tells her that his pipe can’t confirm that she’s Lag Seeing, so he summons a monster to deal with her.

         Just as the monster is about to get Nelli, Niche and Lag arrive on the scene, and Niche uses her swords to open a passage for Nelli to escape. In the skirmish Nelli and her letter are separated, Lag decides to go after the letter, and as he does so, he ends up firing a Shindan from his hand that strikes Nello’s letter and releases his memories of his relationship with Jiggy. It turns out that Jiggy didn’t want to leave Dead End Town, but Nello urges him forward towards his dreams. Nello tells Jiggy that someday he’ll become a man like Jiggy and protect Nelli, Jiggy gives Nello a fist bump, and tells him to protect Nelli for him. As Nello lays dying, he tells Jiggy that he’s sorry that he can’t protect his sister and he asks Jiggy to protect Nelli.

      Later, Lag tells Nelli that Nello wasn’t mad that Jiggy left, he was sad that he couldn’t become a man and protect his sister. Lag wonders why a Shindan came out of his hand and the traveler walks up and tells him that Shindan are created from the spirit amber, heart shaped into a bullet, and the gun is merely a tool that helps shape the bullet properly. So, since Lag has amber in his body his body became the gun and shot the bullet, and he goes on to speculate that Lag’s Shindan has the power to peer inside the feelings and emotions stored inside a object. Then we get a further memory that points to the fact that Jiggy might have been responsible for the construction of the church so Nelli could have a job providing food and medicine for Nello, and then the church could provide shelter for the children and change the town. Well, Nelli kind of blows this off, but she give Lag his crossing pass back.

      Lag grabs Nelli and tells her that they’ll just find out Jiggy’s true feelings. As Lag heads off with Nelli, the traveler tries to grab Niche, but she see him, and easily avoids his attempt.

       The traveler then talks with the bridge’s guardian (Camus), and the guardian asks Master Lloyd if he’ll be heading back to the main post office? Then we see that Lag has taken Nelli to the church where he tells her he intends to shoot the church with his shindan to find out the truth.

       Well, Lag fires his Shindan at the church but nothing happens, so he fires it again and again until he collapses. Nelli tries to go to Lag but Niche blocks her, and says that if she ever hurts Lag again she’ll kill her. Lag tells Niche, bad, don’t say such things. Well, Lag tells Nelli that Jiggy must have cared for them like Gauche cared for his sister, so Nelli directs him to the church’s bell which was made on the other side of the river.

       Well, Lag’s Shindan reveals that Jiggy did indeed commission the construction of the largest bell in all of Amberground for the church, he wanted it to be a beacon of hope for those who gaze upon it, and some day he wished to stand there with Nello & Nelli. In the end, Nelli refuses to let Lag take the letter saying that she wants to save up and send it on her own. Nelli tells Lag that some day she wants to become like Jiggy, and she also wishes Lag luck in becoming a Bee. Well, this episode ends with Lag heading towards the bridge, and Nelli heading back towards town.

       Well, this was one hell of an episode with us getting to see how Lag and Niche function as a team even though Lag still refuses to acknowledge Niche as his dingo. Also, Lag and Niche got to indirectly meet the Head Bee which was the position that Gauche was striving for. One thing that confuses me is why the Head Bee is after Niche/the child of Maka? It can’t be money, I assume the Head Bee has to make big dollars unless my original theory of there being some sort of corruption existing between the upper Bee management and the Amberground government.  At least it’s proven that some of the Bee’s make a little side money by carrying non-posted items; Connor and his girly mags, and Jiggy and his non-official pickups. Well, I really look forward to see how Master Lloyd’s and Jiggy’s interest in Niche ties into the mystery of Gauche’s and Lag’s mother’s disappearances. Also, this one’s for Ghostlightning, I guessed it right with the Bifrost bridge’s nature being tied to the Norse myth, but I still haven’t got a clue how the Bifrost’s guardian, Camus ties in with the storyline. Letter Bee seems to make use of names very carefully, so I assume that Camus is the Albert Camus of The Myth of Sisyphus fame, so I’m still working on how all this links up.

 

Yumeiro Patissiere episode 5 review; The Kashino Angel & Devil Fruit roll.

      This episode begins with Ichigo and the princes working on a chocolate cake project in class. While Ichigo fails at the decorating process, Hanabusa and Andou tell her she’s did the baking well and she’s improved a great deal since her first day, but Kashino continues to pull her strings causing Ichigo to vow that she’ll shut him up.

      Later that night, Ichigo and Vanilla practice making a chocolate roll cake for Ichigo’s upcoming exam, everything comes out great but the chocolate flavor doesn’t seem quite right. Try as they might, Ichigo and Vanilla can’t get the chocolate topping to taste right, Vanilla says she’s sorry because chocolate isn’t her strong suit. Vanilla mentions something about chocolat(?) and then freaks out, after calming Vanilla down Ichigo suggests that they call it a night.

      Early the next morning, As Ichigo is heading back to the kitchen she spies Kashino practicing. Ichigo is quite surprised that Kashino would be practicing at 5am, and Kashino tells Ichigo he’s conditioning his body for the work. So, Kashino asks Ichigo if she gave up already, and Ichigo gets angry because if he knew all along that she was working late nights at least he could acknowledge her efforts, this drives Ichigo back to her spot for more practice.

      As Ichigo begins to work on her chocolate, Kashino chews her out for using too high of a melting temperature on her chocolate and he tells her what temperature not to exceed. While yelling at Ichigo, Kashino gives her good advice on the proper preparation of chocolate. After following Kashino’s advice and using some books he gave her, Ichigo’s next chocolate roll cake turns out good. Ichigo thanks Kashino for his help but he tells her that he’s only helping her so she doesn’t lower the group’s grades, he also chews her out for wasting too many ingredients. Kashino lets Ichigo taste his creation and she loves it, but he won’t let her have another taste telling her she can create it herself.

      When Vanilla finds Ichigo in the kitchen, she sees Ichigo reading a really advanced French chocolate recipe book, and Ichigo tells her that she needs to up the level if she’s going to compete with the devil Kashino. Well, Ichigo works really hard at making her cake, Vanilla falls asleep from exhaustion but Ichigo soldiers on. When Ichigo is getting ready to melt the chocolate she passes out from exhaustion and Kashino catches her before she hits the floor. Ichigo tries to blow off this incident when Kashino notices she’s trying to make a very complicated cake and he tells her it’s impossible. Ichigo says she’ll make it because she’s in group A, and either emotion or exhaustion gets to Ichigo and she begins to cry even though she doesn’t want to cry in front of him.

      Kashino tells Ichigo that when he was a very little kid he used to hang out at his uncle’s chocolate shop and watch him work, and eventually he began to learn from his uncle, so that’s why he’s here now. Kashino calms Ichigo down with some hot chocolate and he tells her not to stress out about it because sooner or later she’ll find her magic. Later, Vanilla notices that Ichigo’s in a better mood, and Ichigo tells Vanilla that she won’t stress about chocolate because it’s supposed to relax you.

      The next day is the big test, Ichigo decides to make the chocolate roll cake after all but Ichigo modifies the recipe to make it both bitter and sweet, like Kashino.

       When the tasting comes, Andou and Hanabusa thinks it’s great, and while Kashino has a small criticism he tells Ichigo that it’s delicious and the best she’s created so far. Just Ichigo’s is basking in Kashino’s praise, a sweet spirit name Chocolat pops out of Kashino’s pocket and tells Ichigo to not get carried away with herself. Well, that’s all for this episode.

      Well, in this episode we get to see how Kashino became motivated in his quest to become a great worker of chocolate, like Hanabusa and Andou, Kashino was motivated by family. Hanabusa was motivated by his mother’s and father’s love of roses, Andou was motivated by his desire to mix his family’s Japanese sweets tradition with cake, and now we see that Kashino was motivated by his uncle’s love of chocolate.

       I really like the love/hate relationship Ichigo has going with Kashino, while he infuriates her, he also drives Ichigo to become a better patissiere. If anything, Kashino just might be a tsundere when it come to Ichigo. Also, I had wondered how long it would take us to finally meet the sweet spirits that I thought belonged to the three princes, well we finally meet Kashino’s sweet spirit, Chocolat. I wonder if we’ll see the other two spirits in the next episode or will we have to wait for a few more episodes? Overall, a nice episode; Kashino you’re such a meanie!

 

Kimi ni Todoke (Reaching You) episode 5 review; Pain, uncertainty, loneliness, and Sawako’s AT Field can no longer protect her.

     Well, this episode picks up with Sawako still being confused about how to react to the rumors affecting Yoshida, Yano, and Kazehaya. The next school day brings the start of midterms and the students have to sit alphabetically instead using the seating chart, so Sawako doesn’t get to sit by the group. She sees Yoshida and Yano and thinks they’ve never gotten angry or mad at her. Sawako quietly goes to her seat, and Yano notices that Sadako isn’t her usual self.

      As Sawako is sitting watching Yano and Yoshida, she thinks that it feels like she never had that seat, like everything was a dream, she wanted to help people and not get in their way, and she hasn’t even been able to clear this misunderstanding. Sawako thinks that even if she finds the source of the rumors she just might hurt them again if she gets near them. Hurt, how could I even fix the hurt, Sawako wonders if she should go back to the old way and distance herself from the others? As Sawako thinks about distancing herself from the others, tears begin to flow, and when she thinks of Kazehaya, her inspiration, she really begins to cry.

      No, Sawako tells herself, she’s doesn’t remember how to be alone, the feelings of people being nice to her, and her being nice to people are too strong, she can’t remember how to return to the old days. How did she ever manage or accept being alone,  Sawako’s forgotten everything.

      As Sawako’s walking home from school she finds Kazehaya waiting for her, he tells her he doesn’t understand, don’t you like me, why are you avoiding me? She tells him not to talk with her, but she breaks down in tears and says she can’t say something she doesn’t mean. Kazehaya tells her to calm down and talk with him clearly so he can understand the situation. Well, Sawako spills the beans telling him about the rumors and how she feels she’s ruining Yoshida, Yano, and his reputation.

      He tells her who gives a damn about rumors, where’s his say in the matter, it’s his decision who he hangs around with, he’ll do as he wishes, he’ll talk with who he wants to, and if he cared about rumors he wouldn’t be talking with her now. Sawako now understands that this is what she wanted, to have people who care for her, and to care for people. Once Sawako calms down, Kazehaya talks with her about Yano and Yoshida and the rumors, he tells Sawako to reverse the situation and think about how they would feel if they heard that their association with her was hurting her? Sawako says that she’d still want them to hang out with her. Kazehaya says that Yano and Yoshida most likely feel the same way.  Kazehaya tells her, in the end it’s up to the other person to decide, but he says that if he was Yano or Yoshida he’d feel uncomfortable if she started avoiding them. Yes, Sawako says she was over thinking, she needs to tell them her feelings, she wants to become their friends.

      Later, we see Pin running into Yano in the hall and she’s pissed because she got pulled away from hearing what Sadako had to say, he tells her he doesn’t know what happened but quite blaming other people because you’ll run into more unreasonable situations in the future. In the library, Yano thinks of Sadako and how seriously she took her suggestion.

      Then we see Ryuu having a talk with Yoshida, he asks her if he needs to comfort her? Hell no. He asks her if those rumors are bothering her? She goes on about how she must be stupid, she just doesn’t know, is Sadako really Sadako or a fake Sadako and is she using her? She tells him that people are saying that Sadako is spreading those rumors? How, by talking to herself, and she doesn’t seem that she has anyone to talk to. Well, Yoshida brings up the point that Sadako was talking with someone, and she said they weren’t friends and she is avoiding us. Then Yoshida brings up the “I’m sorry” point and the issue of why she just didn’t say she liked us?

      Well, Ryuu says maybe Sadako doesn’t really like you, or she doesn’t care, or maybe she has other reasons. Ryuu tells her that if it’s really bothering her just ask Sadako, and he’ll comfort her if the answer is she doesn’t care. Later, Yoshida looks over the study book that Sadako made for her, and she becomes even more troubled and uncertain about the issue. Later, that night, Yano and Yoshida meet up and talk about the Sadako issue, and how Sadako hasn’t smiled since the rumors started. Yoshida wonders if Sadako’s so used to being alone if this is normal for her, and that thought makes her sad, that’s why she couldn’t leave her alone. Yano speculates that maybe Sadako became so used to every one’s attitude towards her that she really doesn’t understand emotions, even her own. Yano says that when she saw Sadako smile it made her happy. Yano also says that we thought we knew everything about her but there are many things we don’t understand. Yoshida speculates that they never got a clear answer from her but they also haven’t told her how they feel, and they never got to finish their conversation with her. Yano asks Yoshida that after all this thinking and worrying about Sadako, don’t we already love her? We’re already friends?

      At that moment, Sawako thinks to herself that we don’t know other peoples feelings unless we ask, and they won’t know ours unless we tell them. Sawako resolves to tell them how she feels and ask how they feel, she can be comfortable with this.

      The next school day, Sawako is building up her courage to talk with Yano and Yoshida in a bathroom stall, she’s nervous but doesn’t hate the feeling. Sawako hears some girls talking about the rumors of Yano and Yoshida being her backup,  and she confronts them by says they’re not her backup and both of them are nice people. The group just laughs at her, and one of the girls tells her to shut up(the French doll?, I can’t tell) and backs Sawako against the wall and calls Yano and Yoshida the criminal and the slut. As the group laughs at Sadako, she balls her fist up and …? Well, cliffhanger time, that’s all for this episode.

     Well, this episode had it all; pain, uncertainty, loneliness, melodrama, angst, and tears (including my own). As Sawako’s slowly let her guard down and began to open herself up to others, she tasted the feelings of friendship and love for the first time and discovered she liked these new found but confusing emotions. 

      When we first met Sawako, she basically surrounded herself and protected herself with her masks, the mask of Sadako that others projected on to her which she embraced, and the mask of emotional disconnection with the world around her, the mask of her own creation. Basically, Sawako’s masks were her AT Field, her protection, her curse, her barrier, and Sawako had to discover like Shinji that in order to truly make human and emotional connections you have to let others in on your real feelings and emotions. Sawako comes to this understanding towards the end of the episode when she realises that “you won’t know other people’s feelings unless you ask”. 

       Throughout the majority of NGE, Shinji pouted and disconnected from others because he only viewed the world from a “nobody understands me” point of view and he made no real effort to bother with how others around him felt. Yes, Sawako now understands that communication and feelings have to be a two way street, life’s uncertain but she can live with it. For a brief period Sawako considered trying to recreate her AT Field, but after her exposure to human connection I don’t think that she had the stomach to embrace her seperation again.

      One other point I would like to make is that all the guys in this episode seemed have a calming and thoughtful influence on the girls: Kazehaya helped Sawako understand that she needs to tell Yano and Yoshida how she really feels; Pin helped Yano come to the realization that problems and misunderstandings don’t just fix themselves, you have to do it; and finally Ryuu helped Yoshida realise that just stewing in your own doubts does nothing.

      Oh, this episode just made me a big Yano fan, she really showed me a level of subtle thoughtfulness and sensitivity that you really don’t see that often in supporting characters.