Crystal Tokyo Anime Blog

      This episode picks up in the other world with the girl asking the junk doll if he’s ready to go to the other world where it’s warm, she takes his hand and says lets go. Then in Tomoya’s world, Ushio and Tomoya are starting their trip with a train ride, Ushio wants Tomoya to play with her but he’s not interested. On the other side of the aisle a young boy is acting up and Tomoya yells at the mother and the boy, shocking Ushio. When Tomoya looks at Ushio, he finds her gone, Tomoya finds her coming out of the bathroom, and he notices that something is wrong. When questioned, Ushio tells Tomoya that Sanae told her to only cry in proper places like the bathroom, Tomoya tells her that it’s alright to cry when she feels like it.

     Once they finish their train ride Tomoya asks Ushio if she wants a toy? Ushio says yes, and Tomoya buy her a robot. Later, at a inn, Ushio has to use the bathroom so Tomoya escorts her to the potty. On the way back to their room they see Ushio’s first firefly, Ushio looks strangely at Tomoya and he asks her what she wants? Ushio then drops a bombshell on Tomoya, tell me what mommy was like? Tomoya says to asks Sanae, Ushio says she does but Sanae won’t say anything about her. Tomoya says he doesn’t have anything to say, and he tells her to asks Sanae again, as Ushio sleeps, Tomoya who is unable to sleep watches her.

      The next day Tomoya and Ushio continue their trip by train and they end up walking  down a flower lined path, Tomoya starts to become more comfortable with Ushio, and he even gives her a ride on his back. While Tomoya is watching Ushio play in a flower covered field he gets a flashback to his childhood. As Ushio is looking for her lost robot, Tomoya tells her to stay there while he takes a walk up a path. As Tomoya continues up the path his feelings of nostalgia grow, he then meets a woman who knows him, she is Shino Okazaki, his grandmother.

       Shino tells Tomoya that Sanae called her and told her that if she waited here Tomoya would come, she then tells Tomoya about his fathers marriage to Atsuko, her death, his struggles to raise Tomoya properly, his fall into drinking and abuse, and it’s amazing how Tomoya’s life is following his fathers. She tells him that his life must be like his father’s now, so she wanted him to know what kind of father he was, and she asks Tomoya if he still thinks he was a bad father? Tomoya tells her he forgot all the good times, and that he wasn’t a bad father.

       Tomoya says that’s he’s a weak person and that he’s been bad, but he now wants to be a good person and father. Shino tells Tomoya that her son has worked hard and now he deserves a rest so please tell him that she’ll be waiting here for him. Shino and Tomoya walk back down the path and when Shino sees Ushio she asks Tomoya if that’s his daughter? Yes. Tomoya goes into the field to get Ushio, but she doesn’t want to leave the robot. Tomoya tells her that he’ll buy her another one, but she wants that one because that was the first toy her daddy got her, this hits Tomoya like a ton of bricks.

       Tomoya then asks Ushio if she was lonely? Yes. If she had a good time with him? Yes. He then tells her that he’s been a terrible father and he asks her if he can be with her? And that he’ll work hard for her. Ushio says yes, but she’s still sad about losing something important, so now she asks if she doesn’t  have to hold it in? Sanae told her that the two places that she can cry is in the bathroom, or in her daddy’s arms. Tomoya nods his OK, and Ushio rushes into Tomoya’s arms, she lets all her grief and sadness loose, and Tomoya tearfully tells her he’s so sorry.

       While taking the train back home, Tomoya asks Ushio if she wants to hear about her mommy? Yes. So, Tomoya has Ushio sit next to him as he describes Nagisa to Ushio, and while he’s telling her about Nagisa he begins to cry. Tomoya has finally remembered all the good times he had with her and reclaimed his love for Nagisa, he continues to tell Ushio about Nagisa, and while looking at Ushio he finally figures it out. Tomoya now knows what he must protect, what can’t replaced, and it’s right in front of him, his daughter Ushio. Well, that’s all for this episode.

       Well, I have to say that this episode was what I was waiting for, after Nagisa death Tomoya cursed the world, cursed his love for Nagisa, and cursed life itself trapping him in the same cycle of depression and self loathing he learned from his father. As the old saying goes, the sins of the father shall be visited on the son, meaning the we and Tomoya learn our behaviors by watching the actions of our parents and when those actions are unhealthy we are more likely to behave and react in the same ways creating a chain of misery that we pass on generation to generation. But, due to the intervention of Sanae and Shino, Tomoya was able to see what happens to someone when they only remember the unhappy and bad times instead of enjoying what was good, pure, and best in life.

      In effect Tomoya was trapped in the same cycle of sin that Reki and Rakka from Haibane Renmei where trapped in. In Haibane Renmei the cycle of sin went something like this; to know one’s sin is to have no sin, but if one spends all their time searching for the cause of their sins and they can get trapped in a cycle of searching for the source of the sin instead for finding a way out. In Tomoya’s case, he regretted ever meeting Nagisa, feeling that if that hadn’t happened all this sadness would have never occurred. He trapped himself in a cycle of regretting his feelings of love for Nagisa and his feelings of sadness over her loss. But, Shino showed him that he had forgotten the good in life, he realized his sin was being weak, useless, and a bad father, but instead continuing the cycle by regretting everything, he now understands that he can make amends by earning forgiveness from Ushio.

      I felt that it was really touching and heartfelt seeing Tomoya’s emotional catharsis, it was five years in the coming. After finally coming to terms with the love he has for his daughter, his failures to live up to his promises, and admitting how much he really loved Nagisa, Tomoya’s and Ushio’s shared tears were transforming and purifying, he changed from the lifeless robot he had become back into the kind and caring person that Nagisa loved so much. I cried several times while watching this episode, but not all tears are a bad thing, sometimes they can be tears of joy.    

      This episode begins with the group enjoying themselves at the beach, doing fun things such as Suikawari (watermelon splitting) and so forth. Then the next day, Haruka, Kana, Yoshino, Uchida, and Chiaki sit around taking about all the stuff that happened yesterday, but the biggest issue turns out to be where Chiaki’s favorite stuffed animal (Fujioka) is? She might have left it at the beach.

      One of the funniest things in this episode was when Yoshino mentions how Chiaki and Fujioka looked like a brother and sister when they were together, and Uchida starts cracking up, saying basically give me a break, Chiaki likes Fujioka as a big brother, ha-ha.

      Well, after a while, Haruka remembers that Fujioka was looking at Fujioka, and as they are trying to figure out where Fujioka is, Kana tries to get Chiaki all worked up. The doorbell rings and Fujioka shows up with the other Fujioka, he returns it to Chiaki then they all try to figure out how the bear got into Fujioka’s stuff. As everyone remembers their part in the Fujioka case, Kana figures out that she was the one who put it in Fujioka’s bag, she caused the problem just like Chiaki original accusation, so she tries to dodge the blame.

      The next day, Fujioka shows up at the Minami household bearing a watermelon, Kana is overjoyed at seeing another watermelon. This time the group includes Haruka, Maki, Kana, Touma, and Chiaki. It takes Maki only seconds to figure out that Fujioka really likes Kana and that he’s trying to win her affections through food. Maki lets him know that she knows about his attraction. A ongoing thing throughout this skit is that Maki keeps telling Fujioka that the spoon he’s about to use is Kana’s spoon, so he too embarrassed to use the spoon in front of Maki because he knows that she knows that he has the hots for Kana.

      After they eat the watermelon everyone gets invited to stay for dinner which Kana volunteers to cook, and Maki again teases Fujioka about eating with the spoon.

       Later, Mako-chan show up at the apartment to find Uchida doing home work while Touma and Chiaki are sleeping. Mako-chan like Uchida put off doing his assigned homework. He asks Uchida if he can get Chiaki to let her copy her homework can he copy it too? Uchida agrees. Mako-chan asks Chiaki to help Uchida, but Chiaki says that during this break Uchida hung-out at their house the whole time and never even acted like she was going to do any homework. But, Chiaki calls Mako-chan over and whispers in her ear that if Uchida repents, she’ll help Uchida. When Uchida asks what Chiaki said, Mako-chan was so distracted by Chiaki’s breath on his/her ear that he can’t remember what Chiaki said.

      A little while later Chiaki hands Uchida her homework and tells her not to get everything right, put a few wrong answers in. Touma wakes up and sees Uchida copying the work and asks Mako-chan if she and copy the work later? But Uchida says no way, Touma made no effort to do her own work.

      Later, Haruka notices that Kana seems a little bit down, and she finds out that Kana is disappointed that summer is almost over and Autumn is here. Then Chiaki tells Kana that this was the worse summer ever because of all the pranks that Kana pulled on her over the summer. Just as Haruka is wondering what to do for dinner, Uchida, Yoshino, and Touma all show up with different food items and Haruka uses them to make dinner for everyone. While Kana is distracted, Chiaki swipes the best food items from Kana’s dinner plate in retaliation for all the pranks that she pulled on her over the summer. Well, that’s all for this episode.

      Well, I found this episode to be very enjoyable, anytime the Minami sisters go to the beach or a Onsen it’s a good thing. Three things struck me as quite interesting and amusing about this latest instalment. Firstly, after reviewing episode five I made the comment about how Chiaki seemed to be experiencing reverse chest growth when compared to Uchida and Yoshino, and now I’m feeling that Kana has experienced some remarkable growth in said category compared to the first two season, is she it her destiny to reach Haruka proportions?

      Secondly, Uchida is becoming quite a little naughty minded girl, she’s almost like a clone of Miu from Ichigo Mashimaro, only cuter. Uchida almost blew Makoto cover as Mako-chan twice in this episode by calling him Makoto, could it be that her subconscious mind really wants to blow his cover? Sometimes I wonder if Chiaki does know that Mako-chan is really Makoto, she’s not stupid, could she be going along with the whole thing for some reason of her own?

     Thirdly, Maki is starting to show a devious side like Hayami, she really played with Fujioka’s mind over his attraction to Kana. But, I think the difference is that Maki doesn’t find Fujioka disgusting like she does Hosaka. I also think that Maki plays with Fujioka’s mind because she realizes that no matter what Fujioka does, it’s all in vain, Kana is like a kid, all she wants to do is play and eat, so she finds the whole thing quite funny.

     This episode picks up with Touya getting out of Yuki’s shower to find her sleeping, Touya just stay by her bedside for the rest of the night. Once morning comes, Touya leaves Yuki’s apartment to find Yayoi waiting outside, at first she is worried that Yuki and Touya might have been photographed together and so forth, but once Touya eases her fears she offers him a ride home.

     While in the car Touya asks why Yayoi is so worried about Yuki, she’s a new unknown singer and he thinks that no one would really care what she does? But, Yayoi recounts a scandal that Rina went through when she was branching out on her own, and because of that scandal Rina has had to never show weakness or faults again. Then Yayoi asks Touya to take a walk with her, she tells Touya that Yuki must stand on her own and if she gets into a scandal she doubts she could protect Yuki. Touya asks Yayoi if she’s telling him to not see Yuki? She asks Touya not to be a hindrance to Yuki’s career, she also says that if they break up it should their decision. Touya then gets the impression that Yayoi is offering a fee for breaking up with Yuki, and he laughs at the idea of getting a breakup fee for leaving Yuki.

     Yayoi tells Touya that she’s not asking him to breakup with Yuki for free, and Yayoi takes Touya’s hand and places it on her chest and basically offers herself up if he and Yuki breakup. Touya jumps back in shock at Yayoi’s bold gesture. After Yayoi drives Touya home she asks what he has planned for the rest of the day, and he tells her sleep as he walks away. Later, Touya is woken by his doorbell to find Yayoi at his front door, she asks him where they should go, and after Touya offers nothing, Yayoi asks Touya to go to the movies with her.

      While taking the train, Yayoi tells Touya that Yuki greatly regrets falling asleep on Touya and that he should expect a phone call from her. He again asks Yayoi if she thinks that they should breakup, but she tells him that anything they decide should be their decision not hers. After the movie is over, Yayoi takes Touya to dinner, and after their cab ride back to Touya’s apartment he accuses her of trying to bribe him into breaking up with Yuki. Yayoi then asks Touya if she can become a replacement for Yuki as she starts kissing him, she then tells him to let her know if he has a need for her and she tries to offer him money, Touya rushes out of the cab in shock.

     When Touya is back at his apartment he finds that Masaki has left a script of a play she wrote, she asks him for his opinion on the content. While Touya is reading the script he gets a phone call from Rina, she knows about his date and she wants to meet with him tomorrow, but Touya can’t make it because he has to do something at school tomorrow. Yuki tries to call Touya but this time when he hears the phone ring he just ignores it.

      The next day at school, Haruka questions Touya about where he was the other night, maybe with Yuki? Later, Touya runs into Akira and they talk for a while, and Akira asks Touya to stop trying to force him and Masaki together. As Akira is leaving he gets Touya to take his next shift a Echoes for him. Then we see Masaki’s script getting accepted by the theater club, but they dump off all the prop and costume production off on her as they head off to drink.

      Then we see Yuki doing rehearsals for her upcoming single, and she’s having a hard time getting it right. Later that evening we see Yuki handing Haruka a note, she tells her to please give it to Touya. At Echoes, we see Touya reading Yuki’s note, it says that she won’t sleep tonight and she’ll be waiting for him. Later, Touya lies in bed trying to figure out what to do, he keeps rehashing in his mind what Yayoi told him about not standing in Yuki’s way. Just as Touya’s about to go see Yuki he gets a phone call from Masaki asking him for his help. Well, that’s all for this episode.

       Well, five episodes of White Album down and eight more to go, and with each episode my dislike of Touya grows. After watching the first two episodes I was hoping that this series would have been a nice romance with the two leads struggling to overcome the obstacles hindering their relationship, and eventually their love and commitment to each other grows stronger for all their troubles. While I have no problem with Yuki, she knows what she wants, and she makes it as clear as day. I have a problem with Touya, I can deal with a certain amount of emo longing, but Touya is turning into the typical weak willed male harem lead; wishy washy, uncertain, insecure, uncommunicative of his feelings, and a total lack of a man card.

      In the 4th episode Yuki made it clear that she wanted to take their relationship to the next level (she doesn’t only want dreams), but when she fell asleep all Touya could do is sit by her bedside and stare at her. Hell, at least he could have snuggled up with her for a good night’s sleep, imagine how nice it would have been for Yuki to wake up in the morning to find the man she loves sleeping next to her. I won’t get into the whole Yayoi offering herself to Touya in place of Yuki, I found that plot point just plain silly. If Touya somehow manages to be stupid enough to pass up on going to Yuki’s place after she sends him the note telling him that she won’t fall asleep this time and that she’s waiting for him then the only companionship he deserves is a bottle of lotion and a box of tissue.