天下制覇

 

Is when you’re making up.

Impressions:

Kiss #2! And we’re only a third into the show. Kai’s a smoothy. Quite a mumbler, but still a smoothy. Maybe Mao likes people who speak under their breath and slur their words. Even after their little spat, she was still hanging around him, so he moved in for the kill. I’m a bit disappointed that Mao ran off. I expected better of her, maybe one of those horrible theatrical kisses where the girl lifts one foot and tries to balance against the guy’s face. Then again, this is anime. The fact that lips even touched is amazing in and of itself.

Most of the rest was pretty decent too. Mitsuki finally (finally) joins the cast, which means all the less time spent with the frog girls and invertibrate boy actually got up the nerve to ask Futami to do something outside of her lab. Maybe we will get to see the goofy side of her personality after all. I still prefer Satsuki thus far. Maybe seeing Kaz and Futami together will drive her to finally make her play for the douche. I probably could have gone without an entire episode of people fussing over a love/kiss scene, a stale plot of anything/everything from School Rumble to Magikano and all stops in between. Ah well, minor complaint. Now run back to your jazz man, Mao. He’s good for what ails you.

Hiiragi his plans to the theatre troupe while it rains outside. Mao is even hanging out with them for the script reading instead of studying. The script is your pretty standard romance thing, probably ripped straight from Tokimeki Memorial. Everybody is impressed, though Kouichi deflects the praise onto Yumi. Kazuki and Mao make lovey dovery noises at the pair while Yumi just blushes. Mao smiles at them happily.

Everybody heads home in the rain after being kicked out of the classroom by a teacher. The frog girls trot up and join them. Narumi suggests they head to her place, which ends up being a restaurant. Her grandfather comes out and gives them the evil eye, but they end up hanging out there and having ramen udon anyway.

They talk about her grandfather specially making the ramen udon and whatnot for a little while. Mao can’t help bringing up the past where Kouichi used to be quite the crybaby over A Dog Named Flanders. The frog girls think that was really cute, Yumi just laughs and then looks at him lovingly while Mao continues.

Kai cleans up in front of his shop and looks over when he hears footsteps. It’s just some random girl and he sighs.

Hiiragi tells them all that they still need people for the play. Kazuki suggests Mao… she’s been in France and should know about love scenes, right? She wonders what his idea of France is and tries to escape, saying that acting’s not her thing. Yumi’s the next to be suggested for the love scene, but she violently resists. Kazuki asks his sister, but she gets uppity. Having run out of females, they decide to just leave it for now.

Kouichi arrives at school the next day to see some poor sap being punished for his sins.

Kazuki tries asking Satsuki about being in the love story… but by saying that it’d be ridiculous to ask her and wouldn’t suit her… so gets a ball to the face.

Mao tries asking her upperclassmen friends too, but they think it’s impossible. As she walks away, Kai says hello to her and waves to Mao.

Mao explains the situation to him, but he’s pretty clueless how to help as well. He tells her that there’s another performance today, and she says she’s interested.

Futami and Kazuki’s ‘experiment’ continues. This time, they stand hand in hand, doing absolutely nothing.  Kazuki wonders what the hell he’s doing. Futami steps in close again and he thinks that she’s about to kiss him, but she tells him to let go of her hand.

She explains the experiment to his bafflement (she was timing her pulse while holding his hand) and starts making more of her beaker coffee. He tries to refuse it, but she glares at him until he accepts.

She serves it to him and dreads it. She opens up a bag of chips or something and starts pouring mayo on them… and then chases it with honey. He thinks that it looks awful, but she says it’s delicious. Kazuki tries one and goes back to his ‘awful’ stance.

Kazuki wonders if her tastes aren’t weird after all. He asks about the next experiment and makes a suggestion that they actually leave the room next time. She thinks for a moment and then accepts. Kazuki thinks that this might be a date.

Hiiragi ponders his little black book, thinking that the other two are going to be useless. He’s probably right. He hears the sound of a piano and goes to investigate. A girl plays marvelously.

Yumi and Kouichi prepare for their normal afterschool fun, together. He looks out the window and sees Mao leaving with Kai. Kouichi gets a mail from Hiiragi saying that he found someone. Kazuki happily plans for his date with Futami when he gets the same mail.

Everybody gathers at the ramen place while they wait for Hiiragi’s mysterious person. It’s Shijou Mitsuki, the “Super Ojou-sama” as Kouichi calls her.

Hiiragi explains that she’s more or less perfect for it. After confirming that she knows what she’s getting into, everybody is excited for her to be joining them. She even has a few ambitions, or at least interests in theater, which is more than the rest. She does tell them that she’s engaged, so probably can’t be the heroine, but I don’t buy that for a moment.

At Jazz Bar Debby, Mao hangs out with Kai. She gets the mail too and smiles.

Back at Ramen Udon Central, they ponder the more embarrassing mechanics of the love scene in the movie, and namely the kiss scene. The males are more stressed about it than she is. She does trust herself in their care happily otherwise though.

Back at Jazz Bar Debby, Mao smiles about her underclass friends working together. She waves over to Kai, working at the bar. After his work ends, the two leave together. He suddenly stops and says that he wants to be with her tomorrow again, and a lot after, that’d be fine right? She’s taken back, but he steps in and kisses her. She pushes him off after a moment and runs away.