Teacher’s pets.
What They Say:
Episode #7: “The Story of the End of Rain | The Story of the Beginning of Summer”
The Review
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Mato-sensei takes center stage in this episode, and we get to see her students through her eyes during the summer doldrums. The episode starts during the rainy portion of summer, and the cloudy skies drop a heavy mood on the student body.
As a teacher, it’s Mato-sensei’s job to keep her students motivated, but mostly she’s just concerned that they’re unhappy. Futaba has been spending her time after school practicing her swimming, and it’s not really an activity that we need to watch. The rest of the diving club is restless. One day Pikari bids Teko farewell after school and a bored Mato-sensei curiously follows her student. Pikari has been firmly attached to Futaba’s side, so what could possibly lure the girl away?
It’s hilarious to watch Mato stalk Pikari across town and onto a train. When Pikari finally notices her teacher they’re almost to Pikari’s destination. The whole point of Pikari’s ride is rather silly but very fitting. Pikari never does learn that her teacher was just following her around. (Reverse the gender of the teacher here and suddenly this would’ve taken on an entirely different tone.)
When the rain finally breaks it’s during the time when school clubs are on break for midterms. The students should all be busy studying after school, but Mato-sensei finds her diving club sitting around bemoaning the heat. Watching them goof off in the shade she puts them to work, ordering them to play red light, green light. (Or whatever the Japanese equivalent is called, which looks more involved than what I remember playing as a kid.)
It turns out Futaba is a pro at red light, green light. Pikari is as terrible as you’d imagine her to be, she can’t sit still. Mato-sensei sits back and watches her students sweat while she drinks canned coffee in the shade. She chats with a fellow teacher about the limitations of teaching to the test, which surprises me. Japanese schools put such a focus on testing and to hear Mato-sensei talk about kids needing to learn problems and solutions which don’t come from a textbook seems very unconventional. I wonder if Amano had a particular real-life model for Mato-sensei.
In Summary:
This is, by far, the most slice-of-life episode of Amanchu yet. I enjoy watching the students and their antics from the viewpoint of their teacher, for once. Mato-sensei is the sort of teacher you wish you could’ve had in school, one who understands exactly what her student’s needs are and is willing to put in the time for them. She also makes me wonder what her life outside of teaching is like. Although, that sort of goes for all of these characters, we’ve seen very little of their lives outside of school. I hope the show touches upon that at some point.
Episode Grade: B +
Streamed by: Crunchyroll
