The festival has arrived and Masaki is going to do her best, or die of embarrassment trying.
What They Say:
Today is the cultural festival and everybody is doing their part. Masaki is practicing hard as her role as the mouse in Cinderella to impress Shun.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
After the fun that came with the lead-up to the cultural festival where Kaname was overwhelmed with what needed to be done, the festival itself has now arrived and we get to see everyone going through the events and activities that are available. You get the basics to be sure as we have trivia contests and other games like that but we also get the haunted house/classroom piece that’s rather well done and fun to watch. With the relaxed nature everyone has with each other, and the events in general, it’s definitely cute to see them deal with the small events that happen that tends to confuse and frustrate some, especially when it comes to Kaname and what he has to put up with.
Not surprisingly, the laid back feeling here works well when you get down to it, especially when you have Shun dressed up as Red Riding Hood and Yuki dressed up as Snow White when they do their themed room around fairy tales and the like. The show does spend a good bit of time on some of the other characters Chuzuru really has a hard time handling the way Masaki doesn’t notice him even as she works to preen and present herself to Shun over it all, or at least that’s his interepretation of it. It’s still just strange to see Chizuru wearing the black wig and hiding his blonde hair as it gives him a very different feeling with how he feels and presents himself. If anything, it really does make him seem like his whine is more intense and annoying.
The big part of the episode, at least in terms of presentation, is the play itself where Masaki is done up as a mouse. She wants to use the role to really be able to show off for Shun but it’s near impossible for her to do so because of how nervous she is when all the guys show up to watch her there. You have to feel for her as she does try hard and everyone offers supporting words afterwards, which naturally is the last thing that she actually wants to here. Watching her go into a shame spiral is, unfortunately, rather adorable because of her nature and the way she overreacts to things that happen as others like Chizuru try to help her out. I’m no fan of Masaki but she definitely helps her case a bit here in this episode to making her a likable character, especially as she just outright (and realistically) slugs Chizuru even as he tries to help her.
In Summary:
The mild fluffiness and general fun of the episode definitely takes on a different feeling as it goes into the final minutes where it lets Masaki and Chizuru really shine. While relationships may not always be born of this, friendships and connections definitely are and at least seeing things change a bit between these two is very welcome. It’s hard to say who deserves who since we aren’t really treated to a good look at the cast beyond a fairly superficial if enjoyable way, but these two definitely deserve the time together they spend here to flesh things out a bit. Similar to the rest of the series, I really like what’s going on here in its relaxed way and want to see more of these guys and their experiences. It’s not a standout show, but it’s a solidly good slice of life show without the problem parts we often get with certain characters.
Grade: B
Readers Rating: [ratings]
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Sony KDS-R70XBR2 70″ LCoS 1080P HDTV, Dell 10.1 Netbook via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.
