Summary:

Yuji has got to be the densest guy ever… is it too much to call him retarded? Sentiments aside, this episode starts off with Yuji (and Shana) walking Konoe to school. Somehow, it seems that Yuji has ended up with the responsibility of taking care of Konoe, so Yuji is instructed to watch over her and take her to and from school. Why is Konoe so attached to Yuji so instinctively? Suspicious. She’s always clinging to him as if it were a reflex of some kind. For example, at lunch, Konoe spots the obentos Shana and Yoshida made for Yuji and Yuji ends up sharing with her, making Yohida and Shana very mad. Btw, bad move, my man Yuji, but I guess sharing is caring after all, right? I guess I can’t blame Yuji this time, since Konoe insisted…

At the halfway point, we cut to Wilhemina and Margery discussing Bal Masque and their motives and it also seems they have still been suspicious of Konoe. However, they free Konoe of suspicion after Wilhemina visits “Outlaw” and failed to find information condemning Konoe. Outlaw appears to be a gathering for Flame Haze to exchange information. Moving along, we get to see Shana training Yuji again. However, this time, Yuji’s improved and Alastor heaps praise on him, “you have as much power as a King of Guze… so keep training.” It seems every time Yuji glows, as seen when he dodged Shana’s attack, he gets super powers. We saw it the first time when he broke free from Wilhemina’s bind a few episodes ago. This boy’s got potential, if I do say so myself. Even Shana praised him.

The next day, Shana and the whole gang go to a new restaurant they spotted the day before… Shana eating ice cream is the best. Anyway, Konoe somehow snuck out of the restaurant without anyone noticing and everyone starts to look for her. Yuji says that they must find her at all costs. Shana gets mad and leaves on her own, while Yuji is wondering why Shana is so mad. Hmm… why is Shana is so mad? I wonder why…? Yuji, not having a clue why, goes off to find Konoe.

Stop it Yuji! Every time you ask that question, a kitten dies!

Yuji eventually finds Konoe at the park and rushes up to her and asks her if she’s ok. Yuji discovers that Konoe has saved a baby bird from an evil cat. By the way, why are all these animals so attached to her? Suspicious. While Yuji and Konoe are having a staring contest to see who blinks first, Yoshida catches the pair and misunderstands the love-struck look on Yuji’s face… wait, that’s not misunderstanding! It’s all true! After the ordeal, Yuji goes home and wonders where Shana went as she is not there. Instead, Wilhemina shows up and tells him she is his training partner and the next day, Shana essentially ignores Yuji. Even Yoshida is acting distant! “I wonder why…?” asks Yuji. At the end, we get a shot of Shana and Yoshida eating on the rooftop during lunch time all by themselves. /gg.

Thoughts:

This episode was very frustrating I must say. Every time Yuji asked why Shana was mad, I punched a baby… I even felt bad for Yoshida, and Yoshida is Shana’s sworn rival… coming from me, that’s bad. Real bad. Ahem…

Yes, I am biased and it takes quite a bit to make my openly express inflammatory remarks on a public forum like this… especially when I’m trying to present an impartial summary on a blog. But… I feel as if this episode really dragged on because the Konoe+Yuji pairing is very contrived. The fact that this episode just focused on it so much made it that much more unnatural. It was weird. Especially the part Yuji stares at Konoe, “OMG, she looks just like Hecate the time she was fusing with me!!”

It’s getting to the point where I think Konoe should just reveal her true colors, so everyone can just move on. Yes, I still don’t buy it… Konoe just has it written all over her, “I’m a part of a mastermind plot by Bal Masque!” I won’t make any solid predictions, but I have very reasonable speculations of what’s to come in this arc… it’s just all too predictable. Let’s hope they surprise us with something.

This best part of this week’s episode was Shana eating ice cream. Shana wa saikou. Shana banzai. Salvation… I found it in that scene.