Asatte no Houkou ep.05

November 3, 2006 | 12 Comments

As usual nothing much happens within an episode. Basically Shouko is unhappy with being a child but in the end she finds her inner child. Having said that, it's amazing how this show manages to get away with having so little story. For some reason, I'm quite content to just watch these characters going about their daily life. On the downside, I notice some uncomfortable moments between Hiro and Karada which I hope won't get explored any further. This episode also introduces a new character called Kotomi. It's not clear yet what her role will be in this series but from what has been shown so far, she seems to have interest in Tetsumasa which means that she's in direct competition with Karada. Animation/design-wise, this episode is back to top form again after last week's slightly disappointing quality.

Hiro and Shouko wake up and realise that Karada has been busy preparing breakfast in the kitchen. While Hiro looks as if he's enchanted with Karada, chibi Shouko tries to fold the futon and puts it back inside the cupboard. However, because the cupboard is higher than her own height, she has to ask Hiro to help her. After breakfast, Hiro goes to work so Karada decides to clean the house. Shouko, on the other hand, just sits around looking lost so Karada decides to tell her that she's happy that Shouko gets to live with them. Shouko then hears a buzz from the washing machine so she decides to check it but before she can do anything else, Karada already gets there and tells her not to bother herself with it. As a result, Shouko looks even more bored and ends up starring at a photograph of a woman. Later on, Karada tells Shouko that her parents often talked about Hiro so the first time she met him, it didn't feel as if she just met him.

Shouko suddenly remembers what Hiro said about Karada not being related to him and her not knowing about it. The two of them then head to the library, where Shouko reads up on the local history of Kanouchou. When she sees Karada looking around happily, Shouko thinks to herself how Karada wished to become an adult just for the sake of her brother. After she part ways with Karada, Shouko returns to the wishing stone shrine, thinking to herself that they may not be able to return to the way they were. Later on, Shouko stops at a park where a group of children are playing Daruma-san ga koronda. In this game, one of the kids become the 'Oni' (Ogre) and has to say "Daruma-san ga koronda" with his/her back turned away from other players who try to approach it. As soon as the 'Oni' stops saying this and turns around, the players behind him/her has to cease any activity and stop moving or else, the Ogre will capture him/her.

Seeing the game seems to bring Shouko's childhood memory back. When she was a kid, a girl invited her to play with them but a bully told the girl not to invite Shouko to play with them. His excuse is that Shouko didn't want to play with them. Shouko muses to herself that there is always something that is unreachable for by her hands. While reflecting on this, an older girl arrives at the park and asks Shouko if she's having a fight with her 'friends' who are playing the game. Shouko denies of such thing and when asked why she's not playing with the other kids, she claims that she's just moved to this town. Upon hearing this the older girl tells her that she's also just moved into this town. Her parents are go-getters who moved around quite a lot so she's here as a result of that. The girl suddenly yells at the other kids to befriend Shouko since she just moved here. Shouko is embarassed about this and immediately tries to refuse the offer.

The older girl is confused and wonders why Shouko will refuse since it'll be nice if she can become friends with others quickly. 'No-fun' Shouko snaps when the older girl continues to press on her but she quickly switches back to her childhood personality and apologises to the girl. Inside the coffee shop, Touko is shocked to know that Hiro has found Karada. Hiro claims that Karada is currently with her other relatives. Touko is weirded out with the fact that Karada didn't say anything before she left. Hiro lamely blames this on 'rebellious phase'. Toukou of course doesn't believe this but Hiro quickly change the subject, apologising for making her and Tetsu worried. Hiro suddenly realises that he hasn't seen Tetsu around. As it turns out, Tetsu was caught when he was trying to leave his house by his mother. She asks him if he's trying to deceive her again like the last time and goes on to criticise his shortcomings when it comes to doing things that he must do.

Later on, Hiro cooks a simple vegetable dish for Shouko and Karada. Shouko, who feels out of sync with Karada and Hiro's conversation decides to take her plate to the kitchen. Karada, however, tells her not to bother with it and proceeds to take the plates and wash them on the sink. Hiro quietly tells Shouko that it's been decided and points at the list of 'promises' that Hiro and Karada made to each other. In that list, Shouko notices that there's an agreement between the two that those who did not cook a meal will clean up afterwards. Shouko seems to be disturbed to see the list, probably realising the extent of the committment that Hiro and Karada made together. That night, Shouko is restless and ends up looking discontent at both Karada and Hiro, both of whom are deep in their sleep. The next day, Hiro is on cooking duty again and is surprised when he realises that Shouko is the one who's been arranging the plate and glasses on the table.

Karada once again tries to tell Shouko not to bother with it but Hiro seems to understand that Shouko needs to do this. Before Hiro goes to work, Karada tries to take off a lint out of Hiro's clothes. Hiro, however, is uncomfortable upon seeing Karada's huge bazoomas and steps back. Because of this, Shouko steps forward and takes the lint instead. Hiro then apologises to Karada for the awkward moment and Karada follows suit. Before he leaves, however, Hiro asks Shouko to come with him since he wants to talk to her. Shouko decides to use the opportunity to tell Hiro that yesterday she and Karada went to the library but they couldn't find a book about the wishing stone. Hiro understands and will try to find out more about it once he finished his work. He also tells her that he's happy that she's here because the truth is he doesn't know....how he can deal with Karada in the best kind of way. Shouko's face suddenly turns gloomy again.

When Hiro asks Shouko to stay a bit longer with them, Shouko turns catty and tells Hiro that as usual he's only thinking about his own convenience. Hiro apologises to Shouko so she tells him that yesterday Karada thanked her for being here. She then turns around and tells Hiro not to worry about it since she hasn't found a way to return to the way she were. She then curtly asks him if that's all he wants to talk about and before Hiro can say anything else, Shouko already runs away from him. Before she can get too far, however, Hiro tells her that she too as usual always looks angry and very frank. Shouko stops and tells Hiro that yesterday Karada said the same thing as well before running away again. That day, Shouko decides not to return to Hiro and Karada's apartment and instead goes back to her own place. Meanwhile inside his house, Hiro's mother is in the middle of praising 'Kotomi-chan', who turns out to be the girl that Shouko met in the park.

It appears that it's been 4 years ever since Kotomi last visited this town. Tetsu's mother then asks Kotomi if she'd supervise Tetsu in his study, pointing out the fact that he's only been doing half of his summer vacation homework. Later on inside Tetsu's room, Kotomi is surprised to see that the boy is really going to study. She thinks he should have fun instead and encourages him to sneak out of the window again. Tetsu, however, thinks that his mother is going to kill him if he does it again. Upon hearing this Kotomi tells Tetsu that parents always worry about their children's future. However, she thinks that the most important thing right now is to do what he wants to do. Meanwhile, Shouko is back in the park when one of the girls suddenly ask her to play with them. Just like in her childhood, she is reluctant. As a result, a boy tells the girl that they should not play with Shouko since she doesn't look like she wants to play with them.

The other girl, however, doesn't give up and when Shouko is about to leave, she calls her "Oni" because Shouko was walking. Eventually Shouko gets into the game and have fun with the kids. Karada and Hiro, on the other hand, are worried because Shouko did not return. When they find her, she has dirt all over her but looks very happy. Karada immediately puts her arms around Shouko, telling her how worried she was. The three of them then go home together, not realising that Touko notices them from afar. Touko, however, does not recognise either Karada or Shouko. She then gets a phone call from her mother asking if she knows Tetsu's whereabouts but Touko doesn't know. It turns out Tetsu has been waiting in front of her apartment. Tetsu tells Touko that he wants to look for Karada but her sister tells him that Karada has been found but she refuses to talk about it while standing up. Because of this, Tetsu follows his sister into the apartment.

Impression:

This episode basically shows Shouko having difficulty living together with both Hiro and Karada. She feels like the odd man out since Karada and Hiro can talk about things that she knows nothing about. In addition to this, her condition as a child, makes it harder for her to do daily chores. It doesn't help that Karada insists that she does everything in the household. I think it's clear that Shouko still feels a bit of jealousy towards Karada, who seems to connect with Hiro better. Hiro also seems to care more about his relationship with Karada than paying attention to Shouko. I admit I got a bit worried when he casts those weird, uncomfortable look towards Karada but I suppose it's inevitable that there'll be some awkwardness. This is probably more true for Hiro because he knows that Karada is not his real sister. Karada, on the other hand, doesn't seem to understand why Hiro is weirded out with her. She probably thinks that he's not used to her adult body.

I think Karada still likes Tetsu a lot and next week's episode should highlight this fact. I'm not sure how their relationship will turn out now that Kotomi is here. Tetsu doesn't seem to be interested in her but I thought she looked slightly interested in him. Otherwise, I have no idea what role she have in the story. Unless, of course, she ends up being Shouko's friend. Speaking of Shouko, it was nice to see her smile for once in an episode. It's obvious that she didn't enjoy her childhood and I think this is a blessing in disguise since she gets to relieve it all over again. I think back then, in front of the Shrine, Shouko secretly wished to start over. Anyway, I think Shouko and Karada will return to their body at the end of the series. I don't see how Hiro can keep up with his lies otherwise. Of course, there is a possibility of him telling Touko and Tetsu the truth but I wonder if they'll believe him. Touko seems to suspect something though.

Preview

On next week's episode: Tetsu is going out with not!Loli Karada.

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