This site is designed for accessibility. Content is obtainable and functional to any browser or Internet device. This site's full visual experience is available in a modern browser that supports web standards. Please consider upgrading your browser.
ファイト／ステイナイト 
February 23, 2008 | 
23 Comments
Well, this is a nice surprise. I never expected the Harem situation to be addressed in the series. I thought it'd be like Kanon, where the other girls just disappeared into the background while Ayu-Ayu took center stage. Instead, we got a full-blown train wreck, and I mean that in the best possible way. It feels like a train wreck to me because it's fascinating to watch even though it must be painful for the characters involved. I think I managed to guess where the scene was heading the minute Tomoya and Nagisa watch the game together and that song kicks in. Speaking of which, the song feels vaguely Fushigi Yuugi for some reason. I think it's because it has that premonition feel to it despite being J-Pop and all. I'd really appreciate it if someone can tell me the name of the song since it's not mentioned at all in the end credit. The song made it easy to understand the crushing blow that the girls must have felt after they saw the interaction between Nagisa and Tomoya. The best thing about this is that in one fell swoop the writers managed to end the harem situation. This means we now will head into Tomoya and Nagisa's story.
In the aftermath of the fight, Tomoyo regrets that she let Tomoya claiming responsibility for the incident. Tomoya, however, doesn't want her to tell the truth because no matter what, she needs to become student council president. Later on that day, Kyou and Ryou drag Tomoya out of Sunohara's room to play a fortune-telling game. Kyou forces Ryou and Tomoya to find out if they should be lovers but the result claims that Ryou and Tomoya are better off as friends. Despite this, Ryou is quite happy since at least it didn't tell them that they are not incompatible. When Tomoya reminds Ryou that her own fortune-telling ability is not that great, Ryou admits that she doesn't mind. This is because if she gets it right, it means there's only one future. Ryou wants to believe that there are many possibilities waiting in their future. The next day, Tomoya is horrified when he finds out that not only Tomoyo has prepared lunch for him, the other girls arrive bringing bento boxes for him. The harem situation becomes dire when the girls insist that Tomoya eat their "bento" (nudge, nudge, wink, wink). Oh wait, that wasn't a euphemism. They really do want him to eat the bentos they've prepared.
Fast forward the next day, Tomoya is getting heart burn due to all of the food he ate the day before. He also finds out from Sunohara that Tomoyo's reputation is on the line. It appears that some students have spread rumor that Tomoyo is a wild girl. In order to improve Tomoyo's image, Tomoya suggests that they compete in baseball tournament and other sport-based competition. Tomoyo's athleticism makes it possible for her to win the challenges and earn the respect of her juniors again. Later on, she thanks Tomoya for helping her because at this rate, she will be able to achieve her aim: to save a Sakura tree that is about to be demolished. She also asks Tomoya what can stop someone from going wild. Tomoya thinks it's talent or relationship. Tomoyo, however, believes that 'family' will also stop someone from going out of control. And by 'family' she necessarily mean real family but also close friends. She also reveals that her parents didn't get along at one point and was at the brink of divorce. When her brother threatened to kill himself and set out to do just that, however, the family became closer. Thankfully the guy eventually gets better and was released from hospital.
When they left the hospital, the family go through the park full of Sakura trees. Upon seeing the falling Sakura, Tomoyo's brother told his family that he'd like to see these Sakura trees with his family every year. The sentiment was shared by Tomoyo and her parents. Tomoyo believes that although the city has changed, there are many people who treasures the Sakura trees. No matter how depressing a place may look, the most important places don't change. She thinks there's a similar element in a family. A few days later, Nagisa is feeling well so she returns to school. She apologizes for making everyone worried and because Tomoya took the blame for Tomoyo for the sake of the theater club. During a Tennis game between Tomoyo and another boy, all of the girls notices that Tomoya has become cheerful again. Later on, when Nagisa accidentally got hit by a tennis ball, Tomoya shows sign of protectiveness towards her. Despite being upset with this sudden development, the other girls decide to take it in strides. Eventually, however, it gets a bit too much for Kyou and Ryou. Both of whom end up crying and consoling each other for losing Tomoya to Nagisa.
Impression:
Has anyone tried Baumkuchen? Does it taste good? When I went to Japan, I saw a lot of them but I didn't bother to buy them because there's always other interesting food around and this cake can be a bit pricey. Anyway, this episode is pretty interesting. The competition between Tomoya's harem suddenly is out in the open but died as quickly as it appeared. It was really spectacular to see all of the emotions bursting out from the seam and metaphorically exploded in front of the screen. Although it started out as a comedy, as exemplified by the girls' insistence that Tomoya eat their bentos, it didn't take long before the situation became serious. In a lot of ways, it was kind of inevitable anyway. We knew and the girls must have been vaguely aware that Tomoya has feelings for Nagisa. Despite this, it was still fascinating to watch. The entire thing felt like a train wreck. I know the other girls must feel awful but as a viewer, it's hard to turn my eyes away from the unfolding events. This is probably a good wake-up call for the other girls anyway. Now they know that Tomoya only sees them as his best friends. At least they can now move on and find other boys to interact with.
PS: Please die in peace, Fuuko, and take your Starfish with you.
The song that you're looking for is called "Over" made by Riya from Eufonius. Hope that helps.
In my opinion Baumkuchen is very tasty. Try it. ^^
lol "Over"
Actually, during the bento scene, I was thinking "If Fuuko appears, I'll die laughing". She did, I was able to survive and enjoyed that part quite a bit.
The twins crying scene was painfully well done; also, major props for showing how Tomoyo got it too and bowed out gracefully.
The song that you're looking for is called "Over" made by Riya from Eufonius. Hope that helps.
Thank you, it's very appreciated.
In my opinion Baumkuchen is very tasty. Try it. ^^
I'll give it a try next time I go to Japan. :)
also, major props for showing how Tomoyo got it too and bowed out gracefully.
I never thought Tomoyo actually has some kind of feelings for Tomoya. I guess his action in defending her really impressed her. And yeah, she was very quick on the uptake regarding Nagisa and decided to bow out earlier. I feel sorry for her too even though she doesn't cry. She had this "Oh, so you're the girl that he really likes" when she heard Nagisa's name.
woah 3 girls ditched in one episode. Kotomi seemed clueless there, but i like how shes still hanging around. I'm kind of disappointed, more of a Ryou ending than a Kyou one.....
The biggest joke here is that Fuko thinks she's actually a contender for Tomoya.
I loved this episode because of the last scene where Nagisa came back and Tomoya was protective of Nagisa.
Fuko was the best part. She basically multiplied the insanity level of the scene by several times. She is the best choice. Damn it.
hated how kyoani did this part. If they were going to be so harsh on those three, why did they give 14 episodes to just fuuko and kotomi!? Bad planning from my perspective.
And really, I thought it was awkward to suddenly cry in the public because the guy you like suddenly blocked the other guy's arm. Sure, you realized it's a lost cause, but I'd think normally girls go home and do that.... again, i'd attribute this to bad planning.
There was plenty of Kyou/Ryou in the first 14 episodes. KyouAni didn't really write self-contained arcs like they did in AIR.
I loved this episode. Finally, the relationship I have been rooting for from the very beginning has come out more into the open! yay!
I must admit that I felt terrible for the twins, especially Kyou, whom I think secretly liked Tomoya but pretended not to, for the sake of Ryou (whom we all know liked Tomoya too).
As Garten commented, it really did feel like a train wreck but a nicely orchestrated one. I usually don't like having to go through every arc for every girl and this just put a neat (if not painful) blow to all the not-girlfriend-material girls around Tomoya, this sparing us any random filler episodes...
oh and Garten's PS is hilarious! Yes, I do also wish that Fuko would just disappear until the very LAST episode or something...
Can't wait for episode 19!
I felt awful when I saw that scene. The whole time I went "Oh no, I can't watch this....but I'll take a little peek just a bit...."
I think some of us have experienced the pain of finding out that your major crush likes someone else. So to see the girls going through that was kind of hard.
"especially Kyou, whom I think secretly liked Tomoya.."
Ha! Secretly? Have you ever thought about signing on as the male lead in a harem series?
@karasu
According to the people who played the game, Kyoani had no choice with Tomoyo and Kyou, because their routes were too romance-heavy. If they wanted to go with Nagisa, they had to ditch Tomoyo and Kyou's routes almost entirely. It's not so much planning as much as Kyoani wanting to keep things faithful and not make up crap.
Dear Roy Mustang,
Given that I am a woman, signing on as a male lead of a harem series might be hard... but, hey! it might be fun to be chased around by pretty girls!!
(or annoying to all the OTHER guys who're probably wondering what's so good about me... lol)
I really didn't like the ending of this episode... it bugged me a lot. Especially the fact that Tomoyo ignored the girls crying. But that's probably how she felt too.
Also, Anonymous, what are you talking about "romance heavy" in the games? Did Tomoya kiss Kyou and Tomoyo and do.... other things to them? (Ew, I sound like a perv)
Anyways, this was another great episode.
However, the way the girls act is really bugging me. Everbody acts like they're 12, and not the age they are supposed to be. And Tomoyo is much more mature, but she's younger than the others. Just kinda.... got to me.
"Given that I am a woman, signing on as a male lead of a harem series might be hard..."
Reverse Crying Game. Oh yeah.
"Especially the fact that Tomoyo ignored the girls crying."
Tomoyo/Nagisa had already left when Kyou broke down.
"However, the way the girls act is really bugging me. Everbody acts like they're 12, and not the age they are supposed to be. "
The characters are very well done and believable. I can't think of any instances where they acted out of character.
edit: Tomoya
Person
to answer your question; tomoyo's arc was very dramatic and definately romance heavy
( love birds ! )
i haven't played through kyou/ryou's arc, but I soon will.
LOL "PS: Please die in peace, Fuuko, and take your Starfish with you."
OMG hilarious. But seriously. YES! She needs to go!!
Roy: I meant... their personalities are kinda like my other friends. No one's really "mature". Except maybe Nagisa. But she doesn't look as old as the rest for some reason.
"PS: Please die in peace, Fuuko, and take your Starfish with you."
LOLOLOL you really despise her! Hahaha not that I blame you. She's really annoying. The "Eat MY Food" part was awesome! I know that Kotomi likes Tomoya too but I felt like she asked him to eat her food mostly to join the fun of screwing the guy over. That was hilarious.
Baumkuchen is okay I guess. I'm not really a big fan. Melon pan for life! And also imagawayaki~~ yummm~~
Garten, If you come back to Japan do you stop at Keisei Funabashi Eki from Narita? If you do, you should check out the Imagawayaki-ya stall beside McDonald's. Get the chocolate imagawayaki. I found the stall whilst I was looking for the 7 floor Daiso last Monday and it's sooooo goooood~~ I never had one with white and dark chocolate together in it and this stall sells them. Yum~Yum~
Recommended!
Garten, If you come back to Japan do you stop at Keisei Funabashi Eki from Narita?
Where is that? I don't think I do since I usually am tired after a flight and just want to go to straight to go straight to the hotel.
I did try Imagawayaki while I was in Okazaki though and it was delicious.
Note:
Please be aware that the following type of comments will be deleted from now on: spams, comments containing l33t talk or rudeness. Check Animesuki, Tokyo Toshokan, or D-Addicts before asking where to find a series. If you want to post spoiler, please use <spoiler>write your spoiler here</spoiler> tags.
The comment area allows post without email address. However, all posters have to fill out the name field. If you have a question unrelated to the particular entry, please email: designchronicle@NOSPAMgmail.com. Make sure you remove the NOSPAM part of the email.