Gakuen Alice ep.17

March 5, 2005 | 28 Comments

Hmm, the animation in this episode is a bit inconsistent. There are instances where the characters (mostly Iinchou and Ruka) appear all of a sudden and then conveniently disappear when the next scene comes up. Apart from that though, this is a relatively good episode that differs slightly from the manga. The animators have chosen to combine two Hotaru-related stories and place a few transitional scenes to connect the two. The result is actually pretty good and the transition from the two stories are well done. BTW, is it just me or does that bucket/scoop shot in Hotaru's flashback reminds other people of that 'Rosebud' scene in Citizen Kane? Both stories deal with the lost of a child's happiness because the child is taken away from their parents and happy environment.

This episode begins with Mikan being forced to come along with Natsume and Ruka to the school's festival due to the misfortune that happened on last week's episode. But since Mikan by nature is a happy person, she can't contain her excitement and ends up talking animatedly here and there. Natsume who can no longer stand her noisy voice decides to throw a biscuit down her throat. The biscuit instantly transforms her mouth into a bird's beak. Iinchou then magically appears out of nowhere, thanks to the inconsistent animation, to explain how anyone who eats one of the biscuits will sound like a bird. As if that's not bad enough, later on Natsume puts a leash on Mikan's neck to prevent her from running away whenever she pleases. That, however, does not stop her from cutting the leash off when she spots a store/stall belonging to Hotaru.

However, when Mikan runs towards the store, she is knocked back by a tremor that is caused by the arrival of Hotaru's new invention: a giant robot called Piglet. Inside the robot, Hotaru demonstrates how the big hunk of a machine can turn into a flying ship called Pig-Bird. The ability of the robot impresses the investors who come to see Hotaru's invention, to the point that they start bidding on the invention right away. Mikan and the others are equally impressed by the invention and even more so when Sumire comes and explains how Hotaru's invention has increased the number of sponsors for the Gijutsu-kei group. As if that's not enough, Hotaru has also created a 'capture the flag' game that utilises a bunch of robotic chicken. Upon seeing the game, Mikan and the others are keen to give it a go.

Meanwhile, a young boy called Kenji is disappointed because he's not allowed to play the game and decides to secretly sneak into one of the robots. The game then begins and Mikan starts to whip the floor by taking the flag on her opponents' helmet. However, her own flag is then captured by the little boy, forcing Mikan to chase after the boy. In order to avoid getting captured by Mikan, the boy uses his robot to fly into the sky. Unfortunately not long after he's done this, there's some kind of malfunction in the robot's engine and things quickly go out of hand for him. Because of this, Mikan asks one of Natsume's lackeys to use his levitation Alice to fly her robot into the sky. Once her robot is aligned next to the boy's robot, Mikan bravely jumps into the boy's robot.

Everyone seems to be relieved to see Mikan successfully controlling the robot again. But unfortunately, the robot starts acting out again and eventually crash landing into the forest. Thankfully, neither the boy nor Mikan is harmed because of this. The boy's older brother thanks Mikan for saving his brother but unfortunately, Hotaru doesn't have the same luck. Because of the incident, people starts to wonder about the safety of her inventions. Mikan tries her best to defend her best friend, but no one is convinced of her argument especially since she almost got killed because of that said invention. Not long after this, the student council comes to the location to inspect damages. One of these principal students turns out to be the young guy with the glasses that appeared back in episode 14.

The guy, who is known as 'Imai-senpai', walks over to Mikan and asks if she's hurt. Upon seeing the big gash on Mikan's leg, he puts his hand on the wound and immediately takes the wound away. Iinchou explains that Imai-senpai has an ability to cure wounds. Everyone seems to be impressed by Imai-senpai's ability but he seems to be more concerned with finding the person responsible for the game. However, just when Hotaru is ready to take blame for the incident, the little boy then tells Imai-senpai that he's the one to blame because he used his Alice to control the vehicle. Mikan is relieved to hear this and thank the boy for admitting his mistake. Unfortunately, someone should still get the blame and Imai-senpai decides that the fault lies squarely on the older brother's shoulder because he did not pay attention to his little brother.

Imai-senpai puts his finger into the older brother's forehead and transfer the pain from Mikan's leg into the older brother's forehead. Iinchou explains that Imai-senpai's power is like the two sides of a coin. It can takes away the pain from a person and gives the pain to someone else. Once he's done this, Imai-senpai tries to leave the area but is stopped by Hotaru. Imai-senpai's followers rudely asks Hotaru to move aside. But she remains stationary as the two greets each other with "Hajimemashite". Imai-senpai then tells his follower that the girl is probably his younger sister, shocking everyone in the area. Okay, I guess I have to explain this a little bit to make the scene more understandable. "Hajimemashite" is a greeting that a person use to greet another person that one has not met before.

For example, it's okay for me to use "Hajimemashite" the first time I see a person. But I can't use "Hajimemashite" again the next time I meet him because the word 'Hajimemashite' more less means, "This is our first meeting with each other". Now, if you put this in the context of Hotaru and her brother, one would think that as siblings, they already know each other. But the fact that they use "Hajimemashite" when they see each other here implies that they had never seen each other beforehand. True enough, as Mikan, Iinchou, and Ruka-pyon follow the two siblings, they hear how the two only know of each other's existence based on what their parents told them. Nevertheless, when Hotaru entered the school for the first time, her brother realised that maybe he'll get to meet her one day.

Hotaru then cuts to the chase and asks her brother why he never visited their parents or wrote a letter to them. Her brother coldly replies that while he appreciates the fact that their parents gave birth to him, he doesn't feel anything else for them since he and their parents live in two different worlds. This answer surprises Hotaru and anger Mikan at the same time. But thankfully before Mikan can open her big mouth, Iinchou and Ruka manage to restrain her. LOL. Anyway, Imai-senpai says that now that Hotaru is also a student at this school, she can visit him and asks for any help. Imai-senpai then bids goodbye to Hotaru, who knows well that her brother's last words were just pleasantries. She recognises all of his uncaring body language: the business-like attitude and the cold eyes.

Once her brother left, Hotaru explains to her friends that in some ways, she kind of expect this to happen since her brother hasn't seen his family ever since he was five years old. Having said that, Hotaru thinks she and her brother are alike, much to Mikan's disagreement. Hotaru then remembers how her mother cried a lot when she first found out that Hotaru has an Alice ability because she's afraid Hotaru will turn out like her brother. This is why Hotaru and her parents moved around alot before settling down at Mikan's hometown. They want Hotaru to be a child who can love and appreciate her most important people. Hotaru's parents knew that the day when Hotaru has to go to Alice Gakuen will arrive but they hope that at least Hotaru will be different from her brother. The episode ends with Hotaru feeling grateful that she has Mikan to keep her from being an emotionless person like her brother.

Impression:

This is a really good episode that gives Hotaru the character development that she really needs. It's sad to see her brother turned out to be one hell of an ingrate. But I'm not sure who's to blame here. I guess one can blame Hotaru's brother himself but at the same time, one can argue that since he doesn't know his parents that well, his emotion for them is stunted. I refuse to blame Hotaru's parents because they don't have much of a choice in this matter. They tried their best to keep Hotaru away from the school and in the end, they know they can't run away from the school forever. So in the end, I'll put the blame squarely on the school. It seems there is a need for the school to reform and change its policy for the sake of the children and their parents.

While the school's rule protects the students to a certain extent, it also cuts them off from their family and friends, turning them into emotionless, and sometimes unkind children. And in worst case scenario, it turns the kids into people who can't appreciate the people who are close to them. I think this is why Narumi-sensei believes that Mikan can be the strength that everyone else in the school needs. It's obvious that her presence helps to soften everyone else in the school. To a certain extent she reminds me of Tohru from Fruits Basket in the sense that everyone becomes a better person as they get to know her. Because of this, I hope the leechers on this school treats Mikan better from now on.

© memento 2003