Gakuen Alice ep.21

April 4, 2005 | 21 Comments

I'm sorry that it took me this long to come up with this recap. But I barely have the time to clean up my room, let alone find the time to watch and write something. Having said that, here's a quick entry for this week's episode. First thing first, this is a mediocre episode especially when you compare it with last week's episode. The episode also contains some unnecessary filler which I think should have not been included to begin with. With only 5 more episodes to go, I think the writers should have condensed next week's episode along with this week's episode. That way they'll have a lot more time to complete the series properly. The animation also takes a slight nosedive from last week's episode. But that's to be expected since the animators probably want to conserve the budget for the finale.

Anyway, the episode itself begins with Narumi announcing to Class B that next week is the start of the end of term examination. Mikan is shocked about this and even more so when she hears Narumi telling the class that the results will greatly affect the assessment of their star rank, as well as the race for an honour student prize. Narumi then asks the class to do their best and leaves the poor students to be miserable. As if that's not bad enough, Misaki-sensei then arrives to announce a truckload of subjects that will be in the examination. These include language, arithmetic, science, fine arts, music, and cooking. He also informs the students that anyone caught using their Alice during the exam will be punished. Finally Jin-Jin arrives with the final blow: those who cheat using other means will be given Jin-Jin's special electric treatment. I hope those poor students are still alive after this exam. :)

Once the teachers left, Mikan reveals the obvious: she hates exams and she's afraid that failing means having to face her grandpa's wrath. Upon hearing this, Hotaru, Kokoroyomi-kun, and another classmate begins to tease her and calling her stupid. Iinchou, on the other hand, tries to encourage her by saying that not everything about this exam is bad. He tells her that those who do a good job at their exam will be rewarded. Cuts to a scene of Narumi-sensei explaining that the honour student will be rewarded with a chance to go back to their family for a week as well as a Central Town shopping ticket. Mikan immediately perks up again upon hearing this and realises that if she works hard, she may have a chance to see her grandpa. She immediately asks Ruka and Iinchou to study together with her. Hotaru, on the other hand, tells Mikan that she prefers to study with someone of her own level.

As cruel as that sounds, Hotaru is probably right because Mikan sucks at every single subject from Arithmetic to Science. When her classmates find out about this, they begin to wonder if she'll survive this examination. Mikan, however, refuses to give up and decides to ask for Noda-sensei's help. She believes that Noda-sensei's time tripper ability makes him an expert in history. Nodacchi, however, ends up giving her some secret truth about several past historical figures. Because of this, Tsubasa tells Mikan that she'd be better off finding out the sort of question that the examiners normally put in the exam. The problem is, Mikan becomes stressed out when she realises that the questions are difficult. It doesn't help that some of her classmates keep telling her to give up and just play dodge ball with them. Mikan is also surprised to know that Ruka is not aiming for the award.

Mikan, however, perseveres and keeps up with her intention to study well because she wants to return home and see her grandpa. Eventually her enthusiasm to study rubs off on her classmates and one by one they also begin to study for the exam. Natsume's lackey complains that it's all Mikan's fault that everyone ends up studying now. However, it seems Natsume has also got the study bug and does not mind when some of his classmates ask him to help them with their study. Having said that, I get the impression that half of the reason he helps out is because he wants Mikan to notice him. :P Sumire is the only one who feels a bit left out, mostly because Natsume does not pay the slightest attention to her. Later on that day, Natsume, Mikan, Kokoroyomi-kun and some of their classmates are seen happily walking together. They, however, are not aware that they are being watched from afar by Persona.

Anyway, the next day, the exam starts with language as the first subject to be tested. Narumi-sensei is seen inside a class telling the students that this year's test will be fun. The students, however, seems to disagree when they find out that the test asks them to write a love letter to Narumi using at least 5 Chinese characters that they've learned in the class. The students who didn't expect the change to the usual test method are shocked about this and are worried about the change after completing the exam. Mikan seems to be the only one who think she did rather well and that the test was enjoyable. Hmm, I guess she's had practice writing all of those letters to her grandpa. By contrast, Natsume is not as enthusiastic about the test. He comes out of the room and tells Mikan that he left his paper blank. Anyway, the students then end up going to their next exam, science test with Misaki-sensei.

Misaki-sensei begins by telling the students that he's had it with the cheaters. So this year he brings with him a special Cactus. This one has the ability to figure out if a student has used dishonest method to complete the examination. If a student cheats, the Cactus will then appropriately administer a painful punishment to the student True enough, when Kokoroyomi-kun inadvertently uses his mind reading Alice to find out the answer to one of the questions, the Cactus immediately sprays its thorns into the poor boy's body. Meanwhile, Mikan is distressed because the little Cactus laughs at her upon seeing her answers. Despite that, the students have no choice but to move on because the next test, Social studies, is about to begin. Much to Natsume's surprise, however, the teacher who enters the class is none other than Persona. He claims that he's there to substitute Makihara-sensei. The other students seem to be happy about this because they think they can cheat easily.

Natsume, on the other hand, is not happy to see Persona. That night, he approached the teacher asking him why he came to the class wearing a disguise. In reply, Persona tells him that it's an order from the Principal. He thinks that Natsume has been behaving well lately and sarcastically tells the boy that he never imagined that Natsume would sit down for an exam quietly. Persona wonders why Natsume bothers trying to be an honour student when he doesn't have a family to return home to. He then leaves after showing Natsume his power to dissolve objects. Meanwhile, Hotaru is seen telling Mikan that she's about to go to bed. Mikan, however, wants to study a bit more. So Hotaru tells her that she got some information from a Gijutsukei senpai. She thinks that if Mikan study them, she will have no problem in tomorrow's Arithmetic test. After Hotaru left, Mikan notices that Sumire is sitting alone in the park.

Mikan asks Sumire why she is in the park instead of studying. In reply, Sumire tells her that it's useless. Mikan is surprised by this and asks if she's not aiming for the student award. Sumire tells Mikan that the truth is she wants to be a special student like Natsume as well but she thinks she won't be able to do so because of one subject: cooking. Since it's a practical skill, no matter how much she learns, she can't do it. Because of this, Mikan offers to teach Sumire how to cook since she's pretty good at it herself. Sumire is surprised about this since after all Mikan has her own study to do. Mikan, however, tells Sumire that she can't do it while Sumire is about to give up her own dream. Sumire is embarrassed to hear Mikan being so selfless so she has no choice but to participate in cooking lesson from hell. The next morning, it's obvious that Mikan and Sumire have been staying up all night studying.

During the exam, the teacher tells them that they have to make a clear soup and fried rice within 45 minutes. So Mikan and Sumire begin their fun-filled, flying cooking style. Nevertheless, they managed to create a perfect fried rice and soup that they're happy with. They, however, are surprised when all of the other students are nowhere in sight. The teachers tell the girls that others have gone to the next test: Arithmetic. So off the two to their next exam. Unfortunately for Mikan, she's too tired to do the test properly so she ends up falling asleep while doing it. Fast forward to possibly a couple of days/weeks later, the examination results are finally out. Mikan doesn't get the student award but she did quite well regardless and got a B as her overall mark. Mikan realises that it's still a long way before she can see her grandpa. But much to her surprise, Sumire encourages her to do well next time.

Impression:

When I first started the series, I thought that Sumire will always be one of Mikan's enemy but it's good to see that doesn't seem to be the case here. In fact, I think the writers have done a rather good job at fleshing out the friendship between the two girls without the need to rush the process. I also think that Mikan's positive attitude begins to influence the usually gloomy Natsume. I do, however, wonder what the animators tried to achieve when they showed that quick glimpse of Ruka looking a bit gloomy when he sees Natsume surrounded by people asking for his help. Was this scene meant to suggest that Ruka finally sees Natsume as his competitor? Or was he simply surprised to see Natsume being nice to other people? Either way, it's funny to know that Sumire, Natsume, and Ruka used to be nasty to Mikan and now they like her a lot. It reminds me of how Onizuka of GTO wins over his students one by one. Anyway, that's enough from me. I better start packing my bag.

© memento 2003