「払暁乙女」 (Futsugyou Otome)
“Daybreak Maiden”

It’s Monday (and Walpurgis Night), which means – Yuuko time!

What would a school anime be without a swimsuit episode? Or should I say “swimming” episode because Yuuko prefers to swim naked? Not sure…

Finally, the plot is moving on (this takes place after the first episode) and our team is now on a summer holiday camp for some paranormal investigation. But first – swimming! I don’t think I’ve ever done so many full-lengths for one episode before (although, I’m nowhere near the Guilty Crown finale).

This episode was really good, filled with things to appreciate. There were some good romantic moments (some of them involving some skinny dipping), mysteries going on (is this the same shadow I saw last week?), and a lot of comedy – the three things that make this show so brilliant! Oh, and I forgot to mention – there are some fancy treats too.

While my love for Yuuko remains immeasurable, I’ve grown very fond of Kirie over this episode. When I first saw her, I expected her to be quite the opposite of what she was this week. I’m still trying to figure out why Kirie is so cold towards Yuuko now that she knows that Yuuko isn’t evil. Could it be that she is scared of her? Or maybe she’s just jealous… Teiichi sure is a lucky boy, having three amazing girls liking him (one of them telling him to touch her) – all because of his sixth sense. So take notes, having a sixth sense attracts girls!

Moving on to the mysteries of the week – we have Yuuko knocking on doors, and also “the rock of curses” – a rock on which, names can be carved, and having one’s name carved on it means death. The latter turned out to be a trigger for Yuuko’s childishness (long live immature people), causing her to pull a prank on Teiichi by writing his name with a marker on the rock – a cruel, but certainly amusing prank.

I loved the sweet and romantic moments between Teiichi and Yuuko in this episode, especially the scenes where they were running towards the rock from rooftop to rooftop. The animation was top-notch and really beautiful. I don’t know if it’s just me but this feels a lot like a SHAFT production, but I guess that’s because the director for this show – Oonuma Shinhas worked on SHAFT projects before.

With the smaller mysteries being solved, the big mystery – the shadow lurking around Kirie – remains unsolved. I can’t really make any assumptions based on the silhouette, but I’m pretty sure it isn’t Yuuko; however, I think it’s possible that this dark presence might be related to her.

Alright, with that being said, I’m looking forward to next Monday!

Full-length shots: 1, 2, 3, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 20, 21, 25, 26, 27, 28, 31, 32, 33

Note: Please, use the spoiler tags!

 

Preview

38 Comments

  1. Full-length shots: 1, 2, 3, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 20, 21, 25, 26, 27, 28, 31, 32, 33

    Wow, all those full-length shots; what’s the special occasion? *Looks through the shots* Ah, that explains it, a thing of beauty, tis’…XP

    Zen
      1. Maybe that pun was intended…(Nah, it totally wasn’t, but I sure wish that it was; from the looks looks of it, it seems like we’ve stumbled upon a new, cleverly elegant innuendo…XP)

        Zen
    1. The ones provided by Stereoman are expandable to 1080p, for most, so you can use those as the website doesn’t have them there listed. So will probably have to wait until the Blu-Rays come for better versions of them.

      Azstraph
  2. SHAFT… SILVERLINK…. I don’t care anymore! With this episode, the lines have been BLURRED! The abstract graphics and artwork seperates those 2 studios from the rest while blurring the lines seperating the 2

    This episode is totally hilarious… From kirie crying and the door knock. Aside from that, a jealous yuuko is fine for me as well. I think hitagi might’ve been like this if its not for the 93kg of spite.

    If there’s a contest between hitagi and yuuko, who’d win?

    c2710
  3. Hmmmm… while this episode kind of confirms that they will be focusing on Yuuko’s story more than the other stories in the manga but it kind of makes me wonder if they are going to include any of the other characters from the manga as they left out their chaperon for this episode and haven’t even shown or voice another character besides the shadow?? Which is something important down the line for Yuuko’s mystery to be solved but don’t want to spoil it here.

    Bikini shots from manga: 1 and 2

    Azstraph
  4. I feel like I missed an episode o_0

    But meh, I didn’t care as soon as I saw Yuuko-san in her swimsuit XD Yuuko’s also such a huge troll, waking Teiichi in the middle of the night and scaring him with writing his name on the cursed rock! Still, lucky for Teiichi I guess, as he missed the shadowy figure looming over Kirie.

    And I must say, Kirie is so cute 😀 Great job with all the full-shots, Stereoman! Must’ve been a pain through their sheer number!

    Beedle
  5. SHAFT/SILVER LINK is the new black .

    This ep graphic is truly an art!!! And who knew Momoe beat out Kirie (not sure about Yuuko)^.^
    This ep just totally caught me off guard… Wht I thought is a swimsuit ep turn into romcom and horror…

    Yuuko is chilishly cute, Kirie is a cool (and cute tsundere) and Momoe is….. fanservicy? A nice sub 4 BakaTest. (S3 plz!!)

    D-LaN
  6. Seems Silver Link is making some distinctions for themselves.
    Bright colorings, the eyes and lips….and shuffling the source material(that’s what I heard in BakaTest s2 at least).
    Well, the ones they skipped are a bit boring so I guess this is okay. And at least they’re dropping hints along the way.
    Even if they mess up the source, as long as I get my Yuuko fix and stick to how she is in the manga, that’s okay by me.

    And I love you Stereoman. Really I do. <333

    belatkuro
  7. We’re getting into the thick of the story now – definitely another spirit there.

    What I wonder is the relationship of this spirit to her getting her memories back.

    I wonder, too, if they’ll explain why he’s the only one who can touch her.

    This episode was very sweet – this is turning into a very good series…

    mac65
  8. This episode is full of Yuuko win. When she started admonishing Teiichi for neglecting her during summer break, i had a major “HNNNGGGG” moment! And as if that’s not enough, her moonlight dip in the buff……. i’m gonna need an IV drip to survive now…

    Though certainly, this episode had quite alot of beautiful moments. And we get abit of plot development with that other ghost making an appearance. Though I wonder wads with that ghost seeming to haunt Kirie.

    Euzio
  9. Eh, what just happened? A lot of plot was just skipped between episode 3 and 4. Now the whole story is out of whack. Granted it was a the meh portion for the series, but it did provide some character development for a main cast and shed some light on Yuuko’s past. Along with why Momoe and Kirine are so infatuated with Teiichi. Plus, some amusing moments during the non story sections with the main cast. (Usually Teiichi) and/or some of the side charters.

    This…pretty much has removed all of that. other then the ‘Yuuko mystery part.’ It’s like everything else was removed in favor of more Yuuko time. Which like ice cream, tends to get a little old if you have it all the time.

    Snicket
  10. If I were Teiichi, there’s no way Yuuko would go unnoticed wearing a swimming suit like that, lol. Loved Yuuko’s prank, it was a good get-back, haha

    Nymphetamine2791
  11. Kirie finding out that Yuuko isn’t evil didn’t discount the whole thing about them being related though right? I mean isn’t Yuuko still technically Kirie’s great aunt? Or am I missing something?

    foofiebeast

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