Oku-sama wa Mahou Shoujo – 05

Short Summary:
Tamotsu gives Tatsumi an assignment in which he ends up researching Yoshida Shoin, a pre-Meiji era scholar and revolutionary. While Tatsumi works hard looking up information on the internet, Sayaka is cornered into taking her friends from school to her home. Her friends’ amazement at her room and their talk about being grown up gives Sayaka an idea. Back at Tamotsu’s home, Tatsumi presents Tamotsu which his research and printouts, but Tamotsu violently rejects it. The next day, as Tatsumi is running off to work, Ureshiko stops him and hints that he should visit the Shoka Sonjuku school (which was Yoshida Shoin’s academy). Tatsumi then runs into Sayaka, whom he asks for directions. At school, Sayaka feigns illness then transforms into an older version of herself. She tracks Tatsumi down at the academy and the two talk for a while about Yoshida Shouin. Ureshiko, on patrol, spots Tatsumi with Sayaka sitting then walking together. She gets a little upset and flies off. Tatsumi eventually returns to Tamotsu, relaying what he learned, and Asaba-san finds his information acceptable. In her room, Sayaka snuggles a stuff animal, happy to have spent time with Tatsumi. When he gets home, Tatsumi make Ureshiko happy by worrying about her smile.

In writing this entry, I had to look up who Yoshida Shoin was and what Shoka Sonjuku was, so I actually got to learn some Japanese history. I also came across this page which has a picture of the town of Hagi. It looks quite a bit like the setting of this show, which would make sense, since Shoka Sonjuku doesn’t seem that far away from their home.
I originally found this episode a tad bit on the boring side, but Sayaka’s adult transformation made it all better. I suspect part of the reason I like her adult form so much is because Shimizu Ai doesn’t use her child voice and manages to come off relatively mature. From the preview, it looks like she’ll be in next episode too.