Short Summary:
Kikyou drags Rin on a date, trying to have fun and seduce him. This pretty much fails as Rin is concerned about a lot of stuff, including skipping school. At the end of the day, Kikyou tells Rin that she’s serious about him, and tries to kiss him, but he turns away. She is devastated by Rin’s rejection and silence, and so she runs away from him. Rin returns home afterwards to find Kaede having called in the police to look for him. At her own home, Kikyou and Sia argue, with Kikyou saying that she did everything for the sake of Sia’s happiness. But she (Kikyou) ends up blaming herself for what happens and decides to not appear again. Her parting words want Sia to be happy. The next day, a depressed Sia sees Rin talking happily with friends, especially Asa, and comes to a realization. After school, Sia takes Rin to a field of flowers, and Rin notes that she seems to be Sia again. She tells him about her other side, but say that both are her. She then confesses to Rin, but Rin rejects her again. Sia, and Kikyou who appears briefly again, seems to have already known that he’d answer this way and suspects that she knows who’s important to him, but she promises to keep silent about it.

R-15 for this week. It caught me a bit off guard cause we’ve had some relatively tame episodes recently.

For whatever reason, the confession scene at the end of the episode just felt like everything is done right. The musical pieces they chose for it were perfect, and the animation isn’t too shabby either. Speaking of the animation, there seemed to be an overabundance of lens flare this episode, particularly during the scene when Kikyou is trying to kiss Rin. Not that I mind, but it just seems a bit unnecessary. Anyway, I really like everything about SHUFFLE! right now in general: fanservice, drama, comedy, and all. This is without a doubt my favorite series at the moment.
I’m not entirely thrilled that Sia’s story ends like this, as I’m somewhat of a Sia fan, but there are a lot of hints this episode that point to Rin’s most important person being Asa. Those moments include the distinctly Asa looking figure that Rin sees before Sia pulls him down the hill, and Sia’s realization while she watches Rin talk to Asa the next day. I have a feeling that the focus of final arc will be about Asa and Kaede, and maybe it’ll even have Rin’s conflicting feels for the two. Conveniently, next week’s episode is called “The person Rin likes.”

Closing Thought: Based on Sia’s final comment, if Rin marries into the Shin world, he can have multiple wives! Then he can just have the entire harem with him 😀

81 Comments

  1. so what was the purpose of having elf-chicks in the first place? goddamn that was the gimmick of the show, and now the main character is going for Asa? rascist i say…

    oh well, as long as they do the ending right i’ll be happy…

    RionZ
  2. “WE DEMAND NERINE R-15 SHOTS”

    Count me out.

    Crap, crap, crap. I wanted Sia to win T_T Oh well, now all I can do is to cheer for my third favorite Shuffle! character (BTW, Kareha should have been in the first Shuffle! game…PS2 version doesn’t do any justice for her :().

    GO KAEDE!

    Rasmiel
  3. Wow, Rasmiel.

    I can’t believe that we have exactly the same tastes in every series.

    Sia’s my favourite too, and if I had to root for someone I’d root for her.
    Though here I want no one to win, everyone is awesome, and I’d rather have a neutral ending where everyone is happy.

    Ale
  4. I guess so.

    But they’re a great group of friends, and I kinda want all of them to be happy and still close friends by the end, after getting over their problems.

    I’d be fine with anyone winning though, they’re all awesome characters. Best harem I’ve watched for a while if not ever.

    Ale
  5. Well in game, all characters stay good friend no matter who Rin ends up with. And the heroines don’t give up on him either even if he starts dating one of them!

    Anybody noticed how much of a small character Kaede has been shaped into? I can’t remember the last time I saw a Kaede episode. She’s “just” Rin’s childhood friend who merely cooks and cleans in the background. This is like Kotori x DCSS, except Kaede isn’t the main heroine.

    Rasmiel
  6. no it can’t be Kaede’s story in the non H-game for pc was so good the storyline for her and rin is so moving i actually felt sad when she said her lines to rin so it has to be kaede and besides Asa can’t win she has no more fight left in her cause she is like giving away rin to the other 4 gurl primula counts as a candiates for Rin wife so all i say is shuffle should come back around and end it with Kaede to make it seem like a prefect ending

    Azbaby
  7. asa for the win for me too , its not that i dont like kaeda but the girl living with the main character winning is getting old , da capo alone is enough shuffle! should follow a new path , nobody winning is good too

    Z3r0
  8. Hmm… the person who going to win is? ya… I wonder

    I like all the of girls in Shuffle! and it is very hard to pick one to be “the one” for Rin. Now, if they are smart enough, In my opinion they should leave it open at the end (everyone get Rin’s attention) and show OVAs of each girls when the DVDs are out or aired, whatever they broadcast it. Mostly likely it won’t happen like that except “Memories Off” which was shown like that but not as exciting as Shuffle!.

    If there was one girl to win, I personaly like Nerine or Asa or Primula to win. 😀

    Thanks for the summary. Great read.

    Jubo
  9. I think it’ll be Kaede though, because the OP focused on Kaede and Sia (it would like show Kaede and Sia at when the beat starts to change like they do with the main characters in OP sequences), and since Sia has just been turned down, that leaves Kaede.

    Shinji103
  10. “Whether or not he picks either Asa or Kaede, it’s certain that he prefers humans rather than otherworldly beings like gods or demons. So both Lizzy and Kikyou are losers in that round.”

    That is totally not a factor. The Shuffle! world is a world without ANY discriminations against different races whatsoever. Rin certainly isn’t the one to revolt against the ideas of three races living together.

    So they didn’t show Kikyou blasting the hell out of Rin with magic…XD

    Rasmiel
  11. I’m guessing that next episode we’ll see who Rin really likes (go go Kaede!! 😀 ). They then start to get together, and something happens causing some major drama that starts to sperate the two, but they overcome the incident and strengthen their love.

    Shinji103
  12. Or the “The Person Rin Likes” title could be a bit of a trick. Next episode, Rin confesses to one of the girls/has a romantic moment with one of the girls (ex 1: Asa), and the girl he /really/ likes (ex 2: Kaede), becomes depressed when she sees that even after Rin admitted he didn’t love Sia, he still didn’t love her (referring to ex 2: Kaede). Then some stuff happens to her and Rin realizes his true feelings and gets together with her.

    I kind of like my second idea better, idea 1 sounds a bit cliche. ^^b

    Shinji103
  13. Ok can someone please explain to me who the hell is Kikyou? Is she like Nerine with the clone or twin concept again? Is Kikyou the one Rin met long ago or was it Sia? EXPLAIN PLEASE!

    Kira Takuto
  14. Kikyou is Sia’s twin sister who was abandoned before birth, and as a result, her soul infused into Sia’s body. She is conscious within Sia’s body and fell in love with Rin along with Sia eight years ago.

    Atashi
  15. My theory is that in episode 18 Rin will confess to Asa but probably won’t get an immediate or definite response. There’s still six more episodes, after all. Still, I really don’t think any of the other girls have a chance, as Rin was apparently thinking about Asa even while Sia/Kikyou was pulling out all the stops to seduce him.

    The episode 18 preview also has Kareha swooning in front of Rin and Asa, which could only mean that her dream of them getting together comes true. Maybe.

    Wererat42
  16. Wereat42: Or as my second idea said, Rin could confess to Asa, thus why he was thinking about her in 17, but then later on realizes his true feelings, for Kaede. That would take up the other 6 episodes.

    Shinji103
  17. KAEDE path (in nonHgame)…. ii ka mo….. but i want sia win too…….. aghk…. dochi ga ii demo if we end in kaede path mybe will be dramatic way hahahaaha… yossh minna gambate ne~

    hideaki_kakashi
  18. Asa-sempai for the win. She truely knows Rin the best as a person, and is ALWAYS there helping him and everyone else with little concern for her own welfare. Though it may sound the same as Kaede, Kaede has done it for Rin because of all the crap she did to him growing up. Not to mention she’s the perfect mix of feisty and intelligent, and can be loving too. Oh and her mom is SUPER KAWAIIIIIII 😀

    Justinstrife
  19. “Ok can someone please explain to me who the hell is Kikyou? Is she like Nerine with the clone or twin concept again? Is Kikyou the one Rin met long ago or was it Sia? EXPLAIN PLEASE!”

    On addition to what Atashi said, “Kikyou” is the name of that purple flower Sia is holding in the screencaps. But weird enough, they didn’t explain it in this episode on how Kikyou got the name from a flower =/

    Rasmiel
  20. Justinstrife: Sorry, but all the years that Kaede has been there cooking meals, doing laundry, and basically being Rin’s childhood housewife can’t compare to the backslaps Asa has done for Rin. :p 😀

    Shinji103
  21. Man ~JustinStrife~ by your comments it seems like you are a Huge Kaede hater and a Big Asa fan.
    just calm down a little Kaede really is a nice Character with no bad intentions.

    Well I think it wont be Asa, 90% sure 😉 ~ they spent to much time on her and not much on Kaede, though I think it will come down to Primula and Kaede 🙂

    And for the reason the director want the show to be different, I safe to say Primula will be the girl that ends up with Rin in the end 😉

    dont know
  22. Not a kaede hater, just don’t see what’s so appealing about a girl who is completely submissive and never stands up for herself. Where’s the enjoyment of having a companion for life who is like that? A girl with spunk is ALOT more fun.

    JustinStrife
  23. And it still doesn’t change the fact that there’s a reason OTHER than love that she’s done that. I’m not saying she doesn’t love him now, but the whole reason she cooks and cleans and does all those things for him, have nothing to do with her wanting to be his little house-wife.

    JustinStrife
  24. JustinStife: I thought we were talking about who /Rin/ loved? Why are you talking about Kaede’s love? We all know she loves Rin, end of matter. I’m talking about who /Rin/ loves. Kaede has been living with Rin for a long while now and they’ve known each other longer than Rin has known any of the other girls.

    Shinji103
  25. Well if you want to talk about who Rin loves, I don’t think it’s Kaede and I’ll give you an example why I think so. At least in the beginning episodes, he’s been having nightmares, involving Kaede. Surely the memories of what she did to him when they were children is still haunting him even now. Or he wouldn’t wake up in a cold sweat several times during the show. My question to you is, how would he feel comfortable marrying someone who had poisoned him, stabbed him, thrown him down a set of stairs, and had tried to kill him. Even if she was a kid at that time, that’s still not something kids do.

    Justinstrife
  26. Justinstrife: what the hell are you talking about trying to kill him?

    If you are talking about the game dont!!! because dont everone has played it plus the game is different from the anime.

    dont know
  27. JustinStrife: ….errrm, I haven’t the slightest idea what you’re talking about…..as dont know said, if you’re talking about the game, which you must be (otheriwse you’re making absolutely no sense whatsoever and should drop this debate before you burn yourself), then don’t because the anime is not the game.

    Shinji103
  28. I glad you see it that way Shinji103 🙂 ~ to many people think the game and anime is basily the same thing >.> and they talk about the game, mixxed in which the anime >.>

    Havn’t seen ep.17 but seeing as Kikyou & Sia ep.s over, I hope we can see more of Kaede now 🙂

    dont know
  29. Although after hearing all that kill stuff, I can’t help but develop a curiosity about it. Care to fill in the details of that, JustinStrife? Since it isn’t the anime, it should be okay to speak spoilers. 😀

    Shinji103
  30. Shinji: When Rin’s parents and Kaede’s mom died, she basically lost all will to live, because of how close she was to her mother. So, in order to get her to focus on life again, Rin, being the honestly good guy that he is, told her to blame him for her mom’s death. That it was his fault and he was the reason why they desided to go a different direction(don’t remember the EXACT details of the accident), and so that she should blame Rin(when it was really because Kaede was sick during that trip). So she did. To an all new extreme. Pushing him down stairs, stabbing him, poisoning him, he even told Asa in the game at one point, he still carried scars to that day from it. In the anime, they only show his nightmares. It still troubles him even after the past 8-9 years.

    The reason why Kaede has basically resorted herself to being his slave, is because then she found out the truth and that he protected her, and now feels completely beholdened to him. Her whole life is dedicated to him, to repay him for the sacrifices he made. He’s never blamed her for what happened to him, and she knows it. It’s not the kind of guy he is. Sure she loves him, and wants to spend the rest of her life with him, but it doesn’t change the fact that she is this way, because of what she did to him. Also, she doesn’t want him to love her back, because that would mean he’d forgiven her, and she’s afraid he won’t have a reason to be with her anymore(then she wouldn’t have a reason to live again).

    It’s a very tragic story. And I feel for her. I don’t hate her by any means. But Rin is still tortured by that past. And the only person he connects to, and could talk about something like that, is Asa. Just like she told him about her bad memories as a kid and how she blamed her mom. They are able to open up to each other in ways that he can’t with any of the other girls. That’s a huge foundation for a relationship. COMMUNICATION.

    Not to mention Asa and Rin’s connection at the end of the game is my favorite of all the characters(Primula a close second!!!)

    Justinstrife
  31. But do keep in mind that that is the game, this is the anime, and so far all we know is that at one point, Kaede was just mad at Rin for something, but there’s nothing about Kaede doing anything like that to him in the anime.

    Ty for the info though. nice drama there. ^^

    Shinji103
  32. Hmm… I would have to put in that whoever Rin chooses, be it next episode or not, will probably be the last. He’s not the type who would take back his feelings (remember it was *Sia* who broke up with *him*) though I am leaning strongly towards an Asa ending, there are at least two things that might prevent it. 1. She said herself (episode 7) that she’s not really interested in romantic relationships at this stage of her life, though she hinted that there might be an exception. 2. She’s Rin’s sempai, and the girl who habitually slaps the protagonist on the back – the tomboy rarely gets the guy.

    Depending on how they handle Kaede’s story, I won’t complain if she wins. I will if all she is just potrayed as Rin’s live-in housekeeper without any reason. Otherwise, I think that Asa better fits the chikubanotomo image, even with her tomboyish nature. I only wish that Nerine had been given a better chance.. the best she’s gotten is Rin’s source for unlimited omelet.

    Wererat42
  33. haha sorry to spoil ur guys fun but ive seen the whole show and asa wins :p
    she was the first one to flirt with him so it makes sense
    does anyone remember the quote “one day that girls gonna be the death of me…”

    Ben
  34. Rin’s basic reaction at the end of this episode

    “SON OF A BIT…”

    Either way, great episode, heard from people’s comments here that it gets better and better.

    Black_Otaku
  35. There’s only two ways to end it with everyone happy and understanding. Like I said on ep 7, Kaede (who in my opinion is the main female lead) if he picks this it will just be her or Nerine (the only choice I can see with all be happy and together) Harem all together.

    Dimeric

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