Summary:
Hachi remembers how ever since she was a child, she’s always said that she wants to be a lovely bride. Now, over the phone, Hachi learns from her mother that the money in her bank account was supposed to be her wedding funds. It seems that her mother somehow came to the conclusion that Hachi had eloped based on the fact that Hachi’s younger sister Nami had said that Hachi had gone to Tokyo to live with her boyfriend. Her mother tells Hachi that she can use the money how she wants, as long as she doesn’t come back home. A drunken Nana finds this exchange between Hachi and her mother really funny. She’s actually so drunk that she kisses Yasu when he returns back from getting her cigarettes, and declares that she loves him. Once Nana falls asleep, Hachi is left to do the dishes, but Yasu offers to help her out. From Hachi’s point of view, Yasu is a good person, the type of person she’d want to marry. Afterwards, Yasu leaves, refusing Hachi’s offer to let him stay there.
In bed, Hachi starts thinking about if Yasu has a girlfriend and how even if he did, she couldn’t have been very important if he left her. This causes her to start thinking about her relationship with Shouji. Knowing that Shouji is still in school and unable to pay for the wedding that she wants, Hachi thinks that she needs to start saving money herself. She starts planning as far ahead as getting a house with a garden. The next morning, when Nana wakes up with a hangover, she finds Hachi all dressed up and ready to go out for an interview at a publishing company. Hachi is excited about being able to get a job and maybe even become independent. As Hachi is leaving, Nana invites her to the band’s practice session that night, now complete with Yasu on the drums.
At school, Junko tracks down Shouji and confronts him about his relationship with Sachiko. Junko’s advice is for him to cut his relations with her so that he doesn’t hurt her. She even goes as far as to ask if Sachiko is more important to him than Hachi. Shouji denies this, saying that he’s resolved to making Nana his bride. After Junko leaves, Shouji turns around and sees Sachiko standing there. She overheard most of the conversation and tries to apologize, but Shouji gets so embarrassed that he runs away. He thinks about the situation over lunch and becomes determined to stay with Hachi. And so, that night he and Sachiko go home together like they have been doing. He tells her that he has something to say to her, but then silently fights with himself about what he should say.
By the time he turns around to address her, Sachiko is in tears. She begs him not to break it off with her, saying that even being friends is ok. Seeing Sachiko’s crying face, Shouji can’t help but embrace her. Hachi, meanwhile, tries to call him after she had spent the evening listening to Nana’s band practice. She wants to tell Shouji that about the publishing job, but she can’t reach him. Nana suggests that maybe he’s cheating on her, but Hachi refuses to believe it. Hachi is instead happily thinking about the bonus she can get if she becomes a full employee, which will put her one step closer to her dream of a house with a garden. Hearing that this is Hachi’s dream, Nana says that she’ll build it with the money she earns from her songs. Hachi thinks retrospectively that at that time, she had believed that if Nana were a man, they could have a once-in-a-lifetime love. But having only happy memories would surely not happen. Because with love comes pain – to the point of drowning, that’s how painful it is.

ED2:

The ending animation changed this week, though the song is still the same. This new animation shows an upward pan of a bicycle, a lake, two people standing by the water, and a town in the distance, all while the sun is going down. I liked the style of the last ending animation better, and I don’t know why they decided to change it to this (other than for the sake of having a new ED sequence).

For all that talk about not betraying Hachi, Shouji still goes and sleeps with Sachiko. It seems to me like he was pushing himself too hard toward Hachi, and that ended up sending him towards Sachiko. But given his almost-distance relationship with Hachi, I think that he and Sachiko are better for each other, so I really don’t hate either of their characters.
I’ve actually started reading the Nana manga again, trying to get caught up to the most recent chapters (not quite there just yet). So it was hard for me not to notice that this episode continues to establish Nana’s close relationship with Yasu and Hachi’s close relationship with Nana, both of which will be recurring themes as the story moves on.
And finally, this week’s raw was in high res, so I included large versions of all the caps.

24 Comments

  1. I don’t like Sachiko, she’s annoying! Even though most of the episode is about Shouji cheating on Hachi, my favorite part is when Nana and Hachi talk about the house with the garden and how Nana tells her she will pay for with the money she makes from her songs… We get to see the friendship bond they share, its sweet! 🙂

    Lalita
  2. Somehow, I was kinda glad that Shouji and Hachi broke up because that relationship was one-sided – he was all into her and while Hachi claimed she did everything for him, Hachi just soaked up the attention without giving any back. However, I disliked that he cheated on her. There is never a good reason to cheat; just break up and call it a day. I’ll never like Sachiko though. She knew he was attached and still slept with him.

    paperlights
  3. Life aint so straight as it seems… look at Nana: she does her best to stay faithful to Ren, but ends in arms of Yasu, who is IMHO better man than Ren anyway… and who knows if Sachiko isn’t really better for Shouji than Hachi? unusall crisscross of relations: NanaxRen and HachixShouji as basis, with NanaxYasu and ShoujixSachiko developing, and HachixNana – more of a friendship than Yuri but still can’t forget that kiss… and given Hachi’s tendency for romantic involvement there’s possibility she’ll get another boyfriend… I’m not having access to manga so its pure speculation 🙂

    ewok
  4. … -_- many ppl hate the Shouji X Sachiko pairing it’s bcuz Hachi is the main chara in the story. if the story is told from Sachiko’s POV, you will be thinking quite differently…

    anyways, i still think Shouji cheating on Hachi is WRONG, but both Shouji and Sachiko behaved as well as you can expect from REAL HUMAN BEINGS in this type of situation. Sachiko didn’t know Shouji has a girlfriend in the beginning, and you can’t control love; Shouji also did his best to keep a distance, but it’s quite impossible when you work at the same place and goes to the same university. … -_- it’s called Fate.

    i actually think Shouji X Sachiko fits better than Shouji X Hachi. It was just a matter of timing… Hachi became Shouji’s gf first, and that makes her the victim while Sachiko becomes the whore/slut/bf-stealer
    (w/e you wants to call her)… *sigh*

    cookie-chan
  5. YAHHHHHHH~!!

    Yasu is soooo cool!!! and NO!! Nana DOES NOT LOVE Yasu as a boyfriend!!!! she’s got Ren. i think Nana regards Yasu as a big brother/father/best best friend sort of figure

    cookie-chan
  6. I’m sorry but it’s hard to empathize with cheaters in general as I just don’t condone cheating at all.
    The point is, Shouji felt neglected and there is sachiko cute and clingy as can be. I mean literaly crying for his attention.
    Sachiko didn’t know Shouji had a gf in the beginning. Yet even after learning about Nana she kept on chasing him. It was just a bad call. I don’t hate Sachiko. Although she behaved poorly, she’s fine. Shouji is the huge culprit really.

    Christy
  7. I just finished watching this episode an hour ago, so I might not have thought through my opinions well. I’m mad at Shouji and Sachiko but we can’t forget that Hachi had an affair with Asano-san even though she saw the wedding ring. I don’t know what to think. If I was in that kind of relationship where I was trying to be independent and trying not to lean on my boyfriend, I think I would break up, especially if we didn’t see each other that often, and get my stuff together. Then if we still like each other after all is said and done, hurray for us. It’s so complicated because I don’t want Shouji to break up with Hachi, I want it the other way around and I don’t want her to know about Shouji’s cheating. I guess I’ll have to keep watching to see how this will turn out.

    Jessie
  8. In Shoji’s position I would have done the same thing…. As a guy I instantly wanted to do the same thing, just grab her and hold on tight… That is the one thing about this show, it does seem more real in the way the characters act…

  9. awww……i feel so bad for hachi. they were gonna marry each other. buy their own house together and die together. but then shouji made a bad choice. “i will never betray nana” i guess he didn’t have enough willpower to stay faithful.

    destin
  10. Sorry but Hachi so does not deserve better, I do like her but she needs to sort herself out before she can be with anyone, it’s really quite annoying how she’s so childish about relationships but ah well I guess it contributes to my liking towards her, her vulnerability and all that blah. xD LOVE NANA!

    Meevers
  11. There are so many charaters simply vasted. Sachiko is the worst sample: after Hachis break up with Souji, she only appears ones. The maker of the series is a megalitic idiot: why develop great charakters, when they are not handeled propely? Morans!

    Angelus

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