Summary:
Now that it’s October, the girls have switched to their winter uniforms and the student council is conducting a clothes check in front of the school. When Mizuho and company get inspected, Takako notices the ribbon in Kana’s hair is too big. Mariya is the one who stands up for Kana and also the one who later scolds Mizuho for not protecting Kana from Takako after Kana reveals that the ribbon is precious to her. Mizuho’s depression from all this is visible to both Shion and his teacher Hisako during class. Hisako suggests that Mizuho can either support Kana if he believes that she is right or he can persuade Kana otherwise if he feels that the ribbon is improper. Taking that advice, Mizuho invites Kana to eat together and tells her that he doesn’t feel that her ribbon violates their school regulations. With Mizuho promising to protect her, Kana brightens up and returns to normal.
After learning about the situation, Shion thinks that Mizuho is troubled because he feels that neither Takako nor Kana is the bad guy. She believes that there aren’t really bad people and that problems boil down to differing senses of values. As for what Mizuho can do, Shion reveals that the method to lodge a formal objection to the student council is through the third clause of the student supplementary rules. Mariya had the same idea and joins in on the conversation, explaining that they need three people other than the person in question to object to the student council’s discretion. Since the three of them count, they go to the Takako and file their formal objection. With this, the entire student body will be notified and must reach a consensus.
However, the downside of all this attention is that Kana starts getting badmouthed by some of the other girls in the school who see how close she is to Mizuho. Ichiko later notices that Kana has bandaged her hand, but Kana dismisses it as something minor. The next day, however, Yukari rushes to Mizuho and asks him to save Kana. It seems that she is being bullied by a group of girls because of her relationship with the Elder Sister. Mizuho shows up in a grand fashion and sticks up for Kana, shaming the other girls away. When they’re back at the dormitory, he apologizes to Kana for not doing more, but she is still quite grateful. When he finally asks about the significance of the ribbon, Kana reveals the details of her past.
Kana didn’t know her father or mother’s faces and was named by the director at an orphanage. She got the ribbon from the director shortly before the director died, and it has since given her courage and allowed her to do her best. Hearing Kana’s sad story, Mizuho hugs Kana and says that he doesn’t mind her relying on him. The day soon arrives for Mizuho to make his case in front of the student body. The crux of his argument is that everyone gets different impressions, so you can’t judge someone based on only one person’s impression. He demonstrates that by having Kana model the ribbon first and then wearing it himself, showing that it doesn’t look so big when he wears it. Mizuho asks Takako if she would have warned him if he had worn it, and Takako admits that she wouldn’t have. In the end, Mizuho is successful and the students vote in favor of Kana. The consequence, however, is that Takako now questions whether Mizuho is a friend or an enemy.

Since we’re in the second half of the series, they decided to switch to the black winter uniforms, with the OP and the ED having been updated accordingly. The only exception is Ichiko, but she’s a ghost. It does make her stand out more though.
Anyway, this episode’s about Kana’s dilemma, but it also focuses a lot of Mizuho deciding who’s right and who’s wrong. He understands Takako’s point of view, but he also shows that it’s all quite subjective depending on the individual. Honestly though, I thought that this was much ado about nothing since they got the entire school worked up over Kana’s ribbon. What did surprise me about this episode was that Takako got a much bigger role than I thought she would have, and the ending of this episode makes me wonder if Takako will also play a big part in where this series goes. Or maybe I’m just getting this feeling because last episode was also about Takako. In any case, next week seems to be about Yukari.

41 Comments

  1. What, now we have seasonal OP/EDs? But surely we won’t go on long enough to see another year pass by with this series… will we? Unless we speed things up a bit… a year goes by so fast though.

    cbhl
  2. Cause it’ll end in a couple more episodes… I don’t want it to end!!!

    Looks like a Kana-centric episode. Boy, they keep alternating the serious and funny episodes.

    The eyecatch is funny too.

    tritoch
  3. damn… gotta update mi blog too… blehh -__-
    It’s really sad that spanish fansubs aren’t working on Otoboku right now…
    At least I’m summarizing the episodes for those who have problems with english…
    well…, waiting for the RAW to be released…

    Yagami Iori
  4. With the black uniforms they look like nuns….
    This Kana episode might have been better w/o the black uniforms, it feels depressing seeing black.
    I also noticed Mizuho’s now all feminine. The only thing he’s missing is a sex change and tada! He’s a she!

    Moondoggiebuiscuit
  5. You know after whatching this ep, it gives me more of a reason for wanting a Takako ending.
    Not only does it make it more interesting, but what really makes it more so is that she is not the type to take Mizuho’s true identity kindly, unlike the rest of his harem.

    SRTargets
  6. Japanese culture must be very odd, for older girls to fly off the handle like that. I mean, is it normal anywhere else for groups to assault someone as small and frail-looking as Kana because she seems to have high connections?

    Aebliss
  7. Aebliss, you can probably expect to see a school play next… and Takako would probably get a big part in it. However, I am hoping to see more of Shion, especially the MizuhoxShion ending. :p

    Bladewind
  8. I have another question: what is going to happen to the friendship between Kana and Mizuho when Mizuho’s graduated and goes back to living as a man? I assume he won’t want to crossdress for the rest of his life. How is he ever going to explain all of this to that fragile little girl?

    Aebliss
  9. what I want to know, is howcome takako didn’t have a problem with the ribbon in previous episodes? just because they changed their outfits the ribbon is suddenly brought into the spotlight? sooo weird…

    Melfina_Claire

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