Summary:
Mariya is having a dream of her past when she and Mizuho were climbing up a hill towards a spot that overlooked the city. However, upon reaching that spot, the ground under Mariya’s feet crumbled and she started falling. Mizuho tried to save her, but in Mariya’s dream, he is actually reaching out to Takako instead of her. After she sees the two kiss and herself fall into the black void, Mariya wakes up and sneezes. The next morning, Mariya is wearing a surgical mask to school because her cold has worsened, causing everyone to be concerned for her health. When Mizuho tries to feel the temperature of her forehead, Mariya recoils back in embarrassment and runs away with Yukari in tow. During the day, Mariya is unable to concentrate on the lesson and spends class time playing with her mask. She happens to run into Mizuho along with Shion in the hallways, and both are still very worried about her. Mizuho is going with Shion to the library right now and suggests that they all go home together after that, but Mariya remains too embarrassed and runs away again.
In the library, Takako and Kimie are hanging up posters for the Nativity Dance Party when Mizuho and Shion enter. Takako immediately gets flustered at the sight of Mizuho, but regains her composure when he asks about the poster. It seems that their school holds a student council-sponsored dance party every year after the Nativity memorial service. Most girls participate in pairs, but there are some that come by themselves. The role of the Elder is to escort and dance in the male role with those single students. Mizuho immediately agrees to do this and asks Takako also to do her best, which gets her flustered all over again as she stumbles out of the library. Returning to the student council room, Takako wonders to herself why she hasn’t been able to control the throbbing of her heart every time she’s seen Mizuho ever since that day. Mizuho meanwhile returns back to the dorm and tells the news to Kana, Yukari, and Ichiko, all of whom want to dance with her. Kana asks if Mizuho knows the male part’s steps, so Mizuho shows her by dancing with her.
When a sick Mariya comes down for some tea, interrupting them, the girls tell her to get better soon so that she doesn’t miss the dance party. Mizuho thinks that Mariya would of course attend, but Mariya looks away and walks back out without saying anything. Noticing that something is wrong, Mizuho chases after her and asks if she’s angry, but Mariya continues up the staircase without answering him. She stays home instead of going to school the next day, and Mizuho suspects that it’s got to do with something more than just the cold since she is avoiding him. He decides to confront her about it head on and visits Mariya’s room that night. She hides under her sheets when he comes in and wants him to leave, but he refuses to go until he’s had a chance to talk with her. Mizuho then rips the sheets off of her and insists on wiping her down. When Mariya calls him an idiot, Mizuho makes her realize that she’s the one who’s been angry without revealing why and that she should take better care of herself. All of this causes Mariya to remember how she had injured her leg after that fall when they were young and how Mizuho had insisted on carrying her on his back. From this, she gains the courage to suggest a date with him this Sunday.
By the time Sunday comes around, Mariya has recovered from the cold and she’s able to go out with Mizuho. Watching the two walk away, Kana gushes over how dreamy Mizuho is and Ichiko comments that they look like a real couple. As they go into the city, Mariya is at first embarrassed to be with Mizuho, who is wearing pants and a jacket at her request. However, she soon warms up to him and the two have a lot of fun together shopping and enjoying the day. By late afternoon, they’re finished and have found a bench overlooking the city to rest on. Mariya asks if Mizuho remembers the time when she fell and hurt herself. Back then, he hadn’t had any self-confidence and had followed Mariya around. But during that incident when he had been carrying her, he had refused to put her down because she was injured and because he wouldn’t allow her treat herself recklessly. Mariya then reminds Mizuho that he wanted to say something to her, but to her surprise, he doesn’t anymore. After seeing her today, he feels that it’s fine because Mariya is Mariya. As she hugs his arm and jokes around with him, Mariya thinks to herself that she likes Mizuho, but since long ago, this has been a natural distance between the two of them.
Meanwhile, Takako is walking home after a day of being unable to concentrate on her work because of her feelings for Mizuho. Along the way, she’s stopped by a pair of shady guys who know who she is and are looking to kidnap her for a ransom. By chance, Mizuho and Mariya are approaching along the same path and hear Takako’s scream. Mizuho races into action and takes out one of the thugs with a kick. The other thug pulls out a knife and slashes the front of Mizuho’s shirt, but he responds by throwing the guy over his shoulder. After the two thugs run away, Takako rushes into Mizuho’s arms and is worried about him being hurt. However, in looking at where Mizuho was slashed, Takako sees a bra and padding covering over what’s clearly a man’s chest. Takako takes a few steps away from him, in shock over the fact that Mizuho is really a guy.

The secret is finally out! Two different secrets in fact. One of them is that we now know that this is how Mizuho has breasts. But the arguably more important and inevitable-to-the-plot secret about Mizuho being a guy has now finally been revealed to Takako. Her initial reaction is shock, but the question is how she’ll act afterwards. All signs still point to a Takako ending, and I don’t think Mariya has a real chance unless they decide to pull something really big on us. With the dance party next week, I’d guess Takako and Mizuho dancing together would make for the grand finale. One more episode left…I almost can’t believe that this series is nearly over already.
Incidentally, the insert song during Mariya and Mizuho’s date is Again by Sakakibara Yui. She also sang the ED, and you can find both songs on the ED single.

63 Comments

  1. Somehow I got the feeling he wasn’t taking loads of estrogen to look like that, but that doesn’t really explain his voice. Mizuho would be in puberty, so his voice wouldn’t be nearly that high.

    Wererat42
  2. … Mizuho the combat butler? I guess that’s one way of proving to everyone who’s in denial that Mizuho really IS a guy – or a really flat girl, although those collarbones argue against that.

    Now we have one last episode to see how Takako handles the news that Mizuho’s both a business rival’s son, as well as a boy who got into cross-dressing for the family’s sake.

    Haesslich
  3. Not surprised… it was coming at some point. But yeah… I wonder why his breast-plate-insert things don’t slide off his body and fall.

    Someone is forgetting many VAs for MALE characters in anime are FEMALE. >.>

    And to be perfectly honest, while most guys *would* be in puberty at that age, some … unusual cases in real life I’ve seen are … well, the guys’ voices haven’t cracked yet. But they should have. >.

    cbhl
  4. As far as the Blogosphere response to Mizuho’s…. revelation this chapter:

    “I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happened.”

    Haesslich
  5. “Join me Obi One… together we’ll control the universe”
    Ups… wrong line, wrong place to say it.

    So, Takako has found out that Mizuho really is a guy; a low blow to her and her feelings. Now is time to see if those feelings can handle the truth; if not, maybe Mariya have a chance with Mizuho. But please, don’t give us a dam “anone…” like Kashimashi and then wait until August 2007 for episode 13 to find out something different…

    Syaoran Li
  6. whoa didnt c this comin mariya is in love wit mizi tho i doubt its a surprise cause of all those things they did as kids,
    altho the surprise came when mizi showed off his martial arts skillz didn kno he had any

    asian182
  7. Ha! My theory is vindicated! ^^ Prostheses, probably kept in place by some form of surgical glue or else double-sided sticky tape (cringe). Well, now we see at last where this series was going. And we’ve arrived. Is everybody happy, I wonder …? Mizuho’s full of little surprises – or maybe it’s not so surprising; he IS the son of a wealthy Japanese family, so probably he had to engage in all sorts of activities to broaden his skill base and make him a model young lad. Y’know, before his granddad made him cross-dress. *cough*

    Aebliss
  8. I can’t believe Mizuho didn’t even blush seeing Mariya naked. Is he gay? OMG, Mariya when shy is sooooo moe~
    Mizuho, forget about Takako! Anyway, the anime is reaching its end and the sub is still way behind. Argh!

    Kenta
  9. Hmm….since Mizuho came from a rich family and he’s a guy in the first place, its actually pretty common sense for him to know some martial arts? I wonder what Takako will do though…but I have a feeling the ending will turn out to be hilarious. Who knows? Maybe all the girls in the school will react the same way as Ichiko *LOL*.

    dward
  10. Give it up guys, HE IS A MAN.

    No amount of bribes, blackmails, drugs, prayers, witchcraft, magic lamps, talking fish or omnipotent goddess can change that… Believe me, I’ve tried that with the ending of Shuffle! and a brain transplant in Shiro …

    [Still, it’ll be funny to see the looks on the faces of those delusional people who came up with those crack-pot theories of how he’s a she… =) ]

    Chaos2Frozen
  11. Oh dammit. I was afraid this was going to happen. DAMMIT, WHY???!!!!!!

    WHY??????????????????????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Btw, the childhood friend never wins. So a Mizuho x Mariya is unlikely.

    Gil
  12. I thought usually it’s like… mysterious girl appears in the main characters’ life, then he falls in love with the girl. The childhood friend also likes the main character but the main character goes with the other girl instead of the childhood friend.

    hoblisity
  13. … Having their date so early probably means that Mariya isn’t winning this one… it’s a pity. I would have loved to see Mariya and Mizuho together in the end. Because Mariya is Mariya. And that’s so cute… she doesn’t want to ruin their friendship. Heck, I don’t blame her…

    But can you imagine what her friends would have thought if she hadn’t? I mean, okay, you could say “friends with benefits”, but there’s a limit to that, I imagine. What would it be like as a girl to go out in a dress and ask another girl to go in a shirt and pants for a date? That would be SOO~ weird. >.>

    So… *shrugs*

    I just have to hope for the best. Let’s just hope Mizuho doesn’t get killed in some spontaneous car crash… causing a BAD END. >.

    cbhl
  14. Well, I’ve gone through this PC version game before. That “showing bra pad” scene was from the game..
    Honest speaking, I was hope for the ending is with Shion.. In the PC game Shion also took little part, only as secondary character and Shion’s CG is very much less..

    Patrickyean
  15. Haa, the cat is out of the bag!
    I’m curious if Mizuho is going to appear as a guy in the final episode. I hope so since I’d be interested how he REALLY looks like.
    I also think it’ll be a Takato ending. Ahh, a pity, I hoped for Mariya.
    Nyahaha, it’s always funny to see how realistic boys can look like girl in animes 😀

  16. Hmm….the last episode’s title seemed a little romantic. “The Last Dance is for an Eternity”. I wonder what will happen. I still think its very likely for Mizuho to end up with Mariya. I mean…..Mizuhu and Mariya seemed to be a more FUN couple rather than Mizuho and Takako. I love both girls anyway so I don’t really mind who Mizuho will choose in the end.

    dward
  17. Nyahaha @ Tenkaichi
    @dward: Everybody is talking about who Mizuho will choose in the end, but when I think about the title “The Last Dance is for an Eternity” it could be also an open ending.
    We can do nothing than wait now until next week I guess..

  18. @ mutio -> Yay someone liked it =)

    But in any case, Omni mentioned that it’s another series that’s releasing an episode in the DVD, so who knows… we’ll have to wait to find out the true ending anyway ;_;

    Tenkaichi
  19. if it’s not Shion, why is it when they show the characters at this page

    http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ja&u=http://www.starchild.co.jp/special/otome/&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=1&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3DOtome%2Bwa%2BOnee-sama%2Bni%2BKoi%2BShiteru%26start%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26sa%3DN

    it seems like he’s going to end up being with her. Also the picture after the opening of the episode she’s like right next to him, also when you just go to the homepage at that site there’s a hugeass pic of Shion right next to Mizuho. sighh so confusing

    hoblisity
  20. @hoblisity

    The moment of truth will come with the last dance… it will amuse me greatly to see both Takako and Mariya waiting for Mizuho… but instead he asks Shion XD At least this is what I am hoping for…

    But most likely it will be with Takako since everyone wants to see them dance… that or a group dance… or Mizuho dance with Ichiko after the dance to sent her back to heaven for good.

    Bladewind
  21. I wonder who Mizuho will end up with.. unless they make him end up with nobody and be friends with every one like at the end of Ouran High School Host CLub where HAruhi ends up with no one..
    At least we know how Mizuho has breats.

    Gummi
  22. i hope he ends up with takako!!
    and haruhi ends up with tamaki its very obvious they like each other u noe….
    i sorry for being off topic but i do hope 2nd season for ouran high sku =]

    Kirene-san
  23. O MANnnnnn THAt is SO HOT HOT HOTTTT!!!!!!! OOOOOOOH Ooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhh YEAH YEAH!

    esta superdotada tio HOMBRE que onda! pelea bien chevere y ademas puro TOP!!!!

    AND think my kids Watch this BUll………..CHET! Junk shit ass n’ FLAT FLAT”

    HOmbre

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