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「秘密 Jardin secret」 (Himitsu)
“Secret Garden”
The flashbacks continue to reshape my image of Camille ever so slightly but this latest one has me fairly convinced that she saw Claude as much more than a plaything. The look on her face when she peered into Enseignes du Roy was clearly of a girl who had feelings for the person she set her eyes on. Granted, it was pretty apparent even before that, from the way she kept turning down all his attempts to invite her out. The sight of Claude’s failed attempts quickly reverberated the bird cage alluded to back in episode six and put a new perspective on all the things she was trying to entice Claude into coming over with. She wasn’t allowed to leave the house, so she had to make Claude want to come and see her. It even changed my view on her desire to make him her amant (i.e. lover), considering that was the best she could do knowing very well that her parents would never allow her to marry Claude.
It’s too bad Claude didn’t quite see what Camille was enduring just so that she wouldn’t be cut off from him completely. It didn’t even hit him even when she sneaked out to Gallerie du Roy to visit him, suggesting that he’s misunderstood Camille all this time. It wasn’t until Yune said she feels Camille is wearing a corset for someone else that he finally seemed to realize. Considering how young Claude was back then, it’s hard to blame for not realizing sooner though. He meant well when he invited her out and had no clue he was making it even harder for Camille since she kept it all to herself. Because of that, I just see their relationship as unfortunate. Claude was Camille’s weakness, tempting her with the freedom that any child would want, so she had to distance herself from him so that her resolve to live the life expected of her. This in turn left Claude at a loss as to why Camille brushed him off, leading to the delicate situation that we have now. Sadly, I really can’t see their love overcoming the social boundaries at this point, so I get the feeling their subplot will go down as a lost childhood love. The only truly redeeming thing to take away is that Claude now has a better understanding of what Camille meant back then.
As twisted as it sounds, what I find so captivating about their past is the fact that it didn’t have a fairy tale ending attached to it. All too often we see stories where love conquers all, so Ikoku Meiro really sets itself apart by depicting how cruel society can be. At the same time, it doesn’t portray it in an overly depressing manner and simply an unfortunate one that anyone should be able to sympathize with. To help offset all the seriousness, it was nice to see Alice demonstrate her tea ceremony skills to Yune. She actually had me going for a bit too before her true colors came out. Next time, it looks we’ll finally learn some more about Claude’s late father, who had a cameo in this episode but didn’t actually have any lines (it was another worker who called out for Claude). Hopefully this flashback will end on a somewhat uplifting note.
* I forgot to mention last episode that childhood Claude is voiced by Satou Rina.
Preview
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It’s pretty unfortunate how the relationship ended up. Not every story can be like Jack and Rose from Titanic (sans the ship sinking part).
I love those little figures shown at the end of the show. I wonder if they’re out yet.
Just wanted to bring up “Considering how young Claude was back back”, from the fourth sentence on the 2nd paragraph.
Wow, I haven’t kept up with this show lately, but I was always curious as to how they would tell Camille’s story some more (since the manga hasn’t exactly gotten much traction from translators). This episode, and the one before it, may be worth a watch if I ever get time enough to do so.
I really love seeing more alice and camille
rather than yune
I honestly want to see more moments shared between Claude and Camille. They have a very interesting dynamic going on where the hidden complexities in their personalities really shines through only when they are together.
It’s sad to see the status of families and society ruin a wonderful friendship claude and camille had when they were kids. I truly believe camille had feelings for claude when they were kids but it’s tough being in her situation. Who to follow the person you love and have had the most fun and wonderful memories with or follow family and social status rules? Though i guess fate is somewhat trying repair their relationship with alice and yune becoming really good friends.
only 5 comments? is this show/ review THAT bad? =/
It’s not bad. It’s more that there isn’t much to debate about. I’m gonna assume most of us agree that the Yune’s adorable and Claude x Camille predicament is shitty and unfortunate.
also, english subs haven’t come out until just now, so i’m guessing ppl wanted to watch the episode first before commenting …
What a great episode, probably the best we’ve seen so far. I doubt Claude x Camille will be fully explored but it does add a whole new dimension into the otherwise formulaic slice-of-life aspects of the show. It helps that Camille is mad pretty too ;D
I love this anime! Yune is just stinkin’ adorable and I’m glad we got to see a little more of Claude and Camille’s relationship.
As far as as the next episode is concerned Show Spoiler ▼
I’m just glad that Claude understands Camille better now. Hopefully he’ll treat Camille a little better from now on, even if their relationship is destined to go nowhere.
This bittersweet feeling this episode gave off gave me a vibe very similar to what I feel when watching Natsume Yuujinchou.
Damn…. If Cluade’s father is any indication Claude himself is going to be devastatingly handsome even as he grows older then he already is. Man, Yune I can almost feel your pain.
I just wanted to say that Ikoku is probably one of the best-animated shows I’ve seen in a long time..
I’m all for claude X camille.
Make it happen!
Great episode, they explored both Claude’s and Camille’s angle of things a lot better than I thought they would. I still doubt Claude would go for Camille, even if misunderstandings are smoothen out after this. Hope to see more of Claude’s past, specially his father.
There is no doubt that Claude still harbours feeling for Camille and at the end of the episode we see Claude being enticed by Camille’s advice to Yune, prompting him to say that he wishes to know more and thus indicating that he will pursue Camille once again.
I don’t think its because he wants to pursue her romantically though. I think its more along the lines of him wanting to understand Camille a bit more, and all the burdens she has had to bare. I’m convinced that whatever romance could have blossomed, that ship has sailed 🙂
Maybe but you don’t know that. As far as anyone can see it from the anime itself, it is indeed in a romantic way because Claude is not a kid anymore and his hatred of women has gone away. In the later chapters of the manga series it is hinted by Oscar that Claude is seemingly going to pursue Camille by asking Yune of her age as Camille once asked him.
>:( as much as i would love the story more if it doesnt always end perfectly… but….I WANT THEM 2 TO BE TOGETHER FFS! >:(
I think this is pretty much most of the Camille & Claude thing, at least that Yune served as a crutch for Camille… dance you puppet!
It’s difficult to imagine how much depth can be added with 3
remaining episodes.
I think these last episodes showed the huge difference between
Camille and Alice; Alice takes what is hers and Camille simply
fearfully goes with the flow.
They way he kept calling for Camille…I was getting some Zeta Gundam flashbacks
small camille is so cute… i want to take her home
I would really prefer Claude x Camille more than Claude x Yune .. =3=