Moé Moé Rabu

• Yuuichi learns from Kitagawa that Kuze wants Mai expelled, and rushes off to school.
• Sayuri is already in the student council room trying to reason with them. However Kuze points out that Mai was swinging a sword and that there were witnesses.
• Yuuichi comes in to explain that it was an attraction. But Kuze and the other committee members do not recall it being on the program. Kitagawa however comes in and tells them that he forgot to add it to the program.
• With Mai saved from expulsion, Yuuichi and Sayuri thank Kitagawa for the help. Yuuichi however questions Sayuri what she thinks of yesterday’s commotion, but she thought it was someone’s prank. Mai arrives and sees if her injuries are alright.

• During lunch, Yuuichi goes to meet Shiori and talks about how the Dance Festival turned out bad. But Shiori says that she would still go if it was any worse. Yuuichi remembers to what the freshman girl said about Shiori and tells her about Kaori.
• Shiori is surprised to hear that he is in the same class as her sister, but Yuuichi tells her what Kaori said about being an only child. Though Shiori says that there is someone with the same name as her sister. Shiori says that she loves her sister and wants to go to school with her when she gets better.
• The bell signals the end of lunch, but Shiori informs Yuuichi that she won’t be coming tomorrow since the doctor is paying a visit. As she leaves, Yuuichi suggests they go out somewhere to make up for the Dance Festival. But from the school building, Kaori is watching the pair.
• Having finished lunch, Kuze asks Sayuri why she protects a person like Mai, which she replies because Mai is her best friend. Although Kuze reassures that next time Mai will get punished and Sayuri will be as well if she protects her. Mai however warns Kuze that she won’t forgive him if he hurts Sayuri.
• Later on Yuuichi is practising swinging a kendo sword. Wishing there was a stray dog or boar to practise with; Mai ends up throwing a bucket at his face. Yuuichi claims that he will fight alongside Mai whilst she threw a fire extinguisher at him. Reacting just in time, he hits the fire extinguisher causing it to explode. Mai thinks that he is no good.
• Walking around town, Yuuichi ends up meeting Ayu. He asks about her school and she tells him it’s towards the forest. Ayu is still looking for her lost item but feels it’s not in the area.
• Yuuichi brings Ayu along to see Mai hoping that Mai would know the location of Ayu’s lost item. Though Mai can’t tell them anything as there is no mean in her finding it. Thus Yuuichi makes Ayu go home by herself, but she is too scared. He even suggests she use her Uguu Power. Mai ends up giving her a senbei cookie and reaches out to touch her face.
• Later Yuuichi asks what Mai went. Mai simply says that Ayu is a strong girl where she is still waiting, unlike herself who couldn’t wait. But a demon ends up appearing. Mai attacks it but gets thrown back; Yuuichi charges in but is swinging thin air, Mai charges again and ends up killing the monster. Mai lectures him about staying back and not to do anything unnecessary, but Yuuichi says that she was saved because of him. As Mai walks off, Yuuichi is angry at how Mai doesn’t understand how worried he and Sayuri are, commenting on how she ruined the Dance Festival and Sayuri’s dress and how she is walking away without a change of expression. He also claims he’s an idiot for thinking of protecting her, but declares that he’ll return tomorrow since he’s the idiot that he claims to be. He knows that she is a nice person and loves spending time with her. As Mai walks around the corner, she looks back from the corner of her eye.
• Next morning, Yuuichi ends up looking after Nayuki in her half asleep mode until she wakes up on the way to school.
• During lunch, Sayuri comments on how quiet Yuuichi is, he explains that he and Mai are having a fight. Commenting on how a fight proves they are close friends, she wonders when the two started fighting. Yuuichi says that they met by coincidence last night. Yuuichi eventually asks when the two became close friends. Sayuri recalls when they were freshman that Mai fended off a stray dog. But during lunch, Sayuri found Mai feeding her bento to the stray dog so Sayuri offered her’s to the dog as well. So the two ended up eating gyuudon in the school cafeteria and since then have been friends. Sayuri then asks if Yuuichi has time after school as she has something to tell him about Mai.
• After school Sayuri and Yuuichi go shopping. It turns out that it is Mai’s birthday tomorrow and she wants to find a present. Yuuichi suggests they find the largest stuffed animal, and they happen to find a 1/1 scale giant anteater. The store owners says that he put it up three years ago which peaks Sayuri’s attention; as that is the same time that she and Mai met. They end up buying it but Yuuichi thinks they can’t bring it to school, so Sayuri suggests they take it to Mai’s house after school.
• That night, Yuuichi comments how Mai is lucky to have a good friend like Sayuri and asks if there isn’t anyone else. Mai admits that there was one person, but they are gone, just like everyone else. Mai then senses the demons have arrived, but there are two of them. Yuuichi stalls one whilst Mai takes care of the other. With Mai battling one, Yuuichi is getting smacked around by the other. With one demon retreating, Mai finishes off the other. Yuuichi is happy that he is helpful, but Mai realises that the demons are after her, but were after Yuuichi. Thus Mai questions on who Yuuichi really is.

Preview:

Impressions

Well that was definitely a plot twist at the end. So the demons are after Yuuichi and if I recall correctly they didn’t do this in the Toei version. So of course now this raises the question of how do the demons relate to Yuuichi? But we also get more questions about Mai and the person that she used to know (of course I know who it is) but also what did she mean that she couldn’t wait? Not only that we find out a bit more about Ayu, such as her school is located towards the forest but according to what Mai said, Ayu is still waiting, but waiting for what?

As usual we get the usual random funny moments but also the cutesy moments. But the best part I must say was Kitagawa. So far Kitagawa has been shown as the joker but in this episode we see that he is indeed a man. To see him help out Sayuri and Yuuichi makes me respect him a bit more. Though I do hope that this isn’t the last time. Also this shot of Sayuri is so awesome, she just looks so flirtatious. Oh and KyoAni’s Air plug-in right here. Good old Sloth. One other thing that I noticed during Mai and Sayuri’s memories, they were supposed to be freshman, but their ribbons are the same colour….what the??

Is it just me or does the animation seemed to have dropped off a bit? At times it looks great but then some other times it just doesn’t. But then again we are past the half way mark so I must have gotten used to the beauty of it all. Now that we have passed the halfway mark I’m predicting that the Mai arc will conclude in the next 2-3 episodes as we still have the Shiori arc coming up. Seeing from the previews, Sayuri pays Mai and Yuuichi a surprise visit at the school at night time.

Kanon Merchandise of the Week

Well this is the last Kanon plushy that you will see as I didn’t bother buying Shiori and Mai. This was actually the first one I bought since I’m a total Nayuki fan, and I still am. This is also rather rare but if you are lucky you might see one pop up on eBay or Yahoo Japan Auction. Again I bought this from Tamarket, and they may have some left. So check out their site.

Though this isn’t the only plushy of Nayuki. A few years ago I actually found an even rarer Nayuki plushy on eBay. Unfortunately I lost the bid due to eBay constantly asking for a password when you place a bid. Personally I think this one looks way better than the one I currently have. Such a shame since I have not seen any more ever since that auction.