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| Like mother, like daughter |
Another typical A Channel episode except, this time, it was mostly flashbacks with a bit of drama at the end. I think that anyone who has friends that are a year or two older than them can relate to how Tooru feels in this episode. The fact that they are graduating is bitter-sweet because, even though they are moving on to the next stage in their life, you can't help but feel left behind. I was very surprised that there was actually some drama in this series but after looking back at the K-ON! graduation, I'm prepared for what's coming next. As for the episode, it was, just like the last few, very funny. The best part of the episode for me was the conversation between Run and her mom when they were discussing about Run's application to high school. Just like Run, her mother also has those blank eyes. As A Channel is coming to an end, it was a fun experience for me and I hope that there will be some specials following the end of the TV series.
We start off with a flashback of Run and Tooru after Run had just graduated from middle school. After thanking Tooru for everything, Run turns around and happily leaves as the flashback ends. I'm guessing that this "flashback" is most likely a dream since Tooru is seen sitting her bed with the her alarm clock ringing after the "flashback" ends. Anyways, on the way to school, with Run, Tooru meets up with Nagi and Yuuko. After they exchange a few words, Yuuko remembers that Tooru's birthday is coming up and insists that they have a party to celebrate. Run, who had just remembered as well, tells Tooru that her present is going to be awesome. After hearing that, Nagi can't help shudder at the thought of the doll and zebra from the last episode. Upon reaching school, Tooru notices a group of students wearing middle school uniforms. Nagi then explains that, since entrance exams are coming up for them, there is a campus tour today. At the mention of exams, Tooru gets a bit depressed but Run manages to put a smile back on her face by bringing up the memories of their middle school days. Start the flashback...
With the time left for choosing high schools quickly decreasing, Run decides that 二高 (2nd High) would be the best choice considering her grades. As for Tooru, since she was still a second year back at the time, Run knew that she may not have decided yet but asked anyways. Surprisingly, to Run at least, Tooru decided to go wherever she went. Even after being reminded of how she could get into a much better school with her grades, Tooru is still determined to go to whichever school Run is going to. On another occasion, Run's mother questions Run about her high school choices. At first, she is glad to hear that Run chose 2nd High as it apparently has a good reputation. However, once Run mentions the fact that Tooru is going to choose the same school as her, her mother's facial expression suddenly changes into one of immense annoyance. Despite the fact that Run reminds her mother about her current GPA, her mother believes that this is a problem that a cram school won't fix. Unfortunately, Run has no plans of going to a cram school and manages to snatch the telephone away before her mother has a chance to make the call. Knowing that forcing her daughter to attend cram school won't work out well, Run's mother decides on another strategy; this time, offering Run a pass for all-you-can-eat Kobe beef if she manages to get into a better high school. Because this high quality beef is at stake, Run finally agrees to give cram school a shot. I find it funny how easily Run is swayed by good food. The next time at school, Run tells her friend all about her new-found goal of getting accepted into a better high school. After explaining about going to cram school and getting a private tutor, Run introduces said tutor. After the tutor walks into the classroom, it is none other than Tooru, who is wearing glasses because Run thinks that teachers must have glasses. Her friend, meanwhile, didn't seem too comfortable with a 3rd-year middle school student being taught by a 2nd-year middle school student. On the first day of tutoring, Tooru gives Run the task of memorizing a huge stack of textbooks, saying that this is the "basic stuff". With beads of sweat forming on her face, Run faces the most difficult challenge thus far in her life and tackles it straight on...by playing Jenga with the stack. To add to the stupidity, the tutor even claps when Run successfully removed a book from the pile triumphantly. On another occasion, Run starts hearing voices and sees her notes fly off the page and out of the window while she is studying. When she finally woken up by Tooru, Run turns around and sees that she has instead messed up her notes with tons of messy lines. After these two experiences, Run started to take studying incredibly seriously - even to the point of reading a book while crossing the street, sitting in class, eating dinner and brushing her teeth. In the end, this all paid off as her grades improved significantly. Then came the time for the entrance exam. Right when the exam started, Run immediately breaks one of the tips of her pencils, causing it to fly hit Yuuko, who was sitting beside her. Since this is before they knew each other, Yuuko, who isn't from Tokyo, now considers Tokyo a scary place that has people that sabotage others. After the exam finishes, Run apologizes to Yuuko for the earlier incident and with that, the two start talking and become friends. When the results were finally released, Run was extremely happy to see that she had made it, thanking Tooru for everything. Tooru, being the selfless friend that she is, told Run that her hard work is the reason she got in. And with that, the flashback ends. A short and interesting, manga-like story about Tooru during the morning of the release of the high school acceptance list is shown right before the commercial break (if you were to watch it in Japan).
As Tooru's birthday draws nearer, Run decides to give her friend a present one morning. Unfortunately, Run drops the box containing the present after announcing that it's a cake. While Tooru looked extremely saddened by the fact that her cake is most likely destroyed by now, Run reveals that she was just joking and that the box is empty. She then brings out an identical box, claiming that this one is the "real" one. Her reasoning for this? Apparently, Run believes that one will be twice as grateful for something after an earlier disappointment. Not wanting the same thing to happen again, Tooru demands to hold the cake, even after Run told her she wouldn't drop it again. In the end, Tooru carries the box of cake and, while walking to school, Run thinks back to when Tooru was a child, remembering how Tooru used to crawl after her and cry when she had no candy when she was a toddler. However, it turns out that "memory" was actually a dream as the two met in elementary school. Then, while stroking Tooru's hair and commenting on how small she is, Run declares that she has found a strand of white hair, causing Tooru to freeze in shock. Once the two reach school, the four girls father around the box of cake. With the problem of having nowhere to put it until lunch, Run suggests that they put it in the bathrooms, which is apparently the coldest place in the school. After she says that, the other three step aside, freaked out by how Run could come up with such a disgusting idea. As the conversation shifts to Tooru's birthday, the other three girls discuss what they are getting Tooru. With Run having already decided on her present, Nagi decides that she is going to buy the book that Tooru had wanted. While Yuuko continues think of a present, Tooru grabs a ruler and starts lifting one of Yuuko's breasts, saying that she wants an E cup from her. Fortunately, the cake saves the day as causes Tooru to forget about molesting Yuuko. However, things don't get better for Yuuko as, after Run announces that one of the cakes are actually wasabi filled, Tooru gives her the pleasure of eating it. Once Yuuko finishes the cake and starts dying from the wasabi, the Nagi and Run begin to eat their slices. However, Run warns that there is actually one more wasabi cake but realizes that she is the one who got it before she could finish her sentence. After that whole fiasco, Tooru decides to take a picture of her cake with her phone before eating it but her picture is ruined as Run steps in front of the camera right as the shot was being taken. Soon, taking a picture of the cake turned into taking a commemorative group photo. With the theme of ridiculing Yuuko continuing, the picture turned out well except for the fact that Yuuko was blurry. Even multiple retakes couldn't fix it. Poor Yuuko.
With her cake still unfinished, Tooru decides to eat it in class. After Yutaka sees this, she makes the guess that it is Tooru's birthday writes a note to congratulate her. However, the note is misspelled, with it saying "Happy Barthday" instead of "Happy Birthday", something that Tooru all too eagerly pointed out. On their way home from school, Run, once again, tells the others about her past with Tooru, by looking back at the pictures on her phone. To top it all off, Run shows everyone the commemorative picture that they took earlier, much to the Yuuko's dismay. As Yuuko chases Run, demanding that the picture be deleted, Tooru and Nagi follow close behind, not wanting to get left behind. While they are running, the insert song, which I found was pretty good, started playing. However, the mention of exams once again causes Tooru to suddenly stop. After the two groups part way at an intersection, Run mentions that time has flew by. As slow piano music starts to play in order to set the mood, Tooru remembers all the good times she spent with Run, knowing that at the same time next year, they will be going their separate ways once again. Shortly after, she catches a glimpse of two middle students who looked exactly like Run and her walking by. However, she soon realizes that her eyes have played tricks on her. As the episode ends, refuses to tell Tooru the reason why she switched to this school, saying that it's a himitsu. With the next episode being the last one, I'm hoping that the title of "Aliens" is able to, in some way, wrap this up nicely. Looking forward to the next episode.
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