TARI TARI - Episode 10

Mentally scarred for life.

Although it was more embarrassing to watch this time around, I also found myself laughing instead of wanting to facepalm, so I guess you could call that an improvement. The extremely cheesy battles between the pseudo Ganba Rangers and their "attackers" did not only entertain the children around, but also successfully acted as a form of advertisement, which I thought was quite amusing. Topping it all off was definitely when the five stopped the purse snatcher, with Wien taking center stage, thanks to his superhuman running (how was he able to keep up with a bicycle?) and spontaneous singing. I'm pretty sure the criminal would've wished to be taken into custody right when he was caught, rather than suffer the mental trauma that came with having to bear with five crazy singing kids in costumes surrounding him.

But aside from the laughs, there was also some seriousness in the episode, particularly regarding the vice principal and her current predicament. Despite the fact that she didn't say it explicitly, I think it's quite obvious that she looked up to Wakana's mother. But due to the cold personality that she developed after Mahiru's death, she's unable to express her true feelings. But with Wakana acting as a catalyst, I feel she'll eventually open up and be able to let out those pent-up emotions of hers. Because of recent events, I'm starting to see the vice principal in a better light now, understanding her character better and why she acts this way. It'd be tragic if she was forced to give up on continuing to walk the path her late friend would've wanted her to walk because of internal (i.e. administration) issues, which judging short clip before the preview, might actually happen.

With three episodes to go, I think they'll mostly be focused on how the vice principal deals with her current struggles. At the same time, the other characters will probably be doing the same, trying to reach their goals (Konatsu's goal of making the choir club reach new heights, Sawa's goal of enrolling at the equestrian school, Wakana's goal of finishing the composition of her mother's song, Wien's goal of being able to communicate with Jan again, and Taichi's goal of excelling in badminton). And since music has been an integral element from the start, I expect the culmination of the series to be musically-related; perhaps a large-scale music performance to show the higher-ups that the school, particularly the dreams and passion of its choir club(s), does not deserve to be crushed?