As a change in pace, I’ll be stealing this Shana post instead of the usual Shirukii. Sorry Shirukii lovers, but it looks like you’ll have to find your fix in another post =p

This episode was all about Yuuji’s increase in his harem by adding in Konoe, and the destructive effects it has on his other ladies. He’s no Makoto, but he’s getting there.

Summary

Now that Shana and Yuuji think that Konoe is a normal human, they let down their defenses and get closer to her. They pick her up everyday to walk her to school, they eat lunch with her, and they’re always together. It’s fairly obvious by Konoe’s insistence on staying close with Yuuji and her constant shirt tug on him that there’s some sort of attraction going on there. And it’s absolutely no wonder that the increased time that Yuuji spends with Konoe starts to bother Shana, and that she’s starting to show more of that tsun tsun. Do not want?

But what can Shana do? Nothing more than just attempt to pretend like nothing’s wrong while being pissed off inside… which is exactly what she does when PE class starts and the students are all forced to clean the pool. The rather mundane activity picks up in excitement when Ogata sparks a waterfight and much fun ensues, but Shana sits off to the side without participating, feeling sorry for herself.

Lunch hits, and things start to take a turn for the worse. Seeing Yuuji’s two bentou from Shana and Yoshida, little Konoe wants to try some too. Sakai stupidly offers his lunches to Konoe, despite the protest of Ogata and the silent protest from Shana. This only serves to piss off Shana more, and starts to stir up feelings of jealousy in even Yoshida. Even Ike notices how big of an idiot Yuuji is. orz

After school, Yuuji and his three ladies walk around town. Konoe walks off by herself without realizing it, and Shana blows up on her for her inconsiderate actions. Yuuji, being typical Yuuji, takes the side of Konoe and manages to piss off Shana even more. It really starts to show when training begins, and Shana gets serious on the poor guy. However, Alastor comments on Yuuji’s improvements, and tells him he has promise in the future. Maybe we’ll see Yuuji actually useful someday =0 Meanwhile, Wilhelmina and Margery Daw come to their own conclusions that Konoe is probably a normal human, and not Hecate.

The next day, Yuuji, the three girls, Ike, Ogata, Satou, and Tanaka all go to a new Supersize Heaven restaurant. They all get HUUUGE servings of food, and demonstrate their superhuman abilities of cleaning off plates. Little Konoe curls up like a cat and sleeps =3

But it doesn’t last long. After everybody finishes their meals, they realize that Konoe has run off again without informing anybody. Everybody’s concerned about her, all except Shana. Being jealous that Konoe is always on Yuuji’s mind, she tries to convince him to simply forget about Konoe and to leave her alone. It doesn’t really work, and Shana runs off home alone, confused at what her true thoughts are, and why she’s feeling this way. But as she’s walking home, she looks behind her, only to come to the realization that Yuuji isn’t following her.

Meanwhile, Yuuji’s off looking for Konoe, and finds her at a park. She was out there saving a baby bird from a stray cat =3 He realizes just how similar she is to Hecate, and while his eyes are locked upon hers, Yoshida walks in and observes the scene before her.

At the end of the day, Yuuji’s at home, wondering where Shana is. Wilhelmina appears, informing him that Shana won’t come back, and that Wilhelmina will take over Yuuji’s training. Cutting to Yoshida, we see her preparing her bentou for Yuuji’s lunch tomorrow, but thoughts of jealousy appear in her mind.

When tomorrow morning hits, Yuuji is walking to school alone with Konoe. He sees Yoshida, who offers an awkward greeting. Shana appears behind them and coldly says hello, leaving no time to talk. During lunchtime, Ike gives Yuuji the bentou that Yoshida made, telling him that she had a meeting to attend and couldn’t join them for lunch. Up on the rooftop of the school, we see Yoshida and Shana eating their lunches together, alone, as neither want to see Yuuji at the moment.

Thoughts

NOTO!!!!!!! Yeah I’ll say it, I’m a huge Noto Mamiko fan, so all this Konoe/Hecate screentime makes me happy =D I’m still really jealous of anybody who got to see Noto at Otakon. I’d kill for that. Yes, I’d even kill you. So don’t brag to me that you met her, because I’ll go cry in a dark corner alone ;_______;

But Konoe’s soft and naive nature makes her an awesome character. There are limits to retarded moe, but I think she’s still within acceptable limits. She just needs to adjust from her ojou lifestyle, is all. And her insistence on sitting beside Yuuji, her constant shirt tugs on Yuuji, her curled up sleeping… do want!

In a way, she reminds me of other Noto characters, which is never a minus. Her ability to deal with animals reminds me of Tsukamoto Yakumo of Sukuran. Konoe’s saving of the baby bird is somewhat relatable to Yakumo’s saving of Iori, even though I highly doubt the baby bird will become a recurring character. Or that Konoe’s friendliness with animals is relatable to Yakumo’s, which you could see in how much Pyotr the giraffe liked Yakumo. Meanwhile, Konoe’s interactions with food reminds me of Ichinose Kotomi of Clannad. However, instead of Kotomi’s offering of food to Tomoya, we have Yuuji offering his food to Konoe. Except that… well, it’s not really Yuuji’s food. But alas, I digress.

So indeed, seeing Konoe advance her relationship with Yuuji is really nice, but it’s actually a mixed reaction. Her presence is causing Shana and Yoshida quite some trouble, and seeing them in full out jealous mode is rather tiring. There can only be so many fights over Yuuji, and it feels like it’s nearing that quota.

Shana is more tsun tsun and is only causing Yuuji more trouble. What I find somewhat strange is the fact that she was fairly okay with a rivalry with Yoshida, but once Konoe is thrown into the equation, she totally loses it. Perhaps she realizes just how compromised her position is, now that a Noto has stepped up to the plate? But she just seems so overreactive and extreme in her thought process, evidenced by how she decides to stop training with Yuuji and to not go over to his place anymore. And of course her constant insistence to leave Konoe alone. Konoe must think Shana absolutely hates her with the fiery passion of a thousand suns or something, because that’s certainly what it sounds like.

I will say, however, that I found it rather surprising that after Shana stormed off from Supersize Heaven, she turned around only to not see Yuuji there. That must’ve really been a blow against her, as it seems most natural that Yuuji will always follow her. But I think even more surprising than that was that she continued to walk home alone even after realizing Yuuji’s not following her, and that she didn’t turn around to find him. She chooses to not do anything and to instead stay jealous and confused, which then only leads her to worsen her relationship with Yuuji.

Yoshida, on a similar boat as Shana, also surprises me with her jealousy. I didn’t expect her to give in to jealousy as easily as Shana did, seeing how she was always fighting a losing battle with Yuuji. Yuuji and Shana are always together, they’re fighting battles against other Flame Haze and Guze no Tomogara, while Yoshida is on the sidelines and can only really interact with Yuuji at school, a huge disadvantage. However, Yoshida finally breaks and even she reduces her contact with Yuuji, lying about being busy during lunchtime so she can avoid him. She didn’t have much of a fighting chance before, so Konoe shouldn’t affect her THAT much. And it’s a large contrast to her actions before. Yoshida at the beginning promised that she too would pick up Konoe from her house to help familiarize her with the area and to make her feel more welcome. And during PE class, Yoshida also saved Konoe from falling into an empty pool. The shift in her actions really show Yoshida’s shift in feelings from one of friendliness to one of rivalry and jealousy.

I guess that just goes to show how similar Shana and Yoshida are with regards to Yuuji, which can also explain why they were fine with being rivals before. But now that Konoe is in the fight too, everything’s thrown off balance, I guess.

I personally don’t really like all this drama that’s being stirred up because of Konoe. It’s too childish and destructive. I’ll admit though, if this is a carefully crafted plan by Bal Masque to split up the Reiji Maigo from its protective Flame Haze, it certainly is working like a charm. Not only that, but with a connection between Hecate and Yuuji now existing, it will only make it harder for Yuuji to fight off Hecate when Bal Masque’s next plan is in motion. Even if Konoe turns out to be a normal human and not Hecate, Yuuji is still seeing the high resemblance between them, which means he’ll no doubt associate Hecate with the lovable Konoe. It’s a shame he’ll ultimately choose Shana in the end and not Hecate =(

//Soda