Xebek’s Blog

The election for Etoile begins as Amane, Hikari, Nagisa, and Tamao compete for Etoile, Shizuma deals with what her true feelings are.

Summary:

• Time comes for the Etoile election. Hikari is getting ready, being helped by Yaya in her room, as is Nagisa and Tamao. Eventually everyone heads off to the church for the election.
• Back at the school Tsubomi and Chiyo are seeing them off and Chiyo heads back saying she has to prepare the room for the tea party tonight, because no matter the result of the Etoile selection, they will all remain friends.
• The ceremony for Etoile begins as Shizuma starts off giving each pair a bouquet of flowers and wishing them luck. Then the competition begins as both airs give speeches, and then go to the dance where they are watched by all the students.
• All the time while the ceremony is going on, Shizuma has left the church and is off on her own. She reflects back to all her times with Nagisa, and then under the tree where they first met, she seems to realize something and sprints to the church, with a smile on her face.
• The results of the election are about to be announced when Shizuma bursts in the church and yells out to Nagisa that she loves her. Everyone is shocked and Tamao seems to be let down. Nagisa doesn’t’ know what to do, but Tamao holds her close telling her to go, and pushes her towards Shizuma, pulling out the red ribbon in her hair symbolizing her participation in Etoile.
• Shizuma and Nagisa run off together out of the church, everyone still in shock, Tamao standing up there on stage by herself while Hikari and Amane are together, saying congratulations Nagisa.
• Miyuki saying to Tomoroi how this may have stirred things up, but that was the real Shizuma. After seeing Nagisa and Shizuma together, Amane and Hikari are elected as Etoile, even though by default technically. We see the two of them happy together.
• Nagisa and Shizuma are together, and make necklaces form flowers. They put them on each other and then passionately kiss and they fall to the ground, holding the kiss.
• We see later that night, Nagisa standing outside the door to her and Tamao’s room, Tamao on the other side looking down standing against the door. She eventually smiles and says welcome back Nagisa.

Impressions:

I’m not too surprised that Amane and Hikari made Etoile. Although I didn’t necessarily think it would be by default or anything, overall I think they are a better pair for Etoile because they are an actual couple. Etoile seemed to be all about the two people really connecting, and although Nagisa and Tamao were friends and close, they had nothing on the relationship between Amane and Hikari which I think Etoile was all about.

I feel a little sorry for Tamao, but I think the Shizuma and Nagisa ending they had fit really nicely. As I say below in the overall series impressions, this was really all about Shizuma and I think because of the kind of progress they had with her, a Nagisa and Shizuma ending was a bit inevitable. They seemed to be a match, as it wasn’t just Shizuma who cared about Nagisa, but Nagisa obviously had a thing for her the whole time as she only truly danced well with Shizuma, and then with Tamao when thinking of Shizuma. Her entrance into the church was great, and I loved how she was smirking when she took Nagisa, as it showed that she really had realized her true feelings.

One line in this episode that I thought was really interesting was how Miyuki said that “That was the real Shizuma” when she took Nagisa away. I think it really showed how the real Shizuma wasn’t the cold person we saw though a lot of the series, and that Shizuma became herself again because of Nagisa, something that she had not been since Kaori. It really showed Shizuma’s character progression I think.

I have to say that Kagome is like up there in the charts with cuteness, right next to Aruruu. I mean, she was adorable yet incredibly smart and overall just amazing. Kagome and Chikaru are my two favorite characters in this show, and rank highly of any show. Kagome just because of how cute she was, and that she was always talking to her bear like it was really, giving it a seat and describing things in relation to it. “She was taller then Oshibaru……” Also Kagome I think was one of the smartest characters in the show, in all seriousness and not only that she was kind and physically amazing as well, able to outrun everyone and notice Chiyo feelings and gave her a seat. As for Chikaru, she was just a very incredibly fun person. Starting all those clubs, in this episode the: First in Line Club. Her part in this episode was awesome. She also was the only one making intelligent observations during the election procedure, not just saying, “Oh, they are great’ but pointing out specific strengths each team had.

Final Words:

This show certainly didn’t seem like it would have this kind of overall plot. The basic premise of this show seemed to be one with a much MUCH lighter focus. It didn’t’ seem like there would be any focus on the relationships, but just the dealings of an all girl’s school, with slight relationship happenings in the background. However the show was mainly focused on Shizuma I think. Nagisa may be the main character, but this whole show was about Shizuma in a deeper sense. Shizuma is the one character in this series that was the most complex. She had been a fairly fun loving person, fell in love, then was crushed by sadness so became cold, and Nagisa warmed her heart and eventually Shizuma realized she loved her and she wasn’t just some replacement. It seems a bit odd to say Shizuma was the main focus, even though Nagisa was arguably the main character. Although it may have shown all the activities and events Nagisa went through, the deeper plot was all about Shizuma.

The show overall is not as bad as some people say I think. I rather enjoyed it, and the show certainly got more interesting later on when things got more complicated between Nagisa and Shizuma, and we learned more of Shizuma’s past. I thought that Shizuma had an interesting character, as she went though so much and in reality that would have an effect on someone like that, but in the end they showed her getting over it. As for the ending, although I feel sorry for Tamao a bit, same with Yaya, in a grand view it seems like those two have accepted the fact they won’t be with Nagisa or Hikari respectively. I wasn’t super rooting for any pairing, as long as they ended it well enough and I think they did.