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Rating: 9.9/10

Impressions:

I really do love flashback/backstory scenes. Sayuri’s backstory is good enough to be its own series. It’s deeply touching and made me love Sayuri that much more. Her getting hurt was not surprisingly but painful nonetheless. Mai’s reaction was expected as well, but I thought she would vent her anger on Yuuichi or blame him or something. Mai’s voice during that scene completely changes though. She sounds much better going all emo like that rather than her usual, submissive tone. Her crying face is rather cute as well. It looks like things are going to be more or less resolved in the next episode with an upcoming, epic battle between Mai, Yuuichi and the demons. However, I prefer the type of drama and emotion-filled episode such as this one over those with fighting, such as the school dance one. Sayuri’s backstory, her melancholy, as well as the all the drama and tragedy involving her injury and Mai going psycho; it all builds up to an excellent episode – the best one so far in my opinion.

I’m relieved that the show isn’t just repeating things over and over again. Yuuichi meeting Shiori at lunch and Ayu on the streets are a few of those things.The quality did drop a bit though, and it has been noticeably fluctuating a bit recently. There’s also a fair bit of mystery presented with this episode, and one that comes to mind instantly is the bunny-ear head band and the person who Yuuichi sees in his flashback. At first glance, it would seem to be either Nayuki or Mai, as this is the case with the girl in the OP. I believe it is Naryuki who is in the OP though. However, after comparing with some game CGs, it appears that the girl is meant to have blonde hair, and Ayu becomes the only candidate. It gives me the feeling that Nayuki had often used it in her childhood, but then Yuuichi took it and offered it to someone else, namely Ayu. If this is the case, it only strengthens the notion that Yuuichi had always taken Nayuki for granted in his past, and this is rather a sad thing as Nayuki is one of my favourite characters.

Speaking of her, I really hate how KyoAni portrays her when she is sleepy. She is no longer moe or cute when this happens, it is rather disturbing. It seems more like a cheap way to cut down on the amount of money it takes to animated her, though of course I still hold them in high regard for their excellent productions. Now with only ten more episodes to go, it seems like there will only be enough room for two arcs. I suspect Nayuki is closely tied in with Ayu though. Shiori and Kaori will probably get their own independent arc next. Once again, I hope the characters don’t simply disappear once their roles are fulfilled. I’m still waiting to see Amano again. She is my favourite side character, just edging out Sayuri and her ‘ahaha~’s. Anyway though, I now realise why the arcs cannot be intermingled as such that I hoped. It seems that with each arc, Yuuichi has to devote himself almost completely to a particular girl. This happened with Makoto and it’s happening again with Mai.

Plot Outline:

- In the morning, Yuuichi is still thinking over Mai’s words the night before about him being the target of the demons
- Nayuki is still sleepy, but when Akiko mentions her special jam, she snaps awake and quickly escapes with Yuuichi, leaving Ayu to taste the jam
- Outside, Nayuki gives Yuuichi and bunny ear to give to Mai to make her girly, but this triggers him to remember a young girl wearing the headband in the fields
- Yuuichi goes to have lunch with Mai and Sayuri again, and as Sayuri is late to come, he asks Mai about her words
- She explains that the demon activity have increased ever since Yuuichi’s arrival
- Up on the roof, Yuuichi has a bout with Mai with sticks as training, but he is easily defeated
- Sayuri comes up and wants to join in, though Mai coldly tells her she is in her way, saddening Sayuri and causing her to run off

- After school, Yuuichi goes to a café with Sayuri, where she explains about her childhood with her little brother, who has since passed away
- She also implies that she knows what Mai and Yuuichi do each night at school
- Sayuri decides to make dinner and take it over to Mai’s house that night, so Yuuichi rushes to school to fetch her
- Sayuri rings up Yuuichi’s home, but after hearing that he’s already left the house, heads back to school looking for him and Mai
- She gets attacked in the school, and when Mai and Yuuichi find her, she is unconscious and lying in a pool of her own blood
- Mai and Yuuichi take her to hospital but quickly disappear after that, probably wanting to be alone
- Mai goes berserk and starts slashing at her surroundings, but Yuuichi restrains her and tells her that they need to settle things with the demons
- After Mai calms down, they head back to school to confront the enemy

Preview:

Next episode - #15
Confrontation…

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