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Impressions:

If I accept this show as a yuri, I’ll be able to enjoy it like I did Strawberry Panic (I’m gonna call all shoujo-ai shows yuri since it sounds better, so don’t try to correct me). The show is not 100% female though, as we still get the slightest of male behaviour from Mizuho, though he doesn’t do anything with near enough conviction. For example, when he was in the changing rooms, he hardly blushed at all while he does so all the time elsewhere. I also found that seen a bit off since I’m sure neither Mariya nor Shion would let Mizuho into the girls changing rooms without so much as a second thought, not to mention they were half naked themselves (they DID know about Mizuho’s gender secret at the time). Although Mizuho may do some guy things still, he is pretty much a complete girl now. When Shion confronted him and discovered his secret, he acted so cowardly I felt ashamed. Not even a girl would run and hide around someone else’s back, at that age especially. Oh well, anime is anime I guess.

Despite these little things that I always tend to complain about, I did enjoy the show (as a yuri). Now that I’ve gotten over the fact that it’s not a silly harem, I can watch this show with the full interest it deserves. So far, the anime is holding out quite well. We also see the hideous yet hilarious chibis again for a bit (god I love those things!) as well as some more girl on girl groping…no wait, make that girl on boy with fake breasts groping. That part, Mizuho acted more like a girl than anytime else. “Erh, I can feel the pressure!”~aww…he can feel pressure on his chest…big deal! I really hate it when he acts so feminine – why can’t an actual girl do that in the show? Someone like Mariya, since she’s playful and cheery. Shion is your typical one-sama currently, so I’ll just forget about her for the time being since she’s so boring. The two younger girls are the underlings that love the main female character (in this case male); sure they’re cute, but in a childish way, and once again, very generic.

The reason why I am comparing this show to Strawberry Panic all the time is simply because Strawberry Panic is the only other yuri anime I’ve seen. Remember, I only started really watching anime at the beginning of this year (when I say really, I mean by means other than Adult Swim on Cartoon Network). It wasn’t until spring this year that I started following anime by episode, so yes I am very, very new to anime. You can read more about that here. Anyways, I am looking forward to the next episode, and am hoping to see some more interaction between characters, some more awkward moments with Mizuho, more history on Shion and more Mariya overall (you should’ve guessed by now that Mariya is my favourite character). Some more conflict between the student council president and Mizuho/Mariya/Shion team would be nice. By the way, if you’re not too good with names, Mizuho is the main male lead, Mariya is his childhood friends with the pink hair, and Shion is the black haired girl who is repeating a year.

OP: [Love Power] by Aice5
Download *right click – save target as* (TV size mp3 – 2.07mb)

ED: [Beautiful Day] by Yui Sakakibara
Download *right click – save target as* (TV size mp3 – 2.07mb)

Plot Outline:

- In class, Mizuho meets the girl who passed him yesterday (the one who said ‘gokigenyo’) called Shion
- The two become acquaintances, though Shion notices something different about Mizuho from the day before
- After class, Mizuho enters the girls bathrooms and rushes into a cubicle, in case someone else was there
- After doing his business, he comes out to see Shion, who tells him that his fly is undone
- Mizuho reacts like a guy would and apologises without thinking, then realises he’s wearing a dress
- Shion then takes Mizuho outside and confronts him about his true gender
- Mizuho denies her claim that she is a guy but Shion has already made up her mind about him being a boy
- Mariya encounters the two and Mizuho goes to hide behind her
- Shion finds out that Mariya is Mizuho’s childhood friend, while she discovers that Shion knows about Mizuho’s secret
- In the end though, Shion promises not to tell anyone as she thinks of Mizuho as a good friend

- As Mizuho and Shion start spending more time together, the rest of the school marvels at their perfect coupling
- Shion and Mariya manage to help Mizuho change into his PE uniform without anyone seeing him, but then catch him looking at the other girls change and decide to punish him by rubbing his (fake) breasts
- During PE, Mizuho plays exceptionally in basketball as he forgets he ’s meant to be a girl
- Everyone who sees only spread more gossip about Mizuho being an excellent basketballer, instead of suspecting he is a guy
- After the topic comes up, Mariya explains to Mizuho what being an ‘Elder’ is
- Being an Elder makes you the elder sister of the school, where everyone looks up to you and calls you one-sama
- Of course, the selection is done by a vote, but everyone is sure Mizuho will get selected
- However, when Mizuho asks why Shion isn’t going to participate, she tells him that she had been the Elder last year, but got hospitalised for some time now, and had to repeat a year
- Some time later, Mizuho, Shion and Mariya encounter the student council president, who wants to stop Mizuho from becoming the Elder
- Mariya thinks this is because she wants to become Elder herself, as if no Elder is elected, the student council president steps up to the role
- The episode ends with everyone resolving to either make or break Mizuho, and the mission (lol) to turn Mizuho into the Elder begins

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