[Kaoru Chujo]

This must be a good show, and a good episode, since we are getting so many good posts.

The set-up looks as if Shin will give Noe back her tears by leaving her for Hiromi. I wish he would give her tears of joy, instead. But if, as seems possible from the way Shin's mother was about to say something to Hiromi, they really aren't siblings, and Hiromi eventually tells Shin she likes him, the game will be over -- unless he has learned to love Noe or Ai in the meantime.

I think Noe's directness and life are very good for Shin, and he will find out in the next episode how great it is to have someone love you that much, and to be able to bring them happiness simply by existing. So I do think it is possible that, after ups and downs, he will end with Noe.

But I think all possibilities are still open, even including Ai, whom Shin has never been romantically inclined toward, but who is most like him, it seems to me: part of a local commercial family, and easily put-upon. They can talk more easily than he can talk with either of the others. I loathed the Canvas2 ending, but at this point, we're nowhere near that with Ai. We have several episodes to go to develop his feelings for her.

Sorry about Nobuse. I admire what he does in this ep. And I don't blame him at all for not wanting to hear Ai out. But I just don't like him. His clownish eager-beaver blindness simply offended me. But I do feel sorry for him now. When he and Ai are together, I feel sorry for both of them. It will take a lot for me to believe in Ai getting back together with him. But maybe this loss will make his character more serious.

The translation of the scene of Shin in his room seemed a little off to me. I thought he said directly that his liking Noe had nothing to do with any deal. And instead of saying things had gotten confused, I thought he said that he must love Noe, or else he wouldn't have done all these things (with her). He may be kidding himself that he loves Noe, but he consciously believes it, anyway.

The "confession" scene between Noe and Shin was outstanding. Her character design and animation were great. The way she pointed to the ground and got him to write out that he loved her was too much, lol. And as mentioned before, the rising blush -- its timing and color -- were the stuff of legend.

And I noticed someone referring to "the studio" previously, so I wanted to again just mention the main people behind the show: director/writer Nishimura Junji (Simoun, Windy Tales, Ranma1/2), writer Okada Mari (Rozen Maiden eps., Simoun eps., Sketchbook, Kodomo no Jikan, etc.), and animation director Sekiguchi Kanami (GITS Solid State, episodes of FMA, key animation on The Girl Who Leapt Through Time). The writer and animation director are women.