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Summary
Natsumi, Saki, Yuka and Rin reach the inn they’re staying at, and meet a girl named Chiharu and her twin sister Koharu, who turns out to be the surfer that saved Yuka last episode. While taking a bath in the onsen, the girls somehow activate the same supernatural power as in the original big rock, turning Saki invisible.
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Impression
I’m now quickly building up the impression that it’s not the rock that actually has any special properties, but instead the girls and their friendship with each other that’s resulting in supernatural wishes being granted. Even so, a random rock placed right in the middle of an onsen was pretty convenient for them, and it did look a bit suspicious.
The twins, Chiharu and Koharu will be good friends for Saki when she moves. One’s a nice person, and the other is a tsundere tomboy that eventually warms up to the “mainlanders”. Like the girls, I did think Koharu was a boy, what with all the grumpiness and surfing skills and all that. Both of them were nice people though, and didn’t question where Saki went or how she randomly came back after becoming invisible, with no clothes to boot xD I’m glad that Koharu wasn’t being bitchy for the hell of it, but instead because she was fond of and grew up around the previous island doctor, and developed her hate for mainlanders both since one is replacing said doctor, who is going to live in the city.
And that’s where Saki’s emotional conflict gets even worse for her, and the rock turns her invisible to prove that (since people wouldn’t normally say it if they knew she was there). Saki’s dad isn’t moving for as simple a reason as a new job that requires relocation, but to take over a job his own teacher once had, that will help many people on a remote island that can’t normally get too much medical help. If Saki’s dad is there, the islanders’ lives will get so much better, and that must make Saki feel beyond bad to even think about asking if they can opt out of moving for a reason like staying with Natsumi her friends. Obviously the reality of it is hitting Natsumi hard, however after she’s heard all the good Saki’s dad will do, I’m not sure what her take on the situation’ll be. It’s unusually tragic, and I know from experience how hard it is to keep in touch with former friends once you’ve moved far away, since you get caught up in so many new things and life gets really hectic.
Saki has gone past the hidden denial into the acceptance stage, though the best case scenario would be that Saki’s parents move while she moves in with Natsumi, as unlikely as that might be. Rin and Yuka are aware of how slim those chances are too, and it’s nice to see them want to make the best of what they have now by making as many memories as they can.
