We actually have a two-parter this time. Both halves of the show deal with exam time, but with different stories each. So…let’s get this over with.
Part 1: Ramen. It’s time to study for exams, and Ryou is working hard on her studies. She has a nightmare and wakes up to take a break and watch some TV. She watches some show of a girl studying for exams (wow, what a coincidence), and the TV mother makes a late-night snack for her daughter. Ryou starts missing her parents, which is the main theme of this half. She misses her parents a lot. She gets a package from her parents overseas, and that’s also when Kirin arrives. They open the box and it’s…full of ramen. That’s it, just different flavors of ramen. Really, if they’re overseas, I’d like foreign foods, not food I can just get from the store.
The girls then get to studying. But then later they take a break, and Kirin makes ramen for Ryou. Ryou sleeps, and mistakes Kirin for her mother and squeezes her. Then they eat. We sort of learn things about Ryou’s parents. They say over and over that Ryou misses them, and they miss her too, but it sounds like they won’t come home soon. Clues that we got about them is that they tried getting security guards for Ryou, and her mother even offered to assign some to her and Kirin in a letter for Kirin, which Kirin freaked out about. Kirin asked her mother what Ryou’s parents do, and she says a city would cease to function without them. Kirin then asks Ryou, and she doesn’t give a clear answer, and only says that they’re probably the most important people in the world. Sooooo…ambassadors? Diplomats? ASSASSINS? I have no idea, I’m trying to piece it all together, but what the hell.
Part 2: Cutlet sandwiches. Our trio of friends go to the shrine and pray to pass their exams, while Shiina prays to be rich (my girl understands!). The girls buy some charms, and Shiina actually has some news to tell them. She took the recommendation exam for the same high school the girls are applying to, and she’s already passed. The girls are surprised, and Kirin is a little mad she never even told them about it. Shiina says you can’t rely on others, or even Gods, to help you with exams, you have to handle it yourself. The girls don’t really like her standoffish attitude, but they’re happy for her anyway.
They go off to eat some lunch, sandwiches that Tsuyuko made. Tsuyuko secretly made them with “good luck” aura, of course to help Shiina during her exams. And she even admitted that the sandwiches made her feel better. Kirin points out that she did have some help, and she has to realize that there’s nothing wrong with having some support. Well, they eat, then go back to pray one more time.
So the next day, Ryou and Kirin head out to take their exam, but run into Shiina. She made them lunch, the same cutlet sandwiches that Tsuyuko made. She wants them to eat them on their lunch break, and chants “Good luck.” really creepily in the station.
The only thing I got out of this episode is that Ryou’s parents must be some super secret spies or something, I keep thinking about this. There’s not much to talk about, as usual. Poor Ryou misses her parents, then the girls worry about exams, and that’s basically it. I’m not sure what else to say since there’s nothing that really popped out as important, except maybe Ryou’s parents, but that’s just me having fun imagining just what they are. Wouldn’t it be funny if Ryou really did have bodyguards? It really does make you wonder if she would have a different personality like Kirin was thinking. Also, when Kirin was reading the letter, there was a stuffed animal in the corner eating ramen, just like they were.
Next week will be the finale. I already have a good feeling how the show is going to end. Probably with Ryou and Kirin getting the results back from their exam and passing, and the three girls go to the same high school together, with the shy neighbor as their teacher. It’s all so predictable, I can see it now. And when that all happens, me and Hideki will finally be free.
