Houkago no Pleiades Episode 2

Would it be strange for me to say I was pleased to see Subaru’s and Aoi’s conflict continue into this episode? Last week I didn’t feel much about it because it felt like it was just there and done with. But I have to say, this week’s episode made it stronger and added more depth to it. Rather than simply keeping it a cheesy misunderstanding, they took a step further, making the time they have been separated count. After being on their own for a while, once they were back together and resolved the misunderstanding, it was still difficult for both of them, especially Subaru to get back to normal again. They have both changed and in ways stayed the same since they have last saw each other, and it was emotional for Subaru when Aoi remembered the things she liked, and so on. The reason why I liked it is because it felt natural, and it’s something that happens to everyone at some point in their lives, so most of us can relate to it and understand their difficulty.

It was entertaining to see the girls struggle and adapt to the situation they are in. The alien was initially only trying to summon one of the girls to the school, but for some reason all of them were magically transferred there. We learn of an on-going issue where each of the girls’ threads of fate seem to be converging in the present world they are in. The girls are puzzled about Aoi’s and Subaru’s unique case since they are the only ones who already knew each other. If I understood correctly, the possible cause responsible for Aoi’s and Subaru’s misunderstanding was because of the trouble the Prez’s spaceship had encountered. If they are not in their designated world, then it may explain how they both misunderstood (assuming Aoi had no idea this is a different world than the one she and Subaru were previously in until now). Supposedly the story goes back seven years, but we will have to wait another day to hear about it.

One of the most humorous parts of the episode was how every time they would try to have a meeting, they would be interrupted by someone or laughed at/judged by their peers. Eventually Hikaru came up with the idea to submit a Club Form so that they could get themselves a club room for themselves, which she had submitted as: Cosplay Research Club and succeeded.

Other than the clutter of information dump (no joke, it was a blur of information), the activity of the day was teaching Subaru how to ride the Driver Shaft. None of the girls really had a clue how to teach her, but Aoi took the more logical step and had her work on gaining hours of experience, and by the end of the week she unofficially gets her license.

Finally, we have Minato. He is an interesting guy who ironically gives good advice revolving around friendship but has no idea what friends are. I look forward to learning more about his character since we only had the chance to know about him on the surface. I like how he uses his wits, and takes advantage of the girls doing the hard work and then snatches the Fragment away for himself. We don’t know why he needs them, or why claim they belong to him (though I may have a faint idea of what it possibly is based on my hazy memory, but I am not going to think too much of it, simply because it’s better for me not to remember. If I had to choose, I would rather be surprised than spoiled with my memories of the ONA.), but I enjoy the rivalry and how it appears he doesn’t seem to remember (?)  being the girls’ rival, or perhaps he is simply avoiding bringing it up. It looks like we might learn more about it next week- or at least I hope we do. I enjoy Subaru’s interactions with Minato, and it was adorable how he identified her curls as cute horns.