Haifuri Episode 6: In a Mined Pinch!

I was worried there for a bit.

Impression

So what was Akeno initially planning to do once she got to the Musashi? Was she just trying to catch a glimpse of Moka? I found it really strange that she seemed to realize after being thrown off the skipper that she wouldn’t be able to accomplish much more. I was also unsure of exactly what this episode was supposed to accomplish in terms of the wider plot, but it did highlight the strange underlying tension in the atmosphere on board the Harekaze, as well as the fact that there are differences in opinion that are slowly but surely starting to divide the crew members in a way that essentially boils down to a choice between Akeno and Shiro-chan as to who would make the better captain. Nanoha herself seems to be really struggling to maintain her smile as a result.

A lot of the girls probably just don’t want trouble, or think it can’t possibly be conducive to deepen this divide – girls like Maron, who broke up the potential argument before they all got into the bath. But there are some girls who do have an opinion, like Mina or Rin who think Akeno is fine the way she is, not least of all because they were saved because of her. The two girls she saved this episode are likely to join this camp. And then you have Kuro, who is as extreme a Shiromaniac as you can get. The way she constantly puts down Akeno (who only hangs her head in response because what she says is technically right) is actually really starting to get on my nerves. I mean, I love Shiro too, but that’s primarily because she’s super cute and not because of her ideals and orthodoxy. Yes, what Akeno does is not captain-like – especially last week, when she abandoned her own ship for personal reasons. But I don’t think what she did this episode to save the two stranded girls was such a bad thing – they’re also from the Harekaze. I can understand the whole ‘always on the deck’ rhetoric, but stuff like this shows that her heart is in the right place, right? And people are, and have been, saved because of her actions. Kuro or Shiro might have to have a near-death experience and be rescued by Nanoha before they’ll accept her way of doing things.

Now we also have more confirmation on the rats (as well as a potential antidote in the works). The rat’s blood carries some sort of weird virus, and it’s because of this virus got into Tama’s blood that she turned so aggressive and irrational. I’ll suspend my disbelief as to how Minami-san was able to produce an antibody (by sacrificing one of the rats it seems – there’s only one left in the cage now) since the bigger issue is how they’ll be able to get it across to all the infected ships, assuming that this will be the Harekaze’s next task once they communicate this to Principal Munetani. They’ve shot themselves in the foot by giving the Musashi a greater quantity of supplies than necessary. Even if they manage to get on board another ship without being blown to bits, how will they administer it to all the girls? Will based Isoroku help to save the day once more?

As usual, there seems to be a lot of light-heartedness even though they’re still in a dire situation and potentially an unknown location. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, I’m enjoying it now. Having a German food festival while being surrounded by dangerous leftover mines is just what I’ve come to expect, in fact. As well as a lot of implied lewd. They’ve been lewding Mina a lot lately for some reason – there was her excessive toilet paper use a few episodes ago, and today the top brass and engineering girls kept talking about ‘inches’ while the camera kept focusing on Mina’s boobs. Even the natto scene looked lewd. It’s so wrong, yet it feels so right.