This week’s episode featured two of my lesser-liked characters, but I thankfully ended up liking this episode more than I thought I would going into it.
In the first half of the episode, Hakumei, Mikochi and Konju go underwater exploring in Sen’s submarine. It’s a clear globe with some wooden seating inside, and Sen’s fish skeleton Simon is piloting. He’s hooked up to Konju’s tambourine, and she’s powering the sub by playing the tambourine.
Sen and Konju repeatedly butt heads because Konju doesn’t take her task seriously. She either plays too fast or too slow, and at one point she plays so quickly that Simon gets tired. Both ladies make snarky comments to each other without getting into a full-blown fight with each other, and yeah it was a little awkward to watch. (Conflict is something I have a hard time dealing with thanks to my anxiety, so I’m glad they didn’t actually fight.)
Where was Hakumei? Well, umm… she spent most of the episode on the sub floor, looking rather seasick (although she was just REALLY not happy to be underwater because she can’t swim, if I remember correctly.)
When Simon sets the sub down on the bottom of the lake (?), the ladies break for lunch. Mikochi tries to facilitate a group conversation, but Sen and Konju are still irritated with each other and so it ends up again being an awkward situation.
But after lunch when they try to move again, Simon won’t budge. Sen dons her diving gear and examines the sub and Simon; her diagnosis is that Simon is “frightened” because of how deep they sank. So, how to make him not afraid again?
Konju gets the idea of singing. Maybe if she and Mikochi will sing together, Simon might feel more encouraged to swim again. The idea shows some promise when Simon wiggles a little, but doesn’t leave the lake bottom. Mikochi and Konju encourage Sen to join in, and the chorus becomes “la la la” so that Sen can follow along (she can’t sing properly).
And it works! Simon begins to swim again, and the ladies are out of danger. Safe and sound at last! Hakumei joins in but she’s so off-key that Simon’s swimming suffers a little. ^^;;
Later Konju has a performance somewhere in town, and Mikochi, Sen and Hakumei stop by to listen. Konju decides to sing one last song: the song she wrote for Sen, called “Rhythm of the River Bottom.” It’s a beautiful, quiet song very befitting of Sen.
In the second vignette, Mikochi has decided she is making Sen some new clothes. Mikochi asks Sen to pick a pattern that she likes from her collection of cloth, but when Sen shyly implies she doesn’t like any of them, Hakumei suggests that they dye some for her. Sen like darker colors, especially shades of indigo.
So the clothes become a group effort. Hakumei takes Sen along to find the materials needed to make the dye, while Mikochi sets them up in the dye pot and works with Sen to find a design her friend likes. Except that Sen is more concerned about functionality while Mikochi is drawn to what’s “cute”, so they butt heads a little. ^^;;
But they are finally able to pick a design, and once the cloth is dyed correctly Mikochi starts putting together Sen’s new outfit. She sews a really neat bone motif on the robe, and there are some sound lamps tied into the necktie area of the cloak. Mikochi thinks the new clothes turned out great, and Sen appears to be happy with them.
As Hakumei and Mikochi head home in the dark, Mikochi hopes that Sen will actually wear her new clothes. And as we see soon after, Sen does indeed. 🙂
Sen comes across as a rather strict, aloof character, making her sometimes hard to get along with. She likes things done her way, and she gets frustrated or upset when they’re not. She often sticks within her comfort zone but can be persuaded to leave it if coaxed gently. However deep down she’s a good person; she just takes some warming up to.
Both of these episodes had their share of awkwardness and conflict, but I’m glad both situations had a positive resolution. We’ve got 3 more episodes left in the season, so I wonder if we’ll see the return of more existing characters or if new ones will be introduced. (Oh main that hairdresser! I’d love to see her again, she’s funny.)
Author’s Note: I apologize for not thinking to do this sooner. For those who don’t know, I work nights. And when I get home in the morning around breakfast, I have only a small window in the morning to early afternoon in which to shower, eat, run errands as needed, and blog. Some mornings I get home and try to write and I fall asleep in my computer chair. x_x;
So, this is to let you know that if you are following my ‘Hakumei to Mikochi’ reviews, they’ll usually be posted Sundays or Mondays. I aim for Sundays but on the days that I’m super tired I usually only get half a review done at a time so it ends up taking a little longer, and that’s when it’ll show up (no later than) Monday afternoon. Thank you for your patience and your understanding.