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Minami-ke S1 E05 11m 12s Stitch

Yoshino, Chiaki, and Uchida arrive at the beach

"Let's Go to the Beach"

"Umi ni Ikō yo" (海に行こうよ)

Airdate: 4 November 2007

Internal Date: Either July or August 2007.

Previous Episode → 04

Next Episode → 06

Synopsis[]

It is really hot and the Minamis decide to take a trip to the beach, only to discover that their swimming suits are too small. Kana and Chiaki go buy swimming suits, and Kana buys Haruka a two piece swimming suit, which embarrasses her. Chiaki attempts to ward off the rain and the sisters and friends have fun at the beach.

Segment One[]

Minami-ke S1 E05 04m 47s

Haruka, in a spacesuit, underwater.

Minami-ke S1 E05 05m 37s

Haruka tries to take her swimsuit from Kana.

Minami-ke S1 E05 05m 51s Stitch Crop

Kana is determined to make this look as inappropriate as possible.

Minami-ke S1 E05 06m 03s

Haruka finally gets a look at her own swimsuit.

[Manga]It is a hot day, and despite their air conditioner, Kana complains about the heat before repeatedly pointing out the fact that it is summer. When Chiaki finally questions this behavior, Kana suggests that they go to the beach. Haruka asks for Chiaki's opinion and Chiaki approves, but when Haruka sets the date for next Sunday, Kana protests that Haruka only agreed because Chiaki wanted to go. Haruka changes the topic by mentioning that they need to find their swimsuits.

After a detailed search, they find the objects in question but they turn out to be much too small. Sitting around the table, they agree that it must be because they have all gotten older, and not because they have gotten fatter. Kana then takes Chiaki with her to buy swimsuits, telling Haruka to cook dinner. Haruka initially agrees, but then realizes she has gotten railroaded. Kana promises to buy one for her.

On the walk there, Kana comments that this would have never happened had they gotten two piece bikinis to start with since, after all, it was never a question of weight, but of height. Kana then says that they should buy Haruka a bikini with a top that can be taken apart, i.e. showing significant cleavage. Chiaki says that she must defend Haruka's dignity, but Kana calls Chiaki a child for failing to understand that for a high school girl, wearing something with too much coverage would only cause her to stand out among her peers. After making an analogy to a book by Jules Verne[Notes 1], Kana implies it is their duty to buy Haruka a revealing swimsuit, and Chiaki marvels at Kana's superior knowledge as a middle school student.[Quotes 1]

At dinner, Haruka asks to see the swimsuit they bought for her, and Kana states that she can only see it on the day of the trip, making it quite apparent that she purchased the revealing swimsuit at least partly for the purpose of embarrassing Haruka. After several failed attempts to confiscate it, Haruka makes a Serious Face and seizes it by force, prompting Kana to tease her by saying lines implying that Haruka is doing something quite different to her.[Quotes 2] Haruka then sees the extremely revealing swimsuit they bought for her, while Chiaki asserts that they did their best and Kana points out that Haruka will be unable to throw away Chiaki's gift and will have to wear it.[Notes 2]

Segment Two[]

Minami-ke S1 E05 08m 09s Stitch Cropped

Teru teru bozu Chiaki.

Minami-ke S1 E05 10m 35s

Chiaki covers for Kana's mistake.

Minami-ke S1 E05 10m 59s

Uchida, Yoshino, and Kana worship the godly Chiaki

Minami-ke S1 E05 11m 05s

The eyecatch following Segment Two

[Manga]It is raining heavily, which clearly displeases Kana. Haruka, on the other hand, comments on how soothing the sound of the rain is[Notes 3] and Chiaki agrees.

Kana then asks Chiaki how many days it's been raining and Chiaki answers three. Kana then points out that, tomorrow being Sunday, any continuation of rain would cancel their beach trip, and that this is not soothing at all. Chiaki says that the rain has ended the recent heat wave, thus satisfying the original purpose of the trip. Kana then says that the beach is her goal.

Haruka then recalls the swimsuit that she has been railroaded into wearing, and comments that it is satisfying enough just to listen to the rain. Chiaki again concurs, telling Kana to close her eyes and listen.

Kana continues to be stubborn, making a nonsensical protest about the rain making the concrete soggy. Haruka glances at the hanging laundry and seems to concur. Chiaki then orders the rain cloud to stop bothering Haruka with its rain.[Quotes 3] It begins to rain more heavily.

Kana then suggests they make a teru teru bozu[Cultural 1] Chiaki suppresses a laugh, which is noticed by Kana. Chiaki eventually admits she has, and Kana threatens to wrap Chiaki in some sheets and hang her somewhere as a human teru teru bozu. Chiaki dares her to do it...and Kana does.

As Kana and Haruka watch Sensei and Ninomiya-kun in the background, Chiaki protests her situation, but Haruka tells her to work hard and Chiaki realizes that Haruka is actually enjoying this. Kana tells Chiaki she's not getting down until it stops raining.

Chiaki tries saying various things, and discovers that flattering the rain cloud and politely asking it to leave will cause the rain to stop.[Quotes 4]Chiaki is finally let down, and she and Kana enjoy the now clear night. Suddenly it begins raining again, and Kana tells Chiaki to go back.

The next day, Uchida and Yoshino arrive to find Chiaki still tied up and the day sunny. Kana insults the rain cloud, causing it to almost start raining again. Chiaki praises the raincloud, forestalling the event.[Quotes 5]Uchida then decides to honor the clearly powerful teru teru bozu Chiaki, and the others follow her example, despite Chiaki's exhortations not to.[Notes 4][Memorable 1]

Segment Three[]

Minami-ke S1 E05 11m 57s

Kana bullies Chiaki.

Minami-ke S1 E05 12m 30s Stitch Crop

Kana, in destroying Uchida's sand castles, is either very careless, a horrible person, or getting revenge for the earlier incident with the watermelon.

Minami-ke S1 E05 12m 08s

Chiaki gets her revenge.

Minami-ke S1 E05 14m 57s

Haruka finally gives in.

Minami-ke S1 E05 15m 13s

Yoshino and Uchida are impressed.

[Manga]The group finally arrives at the beach as planned, and Kana quickly notices that Haruka is refusing to take off the T-shirt she is wearing over her swimsuit. Kana immediately grills Haruka about it, but Haruka says she needs time to prepare herself.

Various forms of beach entertainment follow, including a beach ball game where Kana repeatedly spikes the ball into Chiaki's face, and one where they attempt to bash open a watermelon blindfolded, except that Kana has been buried in the sand next to it and her head is exposed.[Cultural 2] Also, it turns out that Uchida is really good at making sand castles.

Kana tries, unsuccessfully, to sneak up to Haruka and take off her T-shirt by force, destroying Uchida's sand castle in the process. Haruka then puts on a jacket to dissuade further attacks.

Chiaki then ask Haruka, politely, to do so, but Haruka asks for more time. Kana then proposes that she and Chiaki have a competition to see who can get Haruka to take off her shirt first. They then perform an analogous recreation of the bale of The North Wind and the Sun, with Kana shining the sun onto her eyes with a mirror and Chiaki fanning her. Neither effort is successful. Kana then proposes that they pour water on her, and departs to collect said water, again demolishing Uchida's sand castle. Chiaki chases after her, protesting that it will only make Haruka angry.

At this moment, Maki, Atsuko, and Hayami show up unexpectedly, having spotted Haruka, apparently on a Vollyeball Club trip. They invite Haruka to join the beach volleyball game but Haruka demurs, saying she has to take care of her sisters.[Questions 1]

Haruka notes that her peers are all wearing fairly revealing swimsuits, and after only a brief moment thinking about it, and the fact that she would only stick out by trying to stay concealed, she finally takes off the shirt, just as Kana and Chiaki reappear. Haruka then joins them in their merriment, incidentally awing Yoshino and Uchida with her ample bust. They then agree that she is "Amazing", founding the "Haruka is Amazing" meme.[Notes 5]

Kana then asks Maki, Atsuko and Hayami how they managed to convince Haruka to take off her shirt.[Notes 6]

Segment Four[]

Minami-ke S1 E05 16m 13s

Chiaki bullies Kana with her foot.

Minami-ke S1 E05 18m 03s Stitch Crop

Chiaki hits Kana with her sandal.

Minami-ke S1 E05 19m 38s

Chiaki hits Kana with a seashell.

Having run out of the tea Haruka made, Haruka offers to go buy a drink. Chiaki and Yoshino offer to follow, but Kana forces Chiaki to stay and Uchida goes instead. Kana then says that she wishes to speak to Chiaki.

Kana explains that she feels that her sisters seem to be starting to love her less, judging by the way Haruka solicited Chiaki's opinion before going to the beach and the way Kana failed to get Haruka to take off her shirt. Chiaki acidly states that Kana's worth constantly drops, even as they speak. After Kana asks, Chiaki explains that Kana's worth has dropped from that of a patch of washed up kelp to that of a single lost beach sandal.

Kana seems hurt by the statement, but quickly vows to restore her honor. She explains that they have been entrusted with Uchida and Yoshino's welfare, and that if they drowned it would be a disaster. She picks up a lifesaver flotation ring and throws it, using it to retrieve the sandal, and explains that her worth must be skyrocketing. Chiaki says only her stupuidity is skyrocketing.

Kana then ties a rope to Chiaki, who asks if Kana now wishes her to be an umi bozu, a demon that capsizes ships. Kana explains that in the event of Uchida or Yoshino drowning, Chiaki would be expected to swim out and grab onto one of them, and then be pulled back by the rope. Chiaki then hits her with the sandal and hurls further insults, telling her to play alone with the forgotten sandal.

Wearing the sandal, Kana walks away in great despondency. Chiaki begins to think she has gone to for. Atsuko, Hayami, and Maki appear, asking why Chiaki is alone. Chiaki says she may have said too much to Kana.

The others return, and Chiaki begins trying to explain the situation. Kana, however, suddenly reappears, running with great energy carrying a giant shell she has found. She places it on Chiaki's head, saying she looks more like a kappa than a umi bozu. Chiaki hits her with the shell.

Segment Five[]

Minami-ke S1 E05 20m 30s

Haruka and Kana, if both were like Chiaki.

Minami-ke S1 E05 20m 44s Stitch

The three sisters, if they were all like Haruka.

Minami-ke S1 E05 21m 50s

Chiaki is pleased that Haruka likes the cracker she gave her.

Minami-ke S1 E05 22m 05s

Kana (22:05): "Kappa."

Minami-ke S1 E05 22m 07s

Chiaki hits Kana with a bowl of crackers.

[Manga]Back at home, Kana picks up the phone, having received a call from Yoshino. Yoshino says she got red sunburned skin from all the time they spent outside, and Kana immediately tells her that this implies she will go bald in the future.

Chiaki seizes the phone from Kana and reassures Yoshino that Kana was lying. Yoshino comments that Chiaki and her sisters are quite different, before continuing to ask about their home education class the next day.

As Kana fans herself in front of the air conditioner,[Notes 7] Chiaki wonders aloud why the three of them are different. Kana comments that if they were all like Chiaki, then things would be bad, and imagines the scene.[Quotes 6] Haruka then imagines what it would be like if all three sisters were like her and realizes there'd be nothing to do and she'd get lazy.

At that moment, Uchida calls.[Notes 8] Uchida says her skin was peeling everywhere because of the sunburns she received, and Kana tells her that too much peeling will cause her to get shorter. Chiaki again seizes the phone and tells Uchida that Kana is an idiot. Uchida comments that it must be fun having interesting sisters, before asking about their PE class the next day.

Back at the kotatsu, Haruka comments that she loves having two sisters so different from her, causing a moment of great warmth. Chiaki gives a cracker to Haruka, who comments that it's delicious. Kana gets jealous of Chiaki's closeness with Haruka, and tries to give a cracker to Chiaki, who refuses. Kana then places the bowl on Chiaki's head and calls her "Kappa".[Notes 9] Chiaki hits her with the bowl.[Memorable 2]

Manner of Adaptation[]

Except for the original segment four, adaptation was generally faithful, with minor embellishments, primarily for comedic effect. However, segment two was not originally related to the beach trip, and was modified to fit the timeline. Segment four is consistent with the characters involved.

Fan Reaction[]

Reaction to the episode was extremely positive, with plaudits for teru teru bozu Chiaki, the beach fan-service, and the frequent Chiaki violence.

Referbacks[]

Notes[]

  1. Specifically, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.
  2. This segment is perhaps one of the best pieces of evidence for Kana's social skills and possible secret intelligence. Kana successfully manipulates Chiaki and Haruka in such a way as to force Haruka to wear a revealing swimsuit, make fun of Haruka's embarrassment, and quite possibly help Haruka over her shyness, since Kana's explanation to Chiaki about high school students is probably true.
  3. possibly motivated by the possibility of not having to confront the swimsuit problem originated in Segment One, since further rain would postpone the beach trip.
  4. This entire segment with the teru teru bozu is probably the series's greatest departure from realism, since it seems to suggest that Chiaki really has power over the rain, and that tying her up to form a teru teru bozu is perfectly normal hi-jinks and not a form of child abuse, especially if Chiaki was really left overnight, as the scene probably implied. In addition, Yoshino and Uchida's reactions were unusually mild.
  5. See Minami Haruka#Basic Facts
  6. Kana has, of course, been proven entirely correct in regards to the analysis of high school peer pressure she gave in the previous segment, even if she doesn't seem to realize it.
  7. Incidentally having the episode come full circle from the first segment.
  8. On both the caller ID, and in Kana's direct addressing of Uchida, this is the first time in the series Uchida's name is used and revealed. This is also true of the corresponding Minami-ke Chapter 019.
  9. Repeating what she did earlier with the shell in segment four.

Trivia[]

Cultural References[]

  1. A small hung doll talisman which supposedly wards off the rain.
  2. This beach game, where a blindfolded person attempts to find and whack open a watermelon with a pole, guided by the comments of the onlookers, is a staple of anime beach episodes, to the point of clicheness. Indeed, involving Kana's head is minor subversion of this. In reality, this game is probably very rare.

Unanswered Questions[]

  1. This sets up a direct contradiction with Minami-ke Episode 04#Segment Five, since even though this episode chronologically predates episode four, Maki and Atsuko clearly know about Haruka's sisters in this episode, and even see their faces. In episode four, however, Maki has no clue about them, and Atsuko implies she has never seen them. No such problem exists in the manga, which does not establish such a chronology.

Memorable Moments[]

  1. This scene with teru teru bozu Chiaki is one of the most memorable of the series, and almost iconic of the series.
  2. This scene was memorable for its great deal of family warmth.

Quotes[]

  1. Kana (04:28): "You don't understand at all. Alright, for a female high school student, that amount of exposure is obligatory, or else it'd be unnatural. Think about it. While everyone else is revealing their nice figures, Haruka will be the only one wearing something like a spacesuit underwater. She'd stand out a lot. And everyone will ask 'How many leagues are you planning to dive?' Do you want to embarrass Haruka? The least we can do is buy her something revealing, so she won't be made fun of."
    Chiaki: "As expected of a middle schooler, the existence closest to a high schooler."
  2. Kana (05:49): "No, please don't!"
    Haruka: "Come on, just a little?"
    Kana: Forcing me to do these things... It's so..."
    Haruka, grabbing the swimsuit bag: "Please stop saying those strange things."
  3. Chiaki (07:34): "Hey, Rain Cloud! You are bothering Haruka-nee-sama. Let some sun shine, baka-yaro!"
  4. Chiaki (08:35): "Rain Cloud-san, Rain Cloud-san. You've done enough. Go Away." (rain intensifies)
    Haruka: "It seems to be raining harder..."
    Kana: "What will we do if you piss of Rain Cloud? Be politer!"
    Chiaki: "Rain-Cloud-san, thanks to you, the local environment is well-watered. Please move on." (rain weakens)
    Haruka: "It's stopping..."
    Kana: "Good, just little more!"
    Chiaki: "Three days and two nights, you've been working overtime, Rain Cloud-sama. Please rest so you don't dehydrate." (rain stops)
  5. Kana: "Never come back, Rain Cloud! I hate you!" (rain clouds suddenly gather)
    Chiaki: "Idiot, what are you-Ah,Rain Cloud-san, I apologize. That was a lie. There's no way anyone could hate you. We love you!" (rain clouds leave)
  6. Kana (20:28), in an imagined rendition where all three sisters are like Chiaki: "Oi, bakayarou."
    Haruka: "What is it, bakayarou?"
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