Minami-ke Episode 07

Mako-chan, embarrassed.

"Various Faces"

"Iroiro na Kao" (いろいろな顔)

Airdate: 18 November 2007

Internal Date: Sometime in October 2007, after the 14th.

Previous Episode → 06

Next Episode → 08

Synopsis

This episode introduces Hiroko and Yuu.

Witnessing the transformation that Mako-chan has gone through, Kana wishes to help others transform as well. Kana trains Chiaki's friends to spot suspicious men, including her own cousin, Takeru. Later, she learns about Haruka's legendary Banchou past, an excerpt of which is shown.

Segment One

Kana punishes Mako-chan.

Mako-chan writhes on the floor.

Uchida, embarrassed.

^[Manga]Mako-chan and Uchida are at the Minami Residence having tea and snacks. Mako-chan quickly finishes his portion and asks Haruka for more. Kana warns her that Mako-chan would find anything she makes delicious. Haruka interprets this as a deleterious comment about the quality of her snacks. Mako-chan tells Kana to apologize, but she quickly subdues him.

Kana proceeds to bully him briefly about his new set of clothes. When he explains that he bought it at the supermarket, Kana is surprised and throws him to the floor. She then sits back down and comments to Chiaki that people can change dramatically, explaining that after she removed Mako-chan's inhibitions, he continued down the path on his own.She comments that she is happy with her work and begins to tell Chiaki to wear whatever makes her happy, regardless of any social considerations. She, however, finds that Chiaki has started ignoring her by reading a book.

Kana is briefly annoyed, but then notices the squirming Mako-cha revealing a little too much under his skirt by opening his legs. Kana tells him not to do so, prompting Uchida to look and immediately cringe away.

At this moment, Haruka returns to find Mako-chan seated meekly, Uchida embarrassed, and the other two wearing strange expressions. She wonders what is going on.

At school, Kana continues to ruminate on how she wants to help someone change. She decides to try and get Keiko to take off her glasses so that she can visualize what kind of clothes would suit her. She begins to think about what it would take to get Keiko to take off her glasses.

Riko tells Kana that she is making a stupid-looking face, asking her if she is sick.

Kana launches into a tirade against Riko, saying first that she was in deep thought, and second that Riko shouldn't judge a person by their appearance, and that a mask can hide a person's true self, as she saw just yesterday. Riko, hurt, says she was only concerned about Kana and leaves.

Cued by Riko's comment about her having a stupid face, Kana decides that she needs to think about her problem with a "smart face". To this end, she asks Keiko to lend Kana her glasses so Kana can look smart while thinking. Despite being struck by the absurdity of this request, Keiko does as asked. Briefly surprised by the optical warping properties of Keiko's lenses, Kana begins to spout nonsense in a pedantic tone. Kana is surprised by her own suddenly "smarter" tone, despite Keiko's spoken doubts.

Kana sits back down, pleased that she can now look smart while thinking. Focusing on her original plan, she wonders how to get Keiko to take off her glasses. Riko asks Keiko what happened to her glasses and Kana suddenly realizes the obvious.

Segment Two

The four girls listen attentively

Takeru tries to remember what he was doing two months ago.

Takeru is pinned down.

Money is the key to winning Uchida over

Kana drives her point home.

^[Manga]Takeru, on a bullet train to the Minami residence, talks on the phone with his mother, mentioning that he protects the Minami sisters. However, when a stewardess informs him that cell phone calls are not allowed in the main area of the train, he immediately belies any possible imputation of competence by dropping his phone while apologizing, then dropping his laptop while trying to get up to pick up his cell phone.

Meanwhile, at the Minami household, Kana is giving "self-defense training" to four of Chiaki's classmates, as supposed gratitude for being her friends. Chiaki chooses to ignore this, reading a book.

Kana starts by saying that she is most worried about Uchida. Uchida protests that Kana's concern is unnecessary. Kana proceeds to grill her by first asking if she should follow an unknown man who asks her to. Uchida says no. Kana tells her that he has candy. Uchida ignores this. Kana then says she has 10000 yen, prompting Uchida to react slightly. This, of course, means she fails the test.

Kana pushes her over, telling her not to react to the money, and instructs the other girls that no sum of money should ever cause them to change their answer. She then goes off on a completely irrelevant tangent, asking Yoshino what would be the result of a fight between 100 Fuzukawa-senseis and 1000 Noguchi-senseis. Catching the mathematical analogy, Yoshino correctly answers that it would be a tie.

Betraying that she was only pretending not to pay attention, Chiaki tells Kana to apologize to both senseis.

The unnamed girl with short hair then raises her hand and asks a question: Namely, the other day an unknown man called to her to come over, but he looked vaguely familiar, and she wasn't sure if she knew him. Kana interrupts her, telling her that she has created a disturbing atmosphere, and that she has found someone more worrisome than Uchida.

Kana then tells them she has a sure-fire way of telling if a man is a stranger or not.

At this moment, someone rings the doorbell, Haruka goes to get the door, and Takeru's voice is heard.

Kana tells them they should ask "Takeru-oji-san, has it been two months already? How is your health?" and that the man's reaction will give it again. Chiaki abandons her book entirely to listen, and point out that she used the name "Takeru".

In passing, Takeru gives Haruka a gift from Nagoya.

When Takeru enters the room, all four girls immediately ask him the question that Kana gave them. Confused, he begins to imagine dance clubs and bars.

The girls briefly discuss whether Takeru is suspicious or not. Kana confidently asserts her superior experience, but then realizes that, though they call Takeru "oji-san", she does not recall how Takeru is related to them. She asks her sisters, causing consternation on Takeru's part, but neither of them remember.

This causes the girls to conclude he is a stranger, and they immediately tackle him and pin him to the ground.

Meanwhile, Haruka calls a family member, learning that he is, in fact, their mother's eldest sister's son, or a cousin. On this revelation, Kana remembers that once, a long time ago, Chiaki called him Oji-san ("Uncle"), and the name stuck. Kana says he may be the one who gives them 10000 yen on New Year's, and Takeru agrees. Kana then adds that he might be the one who only gives 5000 yen. This prompts Uchida to react, again, to the money.

Kana then pushes Uchida on the forehead with a finger, warning her again that no amount of "Higuchi-senseis" is equal her worth.

Takeru says he's saved, and Haruka agrees amiably, but Takeru reminds them that they forgot about him also.

Segment Three

Sensei and Ninomiya-kun both have amnesia.

The car swerves to hit them again.

On the Sensei and Ninomiya-kun show, Sensei now also has amnesia. The nurse finds that they have both escaped during the night, delirious. The doctor and nurse chase them down, again to the intersection where they were hit by cars, and it is again raining. They begin to cross the street, another car approaches, and the doctor heroically runs out to block the car and tell it to stop, but this backfires, causing the car to swerve and hit Sensei and Ninomiya-kun. This is the end of the episode.

Kana complains about the repetitive plot, and Chiaki says that this plot repetition is the result of laziness, telling Haruka to call and complain.

Segment Four

Yuu and Hiroko

The Legend.

The Reality.

The Reaction.

Banchou Haruka destroys the school windows.

Banchou Haruka destroys those who dare attack her.

The book of legends.

^[Manga]At school, Kana is searching for a book in the library when she encounters Fujioka. She questions his presence there, and he defensively comments that he reads from time to time. When he asks about Kana, however, Kana acts insulted and insists she is a diligent reader. She then says that the Banchou being in the library is a stain on his reputation.

At this moment, Hiroko and Yuu walk by, overhearing part of the conversation. Hiroko comments to Yuu that there is apparently another Banchou besides Yuu in the school, but Yuu insists she wants no part of the title.

They then sit down at a table, and Hiroko regales Kana with a tale about the legend of the Banchou, explaining that when the two of them were first-years, there was a legendery Banchou in the school, and that afterwards, it became tradition to choose a new Banchou every year, making Yuu the third generation. Yuu's disparaging comments make clear that it is really Hiroko who sustains this tradition.

Kana asks about the first Banchou, and Hiroko explains that when she graduated, she left behind myriad legendary tales, and that her name was Minami Haruka.

This shocks Fujioka, but makes Kana barely able to surpress her laughter.

Then, in counterpoint, Hiroko and Yuu recall some of the legends, with Hiroko giving the distorted version passed down by the students, and Yuu giving the more accurate rendition, showing the distorted version to be practically a fabrication by those invested in perpetuating the legend.

Unable to contain herself, Kana demands a notebook from a passing Keiko, in which Hiroko writes down every single Banchou legend she can recall.

Once again, Yuu offers to ceded the Banchou title she doesn't want to Fujioka, but Kana suggests that the two of them fight for a title using rock-paper-scissors.

Yuu hints to Fujioka strongly that she will play scissors on her first turn. A hapless Fujioka, not realizing what he is getting himself into, uses this information to win and become fourth Banchou, just as Yuu planned. Kana, having realized what has happened, calls Fujioka weak, and Yuu gleefully prepares to leave, asking Kana's name.

Kana reveals that she is the little sister of the first legendary Banchou. Despite her previous insistence on the banality of the real Haruka, Yuu shakily asks how she is doing nowadays, and Kana tells them that "Every day is a legend!"

Without that, Yuu and Hiroko depart, and Kana explains to Fujioka that she didn't want to ruin their image of Haruka.

At home, Kana tells Chiaki that she was unable to find the book Chiaki wanted in her school library, but that she found another interesting book. Chiaki comments on how rare an occurence this is. Kana opens the notebook from earlier and reads one of the stories contained therein, prompting Haruka to drop a dish in the kitchen. Haruka appears in the doorway, asking Kana very kindly to come over so they can have a discussion, presumably so Haruka can censor whatever it is Kana thinks she knows. The camera zooms in on the notebook, which is titled "Minami Haruka Legends".

Segment Five

Skirt pulling is apparently a school tradition.

Haruka does not like being called Banchou.

Haruka is shocked.

Haruka thinks the Banchou may be a nice person.

Haruka believes this vase needs water.

Haruka drops the vase.

A younger Kana and Chiaki.

Chiaki hasn't really changed at all.

Two years ago, a noticeably younger Hiroko shows up to transmit the latest Banchou legend to Yuu, the very one Kana read aloud to Haruka in section four, her throwing a water-filled vase a math teacher who was sexually harrassing her. When Yuu feigns disinterest, despite Hiroko mentioning how important it is for Yuu's "future duties", Hiroko feigns leaving, causing Yuu to pull her back and admitting wanting to know.

The day before, Haruka's class is cleaning her classroom, when her various classmates start calling her Banchou. She tells them, for what is clearly not the first time, to stop calling her that, but her classmates tell her that at this point everyone is used to it, and that it is not all that different from being "linchou" (class representative). In anger, Haruka uses her command aura on some of the students around her, one of whom is asking about a vase, scaring them into submission. This, of course, causes everyone else to be in awe, and she realizes that she has only perpetuated the legend.

Her classmates then explain that it's too much work and too dispiriting to tell the truth to the eager underclassmen who come to ask about the legendary Banchou.

Later, her math teacher calls her in to talk. The teacher explains that he has heard that there is a Banchou in the school, clearly under the impression that the Banchou is the more traditional type who commits violence and flouts school rules. He asks her, as class rep, to aid him in his search for the Banchou.

Unwilling to admit that she is the Banchou in question, Haruka attempts to argue that the Banchou may in fact be unwilling and harmless, but the teacher views this as a warm-hearted defense of a fellow student, and refuses to accept this. The teacher continues to disparage the unsavory acts the Banchou is surely committing, the whole time banging the table and threatening to cause the vase next to him to topple over.

Haruka desperately changes the subject and, glancing at a book being read by another teacher, happens upon the idea of pretending to be a palm reader. She grabs his hand and informs him that this week, he will meet his destined lover. After a moment of awkwardness, the teacher buys it, and starts dorkily demanding she tell him who the woman will be like, asking more and more unrealistic questions.

Again changing the topic, Haruka grabs the flower vase next to her with the shriveling flowers. When the teacher insists that she keep reading his palm, she tells him that that kind of carelessness might dissuade a destined lover.

At that moment, one of the students shows up and calls her "Banchou", startling her into dropping the vase into his head.

On their way home from school, a much-younger Kana tells Chiaki about a Banchou she heard about in the middle school. Chiaki disparages this, saying that Banchous are only legends.

Manner of Adaptation

Adaptation from the manga was again quite faithful, with only the original content deviating markedly from the manga. The original content is a quite reasonable extrapolation and fits easily into the canon.

Fan Reaction

Fan reaction was generally positive, with the episode considered a continuation of generally high quality, though perhaps without as much epicness as the previous episode.