hontou ni sou omou?

Wow. This episode is focused on Primula’s predicament and its effect on the rest of the cast but Asa-chan really shone through. I am well pleased with the dramatic turn of the series and how the various SHUFFLE! game backstories are tying together.

Rin accidentally overhears Foebeshii and Eustoma’s discussion and realises that not only was his unlocking of her emotions responsible for her condition, he was also complicit in sending Primula on a one-way ticket back to Hell, to loneliness and condeming her to an impending reset of her memories and emotions. Crushed by guilt and helplessness, he finds himself haunted by Primula’s empty room and Kaede’s deep sadness as well as feeling betrayed by Shia and Nerine’s silence.

After finding out the details from Kaede, Asa-chan runs after Rin. She gets him to calm down and snaps him out of his guilt by shouting at him, telling him that it was not his fault since he did not know how it would turn out. She reminds that Rin had tried his best to look after Primula and had even caused her smile. Rin realises that he sees Primula as family and that he wants to meet her again.

With Asa-chan in tow as winggirl, he tells the other three girls about his intentions. Kaede remains morosely irresolute while Shia and Nerine raise all kinds of wait-and-see objections. Asa-chan gives them all a piece of her mind, finding it incredulous that they all aspire to be his lover, yet they cannot see that he is in terrible pain at being unable to help and protect his loved ones and are unwilling to support him. Rin acknowledges that Asa-chan helped him to realise this and what he should do. This brings Kaede and Shia around but Nerine snaps and runs out. At Asa-chan’s prompting, Rin runs after her. They meet in the playground and it looks like the next episode will reveal the Nerine-Liquorice-Primula backstory.

Kaede, Shia, Nerine - you have just all been pwned by Shigure Asa-sempai. 50+ screen caps ahoy! (For a more balanced set of screenshots, see Omni’s entry).

Looks like Asa-chan had heard about Primula’s illness and return (from who?) but hadn’t heard the details. Kaede doesn’t seem very emotionally strong and although she doesn’t mean to, her sadness is adding to Rin’s emotional burden. And from the dream sequence in ep 5, we know that Rin hates to see Kaede sad. Asa-chan is probably told the whole story about Primula and, from game knowledge, this is also something that strikes at her core, going somewhat to explain some of her emotional yet reasoned outbursts later.

It was a bit surprising that Asa-chan reacted so forcefully when the stereotypical reaction might have been offering words of comfort and reason in a less loud voice. But it is completely in keeping with Asa-chan’s genki bokkuko character and the way she admires Rin’s kindness and compassion. Reinforcing this is her backstory from which she would very likely have a fair amount of sympathy for Primula’s situation.

IMO Asa-chan’s ticking off of the Rin-lover-wannabes firmly establishes her as the most suitable girl for Rin at this juncture in the series. She is still very much the dark horse and undeclared candidate for Rin’s final choice and there is no indication that this episode sees her rising, as his lover of choice, in Rin’s eyes but I think she has established her right and compatiability beyond doubt. Yes, I am completely biased but I offer the following arguments:

Firstly, with this episode, her other competitors will realise that she understands Rin best. Secondly, she has been selfless in helping them in their quest for Rin, both openly (e.g. teaching Nerine to cook in ep 4, telling Rin not to worry about her and enjoy himself with Shia in ep 9) and more significantly and sincerely, without their knowledge (e.g. reminding Rin that Shia and Nerine had come all the way to the human world to see him in ep 2, telling him to provide love medicine for Kaede’s weak heart in ep 5). Thirdly, the backstory problems of the other girls are not really big pluses for a relationship with Rin while Asa-chan’s backstory promises the best dramatic potential if she and Rin become a couple.

Looking forward to see how things develop. Personally I feel that Nerine is the strongest competitor to Asa so how the next episode will be important to see how the lovestakes develop.

Again, I humbly request that spoiler material from the SHUFFLE! game be discussed in my game posts rather than here in the anime posts.