Lillian is awash with rumours. Is Sei Satou the author of a scandalous new novel, The Forest of Thorns? Gnawed by curiosity, Yumi and Yoshino attempt to find out if Suga Sei is really Rosa Gigantea’s pen name but those who know keep their lips sealed. There’s some tension and drama when the Forest of Thorns becomes, briefly, a school disciplinary issue with the threat of expulsion for our favourite character. Yumi and Yoshino gradually realize that it is not merely the similarity of the names but also events in the novel and Sei’s back story. Seeing their concern, Sei decides to tell them about how she loved and lost an angelic pure girl called Shiori Kubou.
Sachiko and Rei’s reluctance to talk were expressed rather differently but I suppose stemmed from respect for Sei’s privacy - if she wants others to know, she’ll do the talking herself. Which is exactly what happens.
Much Sei-Yumi fun in this episode so I went rather overboard with the screenies. (;^_^) Erica previously mentioned that she hadn’t expected Sei to be a lesbian because of her casual touchy-feely manner, as in her RL experience, most gay girls are terrified at being found out. Turns that Sei is, after all, very gay. One explanation for her behaviour is her general devil-may-care attitude i.e. not terrified of being found out. Another is that after the whole Shiori debacle, two thirds of the school at least and most of the staff probably already know.
The author turns out to be a Lillian alumnus, Kasuga Seiko and that the events of the novel took place so long ago that even rumours of it no longer remained. Sei gets plenty of screentime and also shows her melancholy side so I was plenty pleased. Her relationship with Shimako also continued to show its depth and unusual dynamic - especially the part when Shimako left Sei with Yumi and Yoshino and Sei saying that if Shimako wanted to stay, she would have done so without being asked. Next episode, Sei x Shiori!
This (and the next episode) are probably my two favourite episodes in an anime series ever. This episode builds things up nicely for flashback time in episode 11, and has some good moments in itself. Until these two episodes came along Sei to me always seemed the kind of person who couldn’t (at least visibly) be shaken by emotion, but some of the scenes in this and the next episode made her seem a lot more vunerable and even more likeable as a result. I look forward to your episode 11 post!