Miyuki sets up Tamao and Nagisa to be Miator’s Etoile candidates and even gets Shizuma to endorse her decision. Nagisa has a whole crying fit as a result but is nannied by Chiharu. She then latches onto the idea of standing for Etoile with Tamao to forgot Shizuma.
After showing a lot of her crybaby side for the past few episodes, Miyuki is back on form as ruthless Student President. That way she operated was almost brutal. It’s for Nagisa’s long term good to forget about Shizuma. It’s better to tell her bluntly that Shizuma has agreed. Given the way Tamao and Shizuma were implicated by their acquiescence, Chiharu was the only authority figure left to soothe Nagisa’s hurt feelings.
Much happiness for Tamao as Nagisa asks her for her help and company in the Etoile selection. Quite a contrast to the manga where from the start, Shizuma frivolously uses the Etoile selection to deter rivals for Nagisa as well as an excuse to try and get into the clueless girl’s panties. Instead the anime seems to have turned the Etoile issue to show how Shizuma x Nagisa are really serious about each other and that they should be together.
Which will leave Tamao ditched at the altar in the final episode methinks. Despite Shizuma and Nagisa’s attempts to forget each other’s feelings for each other, I suppose the following episodes will just serve to emphasize how strained and ultimately impossible such an attempt will be. At least Tamao comes out of it with her integrity more or less intact. She was clearly most concerned about Nagisa’s emotional well being even though Miyuki came to her with a perfect proposal to get rid of her chief rival and irrevocably bind her with Nagisa.
The ending of this episode was pretty awful though and just reminded me how cheesy this series is. The focus on the stirrup three times or more was just too heavyhanded. Ok, ok, we get the omnious vibes already!
I’m in the midst of touching up the write-up for Ep22. I should be able to post it tomorrow in the Ep22 entry.
I however, would like to make it known that it finally took 23 episodes to put a stop to the Conspiracy of Suzumi Tamao. Technically speaking, I could spin a tale to fit the episode, but it would have been far too contrived, and when it is too contrived for Strawberry Panic, you know it is really, really contrived.
That said… I have a LOT of things to say about Ep23. I will just give you one random thought about it first…
Dramatic wind? Dramatic… WIND?
LMAO!
Cheers. :D
I didn’t mind the ending at all, in fact, I liked how Shizuma finally really tilted :)
No, I enjoyed episode 23 ALOT. Also, the way Shizuma’s farewell was first cruelly forced by Miyuki, grudgingly accepted by Shizuma and then fairly “professionally” executed by her - until she finally realized how much she cut Nagisa with it.
So what exactly rubbed you the wrong way in the end, Zyl? I don’t think I got what you wrote.
Mentar - It was Amane falling off her horse due to the stirrup breaking. I didn’t screencap it because I hated that scene so much. The Shizuma collapse bit was good.
Oh THAT. Of course, you’re right about that. Since I ignore parts with Blandie, it didn’t even register with me ^_^;
I thought you meant the Shizuma breakdown, which I considered in character, interesting and pretty well-done.
This episode made me feel that no more Shizuma x Nagisa pairing. Nagisa is stern with her decision.
This episode basically locked a Shizuma x Nagisa pairing, IMHO. No way around it anymore, poor Tamao. Otherwise the whole buildup and development would be in vain.
Nope, Shizuma wrecking the room only makes sense with the pairing concluded in the end.
Wow Mentar-san, you’re very positive :D I believe in you, afterall I really want Shizuma x Nagisa pairing.
Well, we could always have a Canvas2 Ending. ^^;
No we can’t >_<
Hmm… I ended up writing not as much as I thought I would about Ep23. I guess most of my thoughts were just strings of “LOL” or incoherent babble. Again, no episode summary, and as stated before, no more “Conspiracy of Suzumi Tamao”.
On to the actual write-up then.
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Episode 23:
Labyrinth
An episode filled with Tamao and Miyuki! Making this Strawberry Panic fan a happy camper. :) This is also the episode where we will have to say goodbye to the Conspiracy of Suzumi Tamao. The dialogue exchange between Miyuki and Tamao in this episode makes it too difficult to maintain that theory anymore. That said, everything is still open to analytical thinking. ;)
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Episode Highlights:
**) Miyuki reverting back to her cold and calculating MSCP persona. All we are missing is fist clenching, Shion-picture punching, and various other cliches to make this more endearing. Yes, endearing. It is endearing because it is refreshing to see a determined female character with a steely will.
**) Amane confirms that she is entering the Etoile elections. Gee, who would have thought that?
**) Chikaru entertaining her minions with puppets… and confirmation that Lulim is not sending out any representatives for the Etoile elections. Truly the School of Cuddles. A place where there are no conflicts and only bundles of love.
**) Miyuki making Tamao all flustered when she invaded her room and played hardball with Nagisa. A niggling snark at the back of my head makes me think that Miyuki just wants Shizuma for herself and intends to break all bonds between Shizuma and Nagisa.
**) Nagisa goes emo again and boo-hoo-ly runs out of the dorms. Tamao goes to the lake where she recited poetry to Nagisa, but Nagisa is nowhere to be found. As it turns out, Nagisa was at the tree where she first met Shizuma. Initial foreshadowing for a Shizuma & Nagisa ending.
**) Nagisa goes to the Greenhouse and finds Shizuma there, where Shizuma more or less tells Nagisa to forget about her. Nagisa of course, does not take this well and leaves the Greenhouse; while Shizuma probably went emo again and started smashing flower pots.
**) Chikaru comforting Nagisa by the lake. Sweet moment, and once again proving that Chikaru is the ONLY person that Tamao cannot sneak upon. Contrast this with the previous episode where Tamao interrupted Kagome. Dun-dun dun-dun!
**) Shizuma going emo and wrecking the room. I never knew pillow bashing could be so emo until I watched this scene. Oh, and no emo scene is complete without the complimentary blood flowing from one’s hand.
**) Please… PLEASE! Make me a happy camper! I want a Tamao & Nagisa ending!
**) You know, back in my Ep20 entry, when I jokingly talked about falling off a horse being the only way for a Hikari & Yaya ending, I never expected it to really happen. Does this mean I have the same cheesy wavelength as the scriptwriters?
That said… good grief. Talk about overdramatic. It could have been even more over the top, but what we already got is damn corny. To put it one way, “WE. GET. THE. POINT. ALREADY.”
**) What on Gaia’s good green Earth is Miyuki doing to Tamao and Nagisa in the Ep21 preview? o.O; Taking her dominating role a bit too seriously? The banter exchanged between Tamao and Nagisa was sweet too, with Tamao showing off the romantic side of her.
**) Ending eyecatch for this episode is Chikaru comforting Nagisa.
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Random Thoughts:
..) Tamao stayed up the whole night waiting for Nagisa? ;.;
..) “I AM THE LAW!” - Miyuki.
..) “Spica’s the Poison, and I’m the Cure.” - Miyuki
..) Badly needs a Gundam parody like what KGNE did.
Miyuki: “SHION!”
Shion: “MIYUKI!”
..) Episode 18 had dramatic crashing waves… episode 23 has dramatic gushing wind.
..) I have this awful, awful feeling that it will not be a Tamao & Nagisa ending. I am mentally preparing myself for the end.
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Cheers, and thanks for reading. :) Onwards to Episode 24!