Title: "It's Over..." (おしまいです...)
Date Aired: 24 July 2008
Previous Episode --> 02
Next Episode --> 04
Synopsis
The final exams draw near in Hakujou Academy, and Haruka decides to invite Yuuto to her house for a pair study session. Yuuto accepts her offer, but ends up getting lost due to Haruka's hand-drawn map to her house the next day. Later, he meets a girl with ponytailed hair who gave him a better map towards his destination. She leaves shortly after, telling him of her anticipation of seeing him later.
Yuuto reaches Haruka's house and, for a few moments, was shocked at the sheer size of Haruka's residence. He is then welcomed by a serious-looking woman dressed in a maid costume, who guides him on the way towards Haruka's house.
| The Nogizaka Residence | |
|---|---|
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Haruka's estate consists of a mini-forest that acts as a maze which keeps intruders at bay and is the primary "defense" of their residence. |
After a long and seemingly exhausted walk, Yuuto and his guide arrive at Haruka's room, where Haruka herself welcomes Yuuto. Yuuto manages to shrug off the fatigue the half-hour walk gave him but admits that it was a difficult feat, a feat that doesn't even affect his guide. Before the maid leaves for their tea, Haruka introduces her as Sakurazaka Hazuki, the head maid of the family.
Upon entering Haruka's enormous room, Yuuto notices the clear lack of anime merchandise; Haruka tells him that it is because her hobby is a secret, even to his parents.
Soon, Haruka and Yuuto begin studying. Despite his eagerness, Yuuto was constantly thinking of dirty thoughts, mostly because Haruka's parents are away. This escalates to Yuuto's and Haruka's face becoming intimately close when the former's eraser accidentally fell from the table and both reached for it.
Their moment was interrupted by a loud bang of the door; Hazuki watched as the girl Yuuto met earlier and another maid fell to the floor. Out of shock, Haruka and Yuuto unwillingly exposed the closeness between them by calling each other by their first names. After the new faces apologize, they introduce themselves as Nogizaka Mika, Haruka's younger sister, and Nanashiro Nanami, third-ranking of the Nogizaka family maids.
Mika decides to talk to Yuuto about Haruka's secret and how her sister was acting lately. Yuuto tried to deny what she knew, but Mika soon shows her sincerity to Yuuto. Mika admits that she knows of her sister's hobby, and her father is the only one oblivious to the situation. The younger Nogizaka then asks him to promise to never abandon her sister, which he affirms.
The final exams ended the next day; after the grueling test, Haruka takes the time to invite Yuuto to Natsukomi (or the Summer Comiket). Yuuto decides to join her in the Odaiba-held event.
Suddenly, an accident caused Haruka's bag to spill its contents; including the catalog for the upcoming Natsukomi. The shock from the sudden exposure caused her to skip class for the next few days. In the third day, Yuuto recollects on what happened to Haruka at the moment of the accident; after the Comiket catalog was exposed to the students, Yuuto manages to divert the blame to himself by telling the witnesses that he himself owned the catalog. Because of this, he endures the day becoming a source of disgust for the rest of the class.
That night, Yuuto visits Haruka, only to be confronted by Nanami, Hazuki and Mika. Yuuto tells them what really happened and they were relieved to find out that her secret is still safe, though she stayed inside her room for three days. Mika manages to lure out Haruka by using Yuuto as bait, but Haruka closes her room yet again due to embarrassment.
Yuuto stops Hazuki from using her personal chainsaw to break through Haruka's room and talks to Haruka about the incident. Yuuto also remembers Mika's confession about Haruka's past, which involved her secret being exposed to her classmates in middle school and being outcast because of it.
Later, Yuuto enters Haruka's room to talk to her personally. Haruka expresses her concern for Yuuto now that he shoulders the treatment of being an otaku in her behalf. Yuuto assures Haruka that he is fine despite being treated badly by his classmates and points out that she is not alone since he is by her side and he promises to never leave her whatever happens.
The next day, Haruka finally attends the last days of class before summer vacation.
Adapted From
Trivia
New Characters
- Hazuki Sakurazaka - the head maid of the Nogizaka Family. She is a woman of a few words and is always calm and collected.
- Mika Nogizaka - Haruka's younger sister. She is childish and playful and usually victimizes Yuuto with her antics on their first interactions. Despite this, she cares for her elder sister.
- Nanami Nanashiro - She ranks third among the maids of the Nogizaka family. She wears shades anywhere she goes, even at nighttime, and shares an interest to the blooming relationship between Haruka and Yuuto with Mika.
Cultural References
- The Natsukomi is the shortened version of Natsu-Komiketto, which literally means Summer Comiket. It is a real event in which many doujinshi circles attend to sell their personal works, which involve fan versions of existing anime or manga series. As Haruka stated, it occurs in Odaiba in Tokyo.
- How Haruka was treated in middle school and treatment towards Yuuto in the episode is a realistic representation of the treatment of otaku in modern Japanese society. In Japan, there is a stigma in having a hobby which does not involve outdoor activity like anime and manga-related hobbies which causes unequal treatment towards otaku. Likewise, the term otaku is a derrogatory word in Japan, unlike in other countries with a sizable number of anime fans.
Quotes
- by Ayase Yuuto: "If friends leave you because of that (being an otaku), then they're not true friends."