MariMite 12

Anxious about her Sunday date with Sachiko, Yumi tries to get advice from her fellow petit soeurs but Shimako is on tenderhooks about her date with Shizuka while Yoshino is all insane jealousy about Rei's date with Chisato. There's some humour as Lillian Newspaper Club head, Minako and photographer Tsutako try to tail the daters and run into Yoshino. The episode ends on note of tensions: Yoshino has just spotted Chisato glomping Rei's arm, Shimako's unease has peaked with their arrival back at the empty Lillian while Yumi thinks that Sachiko has walked out on their date and, by extension, her.

Our first direct glimpse of Yumi's brother, Yuuki, who has a bigger role in the manga and novels which the anime is, unfortunately, unable accommodate. The sibling bickering as well as Yuuki's occasional nuggets of sound advice also give us more insight into Yumi's thoughts and emphasizes the warmth of Yumi's familial environment in direct contrast to Sachiko's.

This episode pretty much confirms that while I really enjoy Yoshino's craziness (her antics with Yumi and then Minako), the dynamics of her relationship with Rei made it extremely uncomfortable viewing for me.

I wonder if people like Sachiko really do exist. She didn't realize that you have to collect your own food at the fast food restaurant and then was puzzled that there was no fork and knife for her hamburger. Somehow I could also see Aoi Sukaraba doing that as well but because she's so sweet, no one will really give her stick for it (except possibly from Tina Foster in an affectionately teasing sort of way).

The cliffhanger felt rather forced IMHO but I suppose it was reasonable given its status as the penultimate episode. Yumi is really "panicking over nothing" which highlights the insecurity and lack of confidence she still feels. I was half expecting Sei to pop up which would have not ideal due to deus ex machina / uber-character over-use / lack of character development.

Related posts:

1. MariMite 5
2. MariMite 13
3. MariMite 7