Suzuka 26

Yamato refuses to apologize. Cold war between Yamato and Suzuka but Miki and Honoka-chan come to the rescue. Suzuka takes Yamato to Tsuda's grave and then gives the "I cannot go out with you because I like someone else" spiel to her deceased senpai. Suzuka and Yamato hold hands to school while the end shot shows Tsuda pushing up the daisies.

The Very Secret Diary of Honoka Sakurai 21-26

Ep 21. That woman's ninja bodyguard is hitting on Akitsuki-kun: stripping in front of him in the park! This is ruining my plan. What's the point of killing Suzuka if Miki then replaces her? And being sort-of in the same business as I and Nana were, she'll be so much harder to assassinate.

Ep 22. Somehow I feel like I'm back to square one. Stuttering again. People will be able to see through my brilliant plan and realise that I still love Akitsuki-kun.

Ep 23. Nana tells me to give up on Akitsuki-kun. Even my trusted confidant doesn't think my plan is going to work! T_T

Ep 24-25. Found Suzuka crying on the steps of our shrine. Resisted the temptation to just shoot her with Beretta-san from behind but restrained myself as killing her right on my own doorstep would be No Good. Lost my temper with her and finally got it off my chest about her stealing my boyfriend! At least didn't blurt out that if she's so keen on the loved one who died on her, I could send her to join him, no problemo. But am sticking with the plan. Changed tack and was encouraging her to go to Yamato. Then same when Yamato came running by.

Ep 26. Quitting the track team, apologised to Suzuka and asked her to get together with Yamato. Urrrgh. *grinds teeth* No one can accuse me of being psycho Yamato stalker now. Will wait and see. Hopefully she will be such a lousy girlfriend compared to me that Yamato will dump her. "If you really love someone, set him it free. If he comes back he's yours forever. If he doesn’t, kill the competition."

Suzuka 25

For summaries of this episode, see Random Curiosity and Phoenix512. For me, it brought home why the series is called "Suzuka" even though it is told from Yamato's POV most of the time i.e. everything revolves around Suzuka coming to terms with and then moving on from Tsuda's death. The highlight for me, of course, was Honoka's confrontation with Suzuka.

A Very Secret Song for Honoka (Suzuka 20-23)

Honoka-chan hardly got any screentime or development in Ep 20 and 21 so I'll just skip over them. In Ep 22, it seemed that Honoka-chan regressed rather than progressed, stuttering again during the track meet when she tried to make small talk with Yamato though her diagnosis of Yamato being far away was spot on.

The most intriguing thing for me in Ep 23 was actually if Miki was hitting on Yamato (when talking about her baton-pass training to the ex-captain) and was she jealous when talking to Yamato about his ambition to be No.1!? After being summoned by Honoka, Nana gives our favourite miko some good advice: Forget about Yamato. The most appropriate (Chinese) song that she could dedicated to Honoka would be Fish Leong's Happy Breakup (though the Honoka of the Very Secret Diary universe might mishear a crucial line - a pun on "cold breeze" and "cool breeze", the latter being Suzuka's name):

The Very Secret Diaries of Honoka Sakurai 17-20

Ep 17. Have called in the heavy artillery, my old partner, who now goes by the name of Shirakawa Nana. But Nana-chan doesn't even carry Walther-san with her anymore! She kept saying that I shouldn't blow my cover by blowing Suzuka's brains out with Beretta-san. Took her offer to intro Akitsuki-kun to her so she could help him understand my feelings more. That woman and her kunoichi somehow joined us for karaoke and we had to feed them our initial meeting cover story. But at least Akitsuki didn't sing that duet with that woman. I am Akitsuki-kun's girlfriend!

Ep 18. Am sure Nana-chan fed Akitsuki-kun my birthday info. He lied to me about not being able to go dating on Sat but am sure he will get me a nice present. Followed him, via the GPS-locator- mobile-phone- strap and he was with that woman! When he came to give me my present, all Akitsuki-kun was talk about was Suzuka this, Suzuka that. Itch for Beretta-san was so strong. Returned Suzukafied present to Akitsuki-kun. I am Akitsuki-kun's girlfriend, aren't I?

Ep 19. Refused to talk to Akitsuki-kun as was so afraid I'd blurt out that am planning to off Suzuka with Beretta-san, never mind Nana-chan's advice and all. But how not to arouse suspicion? Everyone will know it was me. Akitsuki-kun came to the house to give present again and said he found me cute at pond etc. Brilliant plan came to me. Break up with Yamato, accept present, so I can shoot Suzuka without arousing suspicion! I, Honoka Sakurai, am Akitsuki-kun's past and future girlfriend!

Ep 20. Rejoined track team and started being nice to Akitsuki-kun again so no one will suspect am paranoid, possessive and seething with jealousy. Discussed Operation Build Confidence with Nana-chan. I will build my confidence before confessing to Akitsuki-kun again. BTW code decryption: Build Confidence = Kill Suzuka.

Suzuka 19

Honoka breaks up with Yamato. In the end, it was surprisingly amicable as she accepted his present and gave him a farewell kiss.

Suzuka 18

Yamato and Suzuka shop for Honoka's birthday present. Along the way, Suzuka gets Yamato to buy her a ring. Arriving late at their meeting point with Honoka only to find the aftermath of a traffic accident and a torn, bloodied hair ribbon on the ground. Oops. Wrong anime. ^_- But you get the general idea - wails of "Poor Honoka!" from us Honoka-chan Fanboys and triumphant cries of "Suzuka FTW!" from the Suzuka Fanboys.

For proper reviews: Anime Slice | Asakomi | Phoenix512 | Sea Slugs | Random Curiosity.

Honoka-chan screencaps and the occasional comment follows:

Suzuka 17

Ohhh, the animation in this episode very craptastic. No masses of Honoka-chan screencaps as a result. Suzuka tries the umbrella trick on Yamato but didn't walk home with him under it like he did with her previously. Later she barges in on him at karaoke and tries to get closer to him, both literally and metaphorically. Yamato thinks that he's done good by ditching the coincidental duet with Suzuka after seeing Honoka-chan's agonized expression. Nana Shirakawa adds more paving the little red brick road to relationship hell by making Yamato realise that he is, afterall, a chump and to make up for it by buying a gift for Honoka-chan's upcoming birthday. (Zyl shakes fist at the spoilerastic Next Week scenes.)

The Very Secret Diary of Honoka Sakurai 13-16

Ep 13. Even Hattori-kun warned me someone was going to take Akitsuki-kun away from me. Dressed up in best outfit for Akitsuki-kun. Held his hand. Yay! Just as mood was getting nice, *she* had to show up. Kissed him on the lips to stop him turning around. Very very good. Waddup biatch! Next day Akitsuki-kun kept looking at my lips. Very good. And he missed seeing *that* woman's new record jump. Very very good. Cornered Aktitsuki-kun at the pond. Love-chan, my pre-deployed specially trained splashy carp gave pretext to jump into Akitsuki-kun's arms. When he didn't kiss me, cue tears - he melted and kissed me! Very very very good! Still not Akitsuki-kun's girlfriend. Just yet.

Ep 14. After kissing and some prompting, Akitsuki-kun said we should go out as a couple. YES!!! I am now Akitsuki-kun's girlfriend! (Does happy dance) Slipped Akitsuki-san a GPS-locator cum matching mobile phone strap. But he left it on the train. Stranded in Hiroshima with *that* woman, of all people. Should have popped her with Beretta-san when I had the chance! I am Akitsuki-kun's girlfriend! Ceterum censeo Suzuka esse delendam!

Suzuka 16

Honoka-chan anxiously waits at the station after learning that Yamato and Suzuka didn't return last night as the former said he would. Suzuka walks away and the couple have a very public display of affection. Later Honoka-chan cooks for him but Yasunobu's stupid suggestion earlier (proving Mentar right) in the day triggers a massive hormonal surge that wipes out what little that is left of Yamato's already minuscle common sense. Quite a high yuck factor in this episode due to Yamato's beastly, if somewhat understandable and typically impulsive, behaviour. At least he went to apologize to her quickly. Omni also felt fairly neutral about this episode and his comparisons with the more explicit factors from the manga, that did not carry into the anime, bolstered my understanding of the dynamics of this episode immensely.

And this series certainly has got a repeating hand-focus motif. Check them out amid the 70+ screencaps that follow: