Episode 10 – “A Flower Blooms on Her Baton”

Finally comes the episode that is the high point for any KyoAni work: the cultural festival! Tamako and company pull together their luck when picking their lineup spot in the program, since last year they were stuck at the end when the audience had thinned out. This year though, they’re able to secure the primetime spot before lunch, which places pressure on them to put on a good show. It’s decided that since Midori is the president, she’ll handle the choreography while Kanna and Tamako will take care of the wardrobe. Sounds like a recipe for success, right?

What I love about KyoAni is how much attention is put into even the background characters, and it’s times like these cultural festival episodes when they really get to shine. In fact, the animation as a whole seems to be a whole step above the standard this episode. There’s also an interesting prevalence of jump cuts used throughout the episode, which makes everything feel like it was edited together like a documentary. It adds a nice do-it-yourself feeling, which suits the cultural festival spirit.

At any rate, Midori ends up meeting a creative roadblock when trying to figure out the choreography, but instead manages to come up with some really cute designs for costumes. She has so much trouble thinking of choreography that she ends up praying to the giant floating whale in the shopping center. This stress leads to an interesting moment with Midori talking to herself in the school restroom’s mirror and Shiori walking in on her. If you’ll recall, the reverse occurred back in episode 3 with Midori walking in on Shiori. Eventually, Tamako, Kanna, and Shiori go to Midori’s house to help her out with her creative slump. Speaking of which, it’s nice to see Shiori getting more screentime because I feel like we haven’t seen or heard her in a long time.

The performance goes off without a hitch, with even Dera getting in on the action! But an exciting development occurs when Choi declares that Tamako is indeed her prince’s fated bride. This is because she possesses the “Darksign,” otherwise known as the birthmark on her neck. Will this issue finally be resolved? Well, from the preview, it doesn’t particularly seem so… They sure know to suspend the anticipation, huh?

B.W.