みなみけ Episode 05

SPOILER Summary: Its a hot summer’s day and Kana is making various comments about it being summer. She decides they should go to the beach and so Haruka asks Chiaki if she’d like to go, which she confirms. This annoys Kana a bit. They go to try on their swimsuits only to discover they are too small. Haruka says they’ve all grown a bit, which meets with Kana’s approval since she feels they certainly haven’t gotten too fat for their suits. Kana tells Haruka to make dinner while she and Chiaki go swimsuit shopping, promising Haruka to get a good suit. On the way there, Kana tells Chiaki that they need to get bikini with a string-tie for Haruka. Chiaki objects until Kana says that not getting her a suit like that would cause her ridicule and shame. After dinner, Haruka wants to see the swimsuit that they bought, but Kana refuses. Haruka gets it anyway and Chiaki confesses to picking it out. Haruka is embarrassed by it but won’t say anything after Kana remarks on not shaming Chiaki.

Its Saturday night and its been raining for three days and it looks like the Sunday trip to the beach is going to be off. Chiaki and Haruka are enjoying listening to the rain and the cooler temperatures, but Kana doesn’t care about that, only wanting to go to the beach. Kana decides to make a Teruterubouzu (a charm to drive away rain) and when Chiaki laughs, Kana makes her the charm, wrapping her in a sheet and hanging her by the waste from a pole they’ve set up for drying the laundry. Chiaki isn’t happy about this, but Haruka cheers her on. So she starts her “negotiations” with “Raincloud-san.” That fails, Kana suggests more politeness. That seems to work so the third time around, Chiaki appeals to “Raincloud-sama” and the rain stops. However, it is soon back, so Chiaki’s back on the pole. The next day is sunny and when Yoshino and Uchida stop by to join them at the beach, they are puzzled by Haruka’s remarks on Chiaki’s hard work to keep the rain away. They see her on the pole and when Kana begins trash-talking clouds, they immediately gather, forcing Chiaki to make another appeal, at which they dissipate. Seeing this, Chiaki’s friends and Kana being treating her as a deity.

At the beach, everyone is playing but Kana notices that Haruka is still wearing a t-shirt. Haruka is a bit embarrassed and wants more time to prepare herself to be seen in a bikini. So while Yoshino and Uchida work on elaborate sand castles (which Kana somehow keeps destroying), Kana convinces Chiaki that they have to do something to get Haruka out of that t-shirt. However, all their plans fail including taking the shirt off by force, which simply leads Haruka to putting on a warm-up hoodie on. Kana decides that the only way to get her out of those is to douse her with water. However, when Haruka’s friends Maki and Atsuko arrive with Hayami-senpai and all are wearing bikini’s, Haruka feels more confident and takes her shirts off. This leads Kana to head over to where Haruka’s friends are playing beach volleyball to demand to know how they got Haruka to strip.

The group has finished lunch and the tea is out, so Haruka says she’ll go buy them some cold drinks. Chiaki, Yoshino, and Uchida volunteer to go along, but Kana forces Chiaki to stay. Chiaki is irritated but Kana has an issue she wants addressed, namely that she is losing value in the eyes of Chiaki and Haruka. Chiaki confirms this, saying she was seaweed, but now she’s an abandoned flip-flop. Kana decides to raise her stock by making sure Yoshino and Uchida don’t drown, but this is forcefully rejected by Chiaki. Kana tries to make Chiaki an Umibouzu (sea priest) and this too is rejected forcefully, which Chiaki slamming Kana so hard that Kana leaves very depressed. Haruka’s friends come back by and wonder where Kana is. Haruka, Yoshino, and Uchida also return, wondering where Kana is. Chiaki figures she was too hard on Kana, only to have Kana rush back with a sea shell, which she places on Chiaki’s head and makes a joke about her being a Kappa (both the mythical creature and “rain gear”).

The sisters are home from the beach when the phone rings. Kana answers and it is Yoshino. She admits to hurting all over from sunburn, leading Kana to say that this will lead to Yoshino being bald in the future. Chiaki takes over the phone to assure Yoshino this is a lie. Yoshino finds it amazing how different all three sisters are. After Chiaki hands up, she wonders aloud why they are all different. Kana is happy for the differences, imagining everyone being like Chiaki. Haruka imagines them being all like her, but decides that wouldn’t be good. Uchida calls and again Kana answers. Uchida admits to peeling and Kana tells her this will make her shorter. Chiaki gets on to assure Uchida and Uchida finds both Chiaki’s older sisters fun. Chiaki gets cozy with Haruka and offers her a cookie. Kana tries getting in on the act with Chiaki, who’s not having any part of it. Kana places a bowl of crackers on her head and calls her “Kappa,” leading Chiaki to hit her with the bowl.

Thoughts: Well, I’m sure the fanservice crowd were at least a little pleased with a beach episode and the fanservice that goes along with it. Chiaki is my favorite character, but Kana is fun too.