クラナド Episode 04

SPOILER Summary:

Nagisa gets in trouble with the Student Council for trying to form an unauthorized club and Okazaki isn’t happy about it. However, the Student Council has made it pretty difficult for Nagisa to proceed since they can’t make posters, fliers, or anything else to recruit members. Sunohara notices that Okazaki and Nagisa are spending a ton of time together and demands to know if his friend is dating her or not. He “confesses” that he’s only in this for the free bread products that Nagisa’s family makes. The idea of free bread products (pan) appeals to Sunohara, so he’s decided to help with the founding of the Theater Club.

However, first things first and Sunohara challenges Tomoyo again to prove she’s a man. After going on and on about his breasts, he asks to borrow hers and she asks why. Again, Sunohara feels that Tomoyo has fallen into his trap which leads to a beating from Tomoyo. Sunohara is undeterred and vows to get “him” next time when they are met by Fuko, who’s been wanting to see the weird person. Fuko states that he’s a rare weird person, so he decides to introduce himself properly to her. When Sunohara wonders about Fuko, she’s shocked by his presence, now stating the number of weird people has doubled and he’s the weird-haired person. However, she only wants to talk to the weird person and leads Okazaki outside with Sunohara following.

When she finally turns to address Okazaki, she’s again shocked at the double amount of weird people around when she only wanted one weird person. Thus Okazaki is the weird-existence person and Sunohara is the weird-haired person. Sunohara leaves and Okazaki again has to remind Fuko what his name is. She wants to invite him to her older sister’s wedding which is why she gave him the carved starfish to begin with. Her sister had been the art teacher at the school over three years before and Fuko wants to invite students to the wedding. Okazaki points out that no one at school would remember Ibuki-sensei since she before the 3rd-year students entered high school. So no one would really be interested in attending the wedding. However, Fuko really wants people to attend to celebrate with her sister.

Okazaki and Sunohara meet up with Tomoyo in the hall. She’s not sure of their motives and when Sunohara tries to say it is different, she instinctively kicks the crap out of him. He compliments her on her powerful kick and walks with her, leading her into the boy’s bathroom. That leads to her screaming and kicking him out of the bathroom, out the hall window, and into a nearby tree. She angrily confronts Okazaki about this but when he tells her it is because Sunohara thinks she’s a guy, her anger leaves and she is depressed since she’d been trying to change her image.

At lunch, Nagisa and Okazaki are eating in the abandoned classroom that was also the Theater Club room. Sunohara arrives and has a solution to the Student Council problem. Since it involves violence, Nagisa wants nothing to do with it. So, Sunohara decides they should just go out and personally recruit members. His first “victims” are Kyou and Ryou, who just happen to be outside since Botan has come onto the school grounds again. Sunohara is to target Ryou (the younger sister) while Okazaki will target Kyou.

Up on the roof, Ryou is thinking that Okazaki is about to make a love confession to her. However, when he brings forward Nagisa as the one who wanted to talk with Ryou, Ryou begins to panic a bit. Nagisa begins her pitch, which Ryou misunderstands as the start of a love confession. She tries to protest about a girl telling her this, but Sunohara adds fuel to the fire by saying that gender shouldn’t matter. The more Nagisa talks, the more like a love confession it feels like and Sunohara is excited by this display. However, when Nagisa finally gets to asking Ryou to join the Theater Club, Ryou says “yes” then is stunned by the question.

Kyou burst through the door leading to the roof and is not happy about how her sister had been tricked and so takes out her wrath on both Okazaki and Sunohara. Back in the old Theater Club room, Kyou has calmed down now that she knows the truth. She tells Nagisa that she should ditch the two boys as friends and be with herself and Ryou. Nagisa won’t abandon those who’ve helped her. Ryou explains that Nagisa needs three people and an adviser to start a club. Kyou states that with Sunohara and Okazaki, the membership numbers aren’t and issue. However, the two aren’t interested in joining.

The following day, Sunohara is determined to “hit a home run” on Tomoyo. Okazaki coaches Sunohara on things to say and do, each a bit more outrageous than the first and Sunohara does and says them all. He then catches on that Okazaki has been having fun with him, so he decides to rush in and punch Tomoyo. She does her trademark kick attack and after a ton of hits, sends him flying towards Okazaki. Without thinking, he kicks Sunohara back which leads to a second beating from the girl.

She begs them to let this be the end, but before she can leave, Okazaki invites her to join the Theater Club. He tries to sell it to her by saying she can wear pretty dresses there. She’s somewhat interested but doesn’t have the time since she’s running for Student Council President. So, Okazaki goes to see the genius Kotome in the library. He is unable to attract her attention until he addresses her as “Kotome-chan.” Once he has her attention, he properly addresses her as “Ichinose-san” but she wants him to address her as “Kotome-chan.” He begs her to allow him to leave off the “chan” honorific which she agrees to. After they share her lunch, he invites her to join the Theater Club and will come again when she’s had time to consider it.

After school, Okazaki reports to Nagisa of his lack of success in recruiting members. He then remembers Fuko-san and so with Nagisa, heads to the classroom where he first met Fuko. She’s carving starfish again and says she can’t join the Theater Club because she’s too busy. When Okazaki presses the issue, Fuko states that her every moment is at the school. He doesn’t believe it but she insists she never leaves the school. Okazaki wonders if she’s run away from home, but she doesn’t know why she’s always at school. She says she was on her way home from the entrance ceremony and almost got hit by a car, then found herself at school.

This bit of the story catches Nagisa’s ear who asks for her family name and learns it is Ibuki. Because Nagisa repeated her 3rd year, she remembers Ibuki-sensei and that Ibuki-sensei had a younger sister. She pulls Okazaki aside and tells him that Ibuki-sensei’s little sister had been hit by a car and was in the hospital. Further, Ibuki-sensei had stopped by their bread store only yesterday on her way back from seeing her sister in the hospital. It appears that Fuko is the ghost that rumors have been going on through the school about.

Thoughts:

There was a fair amount of humor here, mainly with Tomoyo and Sunohara again. For whatever weird reason, I’d like to see them be a couple in the end with her respecting his tenacity and his respecting her strength. Hey, it could happen. Then there was Fuko addressing Okazaki as the “weird person,” but then getting shocked because Sunohara means there were two weird people near her. Sunohara is mainly for comedic purposes so I guess he’s doing his part.

Still, the underlying tone of sadness was here. Tomoyo being depressed about not being seen as a girl was one. Nagisa’s troubles getting the Theater Club started as well as her own sickly past being another. And then there was the surprising Fuko, whom I didn’t expect to be the rumored ghost. However, I got an immediate feeling of Kanon at this revelation. That’s not a bad thing but something I’d already experienced.