クラナド Episode 07

SPOILER Summary:

Learning that Ibuki-sensei cannot see her little sister Fuko-chan standing before her, Okazaki and Nagisa listen to Ibuki-sensei tell them she’s heard a rumor that Fuko-chan is currently at school, but that can’t be true since Fuko-chan is in a coma in the hospital. Ibuki-sensei continues to talk, saying she hopes Fuko is dreaming of being surrounded by friends and stuff. Fuko-chan quietly listens to this as Nagisa and Okazaki say how they’d be friends with her for sure. Okazaki pleads with Ibuki-sensei to not delay the wedding since he feels Fuko-chan wouldn’t like this. Nagisa agrees and so Ibuki-sensei decides to follow their advice.

Sometime later, Okazaki confesses to Nagisa that until Ibuki-sensei met with them with Fuko-chan, he’d not really believed her to be anything other than a girl pretending to be Fuko-chan. For her part, Fuko-chan increases her efforts to hand out the wooden starfish but they notice that some students don’t seem to be able to see Fuko at all. Okazaki decides they need to pay Kotomi a visit in the library. He and Fuko-chan do so but she won’t respond to them until she hears Okazaki address her as “Kotomi-chan.” She’s not sure what to make of the wooden star-shape but upon learning it is a starfish and a present for her, she impresses Fuko-chan with her knowledge of the creature, making Fuko-chan very happy.

After Okazaki has some more fun with Fuko-chan at her expense (with a tongue twister), Sunohara comes in and in the end, Fuko-chan tries to whistle to make Sunohara pay for a transgression. She tries doing the 2-finger whistle but nothing happens. However, a rumble later, a giant group of guys come to Fuko-chan’s aid, carrying off the troublesome Sunohara to who knows where. The two of them along with Nagisa head home. Okazaki has Fuko-chan go on as she and Nagisa pay Ibuki-sensei another visit.

Ibuki-sensei states she’s told Yusuke that the wedding will proceed, though they don’t have a place to have the wedding at. She’d like to have it at school. Okazaki asks what kind of girl Fuko-chan was before the accident, and so he and Nagisa get told a story of a shy girl who loved starfish, didn’t make friends, and was a tad too close to her sister. However, as Fuko-chan started her high school term on the day of the accident, she promised her older sister that she’d make some friends. Ibuki-sensei wonders why the two of them are so interested in her little sister. Okazaki states that the three of them have something in common.

At school the next day, Okazaki, Nagisa, Fuko-chan, and Sunohara meet to discuss the progress of handing out the starfish. Sunohara is stunned to learn these are starfish, thinking they were shurikens (“ninja throwing stars”). Soon, Nagisa and Fuko-chan are in a debate on which is cuter — dango or starfish. The argument seems to be getting worse and worse until the two of them simply agree that both are equally cute and the disagreement immediately ends. When Fuko-chan spaces out again over the idea of starfish, Okazaki has some fun at Sunohara’s expense, having him place his head on the desk where Fuko-chan can poke at it as if poking at a starfish. When Fuko-chan realizes what’s going on, Sunohara takes a beating.

Okazaki and Nagisa then pay a visit to the elderly teacher Koumura-sensei about having Ibuki-sensei’s wedding at the school. He agrees to bring the matter to the principle and vice-principle’s attention. When the two go to tell Ibuiki-sensei the good news, she tells them that Fuko-chan has taken a turn for the worse and doctors don’t know if she’ll ever wake up. The two of them have the devastating understanding that Fuko-chan must have known this as well, which is why her “spirit” (for lack of a better term) is working so hard to hand out those starfish.

At Sunohara’s that evening, Okazaki learns that as Sunohara watched Fuko-chan handing out starfish, she was being ignored as if she weren’t there. When he angrily confronts the two male students on ignoring an underclassman, they protest they didn’t see one. Even when Sunohara points her out, they don’t see her. As such, Sunohara learned that not only could they not see her, others who’d been given starfish now could not remember Fuko-chan. Further, the alias name that Fuko-chan had picked for herself didn’t pan out. So, he wants Okazaki to tell him what’s going on.

Thoughts:

Well, now folks are now starting to forget Fuko-chan in addition to those who can’t see her at all. It seems odd to me that folks would forget her all of the sudden like that but I suppose if Fuko-chan somehow knew her body was dying or something like that, leaving carved starfish for everyone would be her her way of leaving a mark on the world. I can’t even begin to predict how this will turn out, but naturally I’m hoping for the best. Fuko-chan has been the source of a good many laughs and so if she “disappears” from everyone’ s mind, it will be really sad. I guess I better get the box of tissues ready for the next episode.