クラナド Episode 09

SPOILER Summary:

Okazaki, Nagisa, and Fuko-chan arrive at the school to pass the night there. Nagisa informed her father that she’d be staying out with Fu-chan and while he didn’t actually remember her, the name did stir something within him. Fuko cannot resist the birthday party set and even though Okazaki calls her actions childish, Fuko cannot contain herself and spaces out. So Okazaki steals her hat and Fuko decides to be really childish and get it back, which she does by ramming him.

Her treasure secured, she she informs Okazaki that if he really is an adult, he would address a girl he’s close to by their given name. She is referring to Nagisa, whom Okazaki refers to by family name and she him. Citing her oneechan and Yusuke-san as an example, she insists that Nagisa call Okazaki “Tomoya-kun” and he address Nagisa as “Nagisa-chan.” Both have difficulty doing so but when Fuko gives Okazaki permission to drop the “chan” honorific, he is able to address Nagisa as such — Nagisa. Nagisa states that it will take her a bit longer before she’s comfortable addressing Okazaki as “Tomoya-kun” but Fuko-chan is OK with that.

This out of the way, Fuko wants to have a pre-wedding party for the wedding that will happen in a less than two days. Okazaki and Nagisa agree, so Okazaki goes off to find some candles and gets some stuff from the vending machine. They light the candles and Nagisa secures the party hat onto Fuko-chan. The trio have a little party and as the candles burn down and they sit on the floor, Fuko-chan falls asleep on Nagisa’s shoulder. The following morning, it is Nagisa sleeping on Okazaki’s shoulder and they have no clue why they are at school, nor what they were doing despite evidence of a party. They rush to Nagisa’s parent’s home, but they aren’t mad because of Nagisa’s call, though they can’t remember why Nagisa was going to be out.

Later at school, both are troubled that they seem to have forgotten something important and that it is somehow connected to the wooden star that Nagisa found in her bag. After turning down Kyou’s request to join herself and Ryou to go shopping on the following day (because something important is going to happen), Okazaki rejoins Nagisa and they find Koumura-sensei creating a huge banner for a wedding. He’s surprised that they’ve forgotten and after a bit of prompting and thought, they remember the wedding of Ibuki-sensei. But then they can’t remember why they were going to go to the wedding until Koumura-sensei mentions Ibuki-sensei’s little sister. When Nagisa remembers Fuko-chan and says her name, both Nagisa and Okazaki find Fuko-chan standing between them with her party hat still on. Okazaki apologizes but Fuko states that his forgetting is only natural.

The wedding on the following day goes forth as planned with not many students coming though. However, when Fuko-chan, Nagisa, and Okazaki race to the school gate to congradulate the happy couple, they discover the school’s courtyard filled with students, many holding starfish. Even Kyou and Ryou remembered the wedding as did Nagisa’s parents, though all had forgotten until the day of the wedding and it appeared that none remember Fuko-chan. When Ibuki-sensei emerges with Yusuke, she goes to speak to Nagisa and Okazaki and notes their sad appearance. Okazaki confesses that all of this was because of a person they had grown to love, which Ibuiki-sensei deduces is Fuko-chan, stating that they must have been with her. It is then that Ibuiki-sensei sees her little sister as Fuko-chan gives he a starfish and wishes her oneechan well. Then Fuko-chan is gone, a trail of pink, square, paper, party cuttings in her wake.

Sometime later at school, the talk is of the rumored younger sister of Ibuki-sensei who’s unconscious, but very cute and who still runs through the halls of the school. Sunohara, holding the wooden star, wonders who said this girl was cute. Kyou says it is only a rumor, but wonders if Sunohara gets the feeling that the sister was indeed cute. He looks at the star and agrees. Kyou asks where he got that star and he doesn’t remember, only that it was in his room. The group all agree it is a starfish, leading Nagisa to wonder how they knew that. Kyou tries to wake the sleeping Okazaki, who’s thinking of a sleeping girl everyone’s waiting to wake up, and whom he’s sure will wake up one day.

Thoughts:

Well, as expected, the tissue box was used more than once. The final night with Fuko-chan was touching as we got that one final blissful space-out from her and the party set. I loved how Fuko-chan was working on Nagisa’s and Okazaki’s relationship, wanting her to call him “Tomoya-kun” and him to address her as “Nagisa-chan” because their addressing each other by last name means there’s some distance between them. The impact of that scene will be severely weakened in the dub I fear and if the Japanese honorifics are removed (or likely force-translated) in the subtitles, it will still weaken the scene.

I felt so bad for Fuko-chan when Nagisa and Okazaki finally remembered her and could see her once more standing between them. They were the last ones to forget and from that point on, she was alone in a world full of people. I was glad to see all the students showed up for the wedding, even if they didn’t remember Fuko-chan and I was really glad that Ibuki-sensei got to see the “spirit” of Fuko-chan. I was saddened that everyone forgot Fuko-chan again except as a rumor and a knowledge that the wooden stars they owned were in fact starfish. I’m guessing that if the writers decide to wake her up, it will be at the end of the series. Since everyone has all but forgotten Fuko-chan, I don’t expect her to be mention again until maybe the end.

One final thought — it was interesting that Koumura-sensei seemed to remember Fuko-chan when Nagisa and Okazaki had forgotten.