Natsu no Arashi! – 03
夏のあらし！ Episode 03
(Summer Storm)

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

Hajime is writing a science fiction tale featuring himself as the hero and Arashi as the heroine when Arashi comes in to get him for work at the cafe, Ark. While there, Master is happy for the increase in business and feels that all these young university guys are there for her. Hajime sees the truth that they are there for Arashi and he’s not happy with how much they hit on her but relieved when she gently turns them all down. Jun notices Hajime’s reactions and warns him that being the nice guy won’t get him the girl. Jun further warns that all girls have an objective and that it is strange for Arashi to suddenly start living with Hajime — so what is Arashi after?

After work, Hajime takes Arashi to her first arcade where the encounter the fearsome UFO Catcher game. With Hajime playing the role of captain and Arashi playing the role of underling, the mission is to grab one of the sci-fi dolls. After burning through ¥300, Arashi decides to use her own money. Finally getting what she wanted, on the way home, she gives the doll (which looks like Hajime) to him. She tells him that she has a secret — she can only travel in time with a boy she connects with. She gets him to agree to go back in time, this time to January 1945 and World War II.

Together, they encounter a MURATA Sankichi and then his father, who are about to go fishing. Arashi warns them of a bombing raid that will strike the river. Murata-san is suspicious of a girl who hasn’t been conscripted for the war effort and Sankichi wants to fish. So Arashi takes Murata-san’s pole and flees with Hajime. After losing them, Arashi wants to make sure they cannot make it to the river. They come to the Murata home and find Murata-san there.

Since there’s no time to make it to the river now, Arashi feels relieved but when Hajime points out that Sankichi isn’t there, a desperate search begins as the bombers arrive and drop their loads. Arashi finds Sankichi and saves him from being killed by a bomb. After being reunited with his father, Murata-san accuses Arashi of being a spy. Hajime is angry but Arashi stops him from being rash and they return to the present. Arashi apologizes for the danger she put Hajime through but Hajime decides he can be the hero and help Arashi with whatever her mission is.

Thoughts/Review:

Very interesting. This episode has fun, laugh out loud moments, and a completely unexpected trip to World War II Japan. Wow.

I like how the episode creates the air of mystery around Arashi while at the same time, making her to appear this beautiful, sweet and wholesome young high school girl. Jun raises and excellent point regarding why a girl like Arashi would choose to live with Hajime. Of course we know the answer now, and that is because through Hajime, they can travel back into the past. Just what is her mission anyway? Why attempt to save certain people and not others during the bombing raid? It is still mysterious and yet Arashi has been established so that we, like Hajime, trust her.

Now to the unexpected trip to World War II Japan. Yeah, that was weird. While the animation budget isn’t such to create some of the same feelings of a bombing run that something like Grave of the Fireflies had, I still couldn’t help but feel a chill as the bombers appeared and then we got an aerial view of the bombing. Maybe its because I’m older, but when the air raid sirens went off and the bombs started exploding, I couldn’t help but empathize with the situation and have a limited understanding of how tough the war was on the civilian population. Don’t get me wrong, the U.S. did exactly what it had to do in that war and that included carpet bombing — beat your enemy into complete surrender. However, this scene made me thankful that except for things like Pearl Harbor or the 9-11 attack, the U.S. hasn’t had to face the true hardships of war on its shores in a very, very long time.

Shifting to the fun, I was highly amused at Hajime being jealous over the different guys hitting on Arashi. Hajime is playing the nice guy and I suppose I can’t help but home that despite everything, he can have his dream of a romance with Arashi come true. Ah, but childhood crushes. *lol* Still, Hajime is doing what any nice guy would do — try to give Arashi space to do what she wants and yet be so glad that Arashi gives him time at all. In real life, that is a road to not getting the girl (as Jun pointed out) but in an anime, anything is possible, right? ^_~

The trip to the arcade was a lot of fun too. I’m not sure if Arashi and Hajime were parodying a specific anime or not when they became a captain and underling, but it was not only fun but funny too. I was introduced to the UFO Catcher game in Japan — everything Hajime said about the game is true. I got lucky though the few times I played in that I scored a toy without spending a lot of money. ^_^

Finally, the laugh out loud funny — the detective and his phone call. *lol* For starters, the extremely long line he gives at the start of each call he receives cracked me up a bit. Naturally, when the caller is wanting a detective to explain the differences between tororo soba and yamakake soba, it is amusing even if an old joke. I knew what was coming next and yet with each incoming phone call, I found myself laughing harder and harder at this old joke. Maybe it is the lack of sleep but by gum, I loved it. ^_^

As I wrap this episode blog up, I can now say that the series has completely won me over. I love the fun, I love the humor, and the unexpected trip to World War II Japan was the icing on the cake for me. I look forward to seeing where all this goes.