Atarashii Prelude

Myself Yourself – 02

Even though it's still too early to tell, I can't help liking this show already. Granted the fact it has bishoujos, there's something more to Myself; Yourself than just that reason alone, which explains why something like Kimikiss, which has a better looking lineup didn't leave that much of an impression on me.

The episode kicks off with Sana bumping into the ever cheerful(and moe) Aoi-chan, or should I say Aoi-san, since she is actually a year older than him which puts our hero at a loss on what to address her. Can't blame him though, since her loli-like appearance does not reflect her true age.

Anyway, in school, Sana is elected class representative along with the ever tsun-tsun Nanaka, an impromptu plan hatched by Syuuri to bring them closer together and as an excuse by Shuu to avoid the burden of being one, according to her. Their plan bore no fruition, as Nanaka still acts apathetically towards Sana, who is ignored by the former when he asked for directions to the place they are supposed to have the committee meeting. The pair end up at the library, as Nanaka wanted to kill some time before the meeting, something which librarian Aoi-chan mentions to him. Time passes and Sana realized he was left behind by Nanaka who had already went for the meeting.

Enter Hoshino Asami, who now officially doubles as a potential love interest for Sana and rival to Nanaka. She introduces herself and brings him to the audio visual room soon after. There, Sana sounds off at Nanaka, who calmly replies that she never promised him to bring him to the meeting point. Ouch.

The next day during break, Aoi-chan meets up with Sana, who is together with the twins and offers him a homemade bento and promises to make him lunch every day. Lucky bastard. They all have food together, and like a scene from a visual novel where the protagonist gains love points with a heroine, an awkward moment happens between Aoi-chan and Sana leaving the former blushing. +5 love points to Aoi-chan counter. Damn you, Sana.

Later in the afternoon, the Nanaka meets with Asami, who asks her to pass a book of some sort to Sana. Just as she leaves, Sana enters the classroom and has a brief chat with Asami, to the bemusement of Nanaka. Expecting to be bitched at(hehe), Sana explains to Nanaka on why they both seem so close, to which she says it does not concern her. Yeah, right.

At the end of the day, and the most significant part of the episode(we call this triggering a flag in visual novels), Sana heads off to the music room to recover his pencil case. Coincidentally, Nanaka is there as well, as she was asked by the music teacher to get some handouts. He sees a piano there and instinctively sits down and plays a very familiar tune, which is none other than the very same tune Nanaka played for him during the farewell party. Watching him from the next room, Nanaka is surprised by it, and just as he finishes playing, Asami shows up and claps, complementing him. Sana then explains to her on the significance of that tune and how it is so special to him, as even though he's not played the piano in a long time and has forgotten to play anything else, he still remembers it. +10 to Nanaka love point counter. The scene that follows up also has lead me to suspect that he has also gained at least +5 love points with Asami, as just as he presses a key on the piano, the wind blows and sakura petals enter the music room through the window. Oh, so dramatic. Below is a graphical representation by yours truly of what it would have looked like if we were playing the visual novel and had to decide on our next move.

The next morning, Sana heads off to school with Aoi-chan as usual, and is greeted by the twins the same way before, which is getting slapped in the back. This time however, Nanaka also wishes him good morning, much to his surprise.

Yup, looking great so far. We've already got the rival character, which leaves us with that twin tail loli in the OP left. Nice to see Nanaka showing a little of her dere-dere side at the end, although things will start getting real interesting in the next episode, where everyone goes for a field trip. You can bet there's bound to be some tension between Nanaka and Asami as they begin competing for Sana's affection. Also, swimsuit episode! I cream my pants in anticipation of Aoi-chan wearing one. Shin out.