What took you so long!?

Better late than never, right? I finally found some time to write up a blog post….and with that, I present to you,

“Yuuji and Shouko and Marriage”

Yuuji wakes up to Shouko giving him breakfast in bed. His immediate response…a phone call to the police.

Shouko convinces Yuuji to go with her to Kisaragi Grand Park after she received a premium couples ticket from “a kind soul”, which Yuuji immediately figures out to be Yoshii. As payback, Yuuji proceeds to call Yoshii on private number and freak him out by threatening to kill him.

As Yuuji and Shouko arrive at the park, they are greeted by Yoshii and Hideyoshi, who are apparently meant to be in disguise, however Yuuji is able to figure out who he is by simply calling his phone and watching him answer it in front of him. After being found out by Yuuji, they make a run for it with Yuuji making chase. Yuuji tries to use the same method to catch out Hideyoshi, but he stays one step ahead of Yuuji and “drops” (throws) his phone into a fountain.

Hideyoshi takes Yuuji and Shouko’s ticket from them and contacts Kouta to proceed to the wedding stage.

Kouta appears out of nowhere with a camera, wearing a mask, but he is figured out as well, when Yuuji lifts up Shouko’s dress and he dives down to get a picture.

After getting their picture taken, another couple, a rather rude couple, come along and force Hideyoshi and the others to take their picture. Yoshii allows them to take their picture and put them in the same pose that Yuuji and Shouko had their photo taken. This angers the couple and chases them away.

Yuuji and Shouko continue through the park, they met up with Phi the Fox, better known to the viewers as Mizuki Himeji. She attempts to get them to go to the haunted house, but Yuuji refuses and walks on. Before they get very far, they are stopped by Noin the Fox, or Yoshii, who has his head on backwards.

Yuuji manages to turn the situation around on Yoshii, when he reveals to Mizuki that Yoshii has been off with a college girl, which angers Mizuki, who calls up Minami to have them explain to them what’s happening.

Yuuji tries to use the situation to his advantage to escape, but he spots Shouko with Hideyoshi, who is whispering something in her ear. Shouko returns and forces Yuuji to go with her to the haunted house, after being told by Hideyoshi that she’ll be able to hold his hand.

Outside the haunted house, Yuuji is given a contract for him to sign, being told by Hideyoshi that it’s standard procedure for all their dangerous rides. Yuuji takes the contract and reads it, finding out that it is in fact a marriage proposal for himself and Shouko and promptly throws it away.

As they head through the haunted house, an audio tape plays through the speakers. The tape is of Yuuji and he is saying that he prefers Mizuki to Shouko because she has bigger breasts (not because Mizuki’s more mentally stable, but because she has bigger breasts..you can tell what kind of things he looks for in his girls). Hearing this, Shouko flips and goes crazy on Yuuji and attempts to kill him, while he runs away in fear (truly a terrifying experience in a haunted house..).

Outside the haunted house, an announcement is made that a special lunch buffet is taking place at the main hall. Yuuji and Shouko head over there and have their meal. After eating, Minami announces Yuuji and Shouko’s apparent marriage and has them participate in a quiz to win the mock wedding ceremony.

Yuuji tries to wriggle his way out of it but somehow, he gets the first 4 questions correct, thanks to quick thinking on part of Yoshii and the gang. As he is ready to admit defeat and accept his fate, the loudmouth couple from earlier on in the episode intervene saying that they want to participate in the quiz for the mock wedding as well.
They challenge Yuuji and Shouko by giving them the chance to answer their question correctly to win the mock wedding. The only problem, however, is that the question is too stupid to even be answered and instead leaves everyone dumbfounded by their lack of intelligence.
To be honest, I don’t blame then. Even I had a hard time answering their question….does anyone know the capital of Europe? No..? Didn’t think so…

Anyway, Yuuji and Shouko are awarded with the grand prize and the scene quickly shifts to the mock wedding scene. The bride and groom both make their way to centre-stage from either side and stand facing each other.
Shouko talks to Yuuji and tells her how it has always been her dream to be a bride and get married, and that the fact that it’s with him makes her really happy.

As Yuuji is about to say his part, he is cut off by none other than the loudmouth couple that just loveto poke their noses into everything. They insult and make fun of Shouko and her dream and tell them to get on with the ceremony. This angers everyone and Yoshii confronts them, telling them to leave before he is held back by Mizuki.

Shouko disappears from the stage, leaving her bouquet and veil behind.

The group search the park to try and find her but come up empty. Yuuji comes along and when asked about Shouko’s whereabouts, he says he doesn’t know and is growing tired of the day and heads off.

The next scene shows the loudmouth walking along still making fun of Shouko and the wedding ceremony. They meet Yuuji who was waiting for them to come along. After asking him what he wants, Yuuji responds by simply saying he wants them to take back what they said about Shouko.

Shouko is seen in the next scene, walking along the river bank. She meets Yuuji standing by a tree waiting for her to come along, covered in dirt and tears in his shirt.

As they walk back, Shouko asks Yuuji if he thinks that her dream is weird. Yuuji responds, saying that he thinks that her feelings are misplaced, however he will not laugh at her dream, as he finds it amazing that she can stay faithful to one guy for such a long time. He finishes by saying that her cooking tastes great.

Happily, Shouko replies to Yuuji saying that she doesn’t think her feelings are misplaced.

And now for the opinions….
Well…as you’ve noticed…I’ve skipped episodes 4 – 6, for the simple reason that I wanted to get rid of the backlog completely and I was so far behind that to catch up would be a serious hindrance in my other activities outside of this blog (like university and actually watching the anime to review). And can I just say how much of a pain it is to get screenshots for this anime. I don’t know how the hell it’s being encoded, but I can’t scan through the episodes in my screenshot software. I have to use Media Player Classic to get the screenshots and that’s a pain >.< .

But anyway, enough talking about that, more about the episode. It was hilarious, just like the other episodes that I didn’t review about. I’m really enjoying this series. I had to feel sorry for Shouko by the end of this episode, even if she a little psychotic and I want to know the background story between Yuuji and Shouko (although I doubt it will ever come up again). Yuuji was pretty kool in this episode as well. Yoshii and the others attempt to bring those 2 together kept me cracking up, especially with their horribly obvious disguises.

Well….onto the next episode!

P.S. I prefer the first ending to this new one they introduced on this episode.

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