“I’m sorry, Naomi-san…but it’s time for you to die”, Kanata uttered with a slight chuckle…

So.Ra.No.Wo.To. No Naku Koro Ni (When the Sound of the Skies Cry…) – Episode 8

A bright sunny morning at the breakfast table and Kanata has been told about a very important mission known as, “Maintenance Confirmation of Connection Line to Headquarters for Purpose of High-Level Emergency Situations” Mission. This mission is so important, it could land the platoon in serious trouble if they fail to complete the mission.

Kanata, seemingly unaware at what this mission involves doing, excitedly volunteers to take on this mission, which, in a nutshell, is sitting in front of the telephone for the whole day until it rings (Bet…she wasn’t so excited when that bombshell dropped on her…)

In order to proceed with her “mission”, Kanata places the telephone on the dining table and sits in front of it, staring and waiting patiently for the call, all the while, practicing how to answer the phone.

As she waits, Filicia surprises her from behind as she heads out with Kureha into town to deliver a package. As they leave, Kureha warns Kanata not to slack off.

Carrying on through the day and Rio catches Kanata dozing off, even though Kanata tries to fight her case, saying that she wasn’t. Uncaring of Kanata’s dozing, she asks Kanata where Noel is as well as offer to make lunch for Kanata.

Naomi comes over and Rio is forced to answer the door reluctantly. She brings around apple cider for everyone to drink. Rio heads to the storage room to bring gifts for Naomi to give to the members of the merchant’s guild meeting. While Rio is gone, Kanata heads to the kitchen to prepare lunch for everyone and invites Naomi to join them.

Naomi tells Rio that she has to attend the guild meeting, as the members are demanding an explanation from the army regarding a treaty agreement on reparations and borders. The two of them leave immediately. Rio leaves her old trumpet book for Kanata to practice with as a reward for the progress she has made.

Kanata, now on her own, has a read through the trumpet book given to her and attempts to practice her finger positions. While she practices, the sunny day, suddenly turns into a rainshower. The clothes that were being hung outside to dry got drenched. Kanata attempts to call to Noel to go and pick them up, but after getting no response from her, she is forced to run outside and get them herself.

As she struggles to bring in the pile of laundry, Mishio and Seiya, along with the church priest pay her a visit and end up helping her bring them in. The priest also offers to help Kanata practice her phone-answering technique with a home-made phone; something Kanata seems to have never used as a little kid, judging from her reaction to it all.

While Kanata, with the help of Seiya, practices, Mishio tries to catch Shuko (the owl they keep at the fortress, in case you forgot) and ends up causing a mess of everything. Yumina comes to the fortress and sees the mess that has been made as a result. She helps Kanata clear it up and gives Kanata a new outfit to wear, as her uniform got wet after the little fiasco, before leaving with the priest and the 2 children.

Kanata gets ready to continue her mission, but ends up needing to go to the toilet. The only catch is, she doesn’t want to leave the phone alone, in case it rings. She tries to take the phone with her but ends up coming short, literally. She is forced to sit there and wait for someone to come back to allow her to go.

Just when she’s about to burst, Rio returns and lets Kanata go to the toilet. Noel leaves the bathroom, scaring Kanata and making her fall, after being in there for the whole day (How could you be comfortable sleeping in the bathroom? I just don’t know…). And after all that waiting, the phone finally decides to ring when Kanata is immobile on the floor. Rio is forced to answer the phone and she is greeted by a familiar voice.

Kureha and Filicia return and see Kanata on the floor, unable to get up and proceed to help her up, despite Kanata’s objections.

Ok…to be honest, the first half of this episode was actually kind of boring. It only started getting funny for me towards the end when the priest and the children were at the fortress. And I found it quite funny how Kanata was so amazed by the “phone” that the priest made for her to practice and how excited she got when she heard Seiya’s voice on the other side.

The “wanting to go to the toilet” scene was pretty funny as well. Apart from that, I have to say. The episode reflected the mission; pretty dull and boring. Maybe that was the intention.

And who was that person on the other end of the phone call that Rio answered? =O I hope the answer is found in the next episode.