Episode Screenshots
Hi Guys! Welcome back. Today in this tale of our intrepid star-crossed lovers, we are going to take a step back as we reach exam time to explore the story behind Hasuki Komai’s first love. So let’s begin the story, shall we?
Warning: Nudity
Episode Recap
Okay, so our story begins with a flashback, back to a time when Hasuki was just a quiet, bespectacled little girl in the same class as Romio. As she watches the other children playing, she spots Romio far off in the distance at his desk.
Flash forward to the present, Hasuki is getting up and ready for her pre-exam cram session with the rest of the Black Doggy dorm. Meanwhile, downstairs, Romio rallies the troops in the dorm dining room by yelling at everyone about how they will beat the White Cats this year in the mid-term test rankings. Everybody becomes psyched by this (while making weird but funny crazy faces) and starts blurting about how they will destroy the White Cats, when Juliet appears in her Julio disguise. Going up to Romio, Juliet pulls Romio down by the ear and asks why she is here and what is going on. Romio quietly explains that their dorm is holding their traditional Black Doggy study camp which is a three-day ‘study till you drop’ event where they study for 72 hours straight in preparation for their exams. Hearing all of that explanation, Juliet asks if there is a reason for her being here and Romio explains that there is and shyly explains that he wanted to see her because he is forbidden from leaving the dorm during the camp. Upset that Romio can’t last three days without her, Juliet angrily grabs Romio by the collar and tells him to “man up, Girly-zuka!”
Just then, Chizuru, Kento and Eigo arrive and notice the training camp. A curious Eigo asks Chizuru if they should join in too and Chizuru starts to refuse at first, but then the group suddenly notices Julio and Chizuru decides to take a seat across the table from Romio and Julio (as he knows that Julio is girl). Noticing Chizuru, Romio gets angrily protective of Julio and yells at Chizuru to get lost because his “idiocy will spread like a disease.” Pissed off, Chizuru bites back with his own cheap shots, reminding Romio that he barely passes the exams every year. Juliet (as Julio) tries to interrupt the fight and reminds both of them that they are here to study. However, Juliet cries fall on dead ears as the other students egg on the fight. Just as the fight is about to break out though, Hasuki appears with a megaphone and yells at the group to “Shut up!” Utilizing military smack talk, Hasuki in a teacher type outfit and glasses, yells at the group to break up the fight and get back to their tables, otherwise, they’ll be the ones roasted for dinner. The black doggies all comply and salute their commander (Hasuki) who walks in while barking instructions with two similarly dressed girls who are both carrying a stack of papers. Dropping the salute, Juliet asks Romio who the girl is and Romio replies that it is Hasuki, which causes Juliet to ask about her appearance.
Immediately noticing insubordination from Romio and Julio (Juliet), Hasuki instantly hits them with two heavy books on their heads. In pain, Julio asks what that was for and Hasuki replies that she had said “no speaking without permission.” Walking up to the secret couple, Hasuki bluntly asks why Julio is here when he is supposed to be in the Middle School Section of the school and Romio hastily replies that Julio’s intelligence is on par with high schoolers and that he wanted to take part in their study camp. However, Hasuki is not interested in his answer, but lets Julio stay regardless. Leaving the pair, Juliet nervously comments on how Hasuki is like a different person now and Romio replies that Hasuki’s personality changes whenever she wears her glasses. Romio then further informs Juliet that because Hasuki is the smartest doggy in their class, she personally takes charge of the failure students at all of their training camps and helps them to level up their grades.
Suddenly, Hasuki and her assistants drop the bundles of paper onto the tables and declares that they will now take a mock test to determine their academic competency levels. Straight after the test begins, Romio tries to show off in front of Juliet, but immediately falls asleep (5 seconds into the test), causing Hasuki to send a clip assault onto Romio’s face. Shrieking at the sudden display of force, Juliet/Julio is told by Romio that this is the common punishment for those who fall asleep during the training camp and as Romio falls asleep again, he receives another boatload of clips to the face. Watching him, Chizuru calls Romio, “an idiot” and suggests that he just cheats on the test while looking on his cellphone. Juliet as Julio naturally scolds Chizuru for having a cellphone on during the mock test and tells him straight up that she doesn’t like cheaters and that its far cooler if men fight fair and square. Getting upset, Kento and Chizuru get pumped up to fight when all of a sudden, Chizuru breaks his own cellphone in half and starts studying seriously to impress Julio (Aww…..). Looking towards his comrade for help, Kento is dumbfounded to see Eiji distracted by the drawing of boobs that he just done on his maths test. Noticing the boobs, Kento alerts all the boys to it, which causes them to start approaching the table in an uproar when Hasuki crushes the paper with her feet and yells at everyone to get back to work.
After the mock test is over, Hasuki reviews the tests and gives a lecture on the problems that most of the students had on the mock tests. Surprised by Romio’s seriousness during the review session, Juliet points it out to Romio and Romio explains that its because he’ll be sent back to his home country if he fails and points out that Hasuki is doing her best so that it doesn’t happen to any of them because she loves all of the Black Doggies and everyone in turn is grateful to her for that. Smiling at Romio, Juliet and Romio are then chewed out by Hasuki for not listening. Later that night, Juliet in her normal White Cats uniform prepares to head back to her dorm through the sewers as Romio apologizes for the day she had. Juliet irritably agrees that he should, but then comments that it was also kind of fun because all of the White Cat students don’t really study together. Juliet then reminds Romio that she won’t be able to see him until after the tests, so he should tough it out until then. Before leaving, Juliet quietly admits that she will be lonely without Romio and wishes him good luck on the tests as she quickly ducks into the sewer.
Elated, Romio happily gushes at Juliet’s cuteness when Hasuki happily comes running up to him. Noticing his shocked appearance, Hasuki asks what is going on because he suddenly disappeared. Romio denies neither being shocked nor having left the dorm grounds and Hasuki replies that she already knows that. Nervously laughing it off, Romio changes the subject to the lesson and praises Hasuki for making the lesson so easy to follow since he’ll probably pass because of her. Smiling to herself, Hasuki replies that she is happy that Romio’s smile is back because he had been acting weird lately and she thought that Romio was keeping a secret from her. A panicking Romio denies keeping secrets from Hasuki, which causes Hasuki to reply that she will always be his ally and that if needs something then she’ll help him out – before happily running off again.
As Hasuki runs off, Romio starts feeling guilty for keeping his relationship with Juliet a secret from Hasuki. As he worries about what he should do, Char comes up from behind him and pinches his cheek, evilly asking what he is thinking about. Instead, Romio angrily asks what Char is doing at the dorm, prompting Char to reply by putting Romio into a head lock while chewing him out for sneaking Juliet into the Black Doggy “den” and threateningly reminds him again of the international complications that his relationship with Juliet could have between their two countries.
Getting back to the matter at hand, Char gets pissed at Romio for having another girl to flirt with (while digging her cat-ear crown into his jaw), but Romio immediately declares that Hasuki is just a friend to him, causing Char to warn him about letting Hasuki find out about Juliet and allowing rumors to spread. Angry, Romio immediately declares that he has known Hasuki since elementary school and that she isn’t the sort of person to spread rumors. Char, however, reminds Romio that he has been keeping secrets from Hasuki and leaves through the same sewer as Juliet before Romio can rebut. Staring straight into the sewer, Romio insults Char for running her mouth off, but then contemplates on what she just said about Hasuki. Muttering to himself, Romio remarks that he does trust Hasuki, but he is worried about ruining their friendship if he did confess to keeping a secret from her and loudly wonders what he should do about it.
Meanwhile, back inside the dorms, Hasuki is studying by herself when Chizuru comes in with a bunch of apples and comments on Hasuki’s “creepy” smile before asking what she is still doing up when everyone is asleep. Hasuki simply returns the question and Chizuru replies that he is hungry. This leads Hasuki to ask Chizuru if he stole the apples from the kitchen, but Chizuru just gives Chizuru an apple and calls her, his accomplice, before praising her for her dedication to the Black Doggies for making tomorrow’s quiz. Hasuki flatly informs Chizuru that she doesn’t mind doing it if it is for all of the Black Doggies, however, Chizuru rebuts by informing Hasuki that she does it for Romio and not the Black Doggies. Getting flustered, Hasuki asks Chizuru why he would think that and Chizuru chews her out for being so obvious about it, and asks Chizuru, what is so great about Romio.
Getting nostalgic, Hasuki (using flashbacks) admits that she was a bit of a bookworm and a loner when she was younger because she wasn’t good at socializing, but after she had helped him out once, Romio always came to her for help with problems to a weird degree. Hasuki continues that after he got a good grade one time, he asked her to be his friend which allowed her to break out of her shell and eventually make lots of friends, so she wants to be useful to Romio and stay by his side as they “walk the same path” (unaware that Romio is also listening in on them). Smirking, Chizuru teasingly comments on how creepy it is that Hasuki holds the study camps for Romio, which causes Hasuki to lash out at Chizuru for not understanding the heart of a maiden. Chizuru then leaves the room, shouting that he is going to sleep now. Outside the room, Romio is keeping his head down out of guilt while working up the courage to confront Hasuki.
Finally gathering his courage, Romio walks into the room where Hasuki is studying. Suddenly noticing Romio, Hasuki freaks out before noticing his silent demeanor and asks him, “What’s wrong?” and if he heard them. Romio silently replies that he did. Getting embarrassed, Hasuki starts jumping around when Romio asks Hasuki why she goes so far for him. Smiling, Hasuki confesses that she does it because she loves him, causing Romio to remember the fun moments between them as he thinks to himself that he must tell her the truth about him and Juliet exactly because of how she loves him. Getting serious, Romio honestly apologizes and confesses the truth about him and Juliet as he rejects Hasuki and pulls out his rosario that Juliet gave to him. Naturally shattered, Hasuki hastily asks Romio if that is what Char was blackmailing him about and Romio reconfirms that he is dating Juliet out of his own free will.
Faking a smile, Hasuki starts yelling out Romio’s secret to the rest of the dorm, but Romio quickly stops her before it is heard. Growing quiet, Hasuki apologizes and admits that she was surprised hearing all of that. As Romio mentally panics about how quickly Hasuki turned on him, Hasuki hugs him and asks him if they are friends. Romio shouts that of course, they are friends while Hasuki wraps him in a white kimono. Noticing the kimono and the ritual setup, Romio asks Hasuki what is going on. Growing darker, Hasuki creepily reminds Romio of the dorm’s pledge for all of members to commit Seppuku* (Suicide by cutting their stomachs open) if they should be caught dating a member of the White Cats’ dorm. Romio replies that he always felt that the dating part was a little biased and asks what Hasuki is planning to do with the Touwa sword in her hands.
Unsheathing the sword, a yandere Hasuki angrily declares that she will chop off Romio’s head as a sign of mercy, once he begins the Seppuku ritual. White and panicking, Romio asks if the sword is a replica and if Hasuki is joking (while silently asking himself why the girls at Dahlia instantly goes for the swords (Heehee)) before pleading with Hasuki to stop this because the Hasuki he knows wouldn’t do this. Upset, Hasuki starts informing Romio about what he probably thought about her, while putting on her glasses and declaring to Romio with sword in hand that she will purge him by her own hands because she will not allow Romio to keep on deceiving the Black Doggies. Reflecting on his naiveness, Romio naturally runs for the door at once and a chase scene begins between the two.
Heading for the second floor window while dodging Hasuki’s slashes, Romio leaps out of the window as a tired Kento and Eiji looks on. Unfortunately for the pair, Kento and Eiji’s clothes are blown off in the process, causing Chizuru who came out to see what the commotion is about to lock them out of their bedroom for the night. Meanwhile at the White Cats Dorm, Juliet hears the sound of glass breaking and looks out of the window to see what is going on. Suddenly, Juliet hears Romio screams and watches as he runs on the outside fence while being chased by Hasuki. Asking what is wrong, Char watches Juliet suddenly close the curtains and is told by her that nothing is wrong while silently cursing her baka boyfriend.
At the same time, deep within the nearby forest, Hasuki is still chasing Romio as he hides within the trees. Suddenly, Juliet appears in her nightgown, calling out to him and asking what had happened. Noticing Juliet, Romio informs Juliet about what happened with Hasuki which naturally makes her angry. Urging Juliet to stay quiet, Romio apologizes for his actions and explains his reason for telling their secret. Understanding, Juliet asks why answering honestly led to him being chased around with a sword and Romio explains that it was wishful thinking or a miscalculation maybe. Regaining his composure, Romio promises Juliet to sort out this mess and protect Juliet.
Sighing in understanding, Juliet tells Romio that he should probably worry about himself more and asks what he wants to do. However, before Romio can answer that question, Hasuki puts the sword to his neck and confronts the pair on their relationship. A freaking out Romio naturally asks Hasuki to see reason, but Hasuki replies that she doesn’t want to listen as she slashes at Romio who dodges and crashes into Juliet, winding up in a flirtatious position. Pissed at their flirting, Hasuki becomes further incited into rage and launches another at the pair and then Juliet, causing Juliet to sprain her ankle in the process. However, before the second blow can land on Juliet, the blow is stopped……..by Char’s shoe, which allows Romio to restrain Hasuki.
Greeting Juliet, Char is asked by Juliet about why she is here and Char apologetically admits to knowing about her and Romio’s relationship. Hearing that, Hasuki asks if Char approves of their relationship and Char naturally replies that she doesn’t and is simply watching out for Juliet’s safety as her friend and that she has another reason for coming. Unlocking the blade in her shoe, Char declares that she is here to kill Romio for the crime of revealing his secret when she warned him beforehand about the risk of revealing it. Absolutely terrified, Romio picks up Juliet and makes a tactical withdrawal from Char and Hasuki. As Romio is running, Juliet relays her shock over Char knowing their secret and wonders if Char wanted to hear it directly from her.
Reaching a cliff, Romio grits his teeth at the water, leading Juliet to ask what is wrong. Looking at the roaring river, Romio laments over his own worthlessness and starts degrading himself further for how he talked big about changing the world but ended up putting Juliet into danger. Getting upset, Juliet demands to be put down while a concerned Romio asks about her foot. Looking down, Juliet replies that her foot is fine, just a bit twisted. Suddenly looking up at Romio, Juliet insists that they confront Char and Hasuki while reassuring Romio that he is not worthless because those words that he gave her that day — changed her heart. Juliet then falls to her knees as Char and Hasuki arrive.
Confronting the young couple, Hasuki asks if they are ready to meet their fate, while brandishing her sword. Romio replies that he is. Hasuki starts chanting her pledge to the Black Doggies code and how she will mete out his punishment right now, as Romio responds with his own vow to not run away anymore. As Hasuki starts running towards him, Romio takes her blow literally head on and tells Hasuki of his sincere wish to always wish to be friends with Hasuki from the bottom of his heart. As the two blows connect, a white light flares up and a flashback is seen from when Romio first asks to be Hasuki’s friend. As the light fades, Romio who is bleeding from his forehead becomes relieved and states about how glad he is that the sword was just a replica after all, to a sobbing Hasuki.
Sobbing, Hasuki tells Romio to shut up because she hates him. At the cliff, Juliet attempts to stand up, when suddenly the dirt gives way and she starts falling into the river. Spotting Juliet’s situation, a frantic Romio
immediately jumps off the cliff with Hasuki and Char following behind him. Reaching Juliet, Romio grabs her and then suddenly notices that he can’t swim just as he is about to hit the water. Hitting the water, Romio hears Hasuki calling out for him as he starts drowning and loses consciousness.
A few minutes later, Romio wakes up to find a worried Hasuki calling his name. Recalling the situation, Romio sits up in panic and asks where Juliet is. Relieved, Hasuki tells him that Char saved Juliet and points to the two of them on the other side of the river. Further relieved, Romio asks if Hasuki saved him, but as Romio goes to thank Hasuki, Hasuki grabs him by the collar and yells at him for being an idiot for jumping off a cliff and asks why he did such a stupid thing. Stunned, Romio replies that there was no reason, all he thought was that Juliet was in danger and before he knew it, he had jumped in. Hearing it, Hasuki realizes that Romio loves Juliet just as much as she loves him and starts sobbing out her heartbreak, all the while, yelling and berating Romio for stupidly falling in love with the enemy and crying out about how their relationship can’t stay the same after this. Crying out a few more “I hate yous” to Romio, Hasuki starts calming down.
The next morning, Romio cautiously leaves his dorm room while on the look out for Hasuki. At the stairwell, as Romio is wondering what he should say to Hasuki, he is greeted by Hasuki with a megaphone blast from behind. Turning towards Hasuki’s direction, Romio asks what is going on and a red-eyed Hasuki reminds Romio about the study training camp. Looking stunned at Hasuki, Romio gets chided by her and smiles; happy that they are still friends. Using her megaphone again, Hasuki then yells at Romio about how upset she will be if she catches him and Juliet flirting in front of her as things get back to normal.
Impressions
Okay, so this episode was a really amazing episode! The animation was spot on as usual and I like how its really consistent so far. The action sequences was amazing especially the parts with Yandere Hasuki and her attacking Romio and Juliet. The use of music and how it explored and heightened Hasuki’s emotions was really well done and the comedy script-writing was completely stellar.
One of the most wonderful and entertaining aspects of this episode, though, was Hasuki herself. Hasuki really is the best girl! It is sad that her love is unrequited (I was crying during this scene), but she shines throughout this episode and viewers gets to see so many hilarious sides to her personality such as her shy-quiet side, her yandere side (which was absolutely hilarious), her heart-broken side and her study sergeant side and the viewer really get to see how much she cares for the other Black Doggies and Romio. She is also really relatable as we have all had awkward situations where we couldn’t really talk to people. Char was also once again hilarious this episode. It is clear that she still hasn’t given up on breaking up the pair, but she is also trying to help in her own weird way – so she is gradually becoming accepting to an extent. I love her violent scenes with Romio, but I also like how she sticks up for Juliet a lot. So, it’s really interesting.
The other main interesting aspect about this episode is how they explored Hasuki’s strange friendship with Chizuru. From the one scene of them together, the viewer can see that the pair really do get along and look out for each other. It is very apparent that Chizuru is fond of Hasuki as a friend and maybe even as a younger sister (which hints that he may have a little sister himself), while Hasuki goes out of her way to help Chizuru out and isn’t afraid to scold him at times. Chizuru also takes step to watch over and protect Hasuki, immediately obeys her and even relents on his punishment of Romio (Episode 3) on her say-so. So there is definitely a level of trust, respect and even friendship between them.
Episode Preview – Romio and the Sports Festival
