Strawberry Panic! – 4

We start out at a small pond, with a young blonde girl praying to a statue of Maria-sama (the Japanese name for The Virgin Mary) and asking if she believed in angels.

Do you believe? No? Then they're all dead…

The girl then hears a bunch of cheering behind her and goes to investigate. She finds a horse pen, a bunch of girls…and her angel.

High ho Silver…yeah, that joke's worn out by now.

We cut to a year later (present time) and find Nagisa and Tomao on their way to class. Nagisa hears an enchanting melody coming from one of the chapels, and Tomao explains that it is from St. Spica's Saintly Chorus. She says that because tomorrow is an important day, everyone is busy practicing. Nagisa asks what the big day is about, and we immediately cut away to the blonde girl singing at the Saintly Chorus practice. They are practicing for a ceremony to congratulate Ootori Amane-sama and her Horseback Riding Club on their impending victory (what they won is never discussed). The blonde blushes, as Amane-sama is apparently the "angel" she saw that day. The girl heads to the statue of Mary she was at at the beginning of the episode, and prays that she will sing well tomorrow to congratulate Amane-sama. Her roommate shows up, and we finally learn the blonde girls name: Hikari. The roommate, Yaya, encourages Hikari to do her best at the concert (she's also in the chorus).

Yaya encourages Hikari by asking her to dance.

After a sleepless night, Hikari goes to watch Amane-sama's arrival from the competition. She is surrounded by a horde of girls, most of which bear gifts for their idol. Amane arrives atop a white horse, and the girls go nuts (like, Backstreet Boys concert nuts) and attempt to rush her, only to be pulled back by the arrival of Etoile-sama. Shizuma gives Amane a bouquet of flowers and congratulates her on the victory. Oddly enough, Amane seems to be one of the few who can address Shizuma to her face by a name other than Etoile-sama, as she calls her "Hanazono-sempai".

Amane-sama arrives on her steed.

Is Amane one of Shizuma's past conquests?

Nagisa and Tomao comment on the events, and disappear until the end of the episode. The ceremony starts, and Amane receives a flag (they don't explain that either, could be a Japanese thing). The chorus is backstage, and Hikari is pacing nervously before they have to go on stage. Yaya just tells her to imagine that the audience is a bunch of pumpkins, and Hikari immediately gets flustered and tells Yaya that "Amane-sama is not a pumpkin!"

I should hope not, because that would make Shizuma a watermelon. (note: I have no idea what I'm talking about either)

The girls get on stage, and a student begins to play the music on the organ. Hikari seems to be relaxed…until Amane-sama looks at her right in the eyes. She panics, and begins to sing early. Hikari eventually realizes her mistake, but it was too late, as everyone was staring at her. Chatter takes over the auditorium, and Amane stands and stares at the audience in the biggest "STFU foos!" look I've ever seen in my life. They shut up, and the chorus finishes the song, only without Hikari singing. We then get to see the internals of Spica's student government, as the Student Council President nominates Amane for the Etoile battle, even though she doesn't want to do it. Later, as she lay in bed, Hikari tells Yaya that she's quiting the chorus. Unable to sleep, Hikari wanders off back to the Mary statue, still in her pajamas, and remembers the time when she first laid eyes on Amane. She ends up in front of the horse pen, and sings the song that she messed up during the concert. Of course, she's not alone, as Amane herself shows up on her white horse. Hikari introduces herself to Amane, who immediately begins to call her Hikari-chan, much to Hikari's delight. Amane praises Hikari's song, saying that she thought it was an angel's song, which flusters poor Hikari. Hikari begins to call Amane Ootori-sama, but Amane cuts her off and asks her to use her given name. Hikari tries again with Amane-sama, and Amane asks her to drop the "-sama". Hikari, unable to go without an honorific at all, resorts to Amane-sempai, which causes her to blush uncontrollably. They have a long discussion, most of which is about Amane's popularity and her distaste for being the center of attention. Amane reveals that she's been watching Hikari about as long as Hikari has been watching her, which puts Hikari in uber flustered moè mode.

Hikari, flustered about being so informal with her idol.

Hikari explains why she's out so early, and Amane tries to comfort her by explaining that everyone gets nervous when they're doing something for the first time, even her. Hikari asks if she ever thought of quiting, and Amane replies that she still thinks about it, but that there will always be things that lead to despair, and that by working through those times, we can get to the joyous ones. Amane grabs Hikari's hand and presses it to her chest (I don't think it's possible to be more flustered than Hikari is at this point) and says that her chest is warm because there are many joyous things inside…yeah.

Amane lets Hikari cop a feel.

I'm sure there are…

Amane gives Hikari a ride back to the dorms on her horse. After Amane departs, Hikari comments that she isn't the angel, Amane is. Yaya, who saw Hikari arrive on the horse from the window in their room, pins Hikari to the bed and demands to know what happened.

Is Yaya jealous? Probably.

Nagisa and Tomao show up again, just in time to hear the end of the Saintly Chorus practice. Hikari has decided to stay in the chorus, and says that she believes that one day, the angel will show Hikari her smile.

That, ladies and gentlemen, is exactly what I've been waiting for in this series. Hopefully we'll get more stuff like this (and more Tomao goodness next week, to make up for her absence this time.). I wish they'd drop the whole "Shizuma tries to kiss Nagisa and is pussy-blocked by *insert random person/object/event here*" shtick that they adhered to for the first three episodes. SP certainly is shaping up to be quite nice, so those of you who dropped it after the first two should defiantly pick it up again :p.