Strawberry Panic! – 7

The episode opens with Amane practicing on her horse as her fanclub watches on. She notices that she’s feeling something strange lately, something that she had never felt before. The feeling rears its head when she spots Hikari watching her as well, separated from the rest of the girls. Tomao is discussing the situation with Nagisa in the middle of class, and states that Amane is with out a doubt in love with Hikari. Nagisa just blinks in disbelief (she doesn’t seem to be on the lesbian bandwagon quite yet, despite her obvious infatuation with Shizuma). On the roof of Spica, two girls, one of which sits on the Spica Student Council, discuss the same matter, and reveal that the Student Council lady (they’re both unnamed at this point) is Amane’s rival for Spica’s entry in the Etoile battle. They think that Amane being in love might compromise her running in the contest. Amane finally decides to approach Hikari, who is holding a package behind her back. Before Hikari gets a chance to present her present to Amane-sempai, the fanclub starts to make their way over, and Amane runs off to avoid them. A mysterious blonde is watching nearby, unnoticed by the two. Amane hits the showers, and discovers the blonde waiting for her when she gets out. It turns out she’s Spica’s Student Council President, Shion (for some reason I thought the other one was the president o_0).

Y y'ellow thar!

Shion asks Amane about “the matter she spoke of last time”, (the Etoile nomination? Partnering with her in the Etoile battle?). Amane replies the same way she had before: no. Shion likens her refusal to her refusal to take gifts from her fans. She thinks that Amane refuses the presents because it would make her ineligible to be the Etoile. Shion then asks if she would accept a present from Hikari, and Amane doesn’t respond. Meanwhile, Hikari is at the statue of Maria-sama, praying. Yaya finds her there, and notices that Hikari didn’t give her gift to Amane. She tells Hikari about the rumor that Amane doesn’t accept gifts from anyone, and says that she should move forward, or her feelings won’t be heard by the other person. The student council meets to discuss Amane’s entry into the Etoile battle. Kaname (the girl that claims Amane is her rival), the Vice-President, insists on finding another candidate, but Shion disagrees and says that Amane still has a chance. After the meeting, Kaname and Momomi (the girl that was with her on the rooftop) consider their options, and Kaname decides to divert Hikari’s attention to her. In other words, seduce her. Win.

Ichigo-Sho's Local lesbian bitches in action.

Later that night, Tomao and Nagisa gossip about Amane and Hikari’s relationship and how it’s going nowhere fast. Tomao thinks about helping, but Nagisa is more focused on her French book. Way to help out the good guys. Nagisa seems more like a side character nowadays then the main one, like she was meant to be. Across the dorm, Yaya listens in as Hikari sings in the shower and ponders on how to help Hikari win Amane over, or at least convey her feelings. Momomi and Kaname work on their plan to seduce poor Hikari, which results in not only the first official pantsu shot of the series, but the first official lesbian action. 7 episodes? It only took Tomari 2 episodes to grope Hazumu! The good part is that it was preceded by awesome sexual innuendo. Kaname says that Momomi is the “bee”, and that the “bee”’s job is to spread the “pollen” (the note that Kaname wrote). The following exchange is word for word: Momomi “But…bees need water every time they want to pollinate the flowers.” Kaname: “Whatever water that is, drink as much as you need then.” Not the best translation in the world, but damn…

Can Tomao be next? Please?

The next morning Momomi successfully gives the letter to Hikari. Because of the wording that Momomi uses when she gives Hikari the letter, Hikari thinks that it’s from Amane (note that Momomi drops another bee comment here as she walks away. The bitch-o-meter is off the fucking charts for these two). Hikari reads the letter in front of the Maria-sama stature. We don’t actually see the letter, but it does make Hikari blush. Later on, the Amane fanclub (read: the entire student body of Spica, plus Tomao, Nagisa, and a few more Miatre girls) waits outside of the Spica building to wish Amane-sama good luck. Yaya enters the crowd and flashes back to the night before. Hikari said that Amane wanted to see her before the departing ceremony, and that she would give her the present then. Hikari waits, far from everyone else, in the small wood outside the church, for who she thinks is Amane. Of course, it isn’t Amane who shows up, but Kaname. Back at the ceremony, the girls anxiously await Amane’s arrival. Shizuma shows up, which puts them into a bigger fervor. Shion looks around nervously, noticing that Kaname and Momomi, both of whom are on the Spica student council, are missing. I the woods, Kaname’s evil lesbian side comes out, and she begins the…procedure. Heh. A chorus of screams alerts Yaya that Amane has finally arrived. Hikari still hasn’t shown up, which makes both Amane and Yaya uneasy. Kaname pins Hikari against a tree, and likens Hikari and Amane to Icarus and the sun (look it up), telling Hikari to stay away from the sun that is Amane. Right about when Kaname tries to force herself on Hikari, Hikari remembers the promise she made to Amane about sending her off. She manages to slip away from Kaname and runs off towards the ceremony. As Shizuma shakes Amane’s hand to send her off (making the fanclub squeal with delight), Tomao notices that Hikari is missing, as does Amane and Shion. Hikari continues to try to make it on time, only to be cut off by Momomi, giving Kaname enough time to catch up. Yaya finds where Hikari and Kaname met, with the letter next to it. Nagisa and Tomao’s shortcut back to the dorms happens to run into Yaya in her frantic search for Hikari, and Yaya enlists them to help her out. Kaname finally pins Hikari to the ground, and starts to force herself on her, with Momomi looking on. I have a feeling that the two were just waiting for the opportunity for a threesome :p.

With that one quote, Kaname has entered the Evil Lesbian Hall of Fame, right next to Chikane. She's got nothing on Hime-Shizuru though.

Amane suddenly senses that something is wrong, and she grabs her horse from the trailer and rushes off to find Hikari. She manages to get to her before Kaname could do much more than talk. Dammit, couldn’t you have waited like five minutes? Momomi manages to slip away, but Kaname is caught red handed. Amane still lets her walk away though. Hikari gives Amane the gift, a yellow scarf. Tomao, Nagisa, and Yaya happily watch on. Back at the dorms, Momomi convinces Kaname not to give up, and the pair enjoy another night together.

Woah. I always thought that Kaname was the dominant one…

Well now, after 7 episodes we finally get some girl-on-girl action? Took em long enough. At least the show finally has some bad guys (Kaname and Momomi), which is a welcome addition. Every show ever needs at least one evil lesbian. Unfortunately there was no Tomao cuteness this week, because the story focused more on Amane and Hikari again. Not even Chiyo messing someting up or slamming her head on a table for no reason . I’m loving this series so far, unlike the other Yuri series this season. Simoun is just…flat. As a sidenote: sorry about the lack of posts, but I’ve been busy working on a Haruhi fansite with some other guys. Check it out at haruhiism.com. I'm Kyon over there btw.