Strawberry Panic! – 9

It's summertime, and the girls of Ichigo-sho are gearing up for a break filled with swimming, eating, no homework and…ghosts?

Hikari and Yaya go to Nagisa and Tamao's room to share some cakes that Yaya ordered from a prestigious patisserie, but Nagisa has locked herself in the bathroom because she doesn't want anyone to see her in her new school swimsuit. The girls manage to coax her out by teasing her with images of the cakes.

Nagisa acts like a baby when the girls comment on her swimsuit, but Tamao cheers her up by mentioning the cakes. After the usual nighttime party is over, Yaya and Hikari head back to the Spica section of the dorms, but are surprised to hear a girl crying. They can't see anybody, so they use their powerful Japanese senses and proclaim that it has to be a ghost. Why the hell is everything haunted in Japan? The duo eventually tell Tamao, who tells Nagisa during class the next day, who promptly freaks the fuck out. Tamao, instead of calming her, runs through the traditional 7 mysteries (I read somewhere that every school in Japan has 7 mysteries, although most of them are made up to scare the ichinensei or whatever) with another student, and is surprised to learn that the 7th mystery is different between them. The girls argue over whether or not the mysteries are true, but they're cut off by the bell signaling the beginning of class (Psalm 147, verses 1-14. Look it up, I'm lazy.). Later, at lunch, Tamao tells Nagisa that she's started investigating the discrepancies in the mysteries, and that she's found that the older a student is, the less they know about the mystery Yaya and Hikari saw, "The Girl of the Hallway". Tamao decides to use the subject as her report for the Literary Club, and she recruits Nagisa to help her gather information.

The pair's first stop is the Spica showers, where Hikari and Yaya are washing off after a swim. Tamao asks them a bunch of questions, but their answers don't help her any. As Tamao is talking to Hikari, everyone looses sight of Yaya, who jumps at Nagisa in order to scare her. Nagisa jumps and turns around and becomes frozen in place when Yaya's towel falls off. Line of the week goes to Tamao: "It looks like the naked Yaya-san has more impact than a monster…". Props to Yaya for the big…keiki. Ahem. Later that night Tamao goes over the facts again with Nagisa, and finds that nobody older than 6th year (3rd year normal high school, or 12th grade) knows about the "Girl of the Hallway". Tamao tells Nagisa her version of the tale, and scares Nagisa so much that she can't get to sleep. Nagisa wakes Tamao up in the middle of the night to ask if they can sleep together. Tamao, of course, agrees, and Nagisa says that since she was scared in her first few weeks at Miator, and that Tamao was her only friend, she wanted to sleep with her earlier. Tamao is, of course, thrilled, and Nagisa eventually drifts off to sleep with Tamao holding her hand.

The next morning Tamao and Nagisa ask Rokujou Miyuki, the Miator Student Council President, about her thoughts on the "Girl of the Hallway". She refuses to answer, and suggests that the pair research something more scientific. Nagisa then goes to the greenhouse to ask Shizuma-onee-sama, who asks if they asked Miyuki, and then gives the same answer. Next is Chikaru-sama, the Le Rim Student Council/Transformation Club/Mystery Club president, who, unlike Shizuma and Miyuki, is a 5th year. She gives them a straight answer: in her first year (she didn't say what year that was…) she saw the "girl". Tamao goes over her figures, and finds that all 5th years know about the legend, but only a few 6th years do, of those that actually answered. Chikaru gives the pair a brief history of the Ichigo-sho, and says that it's been around since Miator was built, over 100 years ago (which makes no sense. Japanese people 100 years ago would rather commit sepuku then let a school that focuses on an outsiders religion be built in Japan). Later that night Nagisa and Tomao decide to actually go and see if they can experience the "Girl of the Hallway" themselves, and are quite surprised when they do. Nagisa freaks out, and Tomao leads her over to a potted plant, where they find a cat, who is responsible for the noise. The cat runs off, and the two consider the case closed.

Unfortunately for our heroines, the "Girl of the Hallway" is actually still running around. She's actually Rokujou Miyuki, who went into that hallway to cry because she was homesick, spooking any girl that heard her. The only person that could coax her out was her roommate…Shizuma. My my, the pieces fall into place . Shizuma lead Miyuki back to their room and made Miyuki promise that she wouldn't cry anymore. Miyuki said that she would try, but that she wanted to sleep with Shizuma one last time. Back in the real world, Miyuki is pulled from her flashback when Shizuma pokes her to get her to read the lines their teacher asked her to. Shizuma chides Miyuki for the daydreaming, and tells her to work harder, which causes Miyuki to smile as she looks out the window. At the Miator pool, Nagisa is finally enjoying herself and her swimsuit. Tamao tells her that she's given up on the "Girl of the Hallway", but that there are 6 more mysteries to look at. Nagisa freaks out, and cute Tamao finally rears her head once again!

Well now, they've finally gotten around to animating one of my favorite scenes from the manga (which is very different btw). It seems like the episode is just useless filler at first, but there is definite progression between Tamao and Nagisa (I for one wouldn't be surprised or disappointed if Nagisa does go with Tamao) and they've finally delved into the past between Shizuma and Miyuki, which has only been hinted at so far. Huzzah for plot progression! And since it's there, huzzah for more Tamao cuteness! By the way, you may have noticed that Nagisa and Tamao are wearing cooler looking green uniforms. The ladies of Spica and Miator switched to summer uniforms (Le Rim most likely did as well, although they don't look any different). Anyway, next week it looks like Nagisa is going to get a personal tutor. Something tells me that it's gonna be Shizuma-onee-sama…that should be interesting, eh?