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Pretear Episodes

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Episode 03: The Way of Becoming Pretear

Details

The Synopsis

Hayate revisits the old tree where the Princess of Disaster had escaped from. He envisions the seal that once stood there but is gone now. Sasame appears by Hayate's side and tells him that Himeno was getting better, and that she was able to sense the demon larvae the other day.
Back on Earth, Himeno and her classmate friend, Yayoi Takato, are waiting in line for ice cream. Yayoi sets off in a tangent of hyper romanticism and creates a theory about Tanaka's undying love for Natsue. Himeno listens to her strange friend, taking the story rather awkwardly as Yayoi bounces up and down in excitement. When they get to order, Himeno asks for a double-powered green tea kimchee with natto yogurt, to the mortification of the other customers (apparently this is a disgusting flavor or something). In all the hubbub, Himeno spots Mawata walking towards the park. Mawata takes a seat at a park bench, listening to a tape recording of one of Sasame's radio sessions and staring at an article on Sasame from a magazine. Suddenly, Himeno appears with a strawberry ice cream cone and remarks that Mawata really is a fan of Sasame. Mawata, looking somewhat annoyed at the intrusion, gets up and leaves. Himeno wonders if Mawata hates her now.
While Himeno is lost in thought, Mannen reaches up and grabs her ice cream and dances away with Hajime and Shinn, who share the strawberry ice cream cone. Mennen, who had Himeno's order, is disgusted with the flavor, and wonders if Himeno has any taste buds. Suddenly, Hayate appears in civilian clothes, and makes a grab for Himeno's ice cream as he informs her that he is going to see if she is really worthy enough to be the pretear. Himeno gives Hayate a solid punch in the face before she follows him along.
The first test involves a kendama, an asian toy made with a ball and a hammer-like instrument, which will determine how much Himeno can concentrate. The goal of the game is to balance the ball on either ends of the hammer without losing the balance. Himeno boasts that this will be super-easy, but fails miserably. Hayate presents a large jar for the third test. He tells her that this will test her attention span. Himeno does a good show of punching the jar, but is thrown back by a sudden wave of Tipis escaping from the jar. Hayate asks Himeno how many Tipis there were. Himeno is furious, and has no idea.
The third and final test is to see how much endurance Himeno has. Hayate leads them to a table covered with sweets and desserts galore. Before he finishes explaining, Himeno has already polished everything off in record time. Disgusted, Hayate tells her to do as she wishes, and leaves. When Himeno tries to call him back, he tells her that she is a joker who can't be a good pretear.
The limo breaks down while Mayune is on one of her shopping expeditions, and Tanaka, in his haste to fix the problem, accidentally manages to spray her with oil and get her stuck inside the hood of the car. As she marches her way back home with a frightened and apologetic Tanaka trailing behind, she trips over a disgruntled Hayate. At first she is annoyed, but then becomes enraptured by his handsome face. She grabs him by the end of his hair, and drags him back to her bedroom where she makes him hold her bathrobe for her while she showers. When she tells a awkward Hayate that he should be honored to be her personal servant after what he did to her, Hayate has had enough and leaves her to Tanaka. When she comes out and realizes he is gone, she takes out her anger on the poor butler.
Himeno meets with Sasame to complain about Hayate's tests and his annoying treatment of her. She tells Sasame about the kendana, and says that it's a ridiculous toy. Sasame gently disagrees, and explains to her that it's an excellent toy to improve one's concentration. He does a little demo and Himeno begins to feel down. Sasame tells her that just because she can't do it now doesn't mean she can't get better with practice. Himeno, feeling better, leaves to meet Go. Sasame watches her leave with a strange, resigned expression on his face. He gets up and tosses his empty soda can into the trash without looking, and leaves. Himeno practices fighting with the help of Go, Hajime, Shinn, and Mannen. She uses Go's Fire Pretear as Go gives her pretend scenarios of a fight scene. Himeno dodges and attacks imaginary enemies, and Mennen counterattacks her with his power over ice. At the end of practice, the four gather around Himeno and tell her that she has been improving greatly. In the middle of their congratulations, they notice Hayate watching from the trees. Himeno makes her way over and asks him if he has been watching this whole time. Hayate brushes her off without answering, and Himeno gets angry. She tells him that he must hate her and that she can destroy all the demon larvae without him. She stops at those words, regretting them instantly. Hayate curtly tells her he understands, and leaves.
Kaoru and Natsue leave the mansion to have a lover's fun day at the gardens. They ride a ridiculous-looking contraption of a bike and a mini-passenger's seat on the side. Unnoticed, a seed of demon larvae drops into the basket of Kaoru's bike.
Himeno thunks her head ashamed at the ice cream parlor where Go works, feeling horrible for what she said to Hayate. Suddenly they all feel the presence of the demon larvae as it tranforms to its full form, rendering Natsue and Kaoru unconscious. When they get there, Himeno pretears with Go, becoming the Fire Pretear. As they fight, the knights end up getting caught in the creature's tentacles, and are saved by Hayate, who shouts at HImeno to finish it off. Himeno whips out a Fire Axe and strikes at the eye of the demon larvae, making it disappear and returning everything back to normal again. Kaoru and Natsue wake up embarrassed that they had fallen asleep, and once again become oblivious to everyone else as they look into each other's eyes. Himeno and the others chuckle over this as they watch unseen among the trees.
The knights congratulate Himeno on her excellent work, and Himeno apologizes to Hayate for her harsh words earlier. Hayate tells her that though the words were painful, he is a Leafe knight working with an annoying Pretear, so he's okay. He leaves as the sun sets behind them. Back in the mansion, Himeno struggles anew with the kendana toy. Tipis.

The Review

Nice to see Himeno's getting better at fighting - her first performance was kinda pathetic x.x;. I enjoyed watching Hayate test her, but I doubt the counting of the tipis or the endurance test with food were really relevant to fighting >.>.

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