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Pretear Episodes

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Episode 08: The Time of Awakening

Details

The Synopsis

Himeno is unable to Pretear because she hears Fenrir's words. She huddles and continues to sob as Sasame shouts at Takako to stop. He flies up to her and faces her, telling her that no matter how much she hurts others, her wounds will never heal. Fenrir laughs cynically at him and captures Sasame with her power, draining him of his Leafe to the point where Sasame will fade away if he loses any more and drops him. Himeno and Hayate watch this in horror as the other Leafe knights arrive. Fenrir laughs at everyone and disappears, promising Himeno that she will show her just how helpless she really is.
Sasame is shown in a cocoon of sorts, where he is being healed by Go. The Leafe knights explain to Himeno that if Sasame had lost a little more, he would have faded away, the Leafe Knights' way of dying. Sasame will heal in a few days. Himeno cries and thinks that the whole thing was her fault, and the others try to reassure her without success. Himeno leaves and gives her friends a false smile, saying she will be okay. When she returns home that night, she sits in her room with her head on the table, staring at her mother's flowers. Mawata, in her own room, waits for Sasame's Words Gate radio session to start, and is just thinking that she wants to meet him when a different voice announces that they will be playing old popular songs because Sasame was gone with an unexpected illness.
The next morning, Mayune is about to play another trick on Himeno, this time using "Mayune's Special Ultra Hyper Hot Spicy Toothpaste" to brush Himeno the Sleepyhead's teeth with. However, Mayune finds that Himeno has already left her room, and furious when Tanaka accidentally steps on her as she attempts to sneak away. Poor Tanaka becomes the victim of Mayune's toothpaste, when they are interrupted by the servant Mikage, who informs Myune that Himeno has already left home. Mayune, furious that Himeno got away again, appeals to her mother. She demands that Natsue send a search party for Himeno, telling her that Himeno has been acting strange, leaving without her bags etc. Natsue is more shocked with Mayune's spiced face than with Mayune's rantings, and refuses to do any such thing.
Hayate, who was working on the grounds, overhears this argument between Mayune and Natsue. He drops the things he is carrying and starts to search for Himeno. Meanwhile, the other Leafe knights are confused at not being able to find any trace of any demon larvae. The children Leafe knights ask Kei if Himeno is still the Pretear, and Kei replies matter-of-factly that if she can't pretear, then she's no the Pretear. Mannen gets angry at these words.
Himeno is walking around a park and suddenly sees everything around her drained of Leafe and dying. She cries out loud and opens her eyes again to find that it was only her imagination. She continues to walk around the city alone, feeling upset about her inability to Pretear.
Mawata is shown carrying a bouqet of flowers to Sasame's work, only to find that there is a small crowd at the entrance already. She tosses the flowers and continues to walk down an alleyway.
All the while, Hayate has been searching frantically for Himeno. He runs into one of Himeno's friends, Yayoi, who informs him that Himeno didn't go to school that day. She then gets off on her own tangent, fantasizing about Himeno's and Hayate's fear of love, dancing around and talking about how Himeno and Hayate were so afraid that they ran away from each other. Hayate tells an oblivious Yayoi that she may be right, and continues on his search.
Himeno is so deep in her thoughts that she fails to notice that she is in danger as she crosses the street without looking. Mawata, who had also been walking around, noticed Himeno, and shouts at her to watch out as a truck comes Himeno's way. As Mawata and Himeno wait at the crosswalk (in a safe area) a mysterious shadow begins to sneak up on the separated Leafe knights. Himeno and Mawata both realize that neither of them are headed in any particular direction, and neither do they have anywhere they needed to be. They decide to spend the day together, and go to places like the arcade, the park to have ice cream, to watch a performer play with a chimpanzee...until they finally reach what Mawata calls "a dead end" at the beach. Throughout their journey, Mawata had asked Himeno what she seemed like. Himeno told Mawata that Mawata is smart, beautiful, and popular with everyone, yet she never seems to smile. Then Himeno admits that there are also times when she can't laugh. Mawata tells Himeno that she's strange, and Himeno tells Mawata that she has a beautiful smile, and that she is strange for hiding it.
Back at the beach, Himeno tells Mawata that it isn't a dead end - there's still a little further they can go - and steps down to the rocks near the shore. As Himeno starts running towards the sunset, she slips and falls into the water to a shocked and amused Mawata. Mawata later tells Himeno that being alone is good because you don't get in anyone's way and you don't hurt anyone and no one hurts you. Himeno agrees, to Mawata's surprise, and gets up to buy drinks for the both of them. As Himeno climbs the steps back to the shops near the beach, she reflects on Mawata's words about being alone, and wonders if she, too, should consider isolating herself from her friends. At that moment, Hayate runs towards her and hugs her as she begins to cry again. Himeno apologizes to Hayate for not being able to pretear and to protect, and Hayate tells her she doesn't have to. Mawata sees the two embracing, and is shocked for a moment before she runs home.
Fenrir appears as Himeno notices Mawata's departure, and drops the near-to-fading bodies of the other Leafe knights at Himeno's feet. Himeno tells Hayate she still wants to protect, and Hayate holds out his hand to pretear with her. Himeno is hesitant at first, but manages to become the Wind Pretear. As she transforms, the other knights regain consciousness and almost mistake Himeno for the legendary White Pretear.
Fenrir is furious that Himeno is able to transform again, and begins to battle with Himeno. Himeno manages to slice quickly through the tentacles of the demon larva, and as she attempts to counter Fenrir's blast of power, her Wind Sword shatters. A piece of the Wind Sword embeds itself in Fenrir's eye, and Fenrir swears that Himeno will pay for wounding her.
Himeno thanks Hayate for everything as evening comes. The other Leafe knights wonder aloud when Himeno and Hayate will stop staring at each other, and tease them both for blushing.
Meanwhile, Mawata has returned home, and is crying silently in her room when Mikage knocks on the door to welcome her home.

The Review

Aaah the damsel-in-distress returns! But I have to admit I do feel sorry for Himeno.
The pictures were beautiful, especially the sunset scenes.
At the very end, Mikage's character suddenly takes on an evil light, foreshadowing the revealing of her real identity later on in the series (oohs and aahs).

Screenshots