4-nin Wa Sorezore Uso Wo Tsuku

Listen… Do you want to know a secret? Do you promise not to tell? Whoa oh, oh… Everyone has skeletons in their closets. Everyone has a secret or two that they want to hide from everybody else. Such secrets make us, uhm, humans? Oh well, if the title 4-nin Wa Sorezore Uso Wo Tsuku sounds a bit serious and perhaps a murder mystery, dramatic thriller or something of that sort, be assured that this is more of a comedy than anything. That’s right. Our 4 main characters here harbour some sort of secret that the other doesn’t know. Yet they continue their daily lives and friendship together while keeping that secret a closely guarded one in their hearts. Get ready to laugh at all the shenanigans and misunderstandings arising from all that all in the name of keeping their friendship alive!

Episode 1
Kashihara Girls’ Academy is a normal school for girls. However for our main quartet, they have a secret to harbour each. Before you can speculate what they are, we are introduced to them. Rikka is actually an alien and of colonel rank. She was fighting space rebels but crash landed on Earth. She used her device impersonating as a doll to brainwash everyone to enrol in this school. However the device doesn’t seem to work on her friends since they believe her as truly innocent and naïve. Yeah, she doesn’t understand it but whatever. Next is Chiyo whose real identity is a ninja. Her first job was to infiltrate this school and assassinate the headmaster. However she soon realized she loves this lifestyle and abandoned her profession. Ever since, the ninja village has been sending assassins to kill her. Especially one named Hanzo. To avoid the rest from finding out, she has this prim and proper attitude. Then there is Sekine who is a psychic! You bet she knows Rikka and Chiyo’s real identity but doesn’t want to ruin their friendship. She is a result of some lab experiment and believes they are watching her. But she doesn’t care too much about it. Lastly, Tsubasa. Real name Tsuyoshi because she is actually a boy! His older sister forced him to come to this school in her place because the boy she likes is going to another school. You think Tsubasa would enjoy having girls around him. Too bad he is into older women… Also to note, Sekine can’t read her mind as her psychic powers only allow her to read minds of the same gender. Later when Chiyo manages to stop a shuriken targeted at her, she goes off to fight off Hanzo. Because of the blood all over her face, Rikka and Tsubasa spots this and get the wrong idea. Chiyo lies about her period and since they aren’t really knowledgeable about girls or Earthlings, they believe her. Later, Rikka is about to fart. She tries to cover it up but it is obviously taking a toll on her. So much so her tentacles that are impersonating as her ribbons are drooling! Eventually she asks about farting in public and although Chiyo and Tsubasa don’t care, you bet Sekine does because she knows her fart is toxic! Go fart privately in a room! As Rikka makes hastes, the moment she opens the door, she sees Hanzo and farts in his face! Not sure if he is dead but Sekine is feeling relieved now.

Sekine accidentally spills water over Rikka’s doll. When Rikka returns, the doll then spits out some cryptic message only Rikka can understand. It seems the enemy is 3 metres nearby! This is when Rikka takes out her ‘toy’ gun and holds up everyone. Everyone put your hands up! Tsubasa and Chiyo didn’t think too much of it so Sekine forces them to play along before she actually pulls the trigger on this real death ray or something! Thinking that one of them is a spy impersonating as her friend, she proceeds to quiz them. About Earth! Now, it may seem Tsubasa may now all the hard basic facts about Earth only because she is an astronomy nerd. Hence this allows her to ‘pass’ as an Earthling. Next is Sekine but because she can read her mind, she of course says the correct answer right down to the decimals about Earth’s ellipticity. By elimination, Chiyo is supposed to be spy buy looking at how cute she is, Rikka can’t bear to accuse her. Hence the easiest question of all. What shape is Earth! WTF CHIYO GOT IT WRONG?! TRIANGLE?! I HOPE SHE ISN’T A FLAT EARTHER!!! No choice, Rikka fires at her but Chiyo evades. The goo got all over Tsubasa and Sekine. Well, good news. It doesn’t work on Earthlings. Chiyo then knocks Rikka out from the back. She is moving instinctively as a ninja so it’s not on purpose. Later, Tsubasa is not amused by all of this and wants to know the reason so Rikka tries to play innocent. She would like to give her important medal as remorse but Tsubasa won’t accept this sh*t. Chiyo manages to cover herself and the whole thing by claiming Rikka has anaemia. Okay. Tsubasa will go along with that. But do this again and their friendship is over. Rikka then realizes she should have just used her doll to interrogate them. If you lie, it will have a very terrifying crippling effect. Thank goodness for Sekine, eh?

Episode 2
Hot summer is here. Tsubasa dreads it but wearing her normal school uniform. The school has a special undergarment for that so you bet it is even worse for her. Chiyo has made some cute and girly clothes for her friends and she wants them to try it out. Of course Tsubasa declines and all but eventually she gives in and is given a makeover. The friends then pass by a fortune teller. They think she is shady but as noted, her powers are actually real. As proof, she will take their readings. First up, Tsubasa as she asks who she will marry. Fortune teller sees a girl and thinks she’s a lesbian or something. Maybe the future, the world will be more open. Next is Chiyo. Fortune teller sees lots of dead rich spirits around her and thinks she is related. Claiming she is being well protected, Chiyo is relieved because those are the people her ninja clan killed! Finally, Rikka. WTF this space war with the space fish people?! Fortune teller can’t take it anymore and faints! The friends contemplate on what to do for the cultural festival. They imagine the maid outfits on each of them. Chiyo then makes one but Sekine has her try it on. How cute. She doesn’t think so but the friends try to assure her she is. Especially Rikka who just read what a maid outfit is. Yeah, looks like she got this from a shady book offering shady services!

Now the class contemplate on what to really do for the festival. So as to stand out, it is suggested a ninja mansion. Of course this does not sit well with Chiyo so she tries to suggest something else. Instantly rejected. Furthermore, almost unanimous votes went to ninja mansion. Sorry Chiyo, democracy won. Later Tsubasa says how she admires being a ninja because when young, she tried to train as one. She tries to show off her shuriken skills. I guess Chiyo won’t be outdone and shows how to do the real deal! Wow. Super impressive. Like as though a real ninja! When Tsubasa claims to do more training and get better, like doing 1000 push-ups, this activates Chiyo’s demonic instinct. Yeah, now she’s forcing Tsubasa to do just that. You better not quit now, you wimp! It gets worse as she adds Sekine on top as weight. Say it’s not heavy! Thanks to that Spartan suffering, Tsubasa is out sick and hence a remorseful Chiyo volunteers to fill on for her. During the festival, English teacher Brian comes in and thinks he should just play along and be amazed with all the ninja stuff. Chiyo then exhibits all her true ninja skills! OMG! What the hell is going on! Japanese ninja so amazing! No kidding! Will that turn him into a ninja fanatic now? As Chiyo still regrets punishing Tsubasa, Sekine suggests to go apologize and bring some stuffs she likes. Chiyo does that although Tsubasa doesn’t hold a grudge against her. As repentance, Chiyo gives some of her ninja tools. Wow. It looks like the real thing! You don’t say…

Episode 3
Because the takoyaki seller gives everyone except Sekine an extra, this makes the rest feel bad. In trying to be nice, they become depressed. Sekine tries to brush it off with a lame joke but they get even more depressed! Just when they are ready to move on, handsome hunks give all except Sekine their contacts. Chiyo wants to kill them so Sekine tries another lame joke. Tsubasa tries to console her by saying that at least Sekine has boobs and that is only what men are looking at. Oh dear. She is deep into landmine territory… In order to salvage everything, Rikka uses some power to turn back time! Then she turns all humans into space hogs so that Sekine will be the most beautiful human on Earth! Well, even if Chiyo is a pig, all pigs still flock to her! Whether they are turned into frogs or rocks, everyone still gathers around Chiyo! In the end, she just turned everything back to normal and wiped everyone’s memories. Sekine accepts her fate as so when a truck then zooms by just to splash water all over her. Wow. Sekine without her glasses and wet looks freaking hot!!! As the friends go home, Rikka decides to do something to the takoyaki stall to prevent from something similar happening in the future. She turns the takoyaki into a space octopus who returns to space! The stall is never seen again! Not that the takoyaki tasted good anyway.

Flashback shows when Tsubasa was called by the teacher because of her earrings, Sekine offered to convince the teacher to drop the case. In return for a fee! They become lunch buddies. Sekine wanted to invite an unfriendly Chiyo then but the latter refused since she is here not to make friends but to assassinate the headmaster. Later when Sekine and Tsubasa have matching Maskuma dolls, this turned Chiyo into a fanatic as she started collecting them. So cute! That is the reason why she ditched her ninja life! Of course, where is Rikka in all of that? Obviously the stories everyone remembers are fabricated. Sekine is aware that she is brainwashed too but is unaware which memories of hers are fake as she cannot remember when Rikka came into the group. Anyway, she still proclaims her loyalty to Rikka’s supreme leader! Later when Rikka accidentally pops a party cracker surprise, everyone thought Chiyo is in tears because it scared her. Turns out she is happy that everyone remembers her birthday! Actually no one does so they just act like they do on the fly. Rikka brainwashes Chiyo to accept her used eraser as her present. Tsubasa already bought a present? Actually it’s for herself as she thought it was the minimum needed to come off as a girl. She gives it to Chiyo and in return, Chiyo makes Tsubasa’s hair again. Looking pretty now. Finally, Sekine is forced to use her telekinesis power known as Mistress Time. The downside of using this is that she’ll become fat! Using the bag as some drone to write happy birthday in the sky, happy Chiyo wants her to write their eternal friendship too. Oh dear. Mistress Time again… Now she’s fatter than a pregnant woman! I guess it is worth the friendship.

Episode 4
As the friends have lunch together, they put up a question to Tsubasa if she has to marry one of them, who would it be. Of course this puts Tsubasa in a bind. What is the correct answer?! She weighs all the pros and cons of each of them. And so she describes the person she likes. Basically it’s herself! Later Tsubasa shows Sekine and Rikka a sexy photo of a model that looks like Chiyo. Of course is unsure why such pictures are needed so as Tsubasa tries to explain without giving away too much, so this is how Earthlings breed?! With Chiyo coming in, Tsubasa shows this picture. However Chiyo starts crying?! As Rikka takes her away to talk, Sekine lectures Tsubasa about the level of provocativeness. What one considers mild, another might not. Tsubasa feels so bad about this that she wants to quit school! Similarly, Chiyo also feels bad about this and wants to quit school too! Though, Rikka promises she will always protect her. The fastest way is for both of them to apologize and get over it. Seems pretty fine until Sekine realizes Rikka has put a device on Chiyo that will turn any man who touches her into a woman! Thank goodness Sekine saved Brian from that. However the same cannot be said for Tsubasa. In the toilet, she realizes something missing down there… Because of that, she is now depressed. Now that Tsubasa is an actual woman, Sekine can finally read her thoughts. However she doesn’t want to pry too much and thus has this misunderstand Tsubasa is down because she lost something precious. It gets weirder with Rikka asking about her name’s meaning as Tsubasa explains it was given by her grandpa. Thus Sekine concludes her depression is due to losing something precious from her late grandpa. All wrong! Tsubasa’s grandpa still alive anyway.

The gang then visit the indoor pool on Tanabata. Surprisingly, Tsubasa dressing the skimpiest. I know she now has the assets to flaunt but really? The most modest is Chiyo. Need to cover up those scars on her body… At first Tsubasa is nervous when a pretty chick has her help zip her top that is stuck. But after that, Tsubasa is now chirpy and very feminine! Has she always been like this? As they also prepare to write their wishes, Rikka cannot comprehend Earth’s custom to wish for things to happen rather than putting in effort to get it. The friends see the shooting star and further make wishes. Rikka laments hers won’t come true but hopes her friends’ wishes will. Hence using the device she makes whatever they wish for come true. This means Tsubasa is back being a boy! Oh sh*t! Trying to cover up herself, Tsubasa claims she is cold. Chiyo has no choice but to wrap her clothes around her. Hey, her scars are gone! Wishes do come true! And yes, Sekine lost some weight but laments she should have wished for some other part to grow big… Later a limited Maskuma doll is on sale. All you need to do is show something with polka dots. Oh my, desperate Chiyo going to show her pantsu?! This is when Rikka changes her membrane cells into such to earn that doll. Chiyo is so happy with it but Hanzo’s attack means she loses it. Chiyo is absolutely made as she takes her leave to go deal with the matter. Hanzo is so dead this time! When she returns, the friends got her another one thanks to Tsubasa remembering she has a polka dot handkerchief. You guys are the best!

Episode 5
Our friends take the exam. While Sekine and Tsubasa are top of their grade, Rikka scores borderline despite trying to cheat and copy others! Chiyo… Oh dear… Do ninjas really lack that sort of intelligence? When the class discusses about a representative for some beauty pageant, naturally Chiyo is chosen as she is most pretty. This of course sends Chiyo into cloud nine. Later she overhears Sekine and Tsubasa talking bad about her behind her back. Next day, she tries to change her hairstyle but they sound sarcastic in telling her to cut it shorter. Hence Chiyo is torn in cutting it short after growing it long after leaving her clan. She is about to cut it when Rikka stops her. Rikka then tells Sekine and Tsubasa to stop being a dick and bully Chiyo just because she scored so low in her exam! So here’s what really happened. Because of Chiyo’s low scores, they fear she cannot make it into high school and hence out of context it sounded like they were badmouthing her. As for cutting her hair, it was because Chiyo ‘bragged’ how long she does her hair every day and thought she could save time if she cut it short. Chiyo takes the next step by memorizing the entire textbook. Well, at least she scrapped by… On another day, the quartet visit the beach. Oh Rikka, don’t forget to put on your sunscreen. Funny, do aliens get sunburn? Anyway, a couple of guys try to hit on Chiyo. One of them accidentally touches her hand. Instantly she destroys them! This has the girls grovelling for forgiveness. The guys aren’t going to forgive them. Sekine trying to bribe them with only 230 yen?! Oh sh*t, Chiyo going to slit her own throat! Don’t do it! Then all the girls try to up crocodile tears, making those guys look like the baddies. They go away. Case solved. Rikka treats them and they soon find out her money is counterfeit! WTF this huge allowance excuse?! Chiyo feels guilty that her own fault caused these chain of events. As Tsubasa tries to go talk to her, a woman comes to thank her for helping chase those playboy guys away earlier. She compliments her as a handsome guy. While Tsubasa is ecstatic, this confuses the woman and she thinks she insulted her. Hence Tsubasa thanks Chiyo for what she did or else she wouldn’t have gotten that compliment. But soon, that woman returns and apologizes. Thinking she is the androgynous kind, she revises her compliment for Tsubasa as pretty as a girl! Now Tsubasa is down. The rest think it’s because the fun has ended and it’s time for them to go home. Well, there’s always another time. Later on the news, the beach house owner is arrested for having counterfeit money. Sekine looks closer and the portrait on the money is Rikka’s supreme leader!

Episode 6
Because of the heavy typhoon, Chiyo can’t sleep outside. Yes, she sleeps on a tree! Hence Sekine pities her and invites her to sleepover. Music to her ears. Yeah, like as though she won the lottery or something. Since Rikka wants to join in too, I guess that’s that. How about Tsubasa? Well, she didn’t want to but seeing having another person won’t make a difference, I guess we’re all in. So they brave the typhoon to reach Sekine’s house. A bit dilapidated. Yeah, a rat just scurried past them! Sekine claims she lives alone due to her parents’ work but in actual fact they are being held in the organization and she doesn’t know if they are still alive. Oh well, as long as they send her living allowance, it’s good enough. They have a takoyaki party and it seems they’re adding random ingredients for some spice. Some are a hit, some are a miss. Eventually Tsubasa takes the most ‘damage’ since the girls note the ingredients she added is girliest of them all. Soon, Tsubasa and Rikka give excuses they can’t sleepover and must return home. Actually Tsubasa isn’t going to sleep with girls and Rikka needs to be on standby in case HQ contacts. So it’s Sekine and Chiyo left. They bath and nothing much happens. They talk about who they like and for Chiyo, she loves her friends. Not a surprise. Next morning, Chiyo makes breakfast without spending a cent. Where did she get meat if Sekine doesn’t have any? What’s the only animal around here?! Better not ask further and enjoy the meat… Next day in class, when a fly lands on Sekine’s glass, she takes it off. Suddenly a shuriken hits Rikka in the forehead! OMG! Rikka Dead?! You see, the reason why Sekine never takes off her glasses is that she loses control of her psychic abilities. During that moment, Chiyo was fending off an enemy’s shuriken but because of this phenomenon, she missed and it hit Rikka instead. Now Chiyo is blaming herself over Rikka’s death. Tsubasa thinks it is all pretend since Rikka’s blood is a bit off. Must be a birthday surprise. Whose? Sekine thinks of running away because if the organization finds out she killed someone, they’ll hunt her down. With Rikka reanimating, Sekine then creates the biggest lie that she set this all up to celebrate her great grandma’s death anniversary! Yeah, Rikka getting the wrong idea this is how Earthlings pay their respects to the dead! With everything returning to normal, Sekine thinks she is safe from the organization for now. Or so she thinks.

Episode 7
The friends find themselves in a dark room. What happened?! Sekine thinks back, there were all in a karaoke. Rikka sang and knocked them out. So while Tsubasa thinks they are victims of human trafficking and Chiyo thinks she is being targeted (for her beauty, of course), suddenly the director of the organization pops up. When the friends were unconscious, Sekine’s glasses fell off. This caused everything to float and the room was a mess. The director had to do some cleaning up and as per agreement, if Sekine’s powers go out of control, she must come back to the lab. Sekine agrees since what choice does she have? As for her friends, their memories of her have been erased and are sent back. However it doesn’t work on Rikka since she is an alien. So as the friends live a life without remembering Sekine, Rikka wonders this mystery. She asks if it is okay for someone to go missing like this. The rest thinks Sekine must be scouted by a music agency and people forget about them because the rising star tend to become more distant. Sekine is confined to her room as she worries if her friends are doing alright. As she is resigned to this fate, Rikka comes by to rescue her. I take it, those are tears of joy. But the director won’t allow that. Now he knows Rikka is an alien and finds her an interesting specimen to research on. Something about she will solve his umpteenth failed arranged marriage because he has no stable income?! Sekine then has Rikka sing which knocks out the director (and conveniently erased his memories too). The duo escape and as they rest, Rikka worries about the director knowing he identity as an alien. Sekine changes the subject about the stars and space as Rikka tries to cover up (but failing badly) that she isn’t an alien. Soon, the friends are back together again with Rikka’s device restoring their memories. When Brian gives the friends a rare melon bread that is the most sought after item in the canteen, the friends now become foes for it. Yeah, a card game of high stakes. Holy sh*t. Kaiji?! Se-kaiji-ne?! The final battle between Tsubasa and Sekine turns out with the former being the winner. Because Tsubasa knows Sekine’s bad habit of lying. She raise her eyebrow when she lies. The non-mind reader won. But don’t worry, Rikka remembers she had one too. She gives Sekine and as she sinks her teeth in, hopes she like it ice cold hard.

Episode 8
Ninja master tells Hanzo to outsmart Chiyo if he can’t defeat her. However Hanzo doesn’t think she has a weakness. Oh wait. She has something precious now… Now we see the quartet dating a few guys?! Tsubasa being friendliest of them all?! WTF Rikka using her tentacles to suck some info out of their brains?! Apparently she is trying to find the best way to make a daughter for Sekine! WTF?! Previously she asked what she would want for her birthday and Sekine joked a daughter. WTF?! Because of that, Sekine is forced to act like a dick and be viewed as a threat. This forces the guys to leave. Then she accuses Tsubasa for trying to get attention and this breaks her heart. The reason she was doing this is so that nobody else can talk. This causes a strain between them. But what’s this? Rikka gets a letter to meet one of the guys later?! She does so and before anything could happen, Chiyo takes him out! She knocks out Rikka and we soon learn that guy is Hanzo! He is impersonating as one of those male friends as he believes her weakness are her friends. While he has failed this time, he promises to get her next time. And get this, Hanzo is Chiyo’s younger brother?! When Rikka wakes up, Chiyo tells her that guy was a scumbag who is trying to play with her heart. Yeah, is this what heartbroken feels like? But Rikka is okay as long as their friendship is intact. Yeah, screw the guys. Next day in school, Tsubasa looks a bit different. The rest can’t put their finger on it so they thought she and Sekine should reconcile. Tsubasa doesn’t mind and then suddenly she gets overfriendly with them. As you would have guessed, that is Tsubasa’s sister. Yeah, for today, Tsubasa returns to his original boys’ school. Everybody in shock Tsubasa speaks for the first time! Oh my, what kind of reputation does he have? During recess, Naozo Hanzawa who is obviously Hanzo, talks to him. This is to get more info about Chiyo. They agree to meet up on another day to discuss more. Next day, the siblings switch back and Tsubasa can’t feel happier to be back in the company of real friends. Yeah, so don’t mind being back as a girl, eh? But this makes her awkward because yesterday the ‘imposter’ was too talkative and being intrusive like taking photos without permission!

Soon, the gang celebrates Sekine’s birthday. Guess what Rikka got her? A DAUGHTER???!!! Oh dear, I’m sure those aren’t tears of joy! This prompts Sekine to ask who the father is. Because Rikka spots a ninja outside, this has Sekine assume Hanzo is the father! She then goes to see him who is plotting to poison Chiyo’s friends. Sekine suddenly grovels herself and asking him to marry her! WHAT?! All for the sake of their daughter! This gives Chiyo the wrong impression as she almost kills him but he manages to escape again. Sekine then realizes this daughter of hers is that space octopus. Yeah, almost married a ninja! Later Hanzawa talks to Tsubasa. They talk about their siblings who have a penchant for cute things. Yeah, Hanzo’s flashback of all the perils he experienced but Chiyo ‘saved’ him because she can’t put cute things at risk! While he eventually accuses Chiyo of betraying the clan, Tsubasa is instead envious of his because of how easily she makes friends. Chiyo arrives and ushers her friends today. Because she can’t let her friends be in further danger and will settle this once and for all. Hanzo knows he cannot beat her head on and hence he has already poisoned them! She must surrender if she wants the antidote. Suddenly Rikka pops up and loves this special coffee. Where does he get them?! Oh Hanzo, I guess his special blend doesn’t work on aliens!

Episode 9
Sekine is a guy?! This was what happened. After Chiyo made Tsubasa’s hair, Sekine commented Tsubasa’s androgynous looks that makes her look good either way. Since Chiyo believes Tsubasa is pretty as a girl (that must hurt Tsubasa a lot), Rikka thought of making Tsubasa the girliest girl by turning everyone into guys! And that is how Sekine became a guy. And yeah, Chiyo is the manliest of them all! Tsubasa is a girl although she claims she is Tsuyoshi, pretending to be in her brother’s stead. As for Rikka, she is still a loli?! However Chiyo doesn’t like how she looks. Get rid of that girly looks! OMG. Chiyo abuses her and is going to shave her hair off! Luckily saved by the bell because it is time for some loincloth walkathon. Rikka wins it by riding her UFO since she brainwashed everyone that this is okay. Once the race is over, Chiyo wants to return to shaving Rikka’s hair. Rikka then reverts everything back to normal. Tsubasa then mentions about the tea party so Rikka and Sekine are so grateful being girls. We so pretty! One day, a hot handsome guy tries to hit on Sekine. She is not impressed, though. Then she hears Rikka has lost her pet, Fuku. You mean this weird mushroom is her pet?! Then she learns Fuku will scatter spores to make others view it as their ideal partner. This is how it breeds. Hence Sekine believes that hot guy must be Fuku. But this also makes her think that this is her ideal guy. Yeah, that spore on the back of her head proves it. Worse, Tsubasa has found someone she likes and is invited to a sleepover. Suspicious… Sekine further reads Rikka’s mind that Fuku’s breeding will never occur because it will eat its victim! Okay, time to stop this. As Sekine waits, she notices Chiyo doing the same too. Noticing that handsome guy coming, Sekine rids of the spore on the back of her head. Chiyo then confronts the guy but in Sekine’s eyes, she sees nothing. Hence she is forced to use Mistress Time to see what Chiyo sees. Don’t mind her fat belly… So, this delinquent guy is Chiyo’s type?! When the guy tries to coax Chiyo to hang out with him instead, this makes Sekine realize that Fuku doesn’t show an illusion of a perfect partner just enough to get the best chance to procreate. Chiyo is agonizing over this so as to protect Tsubasa. Before Fuku could do anything, Rikka contains her pet. She claims to her friends she called the authorities so that guy fled. Happy Tsubasa just arrived as Rikka sprays something over all of them. This it to rid all of the spores stuck on them. In the aftermath and for a while, Sekine keeps seeing that handsome guy in mushroom packages at the supermarket.

Episode 10
Sekine wins tickets to the amusement park. However so as not to have the organization suspect that she used her powers for personal gain, she gives it to her friends. Yeah, she really wanted to go. Come Sunday, Tsubasa is making her way to meet up with her friends when she sees a bloodied Chiyo! What happened?! She has urgent business to take care of and tells Tsubasa to go ahead with Rikka without her. Once so, however Tsubasa’s male friends recognize her. In order to cover this, Tsubasa lies that he is Tsuyoshi the twin and is here to cover for his sister. Yeah, basically his real identity. Rikka feels sad she can’t be with her friends and will go home. So as not to put this to waste, Tsubasa offers to accompany her. So they do all the rides and you can obviously tell it is no fun. Even more so, Rikka is giving off that I’m-letting-you-do-it-because-you-want-to kind of vibe. Meanwhile we see Chiyo fighting off against Hanzo while Sekine is being interrogated by the organization! Didn’t use my powers for personal gain! Honest! Rikka and Tsubasa patron the haunted house. Both pretend to be scared but it’s so overdramatic that it’s unreal. Then they see a real samurai ghost! Because this is supposed to be a haunted hospital theme! What alien species did Rikka say?! Powpyopi~~~ WHAAAAT?! At the end of the day, Tsubasa compliments the good side of Rikka. Her gratefulness makes Rikka look cool and this makes Tsubasa’s heart skip. Next day Chiyo and Sekine heard what happened. More importantly, they ask about Tsuyoshi. Rikka’s judgment: He lacks in every aspect!

With the long weekend, the friends are eager to go somewhere. Tsubasa suggests Atami since grandpa has a villa there. However the next day, she brings the bad news because grandpa just put it for sale! You can see the disappointment on their faces. Yeah, they have packed and so eager to go. Luckily Sekine knows an inn there where they can go as a company retreat. Since they need adult supervision, Brian will accompany them. The girls are at the inn to register. However the old receptionist can tell Tsubasa is a guy! The girls protest and vouch Tsubasa as the cutest girl ever! Not sure he is happy or devastated to hear that. Probably the latter. This standoff is going to turn ugly so Tsubasa has no choice but to reveal he is Tsuyoshi on behalf of Tsubasa. Yeah, again using his real identity. Later, our Tsuyoshi apologizes and claims Tsubasa is at an idol concert. To his shock, none are mad at him. They decide to go sightseeing before leaving. Tsuyoshi thought of taking his leave but the rest want him to join in. Especially Rikka who is grateful for that amusement park company. Tsuyoshi asks them about Tsubasa’s opinion on him so they have good and bad comments. Tsuyoshi somewhat badmouths his twin so they tell him not to because Tsubasa too has her good points. Yeah, she’s got this femininity in her! Bummer. As the quartet go home, Tsubasa ponders if it is right for her to stay like this.

Episode 11
Looks like Rikka picks up an allied spaceship nearby. She tries to make contact but there is not enough power. The only way is to shut off the brainwashing device and divert all its power here. With the final exams coming up, everyone is worried for Chiyo. So they have a sleepover study session in which Chiyo practises the multiplication table. She didn’t get very far… Tsubasa is desperately trying to get Chiyo to pass because there is an imminent problem. She realizes her voice is cracking and thus her identity will be busted. Rikka then uses her device to increase Chiyo’s IQ. Oh damn, now she’s a maths genius! With studying over, they go out to buy some snacks. However Tsubasa is shocked when Chiyo recommends some drops that would relief her throat. Does she know? And then on the way back, Chiyo claims she knows Rikka is an alien and wants to go home but her heart isn’t! OMG! Secret busted?! She also knows Sekine is a mind reader! Holy cow! Sekine thinks the spike in IQ must be the culprit. Rikka then blasts her with a beam that makes her lose her memories. Back to normal. Late that night, it seems Chiyo has forgotten her multiplication tables. Oh dear. Time to pull an all-nighter. The rest did what they can because now they can only rely on a miracle. Yeah, Chiyo confident in using her ninja skills to pass and not cheat! In the end, Chiyo passes. Phew. But that is after she retook the exam like 10 times and Brian just passed her on grounds of sympathy! Oh sh*t! However there is an even bigger problem: They notice Rikka’s name is not on the list of passing students and think it is an error. However Rikka then makes her final speech because it is her graduation. She talks about all the fun things that they have done but now it’s time to go. When she summons her UFO, everyone in town sees this and is in shock. Rikka then disappears into it and claims she will soon brainwash everyone to forget all this.

Chiyo feels very sad and it could be something she said last night. Apparently she was lying about her lost memories. Sekine reasons that Rikka has a reason to go back. However Tsubasa disagrees. This makes her feel sad. She knows Rikka can’t stay here but also doesn’t want to leave. How she knows? Because Tsubasa is the same like her. It is then she reveals her true identity as Tsuyoshi (a hiding Hanzo is in super shock!). The rest don’t blame her because they too know they each have their own secrets. Tsubasa not too sure what this means. But more importantly, they need to get up there and ask what Rikka truly wants. How? Hanzo heard the whole thing and decides to call a truce. He will help them get up there but it’s just one big elaborate high jump. Couldn’t they have jumped from the rooftop?! Chiyo trying to pry open the door with her kunai. Don’t think that would~ OH SH*T IT WORKED?! The trio confront Rikka. They admit their lies but ask her what she wants to do. Quickly she jumps into them and says she wants to graduate with them. Yeah. Let’s make more fun memories. However the UFO is going to blast into space and Rikka does not have control over this. Yes, this red danger button must be pretty convenient because it ejects them out. Now they’re free falling! How now?! Don’t worry, Rikka reverses time back to where it was at the beginning of the episode. Yeah, now the ending credits make some sense, eh? And so we’re back at the beginning before the exam. They have this feeling they had this talk before but I guess that isn’t as important as their worries for Chiyo to study! Oh dear, going through hell again. But I guess it’s worth it.

Pretty Little Liars
That’s right, people. Normalcy is the best. At least for our main quartet as far as this series is concerned. As long as they are together then it is a happy story all the way. Even if they all graduate together, I am sure they will continue to be friends for life because that it is how it is, right? The power of friendship is everything for them! Of course, some credits going to Rikka’s brainwashing device too to help smoothen the rough edges out.

Obviously there isn’t any real storyline for a series like this. Each episode feels so random and standalone that it can almost stand independent of each other. Therefore the series relies heavily on the same trick of the main quartet trying to hide their secrets from one another while the shenanigans and antics play out according to their said secrets. Sometimes even breaking the fourth wall (noticed the anime reference like Kaiji and Paripi Koumei?). So far so good. Didn’t see anybody getting busted or even if there are times that seemingly come close to it, the power of friendship saves the day. That’s right. Friendship is such an important aspect for them that sometimes I believe that they would sacrifice everything else for the sake of being together. May not sound like a long time but you do feel the quality time AKA shenanigans they have been through together thick and thin.

Hence our main quartet is as quirky as they are likeable. As said, the series relies heavily on them for the laughs since there is no actual plot. While their back story is not too deep, it is just enough to give you an idea of their background. I mean for instance, Sekine as a mind reader comes from an organization. How she ended up there is not really fleshed out. But we all know that is her origin. The same case for Rikka as she is a space alien fighting some revolutionary rebels whatever. I suppose you don’t want to be bored with all the wars and battles Rikka has fought as well as her life in her own alien home world before she got stranded, eh? But yeah. She’s a marooned alien on Earth and that’s all we need to know about her. What about Chiyo whose origins are from a ninja clan? An excuse to cover why she sometimes go missing while hanging out with her friends because there’s some unsettled business to take care of. Not going to let this assassination thingy ruin her friendship! You thought Tsubasa AKA Tsuyoshi has it the easiest after considering the background of the other characters. I’m sure it is also hard (no pun intended, if you know what I mean) because he has to be girly although it looks fine that she can pass off as tomboyish.

Hence Tsubasa is the one having the biggest dilemma because whenever her friends or others genuinely compliment how much of a girl she is, this breaks her heart because it is both flattery and insult. Being 100% male inside, when somebody says how girl you looks, that has got to hurt a lot. Yeah. Male pride thingy. But on the other hand, this keeps her safe as this means her real identity and gender has not been found out yet. You could say he is the hardest hit when it comes to that. Got to live with it. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger? I hope.

As Rikka is a space alien, she does not know well the customs of Earth. Hence some of her shenanigans come from her trying to understand and resolve such issues based on her own alien logic. It’s a good thing that brainwashing device came in handy because that’s all it need to reset everything. Such a convenient tool. No need to rack your brains to come up with genius solutions to cover up whatever alien abomination. Brainwashing will do the trick! Thanks to Chiyo’s naivety, she looks more like a rich girl than a ninja. She is most emotional about the friendship and it seems there is a very close and strong tie between her and Rikka. They’re like the best friends of each other in the group. What she makes up in beauty, she lacks in brains. However I am wondering if being the dumb blonde (figuratively speaking) of the group is just all pretending because as a ninja, her training is to deceive. That’s why she acts like a cutie retard most of the time. Maybe, maybe not. That is a secret that we will have a hard time telling apart. Here I am wondering if the ninja clan are efficient or not because Hanzo keeps failing his mission to kill Chiyo. At this point he should’ve committed seppuku. Yeah. Don’t they have other ninjas to attack? Why is it only Hanzo? Is he the only one who must complete this mission because Chiyo is his sister? Are there no other better ninjas around and if Hanzo is the best, damn I can tell you they are never going to take this Maskuma maniac’s life.

Completing the quartet is of course Sekine and she is the one knows everybody’s secrets. Well, except Tsubasa since she can’t read minds of the opposite gender. I feel that this esper thingy is so that she can play her role to make comebacks. At least in her own mind. You do notice that when she reads the minds of others, that surprise and incredulous looks on her face as she realizes the true intentions or thoughts of that person. The only reason why she is living a low profile is because of the constant surveillance of the organization. One wrong move in using her power for her own gain, agents will come get her faster than a credit card company coming for card holders who have not made their prompt payments in time! And it seems she does not only have mind reading but other abilities as well, as seen in Mistress Time. Who knows what other powers she has but she has not shown them to us yet.

At the end of the day as you would normally come to expect, even if there is an event that the secrets of our quartet will get exposed and no brainwashing device can undo this, I am very sure that the power of their friendship will have them remain as friends. Yeah, just think back and reminisce all the fun times that they have gone through together. That should seal the deal. What is it having a secret or two. There is nothing more of a big deal than their solid friendship, right? I can even envision them hanging out together and laughing despite their secrets are exposed. True friendship indeed. So much so I can foresee Tsubasa wants to continue to become a girl although the rest will accept her as a guy and Rikka will abandon her space mission to remain on Earth. Chiyo and Sekine will walk in and destroy their respective clan and organization so that they will never interfere with their friendship again! Scary. Yeah, so hardcore a friendship, it is no wonder there aren’t any normal guys who are trying to hit on them. Sekine too plain, Rikka too loli, Tsubasa too tomboyish and while Chiyo might be perfect and most feminine, nobody gets close behind or even touch her! Let’s leave this group of weirdoes together, shall we? The world will be a much safer place if the friends can enjoy each other’s company.

Other characters are okay but they are just side characters. Like Brian who is their English teacher and perhaps he exists as a joke on foreigners but his appearance is far and few in between. Hanzo, I’m surprised he too didn’t get exiled or ninjas sent after him after his constant failure to assassinate Chiyo. Yeah, if this is what happens to incompetent ninjas, slowly there will be no one left in the clan! Good luck, Hanzo. Keep trying. Though, we all know who the better ninja is in the end, right? The most curious character is the director of the organization. I felt like there would have been some sort of story going on if they try to intertwine his character with our main quartet. Like how he wanted Rikka as a specimen. Who knows? Maybe he could have hired Tsubasa as a spy and Chiyo a bodyguard too. But alas, the mysterious organization is not supposed to be important so we’ll leave them as that. Controlling world governments from the shadows or trying to secretly make world domination, all that doesn’t matter because we just want to know what Sekine, Rikka, Chiyo and Tsubasa will be doing next, right?

Art and animation are pretty standard. The characters look cute but somehow I can’t help feel the colouring to be a little bit bland. This anime is done by Studio Flad who so far only did Dame x Prince Anime Caravan and Shin No Nakama. Voice acting is also fine as I recognized Ayane Sakura as Sekine, Daisuke Ono as the director, Jun Fukuyama as Fuku (in hot male version) and Hochu Ohtsuka as the narrator. The rest are Chiemi Tanaka as Rikka (Rina in Love Live! Nijigasaki Gakuen School Idol Doukoukai), Natsumi Murakami as Chiyo (Rose in Sentouin Hakenshimasu), Megumi Han as Tsubasa (Sumire in Chihayafuru), Youji Ueda as Brian (Usui in Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei) and Yuuya Hirose as Hanzo (Alto in Kinsou No Vermeil). The opening theme is Eclipse by Nacherry. It’s an anime rock music and not really to my liking since it sounds a bit chaotic. But the most amusing thing in the opening credits animation is seeing the quartet playing their air instruments and imagining they are playing in a rock band. Having fun, aren’t we? For the ending theme, our main quartet sings For 4 Forever, a rather okay pop rock piece.

Overall, it’s no secret that I find this series is funny and enjoyable. Its craziness is on par with shows like Joshikousei No Mudazukai and Asobi Asobase. You know, a group of cute girls doing crazy and funny sh*t together. CGDCFST. Yeah… If you want something that is not very heavy on the plot or characters, this series is good enough for some laughs as it is light-hearted as well as it is charming in its own way. A mind reader, a ninja, an alien and a cross-dresser… Yeah, almost sounded like a walk-into-a-bar joke! But nah, just your quirky friendship antics, that’s all. This is one of those rare instances where a little white lie goes a very long way and essential in maintaining a good friendship. Well, at least we can all agree that there is no secret to the success of this friendship. I hear the secrets that you keep, when you’re talking in your sleep, I hear the secrets that you keep, when you’re talking in your sleep, I hear the secrets that you keep, when you’re talking in your sleep…