Ano Natsu De Matteru OVA

Hey, hold on a minute. I thought they were done with it? Because it really seems suspicious that after 2 years the TV series ended, they came out with Ano Natsu De Matteru OVA, which is supposed to be a special episode to be included in Blu-ray box set. Two years later and they only release this set? Well, it seems this is how long this OVA is set. So they want to make it time realistic as well? Are they trying to play on our nostalgia? Oh well, seeing the TV series wasn’t that bad, people like me would definitely want to flock and watch it to relive all that romance and nostalgia that was while we were watching the dozen TV episodes.

Reliving Memories Of The Past
Kaito wakes up on a usual bright sunny morning. It is always summer in the countryside so don’t worry. Nanami asks if he has decided on his future and he doesn’t need to worry about money. Do what he wants to do. Because this is his last summer vacation. He’ll think about it. So we catch a glimpse of the characters in their usual daily lives. Including Tetsurou who is seemingly popular among a couple of girls! Say what?! Mio is not really happy… And there is Lemon and Rinon still observing the universe or whatever in their secret MIB lab. Tetsurou visits Kaito at his home. Lazing around. Nothing better to do for the summer holidays, eh? So why is Tetsurou here? Because Kanna told him to keep a watch on him. Besides, Manami is back crashing at his place and doesn’t like the smell of his tank plastic model that he is about to make. Husband problem thingy again. Well on a related note, Tetsurou knows the girls are talking about him right now. Because Tetsurou received love letters. Not just 1 love letter but 3 of them!!! THREE FREAKING LOVE LETTERS!!! Of course Mio tore it all apart to convey the message to him. He better get it. Because they are going out now so he better not be screwing around with other girls. Tetsurou finds an old film reel lying around. Kaito remembers he was reorganizing his film and must be from that time. From the looks of it, it seems like some test film they did before that movie they made. Starting to remember what it’s all about? Back home, Tetsurou calls Mio to apologize but she’ll only forgive him if he says he loves her. In a convincing manner. He has to suck up his embarrassment to say it. At least it’s enough to make this nudist on cloud nine. He then tells her about that reel. They remember about it…

That night, Kaito plays the reel for nostalgia sakes. It is a test acting of Ichika before they film the real thing. So she is just doing normal things but as we can obviously see, she sucks. Don’t blame her. It is her first time after all. Remember Lemon’s Dynamite drink? Who the hell could forget that? Uh huh. She has nervous Ichika cool down by drinking it. Oh no. Because of that, Ichika is now acting very flirty. Get the camera! Hey… Why are they just filming her boobs? Mio won’t allow Tetsurou to watch any further and Kanna stops Kaito’s filming. However he couldn’t resist continuing when Ichika starts sexually harassing Kanna. Lemon who is in charge of the screenplay now gets tons of ideas watching them. Oh, why the heck did Rinon drink the juice too? After they are put to bed, the rest are discussing stuff and I don’t know if they’re too engrossed in it because that cheeky Lemon served her Dynamite drink to the girls and I am not sure if they realize what they just drank. And as expected, their behaviour change. They start getting loud while Kanna does a submission move on Kaito, refusing to believe nothing happened between him and Ichika. Accidentally he got his hands on Ichika’s boobs and flusters. This only upsets Kanna since his hand is on hers too. Too flat to feel anything… I think he just ‘died’. And Lemon… She’s pretty enjoying all this. The ideas are keep flowing in! The final segment of the film shows them playing sparklers and it ends with Ichika putting them all to bed with a cute smile and finger to her lips.

Kaito’s friends come by and they brought sparklers to play. They remember it was 2 years ago that they had such fun with everyone. Kaito even remembers Kanna’s bellybutton showing. Feel like ‘dying’ again? Tetsurou mentions he is planning to go to Tokyo University. Mio already knows and will follow him. As for Kaito, he wants to make movies again one day even if it’s something as simple as this because it had a happy ending. Kaito narrates although the silhouettes of memories in their hearts are continuing to disappear day by day, it still feels irritating and painful. He thought had they never met Ichika, their lives would have lived different lives. But that doesn’t mean it would be the end. There’ll be a sequel. They’ll always be waiting.

Old Films Never Die. They Live On In Our Hearts…
And so it was an epilogue mixed with some flashback. If I had to describe this OVA, it would be disappointing. Maybe that is the problem when you expect something great to follow after watching a great TV series. The only thing that it succeeded was that it brought back nostalgic memories of the series. Two years ago might seem like a long time now and I could hardly remember the show now. However this OVA doesn’t seem to do justice to any of it. Kaito and Ichika were supposed to be the main stars and I thought how it would be possible for this to happen when it was already over then. So that is why they brought back this old footage thingy and thus you have your Ichika’s appearance. It wasn’t anything special. Even that last scene that Ichika is watching through space, possible 2.3 million light years away, that doesn’t even feel like the saving grace. I mean, will she actually come back again? How old would Kaito be when that happens? Will Earth still be the same? Sure, alien technology speeds things up. Assuming that. Thus is also serves to highlight that Kaito is still probably much in love with Ichika because if he wasn’t, I am thinking that Kanna and him would have been an item. Like he said, had they not met her, they would have led different lives.

Thus this OVA is seen mainly focusing on the other characters albeit just a bit of development and nothing more. They try to make things interesting by employing bits of fanservice like that scene of Mio in her complete birthday suit just to remind us she is a nudist and is not ashamed to flaunt her body. At least in her room. Then there is this big joke of Lemon and her Dynamite drink that she makes the girls drink so that she could get her kicks from watching the young ones do flirty stuffs. Some may say this joke is getting old, a way to waste time and give Lemon a reason to make her cameo appearance that otherwise would mean nothing. Well in a way it is although personally I thought it was funny (in the nostalgic sense) even though it is just odd that the girls continue to fall for this prank.

Strangely or not, the opening and ending themes bear striking similarities of the themes done in the original TV series. Most probably it is because they are sung by the same singers who sung them then. Kisetsu No Shutter is the opener by Ray while Nagi Yanagi sings the ending theme entitled Point At Infinity. Though, personally I still prefer Vidro Moyou, the ending theme for the TV series. In a nutshell, I wished that they could have done this better and not ‘taint’ the series because now I feel the great overall TV series is let down with this unsatisfying finisher. Just like everything in life. It fades into our memories and those feelings turn into nostalgia if they are strong. Otherwise they will naturally be forgotten with the flow of time. Yeah. 2.3 million light years is a very looooooong time.

Ano Natsu De Matteru

Oh hey! They made a sequel spin-off of Onegai Teacher! Wait, no. Not exactly. It has little elements from Ano Hana too. Ano Natsu De Matteru is also set in the summer and we have a group of high school friends who are from the movie club deciding to make a summer movie but end up learning more about themselves and their feelings among each other. Only difference is that we don’t have the ghost of a childhood friend but aliens. Say what?! That’s right. Aliens. Aliens from outer space. For those of you who are ‘old’ enough to have watched Onegai Teacher (for the record, it came out in 2002 and it’s already a decade later. Wow. I feel so old), you may have noticed lots of similarities this anime has to offer. Some of the characters, certain settings and some of the love setup. As I have found out, Yousuke Kuroda who wrote the screenplay and Taraku Uon who designed the characters both contributed to Onegai Teacher. Is this a rip-off or an updated setting to cater for current pop culture? Neither. It may be similar in some ways but this anime can stand on its own. You don’t have to watch Onegai Teacher to see this one and it’s a pleasant surprise for those looking for some teen romance with some drama.

Episode 1
Kaito Kirishima believes that when you die, you travel to somebody’s heart and stay, live on as memories. Yup, not go to heaven. Even so, memories fade in time and that’s why people want to leave something behind. He is testing out is film on the bridge of a dam when a UFO crashes nearby. The impact was so great that Kaito was blown off the bridge and would’ve probably been killed if not for a gentle soft hand that reached out for him. But could it be a dream because he wakes up on the wrong side of his futon come morning. On his way to school, he spots a red haired girl in the train. She is being starred by other passengers like as though she did something wrong. In class, Kaito discusses with his friends, Tetsurou Ishigaki, Mio Kitahara and Kanna Tanigawa the kind of movie they’re going to make for the summer holidays and Kaito was supposed to scout for the location yesterday. Cheeky Tetsurou suggests using shy Mio as the main actress and she doesn’t even need a script to go with. Hmm… That could only mean one thing, eh? Kaito tests film his camera and spots the red haired girl outside the window and is somewhat attracted to her. His friends tease him she is his type of girl since he continued to record her (he forgot to turn off the record button rather). That red head is Ichika Takatsuki and is a new transfer student in this school. The guys are crowding around her but Lemon Yamano shoos them away by threatening she’ll do ‘amazing’ things to them if they don’t. I want to know what those ‘amazing’ things are. Ichika eats with Lemon and she is somewhat nervous in the conversation. Tetsurou and Kaito observe from afar and Tetsurou has all the information on her from her three sizes down to her shoe size. Seemed he used his playboy charm on a teacher to get the details. The duo then go up to Ichika and ask her if she could help out in a movie they’re making. Guess what? She instantly agrees. Wow. That saved lots of time. Lemon also wants to help out. Seems she have this friend of hers named Lucas (that Hollywood guy?) that she wrote her script to so she assures them they can leave the film’s plot to her. Mio and Kanna (who definitely has hots for Kaito) not wanting to be left out also decide to join in the project. The friends see a mark on Kaito’s neck and think it’s a kiss mark. Kaito dismisses it’s an insect bite he got from yesterday’s outing when he suddenly remembers the UFO crash. Him going suddenly silent means the rest accuses him that it really is a love bite. Makes him look suspicious of what he’s filming then, eh?

Kaito is feeling happy over the developments when he sees Ichika fishing at a stream. He goes up to tell her there are no fish in this stream, much to her embarrassment. As they walk home together, Kaito fantasizes Ichika will praise him for his keen observation that she transferred alone and her dilemma of having no place to stay. That’s when he’ll offer her to stay at his place and coach her acting if they live together. But… Kaito wasn’t daydreaming. Ichika heard everything for real! Oh God! So embarrassing! Kaito couldn’t possibly bring Ichika home suddenly seeing he lives with his older sister, Nanami (their parents are dead). Ichika doesn’t want to be a burden on him and decides to search for a new place to live. Kaito changes his mind and lets her in anyway since his sister won’t be back so soon. Kaito couldn’t believe how Ichika dragged her heavy luggage all the way so she gives an excuse she is used to grabbing it (almost revealing she used gravity). As Ichika takes a bath, Kaito suddenly feels pain on his neck. Then he collapses unconscious. Ichika heard a loud thud and rushes out to see Kaito out cold. To her horror, scales are forming on his neck. She summons Rinon, a cute alien inside her luggage and the luggage itself transforms into some hi-tech equipment to heal Kaito. Then she kisses him. Nanami is coming back with Mio as they talk about the former’s business trip to Bolivia that will last about 3 months. Nanami thought her eyesight is getting worse to see a girl clad in towel holding Kaito in her arms inside a bright circle of light. Yeah right. That can’t be happening. So opening the door again, Nanami and Mio see a girl clad in towel holding Kaito in her arms. Just no bright light. It’s real! Here’s another shocking scene: Ichika accidentally presses her boobs against Kaito’s face. Is it an unfortunate thing he isn’t conscious?

Episode 2
Ichika is spewing lots of jargons. Not that I understand. What I do understand is that she left on a journey to find something. Along the way, they encountered some problem so she took emergency measures to get to her destination and that’s when the UFO crash happened. Nanami thought she had the weirdest dream. In her dream there’s this cute girl just like the one sitting in front of her. Nope. She’s real. Second round of fainting. So Nanami and Kanna ‘interrogate’ the duo and since Ichika is panicking, she’s spilling out all the truth. Damn those jargons. What the heck is Quon Linkage? Alterian beyond repair? Inclove wrecked? WTF?! Too complicated! In short as Kaito puts it, she has issues and offered her to stay here for a night since she has no money. So about the hugging? She was just nursing him. Yeah, what a fine word for putting a guy on your bosoms as nursing. Well, she even admits that this is how she heals people on her home planet. Planet? Oops. Hometown. So where does she come from? The north. Hokkaido? Further up. From overseas, eh? Her Japanese is damn good too. They thought they hit the wrong button when Ichika couldn’t say about her parents. Nanami instantly becomes emotional (in a funny way) because she knows how tough it is without parents. Nanami feels she could entrust Kaito to her since she will be leaving tomorrow. Kanna disagrees of the proposition. But Nanami says if Ichika can’t handle it, Kanna will cover for her. That okay? Besides, Kaito won’t do any funny business, right? RIGHT?! Obviously Kanna is mad when Kaito walks her home but soon she decides not to hold a grudge and believe in him. Kanna calls Mio who then calls Tetsurou and he decides about tomorrow’s meeting place for the movie. Ichika cooks noodles for Kaito (tastes sour) so he asks why she transferred to study here. She says there is a place she is looking for. As Kaito washes up, he spots the bite mark on his forehead and thinks it has multiplied but didn’t give it too much thought. Meanwhile Ichika talks to Rinon and it seems restoring the ship is out of the question. Kaito is so exhausted that he fell dead asleep once he hit his futon. Next morning, he is awakened by Ichika wearing a negligee! But he has to go see Nanami off or else she won’t stop crying. Really. So Nanami gives her tearful and emotionally charged farewell speech at the train station. Just go already…

After that Kaito takes Ichika shopping and when they return, he is surprised to see his friends gathered at his house. How did they get in? Lemon thought his locks were old, which is probably a way to say she broke in. Huhuhu… Due to Lemon’s seniority, she somewhat becomes the leader as she lays out her grand plans for the project. They’ll be using a script she wrote for 20 years?! A work so grand it’ll put Hollywood to shame?! Everything will be in CG?! You don’t need a camera for that then, right? The story is about zombie breakout at school?! Since Kaito objects all the way, I don’t know what bones Lemon broke in him to shut him up. Tetsurou asks Ichika if she has any requests and she mentions she would like to see some beautiful scenery and explore all sorts of places. Everyone agrees and this way Kaito thought she could find the place she’s looking for. To celebrate, Lemon has them drink some funny Dynamite drink. But it tastes good. Oh no. Look at her snicker… I don’t trust her. Soon everyone starts getting high like as though they’re drunk or a little dazed. Kanna then asks Ichika directly about her feelings for Kaito. Before she could answer, her pet Rinon starts dancing in the middle of the table. Everybody started laughing how cute this creature is. Yeah, they never thought it was an alien and think it’s some kind of wild local animal they’ve never seen. With that, Lemon suggests playing the King Game. Notice this? How come Lemon is the one who is always the King? Did she rig the whole thing? Of course the last bit whereby she ‘orders’ Ichika to have sex with Kaito, that’s a no go! In the kitchen, Kaito suddenly felt dizzy and almost to the point of passing out. Ichika sees the mark on his forehead and wants him to close his eyes. Then she makes him feel better by kissing it. I’m sure that worked even if the mark wasn’t there. Kaito wanted to say something but she put her fingers on his lips and doesn’t want him to say those words.

Episode 3
Kaito wakes up to the weirdest dream in his life. Ichika rejects his love because he is a bespectacled fantasizing pervert. Ouch! Because of that, Kaito leaves a note to Ichika that he’ll be taking a day off and wants to be left alone. Is he sick? Love sick, yeah. Ichika has Rinon do a scan but finds nothing wrong with his body. In class, Ichika shows the notes to Lemon and the sneaky girl knows Ichika must have said something for this kind of development to occur. It doesn’t help when you can read Ichika’s body language like a book. Tetsurou, Kanna and Mio don’t remember much at yesterday’s gathering when Tetsurou passes Kanna a letter from Lemon. It’s a picture of Kanna in a sexy pose during the King Game!!! No!!!! Good blackmail material!!! She better not let anyone sees this! Ichika couldn’t fathom Kaito’s behaviour and comes to a conclusion that he may have discovered her identity as an alien and will call the Men In Black (MIB)! Agent K?! Meanwhile, Kaito further fantasizes Ichika revealed his failed confession to his friends and they are all laughing about it. Tetsurou thought of visiting Kaito and worded in a way that even made Kanna rush off there first. “Nursing to his heart’s content…”. Lemon pops up from nowhere and feels this is their chance. Man, look at the big camera she’s prepared! For realism, eh? Kaito is surprised to see Kanna at his doorstep and since he thought Ichika will be mad he brought her in (he thinks she’ll label him a lady killer) so he decides to bring Kanna out to town. Unknown to them, the busybodies led by Lemon are tailing-cum-spying them. Oh, don’t forget that big camera she’s got. As Ichika walks back, she sees Kaito with Kanna in the passing train and believes they know her secret identity. She summons Rinon but that little blob is dozing after enjoying a cup noodle. Tastes good, huh? So in town, Kaito films Kanna while they go about and Lemon films them. Capturing the spark of youth that only lasts in an instant, huh? As if you don’t know Mio’s feelings for Tetsurou already, she tugs Tetsurou’s sleeve so that they could go buy some drinks together. Mio tells him that if he’s interfering with someone’s love life, he’ll end up getting hurt by himself. And real painful. He assures he’s just helping out and that Kanna and him are just childhood friends.

Kaito and Kanna talk about why he skipped school and of course Ichika. The moment seemed right for Kanna to confess but was rudely interrupted by the wheezing sound of Lemon’s rolling camera. Woah! WTF is she shooting up so close?! Embarrassed Kanna couldn’t allow this invasion of privacy (including that sneaky photo that she took of her) but was distracted enough to allow Lemon escape. She chases after her. Then when she sees Tetsurou and Mio are also around, she realized that she has been spied on the entire time. How embarrassing. Kaito bumps into Ichikawa. Guess what? The boy runs away. The girl chases him. Once she catches up to him (more like they’re both out of breath), Ichikawa hopes he wouldn’t tell on her (about being an alien) and wants him to keep it a secret. He too agrees he won’t tell anyone (about the confession) since he got rejected. Then they realize they’re talking on different subjects but couldn’t bring themselves to say what it is since well, it’s a secret, right? So they grab some food and chatted aimlessly and touch on any topic except that of yesterday’s.  He realizes their relationship was just budding and felt a weight lift off his heart. While waiting at the train station as Kaito films Ichika as practice, she asks who it was that he was rejected. She makes guesses that it’s Kanna or Mio but when she cheekily mentions herself, Kaito froze. Oops. Looks like she hit it spot on. Oh dear.

Episode 4
So shocked that Ichika just entered the train and left without a word while Kaito just stood there. Next morning, Ichika tries to act natural but gets startled when Kaito speaks to her. She nearly dropped the knife onto happy Rinon! Dangerous! Not so happy now, eh? In class, Kanna and Mio apologize for yesterday but they can feel something awkward going on with Kaito and Ichika. Even Lemon. See how she teases Ichika by mentioning Kaito’s name each time. Kaito fantasizes his ultimate reconciliation plan with Ichika that ends with a hug. Man, he’s hugging Tetsurou. Good thing Tetsurou’s not gay. So is Kaito. Actually he’s here to deliver the bento Ichika made for him. Kaito seeks his advice and asks hypothetically about the love problems between A-chan and B-chan. His advice is not to lose his head. Apparently Ichika also asks the same thing the same way to Lemon. Since A-chan doesn’t dislike B-chan, isn’t it okay to go for it? Ichika isn’t so sure that’ll work out since A-chan will have to leave town soon. As Kanna talks to Kaito, Lemon teases them about her voluptuous body (my foot!) in a swimsuit. Ichika sees them and quickly goes away. Kanna advises Kaito that he needs to get a hold of himself and be there for Ichika since she’s a foreigner. And Tetsurou thinks Kanna as C-chan the rival is digging herself deeper and deeper… Kaito once again fantasizes aloud the right plan to make up with Ichika. So much so Manami Ogura heard it and has him tag along with her shopping. He can’t say no… Ichika also thinks of making up with Kaito when she sees Kaito and Manami together. All that worry turned into jealousy. She summons Rinon but the pet is ignoring her since it is happily rolling around with the green tea container. However she warns that if it ignores her today, there’s no telling what she’ll do. Remember the knife? Oh sh*t! Better get to her right away! Rinon appears before Ichika and you can tell she’s real mad as she squeezes the little alien while taking out her jealous frustrations! Scary!

Ichika tails the duo shopping, walking into a lingerie store, watching a movie (was the anime Highschool of the Dead a movie?!) and finally back to her place. Ichika’s mind runs wild on the possibility what might happen when a sexy babe and a young lad get together in a room. As Manami takes a shower, Kaito sits around and is surprised to see Ichika standing behind him. She isn’t putting up a happy face. She takes him to leave but he doesn’t want to rush. Ichika gets upset and throws her bag at him despite not knowing why she’s feeling so. Manami comes out to see them and understands what’s going on so she plays around with Ichika that ‘people are free to fall in love’ and ‘obstacles come naturally with love’. Ichika is replies about her duty given by Nanami to look after Kaito. Is that an excuse? Manami wants Ichika to be honest with herself but is appalled when she realizes both these kids are dense. Then Tetsurou comes in. Eh? What? Oh, Manami is his sister. She is already married and each time she and her husband, Satoshi get into an argument, she runs away here. Yeah, this time he erased a show she recorded. Lame! On the way home, Ichika apologizes that everything was her fault. To make it up, she’ll do anything. Anything? Kaito wanted to ask her answer about his feelings so what better way than to use this chance via getting her to tutor for his upcoming exams. However he won’t get that chance since Ichika becomes a demon tutor, making Kaito study way past bedtime. Look at the stack of books he has to cover! Yeah, he even has to continue study during recess. Regretting it? But his friends are glad they aren’t awkward with each other anymore. So exams come, exams go and the hard work paid off. He might not get the best score but at least they’re decent on more than half.

Episode 5
Summer begins when the girl you like is wearing shorts and singlet revealing enough to leave space for her boobs to bounce about. Ah, yes. Real summer. Yeah, Kaito feels he won’t survive this summer… Ichika learns about Kaito’s video camera in which he found it in the attic. Probably it belongs to his late granddad. Their close proximity is interrupted when Lemon and the rest are here to start their filming. Lemon as the director has written today’s scenario Hong Kong style and our main heroine Ichika is in a tight catsuit (borrowed from the cosplay club). Yeah, looking hot, isn’t she? If the lines are to be adlib isn’t bad enough, wait till you hear the plot. The encounter of the heroine who is an alien with an Earthling boy. Yikes! Since Kaito will be behind the camera, Tetsurou will fill in that role. As the shooting starts, Ichika seems pretty good in her adlib but Tetsurou dramatically changes the direction. Now he’s an MIB out to get Ichika?! Of course he was instantly ‘killed’. Lemon liked that? While Lemon is coming up with subsequent scenarios, Ichika thanks Kaito for trying his best to choose a location that she was looking for and incorporate it in the movie. Tetsurou and Kanna observe the interaction between the duo so Tetsurou asks Kanna to go bring drinks to them. Kanna then asks him if he knows her true feelings. Of course. A long time ago. Embarrassing, eh? Realizing that he’s helping her (since they’re childhood friends as he claimed), she says she’ll support him the next time he has someone he likes to. Well, not going to happen as we know. Lemon finishes her script and this time the heroine will return to her spaceship to escape pursuit and meet up with her comrade. Played by whom? Rinon! Then Tetsurou barges in again to change the direction. He’s the brother of the slain MIB out for revenge? Rinon shoots him ‘dead’. Lemon thinks that was amazing? The real romance story gets back on track when Kaito is cast as the main lead (well, Tetsurou is ‘dead’, right?). So who is manning the camera? Lemon of course. The lines closely follow what happened in real life. The time when Kaito offered Ichika to stay at his place. As they pack up, Kanna asks Ichika what kind of ending would she like. A happy one. But of course.

Back home, Kaito continues to film Ichika because as instructed by Lemon to ‘record the heroine adapting to human life’. Ichika hypothetically asks what if he finds out about the heroine’s true identity. His answers seem unenthusiastic like as though he wasn’t expecting that to really happen. Anyhow, he doesn’t mind and will be fine with it. Next day the filming is cancelled since it’s raining. Kanna takes the initiative to pay Kaito a visit to hand him some groceries for lunch. They heard Ichika scream and actually it’s because she’s surprised that her room is leaking. Well, this house is already that old. Ichika invites Kanna to eat lunch with them. Kaito continues to film so he thought Kanna should help out with the conversation. The girls talk about family but Kanna accidentally asks a question that she thought it was rude: How long is she going to stay. As she leaves, she feels guilty for asking that and meets Tetsurou along the way. I bet it’s not just coincidence. The duo sit and talk at the bus stop. Kanna feels she should not get in between them so Tetsurou just tells her to confess since Kaito and Ichika haven’t done so. She can’t because it’ll be awkward if it doesn’t go well. Plus, they’re in the middle of filming. So is she just going to wallow in depression? Kanna chides him off that he doesn’t understand because he hasn’t fallen in love before. Yeah. Uhn… The rain stops and Kanna feels that she’ll act normally like she always does and that’s that. That night, Tetsurou tries to sneak into Kaito’s room via his balcony window. Why not the front door? Something is up. Damn right. He tells it straight to Kaito’s face that Kanna likes him. Say what?! Oh, Ichika seems to be eavesdropping outside the room. Is this going to get interesting or messy?

Episode 6
Manami is holing up at Tetsurou’s place again not because she had an argument with Satoshi. She’s supposed to leave for a trip with her friends but they all pulled out last minute. So as not to make it go to waste, she gives Tetsurou tickets to Okinawa. He calls Kanna about it and she is excited to go. However she will have to call Mio and Kaito to invite them. Ichika at first was worried why Kanna called so late and that Kaito was so eager to go on the trip. Then she sees magazine photos of the beaches of Okinawa and totally fell in love with it. Never knew there was such a beautiful place on this planet, eh? Plus, the trip will also be part of their filming. Once there, the guys compliment Kanna and Mio’s swimsuit. Till the ‘big’ one came. Shoot. Once they had their fun (I guess they aren’t done with that), Lemon starts her filming. Their filming attracted many onlookers. Among them a couple of girls, Kaori Kinoshita and Chiharu Arisawa. Kaori seems to recognize Kaito and gets excited with this unexpected reunion. So who is she? Short story: His fiancée. Woah! Long story: She’s his elementary classmate who sat together with him due to some pairing. Yeah, I think the rest would go with the short story thingy. Ichika and Kanna not happy… Tetsurou thought things were going to be lively when suddenly Chiharu takes a liking for him! And Lemon is filming the priceless expressions of the youths. It’s good to be young and in love.

Back at their lodging, Kaito gets ‘hounded’ by Kanna and Ichika. No matter what he says or explains, it’s useless. He has no right! See Rinon cowering? That says it all. Tetsurou can’t shake his leg too because he’ll get a hounding of his own. Not by Mio. By Chiharu! I guess exchanging email address was a mistake, eh? Can’t turn down a cute girl? Well, she’s pretty excited and can’t stop yapping! STFU! Hey, wait a minute. What is Chiharu doing here? And if she’s here, that means… Seems Lemon has recruited Kaori and Kinoshita as guest crew members of the film. Just great. Kaori asks Kaito which one of the girls is his lover but he denies that they are. That night Ichika is talking to herself about her own feelings. Lemon may have overheard her so she advises to be honest with herself. In Rome, do what Romans do. But this is Okinawa… Next day, Kaori and Chiharu join the filming. Ichika couldn’t help notice how close Kaori is clinging onto Kaito. Oh, at the back too, Chiharu is doing the same to Tetsurou. Today is sure as lively, eh? Suddenly they realize Kaori and Kaito aren’t around and fear the worse. Kaori brings Kaito into the forest and admits she wanted to be alone with him. She asks what if she was seriously in love with him. Kaito replies though he said he doesn’t have a lover, there is someone he likes very much. And before he could finish that sentence, tears start streaming down Kaori’s eyes. Wow. That’s fast for a heartbreak. Tetsurou got ambushed by Chiharu in his bedroom. Oh shi…She’s wrestling with him, admitting she’s the aggressive type who lacks self restraint. She’s going to kiss him!!! OH SHIIIIII… Fortunately Chiharu is being pushed off by Mio who lands on top of him (and Chiharu squishing Rinon. Splat!). Tetsurou and Mio find themselves in an awkward position. Ichika and Kanna go in search of Kaito. If Ichika hadn’t rustled through the leaves, she would have witnessed Kaori confessing to Kaito. And Lemon laments nobody came back to continue the filming…

Episode 7
Ichika narrates she may not have understand what they’re saying then because she too couldn’t understand her own feelings. Ichika couldn’t bear watching further and runs away. Rather afraid. Scared to face her own feelings. Mio walks back with Tetsurou and she hopes he won’t tell anyone. Tell anyone what? Was it her over him or that he saw her with no pantsu? So everyone returns and resumes filming. During a scene, Kaori asks if Ichika likes Kaito and this throws her off her balance. And as they take a break, Chiharu comes chasing Tetsurou once more. Persistent, isn’t she? Kanna thought of seeing Kaito in his room (Rinon still flat out!) but Lemon is only there. Without revealing too much, Lemon says she can tell about Kaito just by looking at him. Kanna asks about his feelings so Lemon agrees over a drink. Of God. It’s that Dynamite drink again. Yeah, Kanna is so drunk that she didn’t realize she’s being filmed while spewing out her feelings and what’s this? She’s been made to cosplay too?! Oh God. Kaito went to see Kaori at her hotel but she’s not in. She has a left a message for him via the receptionist.  Kaori had gone to meet Ichika who called her out. She asks Kaori’s feelings for Kaito and her reply is she likes him. Well, she’d said that just to see her reaction. Kaori explains she was rejected. Not by Kaito but her senior back in Tokyo and came here to get if off her mind. She tried to cover up her grief but caused lots of pain to others. She cried then because Kaito’s word was exactly what her senior said. Word for word. She tells Ichika what Kaito said and could tell he likes Ichika instead. Well, that’s what childhood friends are for. As Kaori leaves, Kaito enters the picture and isn’t sure of what’s going on. Ichika tells what happened and he understood. Ichika adds that this was probably what Kaori wanted to say to him but she interrupted them then.

Well, Chiharu is one girl who will really chase her guy right till the ends of the earth. Right now, Tetsurou has been running away from her so much so he is in town. Mio helps him hide but was soon found out. Chiharu takes him away to resume their date but Mio pulls Tetsurou’s other hand. Then Chiharu teases Mio that she likes Tetsurou. Oops. Spot on. However Chiharu tells her off there is no way Tetsurou would like an exhibitionist like her because she also saw her no pantsu. A weirdo who gets turned on by letting strangers walking around with no pantsu. That’s when Mio admits she’s a nudist. Mio explains how this behaviour stems from her parents and thought it was normal to do so at home till she found out later it wasn’t. She couldn’t tell anyone and since she had low blood pressure, sometimes to forget to wear them. She tried correcting it but her forgetfulness got the better of her. She thought of keeping a low profile but when she made friends with Tetsurou, Kaito and Kanna, she felt fun being with them and couldn’t tell them too. Tetsurou reprimands her for being silly and no matter what, he’ll always support her and never hate her. Even Kaito and Kanna would do the same. Then Mio confesses she likes him. Back in the hotel room, Chiharu is one inconsolable girl. She felt like a dumb ass for being in the way of Tetsurou and Mio. Yeah, she chased him around all day. She came along with Kaori to help her out with her problems but ended up just like her. Kaito and Ichika walk back and wonder if Tetsurou is having a hard time being chased around. Do guys get turned off if a girl keeps breathing down his neck like that? Absolutely. Kaito says he doesn’t want to be chased. He wants to chase instead. He makes his first bold move towards Ichika. Their lips were THIS close into meeting when Kanna interrupts them. She’s still drunk. But she’s in a cat maid costume now. She’s fluctuating between happy and angry. And she wants to kiss-kiss too. Best part, Lemon is filming it all. This girl… On the final day, Kaori helps finish up with the film before she rushes to the airport. She whispers to Ichika if she keeps stalling, she’ll steal Kaito away. So the gang pack up and continue their remaining time having fun in the sea before they leave for home. Ichika narrates she finally realized how she feel about Kaito.

Episode 8
I’m sure Kaito and Ichika are lamenting how close they were to kiss. But remember, it isn’t really their first though the first time was when Kaito was out cold. For Ichika, she reminds herself she can’t forget the reason she came to this planet as she detects some trouble but she couldn’t summon Rinon (who has detected something big). Kaito and Tetsurou go over the film. I don’t know what happened for it to change into something like Ultraman versus Godzilla thingy. Tetsurou makes Kaito spill out the details of what happened between him and Ichika. So it’s a nearly kiss lah. Then the other girls come by and notably Mio has cut her hair shorter for a change. Oh, Tetsurou don’t have to worry if she’s going commando today. She remembered to put them on. Meanwhile Lemon goes to see Manami at a restaurant and it seems they know each other. Manami wonders if she’s still doing this high school thing so Lemon notes she is eternally 17 years old. Don’t joke. It may be truer than you think. She shows Manami a secret notebook and wants her to help out with the messy situation. See the smirk on their faces? Yeah, it can only mean one thing. See the love flow chart inside it? Yeah. That. Kaito reviews the film when she first met Ichika and the time when he fell off the bridge at the dam but there seems to be nothing recorded in it. The usual friends meet up at the festivals and the girls are lovely in their yukata. Ichika is thrilled with all the food and has never tasted anything this good. Tells a lot about her cooking, eh? What do aliens eat by the way? As they go around the stalls, Lemon pops up and has an activity that will have them enjoy the true meaning of summer: Kimodameshi (test of courage). You know how it works, right? Go in pairs, walk up the dark path to the shrine, make an offering, come back. Oh, do it in pairs. Kanna gets her wish when she is paired with Kaito and all she needs is the right moment to get close. Mio gets Tetsurou but she’s such a scaredy cat. Ichika scoffs off the superstition and urban legends of monsters, ghosts and spirits of the dead with no scientific proof when suddenly Lemon goes missing. Feeling scared all of sudden, isn’t she? She starts apologizing for not respecting them and this is all part of Lemon’s plan to film their wonderful reaction.

Tetsurou and Kanna are the first to reach the shrine but they are spooked out by a female ghost! Their scream alert Kanna and Kaito who are several steps below. A good thing for Kanna because she gets to huddle close to him. Tetsurou realizes he is on top of Mio during that commotion and their lips met! Then they realize they have been had when the female ghost turns out to be Manami, who is supposed to help out with their kimodameshi. Got it all on footage, Lemon? Kanna was this close to telling Kaito something important when they hear Ichikawa’s scream (actually Rinon popped up before her face). Kaito then rushes down the steps to go save her and tells Kanna to stay put. Oh. I guess that settles it. Ichika learns from frantic Rinon that the rescue signal went off automatically and can’t be cancelled. Plus, the rescue craft is coming. When? Now. The craft crashes near them causing a mini earthquake. I’m not sure if this robot craft is able to listen to reasons because Ichika is trying to tell it she’s not done with this planet yet and that the signal is false. When Kaito comes into the picture, Ichika takes him and run with the robot close behind. Ichika orders Rinon to call Rinna and she wants Kaito to escape by himself but of course he can’t leave behind the girl he loves so he fights back that robot with a stick. Well, better than nothing even if it does no scratch. The robot flings Kaito off the edge but Rinon piloting Rinna comes to Kaito’s rescue. Seeing the robot has grabbed Ichika, Kaito and Rinon make a mad dash towards the robot and crash into it. Kaito protects Ichika when he jumps off and though bleeding heavily, Ichika heals him with her equipment. When Kaito comes to, the robot is out of commission, tearful Ichika could only apologize profusely (she said nothing but “I’m sorry”) and their friends baffled to what just happened.

Episode 9
Ichika teleports her friends and the damaged robot near the dam. She comes clean that she’s an alien and shows the ship she came to this planet with. Kaito somewhat knew Ichika was along this line and the reason why he wasn’t that surprised. She also lets them know the robot that attacked her was a rescue pod when her ship accidentally sent out a rescue signal. She destroyed it because she doesn’t want to go back yet as she has yet to fulfil her goal of looking for a certain place. She is unsure if it exists since it’s from her memory. Her friends promise not to tell anyone. If they do, how would believe them right? Seems Ichika is scared of the MIBs who will dissect her if they find her. What? Do they really exist? Tetsurou suggests to give them a tour since it’s a once-in-a-lifetime chance (heck, normal people don’t get a chance). It’s late so everybody parts and assures Ichika to act normal like always. Walking back, the friends feel it’s unbelievable that Ichika is an alien. It’s like they’re waiting for someone to pop out with a hidden camera. Lemon says she had a hunch from the start since she is an agent from the MIB. What?! Really? Her friends think she’s lying. Don’t laugh. It may be truer than you think. Meanwhile Ichika apologizes to Kaito about crashing her ship into him and if she didn’t heal him with her alien technology, he would’ve died. But he doesn’t mind because if it never happened, he would never have met her. However there’s something that Ichika hasn’t told anyone yet. When the Federation finds out the rescue pod is destroyed, they’ll send an investigator to investigate. If that happens, the others may get dragged into the mess. Thus her time here is limited. Kanna sleeps over at Mio’s place and the former is surprised to know about her feelings for Kaito. Well, it’s dead obvious, wasn’t it? Kaito dreams that he had to say goodbye to Ichika who will be returning to her home planet. He swears to come visit her. Only her home is at Andromeda and it’s 2.3 million light years away! Oh sh*t! Take the Galaxy Railways maybe? Next morning, Ichika decides to go out herself and declines Kaito’s offer to help. So it’s another awkward atmosphere between the duo. So when her friends gather at Kaito’s home, they learn that she is out and start filming on their own. Kanna remembers how she first met Kaito. He was a transfer student from Tokyo who recently lost his parents. Despite that, he put on a cheerful expression and that is probably what made her noticed him and fell in love.

Next morning, Ichika continues to go out by herself to search for the place since this is her ‘problem’. So when Kaito’s friends get here, Kaito has already gone off on his own. They go through Kaito’s camera especially the one with his ‘date’ with Kanna. You can observe her expressions fluctuating between happy and concerned. The latter when Ichika’s mug pops up. Kaito is hanging out alone in town when Lemon sits by him to offer her advice. She thinks he’s still a kid because he thought Ichika doesn’t understand how he feel and declined to let him help out. She asks if he knows Ichika’s feelings and what she was thinking or feeling when she came here all by herself. Ichika summoned her courage to reveal her true identity but has he answered her? So his homework is to think what he can do for her because if he really cares, the answer should be simple. And yeah. He finally knows what to do. Kanna sees Kaito taking pictures of sceneries and so one morning she confronts Ichika who is about to leave the house early again. Knowing she is going to search for that place again, she asks if she’s going to leave after finding it. Then she admits she loves Kaito and will be glad if her rival disappears. She knows she has realized Kaito’s feelings and surely must have come to realize her own. Saying that she’s an alien or can’t be together to answer his feelings are just excuses. And to look for that place is the big excuse for her to avoid seeing Kaito (Rinon looking so duh in hearing the girls talk about their love problems). She adds Ichika can do something about that because all she needs to do is to admit she likes Kaito and become a couple. Something right before her that Kanna can never attain. She calls Ichika an idiot and runs off. Kanna thought Tetsurou loves kicking her when she’s down and supporting her was just a guise to see her in this state. Kanna starts crying while admitting her love for Kaito. All Tetsurou can do is just cover her eyes and stand by her side. Nearby, Mio is also crying her heart out. Ichika meets Kaito who is still taking scenic pictures. She says she had a chance to go back but didn’t. And with Kanna making her realize that this place isn’t the reason why she wanted to stay, she wants to confess. However Kaito won’t let her because he wants to do the confessing. So finally Kaito says it in person, “I love you”. He has loved her since the time he first met her. The moment we have been finally waiting for: The kiss. Ah, first for Kaito but the fourth for Ichika. Fourth? The previous 3 times when she healed him she had to lock lips by transferring her nanomachine cells into him. Kaito feels disappointed that wasn’t romantic at all. What do you know? Ichika is going to have her fifth one then. Encore! Let’s do it again! And I knew it. Lemon is filming this priceless shot from a distance!

Episode 10
Kaito is having this wonderful dream of that kiss with Ichika. But he’s actually kissing Rinon! Well, he might be a good kisser since Rinon’s blushing. Ichika sits close with Kaito and she has Kanna to thank for, for making her realize her feelings. Speaking of which, that girl thinks she can’t meet the rest as her face is swelled up from all that crying. Tetsurou was visiting her but I guess even a girl needs her own privacy. On his way, he bumps into Mio who offers him to eat her handmade lunch. Mio remembers when she was in Kanna’s class the first time and became friends. She also met Tetsurou and probably fell in love at first sight since he remembered her name. Well, he called it his feminist gentleman to memorize every girl’s name and face. Kaito and Ichika are so close together that only Lemon’s filming interrupted them. How the heck did she get in?! That’s invasion of privacy! Oh, she gives Kaito a present: A condom. Is this a joke?! Well, she wants them to treasure this miraculous relationship match made in heaven. Well, probably a different kind of star, that is. Mio talks to Tetsurou about why he invited Ichika to help with the film despite knowing Kanna’s feelings. He wanted to help both Kanna and Kaito and didn’t know which way it’ll end up. Mio thinks he should be more honest with his feelings as he had always had his eyes on Kanna. If he keeps avoiding the issue, time won’t solve everything. It was him that she was able to speak up about her feelings. Right now, his feelings are probably in disarray so Mio understands and leaves. Tetsurou shows his frustrated side for the first time as he doesn’t know what to do. That night, Ichika and Kaito went out for a walk. Heck, it wasn’t any walk because they teleported to a place so they could watch the starry sky and get close with each other. Ichika right now wants to be with him, others and complete the filming. Manami teases Tetsurou for being silent right after he came home. He didn’t want to hear from a future divorcee but she terms it as just a runaway. Must have got into another argument, eh? She may have nailed it that he doesn’t understand a girl’s feeling since he the virgin has never dated one before. Then she leaves for a trip with her friends. Tetsurou gets a call from Kaito to resume filming tomorrow. He can tell he has made up with Ichika and wants to know about Kanna then. That’s why Kaito is gathering everybody to tell them all about his feelings. Tetsurou got upset and hangs up.

Tetsurou calls Kanna to meet at the lookout point, a place they used to spend a lot of time together when they’re young. Kanna thought he was just wasting her time when he finally summons the courage to reveal the truth. Though he wanted everything to work out between her and Kaito, he really didn’t want that to happen. If Kaito and Ichika got together, maybe she would become free. But that didn’t happen. He ended up toying with the girl he loves and made her suffer. Kanna flusters upon knowing Tetsurou’s feelings and even though it’s bad timing, at least he managed to say it. He knows that even if Kaito loves Ichika, her feelings for Kaito won’t change. That’s why he likes her. So once Kanna rushes off (I guess she rejected him), it’s Mio’s turn to give crestfallen Tetsurou a hug from the back. She allows him to cry and thanks him because she was able to change to become stronger. Kanna runs all the way to Kaito’s house just to tell him that she loves him. Three times. Hey, at least she said it with a smile. Though Kaito apologizes because he loves Ichika, Kanna isn’t worried and thanks him for listening instead. So everything back to normal? The friends resume their filming and Rinon wakes up from its peaceful slumber suddenly feeling frantic. When Kaito and Ichika return home, Ichika’s sister, Emika suddenly pops up before them and hugs her in her relief that she’s still alive.

Episode 11
Ichika explains that the rescue signal was an accident and Kaito admits to busting up the rescue pod. When Emika learns Kaito is her boyfriend, she blows her top and reprimands Ichika by pulling her cheek. Not only has she made everyone worried, but she’s found herself a boyfriend on this primitive planet. So once everything calms down, Emika properly explains that when they received her signal, her status changed from stranded to missing. Her family became concerned that she had to drop whatever she’s doing, rent a fastest ship to go look for her. Kaito thought that since Ichika is confirmed to be okay, wouldn’t that solve things? It’s not that easy boy. Ichika went missing on a planet whereby contact is prohibited with its inhabitants. As far as the Federation is concerned, they want to know what happened to her and if they discover what she’s been doing, she’ll be arrested and put on trial. That’s why she came here to retrieve Ichika before it gets out of hand. Ichika doesn’t want to go home but Emika warns if she refuses, not only Kaito but the entire planet may bear the brunt.  Oh sh*t. This is big sh*t. Still, Ichika doesn’t want to leave Kaito and teleports away with Rinon. Kaito continues to ask Emika could Ichika return home and then come back here but it seems it’s not as easy as that too. Kaito then wants her to take him to space too. Emika continues that Ichika always mentioned about a place she dreamt about. She too has that dream. Their ancestors probably have encoded that image into our genes but she never thought too much about it. She has scanned the planet on that image but none of the location matches. And about bringing Kaito to space, it’s not that easy either. Since Earth is a Development Level F, she can’t bring an inhabitant to space. Till their planet has developed interstellar flight, made contact with them and joined the Galactic Federation, then it will be possible. But that will take hundreds of years. I feel it’ll take longer… So unless the Federation changes its policies, there is nothing they can do. Ichika has to return home. It’s for her own good. Their friends are wondering why the duo are late so Lemon sends Kanna to go check on them. She meets Ichika halfway and learns that the search party is coming for her and she has to leave. Kanna gets upset that she’s abandoning Kaito. It’s like her feelings were weak even when they’re dating. Is she going to leave the person she loves? For the second time, Kanna runs away from Ichika. Tetsurou cheekily note that the duo may have ditched filming to make out together when Kanna returns visibly upset. She tells them about Ichika leaving for space. First thing they mention is about Kaito. Is she fine with all this? OF COURSE NOT! Looks like all those feelings are flaring up again. Meanwhile Emika encounters Lemon.

When Ichika goes back to Kaito, she pecks him on his cheek. Oh dear. Is that a goodbye kiss? She has decided to leave and summons Rinon to teleport her but wait! Tetsurou and co kidnapped Rinon! They’re not going to let Ichika have her way! At least they don’t want her to run off till they finish the film. They want to know what her real wish is. Of course, she wants to stay with Kaito because she loves him. Kaito also reiterates he loves her and doesn’t care if the galaxy turns against them. Sure you want to do that? But what can they do? Lemon has an idea that Ichika can stay on Earth. The possibility is very low but it’s not zero. The place that Ichika is looking for. It’s not possible that aliens have come here before. Even if Emika said there were no locations that match it, it probably was encoded well enough so that it won’t be easily found with their technology. If they can show proof of it, then Ichika will get to stay on. So Kaito and co take every map they could find from the library and like searching for a needle in a haystack, go through every map to match that location that exists in her data. As the girls are sleeping, Tetsurou tells Kaito he confessed to Kanna and Mio’s confession to him at Okinawa. Tetsurou was thinking about himself and didn’t want Kaito to end up like him. So the hard work paid off as they finally found the location. However Emika contacts them that the search party is already here. Ichika orders Rinon to jump her but it seems a barrier has been placed over the planet. Noting that the location is 3 hours away from here, Lemon becomes their saviour. Yeah, she’s driving a weird van. She has a driving licence? She passes the gang several tools that will act as decoy and a robe that will hide Ichika’s biological fingerprint. Where did she get them? Emika. Lemon drives as fast as she could but the robot attacks the vehicle. Tetsurou and Mio offer to be the decoy as they ride out on their little scooter and go a little off track. When this is over, Tetsurou invites Mio out to the movies. Just the two of them. Would she pass this chance up? Another robot attacks the van and this time Kanna offers to be the bait. She’s doing it not for Ichika but the guy she loves and for him to continue smiling. She’ll make him regret for not choosing her in 3 years! Well said. Then off she goes into the forest. Lemon hands Kaito his camera and wants him to film the beautiful climax of the heroine escaping her enemy’s grasp while running for her destination. Another robot attacks but Lemon hits a button to strike it away with a robotic arm. Woah! What kind of van is this?! They think they’re reaching the home stretch when they hit something invisible and the van goes crashing on its side.

Episode 12
Don’t worry. They’re still alive because Rinon became a large airbag to cushion the impact. Lemon tells the duo to make haste because she’s confident she can handle this robot. Well, not by herself. See her van transform into a Transformer worthy robot? Cool! Kanna runs into Manami halfway and gets in her car. She better step on the pedal because ‘stalkers’ are chasing her. She didn’t expect the ‘stalkers’ to be this big, huh? Another robot intercepts Kaito and Ichika but Emika’s little ship help buy them some time. Rinon pilots it to let them escape. That’s all Emika can do for them since her ship is surrounded by the robots as they are surrounding the planet. I wonder if they have any more men left to spare if more robots came after them. Kaito and Ichika sit the train to their destination. Ichika feels sorry for getting everyone involved but Kaito feels she doesn’t need to. He wonders if he can visit her planet someday and meet her parents. He wished he could introduce her to his too. Though he has gotten over their deaths, he wished he had made more memories with them. That’s why he records everything and his friends with his camera so he won’t regret it later. Ichika is glad she came to this planet. She had fun and even fell in love. For the umpteenth time, they reiterate their feelings for each other again and promise to love each other always. Oh, say that again for the camera, will you? Meanwhile Lemon’s van has its limits but thankfully her backup arrives. Yeah, the MIBs! Oh sh*t! She really works for them! Tetsurou’s scooter runs out of gas. The end of the road? Not quite. A rain of missiles destroys the robot as Tetsurou hears a familiar voice: Satoshi. OMG! He’s working for the MIB too!!! Kanna and Manami also get reinforcements from the MIBs.

Kaito and Ichika have reached the lake, the exact location in Ichika’s memories. Suddenly an alien probe appears from the middle of the lake and the large flash has Ichika viewing her memories of this place. She is surprised Kaito is in it too when she realized she gave some of her cells to him. They see an alien writing on a tree as proof of its existence but when they return to reality, the tree has already rotted and the robots surround them. Kaito is pinned down while Ichika is dragged away. She doesn’t want him to be hurt anymore and feels guilty that her selfishness has hurt everyone. However Kaito disagrees that nobody feels that way and in fact this is his own selfishness. He doesn’t want her to go. Ichika resigns to her fate of being taken away and says those feelings that have grown inside will last forever. Kaito vows to find her and she promises she’ll wait. I hope he lives that long if you know what I mean. Emika and Ichika hear the voice of what could probably be their ancestor. She thanks them for finding this and explains she didn’t come to this planet on purpose but had to make an emergency landing and was saved by a man. He became dear to her but since interaction with inhabitants with this planet is forbidden, something was coming to retrieve her. Even though the memories of this planet’s inhabitants will be wiped out, she wanted to preserve the memories with him. Even if she lost them or couldn’t remember, at least her memories will live on in them.

A few months passed and Kaito and his buddies attend school like normal. Tetsurou gets a love letter from another girl and he’s not too eager about it. Kanna teases him to properly answer and at least get a girlfriend. She suggests Mio who doesn’t mind about that suggestion but you know Tetsurou, he’s not the kind of guy who wants to commit. Kaito just snickers… Nanami just came back from Bolivia and has bought lots of weird souvenirs. One that includes dolls that grant wishes. She asks about Ichika so Kaito says her term abroad has ended. The friends are surprised to learn that Lemon is transferring away due to ‘family circumstances’. She gives Kaito the film roll as a parting gift. She notes it is incomplete and that he will be the one who will create the grand finale. The friends gather to watch the film and it’s a crazy montage of all they had filmed. Screw the plot, it has everything recorded including the times that they spent together. Enough to bring tears to the eyes and nostalgic memories, eh? As Kaito narrates his believe on people living on as memories when they die and the fading of those memories, the reason of wanting to leave something behind is his motivation of why he wants to keep the film rolling. We see short snippets of Manami still hanging out at Tetsurou’s place (see all the beer cans she drank?!), Kaori and Chiharu together (Chiharu probably gunning for some other hot hunk now. May God help him) and Lemon working at the base of the MIB looking at the blueprints of Ichika’s ship. Oh, Rinon is with her?! That alien pet never returned? Few years down the road when the school have their usual cultural festival, the movie research club is screening the film that they did last year. The film called Ano Natsu De Matteru that was left behind by their graduated seniors and they totally love it because it has mecha, aliens, SFX galore and the heroine was quite pretty. Well, I don’t really want to comment on the ‘quality’ of the film but being amateur film makers, I guess it is good enough. But the final part of the film is a shot of Ichika and Rinon on her shoulder! OMG! Did she come back?! I guess she did because she was wearing the shirt Nanami bought for her as a souvenir from Bolivia! I hope this is not special effects… Is this the kind of happy ending she hoped for?

Summer, Aliens and Heartbreaks…
I was almost close to tears the way it ended. Thankfully I didn’t have to sob so much like I did in Ano Hana. It was pretty much sad to see Ichika and Kaito get separated in the end. Was it for the better good for mankind? Maybe primitive creatures like us won’t understand the bigger implications of why such a simple love relationship can’t be comprehended by so called higher life forms, the reason why they took Ichika back home. Perhaps their thinking and laws are much different. But when it comes to love, shouldn’t it be the same? If Ichika as an alien could even fall in love, I’m sure her species would somewhat understand it too. I know. You’re going to give me that uphold the law crap thingy. But that’s a different story. The end teaser that Ichika may have returned to Earth probably was to sooth viewers that this series didn’t end in total tragedy after all. Lovers separated far apart between different galaxies. I bet something must have happened because if felt the Federation was taking this matter seriously. But for Ichika to return in that short amount of time for the gang to complete the film and even passed it on to the juniors of the club, whether it was resolved fast or she was given temporary reprieve, it doesn’t matter. I’ll stick to the fact that Ichika did come back to Kaito’s side. Saves me lots of headache thinking.

So the summer that changed everybody but end up somewhat the same. Well, one thing, none of the friends really become a couple with the other since they held on strongly for the feelings of their loved one even though they knew they would be rejected. But the most important thing was that they manage to say it out instead of keeping it in their heart, putting up an act that won’t be so good for their health. Because suppressed feelings are like ticking bombs. The more you hold it in, the worse it’ll become when it explodes. It is just the question of when. So with them getting their feelings off their chest, the good part is that they still remain as best friends. It goes to show that if you really love someone, you’re willing to let him/her go and be happy for his/her sake. So the love flow is something like this Mio -> Tetsurou -> Kanna -> Kaito -> Ichika. Looks like it’s one way. It was slightly messier when Kaori and Chiharu got into the mix. It would be if they hadn’t given up. Love is always a complicated issue. Wonderful if you get it right. Heartbreaking if it doesn’t go your way. So it does proof that love between intergalactic species is possible. But then there’s the case of distance… If you’re willing to travel and live very long, yeah, I’m sure it’ll work out. And you thought only  human species can experience love, eh? Ichika might be an alien but she displays emotions like as though she’s a human being. So I can conclude that the only difference between the species is the technological advancement. Otherwise, they’re the same, right?

The more I look at Kaito, the more I thought he looked like Ano Hana’s Jinta. Must be the messy hair. Just put on some spectacles. He’s a nice kid who has a penchant of fantasizing (mostly on Ichika) and just like the rest, may be clueless about his feelings at first but given the right push in the right direction, he becomes a man of his own. At first when I saw Mio naked in her room (she conveniently held stuffed dolls over her to ‘cover up’), I was thinking, did the producers forget to draw some clothes on her or was she really a naked fanatic. It wasn’t for just a scene, but for every scene that we see Mio in her room. Then when she revealed she’s a nudist, I guess the picture becomes clearer (not her body, mind you). It is ironic that she has sensitive skin and being a nudist outside her home would be bad for her health. It might not be a good idea to reveal to the world that she’s a nudist but at least she doesn’t have to be so afraid to hide it from her friends anymore. I bet they’ll always support her (and each other) even if she was a serial stripper. Tetsurou is a guy who is torn of helping his friends out and thinks he can handle his feelings if he keeps them hidden. I guess guys like him too have their limits. So what happened to his invitation with Mio to the movies? Maybe it was just one-off? He didn’t say he wanted to be her boyfriend. I suppose that’s the down part of being a feminist gentleman. Lots of female admirers to the point it really annoys you. Yeah, what’s the point if he doesn’t have Kanna. Rinon is the cutest and most amusing mascot character in the series. Each time I saw it happily frolicking around, it would bring a smile to my face. It’s just too damn cute in whatever it does. Who wouldn’t want to have Rinon as a pet? Maybe they sell it at the stores… Little plushie Rinon dolls, that is. Manami’s attitude to leave her home for every single little petty argument make her seem like an irresponsible person. But that’s just jumping to conclusions based on what we hear instead of really knowing what actually happened. Satoshi is an MIB member, right? From the way Manami acts, she doesn’t know of her husband’s job so probably that’s why the ‘silly’ things they do, they often end up bickering over the slightest things. Can’t imagine if you suddenly know your spouse is a secret agent, eh? Won’t it be like Mr and Mrs Smith?

I’ll probably be making a few references to Onegai Teacher from now on. For starters, let’s look at Lemon. She is the most intriguing and mysterious character in the series. With her deadpan voice, she pops out from nowhere and has the right words for just about everything. At one point I thought she was an alien! Then as the series progresses with her incessant filming of others, I began to feel she is somewhat familiar. Like I have seen her somewhere before. Then I realized, isn’t she that character from Onegai Teacher? Heck, they look and act bloody similar. Even the school uniform that Lemon wears was the one we see Ichigo wore in Onegai Teacher. It’s like jumping in from another dimension, eh? And their names are taken after fruits too. So we have Lemon Yamano and Onegai Teacher’s Ichigo Morino. Mountain (yama) and forest (mori). Coincidence? Think not. Because both characters are also voiced by Yukari Tamura! I smell a conspiracy here! So if Lemon wasn’t an alien, she as a member of MIB at least proves why she is able to do such impossible tasks that a girl her age or in fact other ordinary humans wouldn’t.  I won’t dismiss the faint possibility that she’s part alien too. She says she’s eternally 17 years old and Manami calls Lemon her senior. What does this tell you? I briefly read a few comments about Lemon’s identity over the web and some say she’s the sister or the daughter of the characters in Onegai Teacher, so and so. Some are pretty interesting and the way Lemon shrouds herself in mystery, it makes it all exciting that you really want to know who this girl is but she just wouldn’t let you. Without her, the friends wouldn’t probably have stayed the same and never moved on in their relationship because she’s the one who gave them the slight initial push. Probably her timing as a school student was to observe Ichika and when she’s gone, Lemon too ‘disappears’. I wonder what happened to all the footage that she shot. Yeah, all those ‘privacy invasion’ footage. She has this face that enjoys seeing couples getting close to each other and at the same time, the kind of face that tells you she’s going to use it for blackmail material. But I don’t think Lemon is such a cold-hearted girl to do that. Or maybe. Yeah, that Dynamite drink… Good confession tool. The MIBs seem like capable people after all despite their brief appearance. If they have the technological weapons to counter the robots, it shows that humans aren’t that primitive after all, right? Or maybe they just borrowed it from alien technology. Those who have crash landed here.

The scenic lake that Ichika was also the setting for Onegai Teacher and that mysterious ancestor voice that the sisters heard at the end could have been Mizuho (the alien female protagonist from Onegai Teacher). Heck, it must be her because the seiyuu was also from the same person, Kikuko Inoue! So do you still not believe this is somewhat related to that series? And if you take a closer look at Ichika, you may see that she resembles Mizuho a lot. Both are red heads and they wear spectacles. Oh, not to mention about their well endowed body figure. So really. Ichika may be the descendant of Mizuho after all. Since this anime was made almost 10 years later, whatever happened to the characters in Onegai Teacher is really one’s guess. In Onegai Teacher, Mizuho and Kei were forced into marriage since they were found in a compromising situation which threatens to expel Kei from school (also to hide Mizuho’s real identity). There their love blossomed but not without the complications of love triangles from their friends too. Ano Natsu De Matteru is closely similar to this but only thing is Ichika and Kaito didn’t get married at the start nor are they having the teacher-student relationship. One thing I didn’t understand was how the emergency signal in Ichika’s ship went off. Did Rinon screw up big time? It seemed apologetic so that must be it. But I consider a blessing in disguise because if had that not happened, Ichika and Kaito’s feeling wouldn’t have grown stronger. Like they say, absence makes the heart grow fonder.

Yukari Tamura despite not putting on her high pitch voice is still recognizable since her voice is unique enough to be identified as the deadpan Lemon. Huhuhu… Those must be her favourite ‘words’. She might be best doing lots of genki lolis with high pitch squealing but I guess there are times when you sometimes need a change of breath air and voice something that isn’t your usual. I remember she also voiced characters without emotion such as Saku from Tantei Opera Milky Holmes and Nagisa of Sketchbook ~Full Color’s~. Rina Hidaka probably got the ‘easiest’ role because as Rinon, all that alien ever says is “Non, non, non~”. And I don’t think that little blob is speaking French either. Her other roles include Hideyoshi of Sengoku Otome Momoiro Paradox and Airi in Ro-Kyu-Bu. Haruka Tomatsu yet again voices another alien girl coming to Earth. That was Lala of To Love-Ru. But instead of a genius airhead, Ichika displays more emotions like a high school girl unsure about her feelings at first and then subsequently one who knows she wants to be by her lover’s side. Kana Asumi as Mio sounds a lot shyer and vulnerable than her other role as Yuno in Hidamari Sketch and Taneshima of Working! Other casts include Nobunaga Shimazaki as Kaito (Orobas in Shakugan No Shana III Final), Hideki Ogihara as Tetsurou (Itsuki in Shuffle), Kaori Ishihara as Kanna (Reki in Hidan No Aria), Ai Kayano as Kaori (Hibino in Kamisama Dolls), Yuka Iguchi as Chiharu (Index in To Aru Majutsu No Index), Aya Hisakawa as Nanami (Arimi in Marmalade Boy), Fuuyuka Oura as Manami (Hiro in Kaibutsu Oujo) and Yui Horie as Emika (Naru in Love Hina). Something about the opening and ending themes that reminded me how similar they are to Kotoko and I’ve Sound. Such music style of theirs only brings back nostalgic memories when I was watching Onegai Teacher and Onegai Twins because their music was featured in its opening and ending songs. Though the opening theme, Sign is attributed to Ray, the lyrics were written by Kotoko and as for the ending theme, Virdo Moyou is sung by Nagi Yanagi, the music is composed by I’ve Sound.

Overall, I didn’t expect to enjoy this anime at first, but that’s my fault for trying to form high expectations and judging a book by its cover even before watching. I thought it was going to be a silly love harem comedy. Just add an alien girl into the mix and with the heat of summer already at its peak, temperatures are going to rise even further! Boy, I was so wrong. It turned out to be quite a ‘beautiful love story’ with a little pinch of sci-fi. Okay, maybe a little bit more. It also blended it a friendship and coming of age theme. Youth is a time where you learn things the hard way, pick yourself up and move on. And these guys get to experience it all in the period of one summer and in the end stay true to themselves. A story like that doesn’t get any better than this. Though it may not be possible in some ways, but at least what this series is trying to convey is that love transcends through time, ages and between species. That’s why when you get a chance in love, it is best that you give yourself and the person you love a chance. Who knows when the next opportunity will come. Will there even be one if you let it slip away? Watching this series even gave me a glimmer of hope that maybe a useless otaku person like me could find such a beautiful love story in my meaningless life. If only I could get off my seat and take my eyes off anime for a while… And in the even if I really do, I hope I don’t have to wait for such summer. Or worse, 2.3 million light years away!