To Heart 2: Episode 10

Tenth episode!

[Game->To Heart 2: Sango and Ruri Himeyuri] – Ilfa events on the Himeyuri scenario
Third consecutive episode on the Himeyuri scenario. I thought this was the most faithful conversion so far, but in the end it feels condensed yet again. But since it focuses on Ilfa rather than the twins, I felt more appreciative of her viewpoint, so her background story doesn’t feel as rushed compared to the game. The animation seemed to be better than last time, so I wasn’t too annoyed.

HMX-17a Ilfa is the latest and most advanced maid robot out of the Kurusugawa Electronics empire. Basically, Sango made her, and now that she is in her newest body, she is out wanting to meet Ruri again. Sango said though that Ruri is kinda distant lately, mostly because of insecurities with Takaaki.

Flashback to a scene where an earlier version of Ilfa was forced to go outside by a girl even though she’s scared of it. Not sure which Himeyuri that girl is. This is Ilfa’s earliest memory, and one which she treasures very much.

Ilfa is now assigned to stay with the twins at their home. So Ilfa waited outside the school, and Takaaki and the twins arrive. They exchange formal greetings. Ruri doesn’t recognize Ilfa, but Sango says that Ruri already met her once. As they walk home, Ilfa notices that Ruri is being rude to Takaaki (like the usual). As a maid robot Ilfa tries to teach Ruri good manners since Takaaki is a friend, but Ruri reiterates that Takaaki is not friend. At dinner, Ilfa cooked curry for the twins. Ruri is not very happy, not because of the cooking, but the fact that it is Ilfa now who is cooking. Ruri asks Sango if she hates Ruri’s cooking, but of course denies. Ruri really doesn’t like the idea of Ilfa cooking, so she skips dinner and runs to her room.

Remember that Sango tries to make friends for Ruri, and Ilfa is her latest and greatest creation. Sango wants Ruri to treat Ilfa like a friend, but in seemingly the same way as Takaaki, Ruri doesn’t want anyone except her sister.

This troubled Ilfa so she tried to ask Takaaki for help. Indeed Ruri is really stubborn when it comes to other people. All Ilfa wants is to accept her as a friend, and also accept her cooking. Konomi suggested that since she and her mom are cooking curry for tonight, Ilfa could join and help in. So they go shopping and cook at the Yuzuhara residence. Konomi’s mother gave a few tips on how curry tastes delicious… it’s in the so-called “special spice”. Okay, to make a long story short, “love” is the special spice. Put your heart into the cooking, and surely it is the best way to a person’s heart (through the stomach).

At another day, Ilfa tags Takaaki along to the Himeyuri residence to try out her curry. Again, Ruri doesn’t want to accept Ilfa and her cooking. Ilfa now talks back and tries to explain that she really wants to be Ruri’s friend. Remember the flashback? The girl was actually Ruri. For Ilfa, it is a very memorable thing, because she used to remain in the dark rooms of the Kurusugawa Electronics lab. She was really scared to go outside, thinking what kind of world is there. But here is a smiling Ruri, dragging her outside into the bright sun and beautiful surroundings. Ilfa’s initial impression of the outside world became very positive thanks to Ruri.

Although Ruri says that she only did it because she was told by Sango, Ilfa is very thankful because she was able to live because of Ruri. That is why Ilfa is trying her best to be Ruri’s friend. Finally, Ruri is a bit touched, and ate a bit of her curry. She may still not accept Ilfa as a friend, but at least this is one step forward. Ilfa’s special spice wins!

And so ends the Himeyuri arc. Quite lucky twins to have three consecutive episodes, while fans of all other girls may seem to be in an outrage. There are three episodes left. The next one focuses on Tamaki. Seemingly, the episode count is still not enough to cater to all the girls. I don’t know if [Yuki Kusakabe->toheart2-yuki-kusakabe] will still appear. I really want To Heart 2 to extend beyond 13 episodes, but that can only be possible if a miracle happens… say, if [To Heart 2: XRATED->] sells well.