English Dub Review: Hatena Illusion “Episode 5”

 

 

Overview (Spoilers Below)

Yumemi continues to be a little shut-in, and Hatena couldn’t be more pissed off. In her mind, she fixed everything. She got the classroom boys to apologize and even patched up their sisterly relationship. What else does this toe-headed brat want? Makoto assures her that Yumemi just needs time.

The next day, that Tomi-Tomi woman comes over for a visit. It turns out she’s a famous art dealer who stopped by to give Hatena an invitation to her upcoming show. The boisterous woman is hungry for artifacts believing them to be the finest art of all. She covets Hetena’s personal artifact and demands she hand it over—despite not knowing what Muffy is or what it looks like. Hatena refuses, prompting Jeeves to chase the obnoxious woman away.

At school, Makoto and Hatena hear a rumor about a devilish bear that roams the hallways at night. Knowing that GauGau exists, the kids are skeptical. After grilling those hellacious grade-school boys, Makoto learns the bear isn’t GauGau at all, but rather that clay bear Yumemi made as a school project.

That night, Hatena and Makoto break into the school to steal that bear from the kiln. However, they are interrupted by the real GauGau who also broke in to steal the clay bear. Yumemi, Jeeves, and Ema are all watching through the young girl’s computer and explain to the wannabe thieves that the bear is an artifact made by Yumemi.

Later on in this GauGau heavy episode, Makoto learns that the bear can secretly talk. The plush bastard swears him to secrecy claiming he doesn’t want the already socially-resigned Yumemi to have another excuse to hide from the world. He also tells the boy magician that Yumemi inherited Maeve’s powers, making her a prime target for Maeve’s family or any villain looking to take advantage of such an amazing ability.

To alleviate her daughters’ stress, Maeve shows up “in person” via a slapdash artifact that allows her to project a solid image of herself before it unceremoniously turns to goo. But hey, the artifact is good enough to refrain from gooing up until the matriarch comforts her daughters and sets them on the right path again. Once mother is gone, the girls’ father shows up, but by now they see him so often that his surprise visit isn’t nearly as well-received.

The episode ends with Auntie Mariah contacting Hatena through a mirror. She wants to make a deal and perhaps take advantage of the young girl’s naivety.

 

Our Take

Just when you think the tension between these sisters is over, they keep pulling us back in! Today we learned that Yumemi is a pathological liar and will say anything to keep the heat off of her for two damn seconds. The real problem—which we finally learn—has to do with wanting to spare her sister’s feelings. It must suck for Hatena—who plays dress-up as a thief while idolizing her mother—to have not inherited Maeve’s powers.

But Hatena’s not like that. Sure, she would’ve been over the moon had she developed the artifact-creating power, but she loves her sister as much as Yumemi loves her, and is therefore happy for the little dope. As powerful as Yumemi may be, she still has a lot of growing up to do.

The artifacts are really becoming a problem. They likely always were, but since we’re seeing this world through the eyes of Makoto, everything is presented as new, to us. With that being said, this Tomi-Tomi woman appears to be a new threat to him and the girls. While the parents may know this woman, her motivation is disconcerting and I hope Hatena doesn’t make any wrong moves around this larger-than-life creature.

I’ve got to hand it to the domestics for helping Hatena make the right decision. Seeing her mother’s crest on live TV was meant to act as a trigger, and yet Ema did a superb job of talking her down. Of course certain people are going to try to trick Hatena into showing her hand, but it’s going to take a bit more prodding than a few strategically placed markings to fool our squad. Also, I love how Jeeves refuses to take any shit from Tomi-Tomi. Hell, there’s no better last line of defense in my book.

Holy crap, GauGau is even creepier now that he can speak. And while I get his reasons for keeping his vernacular a secret from Yumemi, that girl is going to be gutted when she finds out. And it just might ruin her relationship with Makoto, one of the few people she can relate to.

Secrets are dangerous, especially among kids who haven’t completely matured—at least not emotionally. Plus, it feels like almost everybody who lives in or even visits the manor has their own special secrets to hide. And sadly, secrets cannot stay buried forever.

This entire situation is going to get worse before it gets better.