Kanon (2006) - 14: Hibiwareta Kyousoukyoku (rhapsody/concerto with a fissure) ~Concerto ~

At breakfast, Yuuichi reflects on what Mai had said to him the night before -- that the demons were after him and she demanded to know who exactly he was. Before he can get to deep in thought, Ayu marvels at the jams Akiko-san has created. When she breaks out her special jam, Yuuichi and Nayuki beat a hasty retreat leaving poor Ayu alone with that nasty jam.

As the two of them walk to school, Nayuki has a gift of rabbit ears for a girl to wear since Yuuichi had asked her how to make girls cute. She figures a girl wearing those will be cute, but Yuuichi wearing them is not cute. As he takes off the rabbit ears to look at them, he has a memory flash of a girl wearing something similar while standing in a field.

At lunch, Mai is sitting alone when Yuuichi arrives to eat with her and Sayuri. Apparently, Sayuri has a chore to do and will be late, so Yuuichi takes the opportunity to ask Mai about the previous night and her statement to him. She doesn't have an answer, but does know that after he arrived at the school the demons started becoming more active. As they continue to wait for Sayuri, Yuuichi decides they should play shiritori. Mai loses because she often attaches the honorific "san" after animal names (and the game ends when the last character is the "n"). Sayuri arrives and finds it amusing they were playing shiritori. She and Mai often play at Sayuri's house, which apparently is very large since she comes from a rich family.

After school, Yuuichi (leaving the bag with the rabbit ears in his desk) goes to the roof to practice sword fighting with the wooden sword. Mai arrives and gives him a lesson using a bamboo sword. Sayuri arrives and wants to participate in the practice, but Mai quickly shows her she's no match. Sayuri wonders if she's in the way, and Mai coldly states that Sayuri is in the way, which one can tell hurts Sayuri's feelings as she makes a retreat.

Later in the town, Yuuichi runs into Sayuri, who seems to be her normal self. The two go into a cafe where we learn she does appear to know more about what's going on than she's let on. When Yuuichi asks about her friendship with Mai, Sayuri goes further to tell the story of her little brother and how she'd been very strict in helping to raise him. When he passed away, Sayuri stopped smiling and began to refer to herself in the 3rd person. However, it was her meeting with Mai and subsequent friendship that caused Sayuri to smile once again. The two part company, with Sayuri agreeing to give Yuuichi a call so they can celebrate Mai's birthday.

Back at home, Yuuichi inquires of Ayu how the eating of the jam went. Ayu is not pleased when she learns that Yuuichi knew all along that it wasn't very good. As Yuuichi waits for Sayuri's call, he decides to head to the school to get Mai to return home so they can have the party. After he leaves, Sayuri calls and learning that Yuuichi has already left to attend a friends birthday party, decides to head to the school herself. As Yuuichi heads to the school, he reflects on the fact that if Sayuri calls, he won't be able to pass any info to her. As he calls Akiko-san at a phone booth to find out if Sayuri called, Sayuri arrives at the school and is attacked by a demon.

Yuuichi rushes to the school to find Sayuri has been injured with Mai standing there in shock and dismay. They get her to the hospital in time and leave before the hospital staff calls the police. As they leave, a very upset Mai reflects on how she seems to cause everyone pain and harm but no harm comes to her. She uses her sword to destroy several things before Yuuichi can calm her down, promising her to return to the school. They do and Mai reflects that there are still three demons to fight. After passing this to Yuuichi, they come under attack.

I don't remember if Sayuri's character was explored at all in K2, but it is here and I got to admit that it was a tearful moment. Mai and Sayuri love each other like sisters, yet Mai is the worst in expressing it and because of Sayuri's past, she allows it to slide, even if it is a bit hurtful to her.

But it wasn't all tears and, "Why the smeg did you say that, Mai?" When Mai and Yuuichi practice sword fighting on the roof, what Mai does to Yuuichi had me laughing out loud, mainly because the director was clever enough not to show what actually happened, but instead showed us the aftermath.

Anyway, as DD indicated, the show really has picked up a lot and is really good now and Amano had a cameo (yay!).