Hitohira 2: Fake....one? (まがい・・・・物？)

Still reeling from the shock of joining the Drama Research Club, Mugi again daydreams about life on the stage.

When she woke up, the lunch break is already over, so she went back to the class. When Mugi confesses to her best friend that she can't sleep last night, her friend, Kayo, teases her about this.
It seems Mugi is even thinking of quitting the club as she thinks it's impossible for her to continue due to her speech problem. However, Kayo thinks this is actually a good chance to help Mugi overcome her problem.


Later in the day, the Drama Research Club held a first practice meeting to welcome the two new members. To Mugi and Kai's surprise, the club room is extremely small, just a bit larger than a closet ^^; More surprisingly, there are only three other members in the club.

Not only that, they found out there is another drama club in the school, which performed the play on the school opening day. There is also a rivalry between the club and when Mugi was told by Nono, the club president, that she would need to perform, she collapsed yet again. This is probably also caused by the horror stories about Nono that she heard ^^



The next day, Mugi meets a new friend, Chitose Kanna, who lends Mugi some clothes because her own clothes is drenched by the rain. Chitose is actually a member of the Drama Club, which leads to a mini tug-of-war between the clubs to get Mugi. It is obvious there is no love between the two clubs, as Drama Club President accuses the Drama Research Club of being a fake one. This time the Drama Research Club managed to fend off the Drama Club's attempt to make Mugi switch clubs.


Finally, the Drama Research Club are holding the first practice session on the roof. The script is an original drama titled "Sisters on that night" (insert your imagination here :b). Mugi feel nervous again, and as a result unable to speak loudly. She tries to think happy thoughts to cure this, which leads to a daydream of pancakes. Unfortunately, this does not quite work yet as it only distracts Mugi from the script she is supposed to read.

When Chitose, who happens to watch the practice session sees this, she has an idea to cure Mugi temporarily, by tickling her! The method actually works and Mugi lets out a very loud scream that surprises everybody. Chitose, which sees the potential in this voice of Mugi, declares that she won't lose out. Thus, in addition to the friendship, the rivalry also began between the two.



A solid episode that explains the rivalry between the drama clubs, as well as introducing Chitose, this is another enjoyable episode.

Next week: Debut on the stage, will Mugi be able to use her impressive voice on stage?

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Hitohira 1: Im, Impossible...

One of the first of this year's spring anime to hit the air, this is a story of a very shy, quiet girl's life in a drama club. Impossible, you say?

The anime opens up with Asai Mugi (麻井麦), our shy girl, hiding behind a tree. This is the school announcement day, and there is a huge number of students that wants to know whether they are accepted.
When she realized she made it into the school, she let out an incredible yell that reverberates through the school. Some of the drama research club's member who are observing the new students, can't help but be impressed with it.



Skip forward to the self-introduction period in the first class, she became nervous again and speak so softly that no one can hear her. This is despite the fact that she already prepares her self-introductory speech. She is momentarily saved by another student who came late, as this shifts the attention away from her. A head bump later, she somewhat managed to regain her composure and yell out her self-introductory. This resulted in everyone laughing, but at least the torture is over!



Later on Mugi surveys the various clubs that are on offer, but nothing seems to be particularly interesting. She is "helped" on this decision when the drama research club's member go to her class to persuade her to join their club.
Panic strikes again, and chased by the masks in her imagination, she wants them to go away. Somehow, she managed to sign for the drama research club in the process, without really realizing what she is doing :) She just wants those people to go away.
When Mugi realized what she has done, she collapsed due to the surprise, while wondering whether she would be allowed to lip-sync while performing :D

Official site
Opening theme: Yume, Hitohira (夢、ひとひら) by Yuuko Asami
Ending theme: Smile by Mai Mizuhashi
The opening theme, meaning dream petals, reflects Mugi's dream to be a better person, at least on the stage :)



Impression:
This is definitely one of those slice-of-life shows. Judging from the first episode, it looks like the anime will follow the transformation of shy Mugi into a queen of drama. Hopefully there is more than this, but I will be quite happy even if no further twist is added as I generally like the slice-of-life type of shows. For those who wants their action, you won't get it here, though.

Some fairly famous actors and actresses confess that they were actually quite introverted when they were still a kid, and yet they achieved that incredible transformation. Taken from that angle, unlike the episode title, Mugi's dream is not that impossible at all. Sometimes to be extremely good at something, the experience of being extremely bad at it is actually good, because we would then experience and have insights on things normal people does not.

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