Hime-chan no Ribbon episode 40

Episode Title
Hachamecha yuujou daisakusen
[a screwed-up friendship strategy]
Air Date
1993.07.09
OP
Egao no Genki (SMAP)
ED
Hajimete no Natsu (SMAP)
Keywords
friendship, English school book, soccer shirt
  • Summary by Pascal Janin, 1994.09.25
  • Editing by Hitoshi Doi, 1995.03.10
At night, Hime-chan, Manami, and Icchan are in pajamas and are lying on Hime-chan's bed talking about boys. Icchan complains about Manami having many boys in mind, but Manami says there's nothing she can do since she cannot make up her mind about any of them. Then Icchan and Manami tease Hime-chan about Daichi, who retorts that she and he are just friends.

Then it's Icchan's turn to be questioned. "Who do you like the best?"
Icchan said, "Hime-chan and Manami!" since they are her best friends. Then they swear to each other that they'll remain friends forever, whatever might happen in the future.

The next morning..

[title screen]

.. on the playground, Daichi is playing soccer, but steps onto the ball and falls head first. Then the other players all fall on top of him. His friend Tetsu jumps at the chance, takes the ball and runs at full speed to the other goal. From afar, Hime-chan, Manami, and Icchan are looking at him, wondering when he joined the soccer team. Then from behind, Hikaru shouts at them that she knows. Her Daichi has come to help his friends of the soccer team for the upcoming game the following week.

Hikaru also thinks it's so great to be able to rely on boys' friendship, so Icchan and Manami get mad and tell her their girls' friendship is as good. But Hikaru doesn't believe them, as her mother told her, only a boys' friendship is strong enough and girls' friendship is an illusion since all they believe in is love.

Then with a wicked smile, Manami wonders out loud if that's because Hikaru has no friend among girls. Hikaru angrily turns back, so Manami retreats behind Icchan. When Hikaru leaves, Icchan, Manami, and Hime-chan swear to themselves to "openly attack Hikaru" if she ever bothers any of them again.

Later during the chemistry class, Hime-chan is pouring the contents of a vial into a large glass, when the teacher asks Daichi, who is sleeping on his desk, to answer a certain question about today's lesson. Since Daichi is awaken up suddenly, he can't really tell what was going on. Hime-chan wants to help him, but Hikaru quickly takes over, telling Daichi which page of their book they are working on. Later Hikaru criticizes Hime-chan for being of no help to Daichi [exactly: her friendship is of no use to him].

As Hikaru congratulates Daichi for having answered correctly, Hime-chan sadly says to herself that it's true that recently she did nothing great. Hikaru helps Daichi much more, and last time it was Icchan who cheered up Manami and her [when they were on her bed talking about friendship].

When the lesson is over, Icchan and Manami come to meet Hime-chan. But Hime-chan is busy cleaning her classroom, together with Hikaru. Then Icchan and Manami decide to help Hime-chan and carry the desk they are cleaning, saying they are friends thus must help each other. But Hikaru jumps at the chance and says that since Hime-chan is being helped, she can leave it to them and help Daichi instead.

Daichi is playing soccer again, and Hikaru and the entire Daichi Fan Club watch and cheer for him. When Hime-chan tries to do the same, Hikaru scolds her. Manami couldn't stand Hikaru's manners any more and pulls them away. Then Hikaru and the other girls shout again, "Daichi! Do your best!"

In the Land of Magic, looking over Daichi, Chappy wonders if it's friendship or love that is involved in this case. Erika thinks, hopes, that it is friendship.

Later while rummaging in her schoolbag, Hime-chan realizes that she has forgotten her English textbook. So she leaves, followed by Hikaru who wonders where she might be going. Hime-chan goes to the Manami's and Icchan's 2-D classroom but they can't help her since they don't have their English lesson today. Then they notice Hikaru spying on them, so with a resolute look, Icchan and Manami decide to go and look for an English textbook for Hime-chan. But they can't find any, so Icchan rushes back home to bring hers back.

The lesson begins, and Hime-chan is very worried about her friends. So she yells, "Teacher! I have to go to the toilet!" and leaves. Hime-chan turns herself into Icchan, and goes to the 2-D classroom to take her place. But she realizes that Manami hasn't come back either. At this time, Manami is talking to her mother on the phone, asking her to bring her book to school.

Hime-chan then goes to the restrooms again and transforms into Manami. But she goes to the wrong classroom (hers: 2-C) and realizes her mistake only after having opened the door. Hikaru teases her and soon Hime-chan/Manami returns to Manami's real classroom (2-D). But now the teacher asks her where Icchan has gone to!

Meanwhile Icchan is coming back from home, carrying her book with her, while Manami gets her schoolbook from her mother at the school entrance.

In the 2-D classroom, Hime-chan is very worried, and when she hears Manami and Icchan approaching, she yells out that she has to go to the toilet again, and leaves. Then Icchan and Manami open Hime-chan's classroom's door at the same time, each of them bringing her their own book. Hime-chan shows up, coming back from the restrooms, thanks them both for their efforts, but thinks that friendship might be a bit tiring too.

[CM break]

Later Hime-chan, Manami and Icchan are going back home, saying that they are a bit more tired than usual but such friendship is surely great. They decide to go to the swimming pool together the next Sunday. But Hikaru waits for them by the entrance gate, to tell them that she still doesn't find their girls' friendship worth anything.

Then Daichi and Tetsu come by, and ask Hime-chan and her friends to come watch their match next Sunday. But Hime-chan says she can't, because she'll go to the pool with her friends. So Hikaru yells out she will prepare Daichi's lunch then.

Daichi says to Hime-chan, "No problem, come next time," and leaves with Tetsu. But in spite of Hime-chan's big smile, Manami realizes that Hime-chan wasn't happy. Hime-chan laughes if off, but inside she wants to go see Daichi.

At home that night, Hime-chan confesses to Pokota that she has now come to be confused about friendship. Icchan and Manami are her best friends, that's for sure, but there's something else she can't really define.

Then the flying pen starts flashing and beeping, and goes flying to Hime-chan to draw something on the doll she's making: a big smiling face. So she and Pokota decide to write a letter to Erika now.

It was raining the next day, and Daichi hopes that it will be sunny for their soccer match. While he speaks with Tetsu, Hikaru is making a doll for him and ties it to the window [the doll is a "teru teru bouzu", a talisman for good weather]. Hime-chan had made one of her own the night before for Daichi too, but she puts hers back in her school bag. Then Hikaru asks Daichi to show her his uniform so that she can wash it for the next day's game. Hime-chan can't hold it any longer and quickly leaves, taking her bag with her. Daichi, then Icchan and Manami, seem worried about her.

Hime-chan was in her and Daichi's hideout at the top of the stairs, lost in her thoughts, when Daichi arrives and asks what's up with her these days. He adds that since he will play soccer until about 3 PM, she can come to the game if she finishes early. But Hime-chan replies that she doesn't know. So Daichi says once more that Hime-chan is acting really strangely, and that makes Hime-chan very mad and she leaves.

Luckily it is very warm and sunny on the day of the soccer game. Hime-chan meets Icchan and Manami and tells them that she got a very nice swimsuit from her older sister. But Icchan and Manami tell Hime-chan that they won't go to the swimming pool. They were going to take Hime-chan to the soccer game.

They spot Hikaru ahead, riding her bike, and see her falling. When she gets up she goes frantic because she has spoiled Daichi's soccer shirt that it took her all night to clean and dry. Hime-chan tells her not to worry, but says that she'd better give it to Daichi because the game will start pretty soon.

So all four of them head for the stadium, on foot (Hikaru has left her bike behind), and have to climb over a fence. Hikaru is the last to climb over, and when she does, Daichi's shirt gets caught and gets torn apart.

All four of them go crazy, wondering what they can do to fix it. When Icchan yells that they are running short of time, Hime-chan remembers that she has her palette. So she uses it to go back in time, just to when Hikaru jumped down from the fence. Then Hime-chan tells her to throw Daichi's shirt to her before she jumps. Now it's safe!

The soccer game had already begun, and Daichi hears the four girls coming. Hime-chan hands the shirt back to Hikaru to let her give it to Daichi. Hikaru, with tears in eyes, thanks them and gives the shirt to Daichi, who quickly puts it on, enters the field, and brilliantly scores a goal. Hikaru happily says that girls' friendship turns to be great after all.

The next day on the way to school, Manami, Icchan, and Hime-chan spot Hikaru ahead of them and wish her a good day. But Hikaru turns back and, with a contemptuous look, tells them that although they had helped her the day before, she found that her love for Daichi was far more important than anything else, such as friendship. As she leaves, laughing, Hime-chan remarks that Hikaru seems to have understood nothing, and the three girls swear again to themselves that they'll be friends forever.

In the Land of Magic, Erika says that she should investigate friendship and love and difficult themes further. Then she decides to reply to Hime-chan's letter.


[Hime-chan no Ribbon TV episode guide]

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Hime-chan no Ribbon
> TV episodes
(c) 水沢めぐみ/集英社・テレビ東京・NAS・東映動画
(c) Mizusawa Megumi/Shuueisha, TV Tokyo, NAS, Toei Douga