Sister Princess episode 10

Ganbatte, Ani!

Aired

2001.06.06

• Summary by Kevin Lew, 2001.08.31

[OP]

Sakuya was wearing a two piece bikini and it was obvious that she had an impressive body. She then dove off the diving board. The other sisters and Mami were playing in the pool splashing water on each other. Yotsuba was also taking pictures to "check" on things. Rinrin came out of the pool (she had a snorkel on her head) and told the others to play "saishin no mashin". Mami wondered what that meant, but then she figured it out and it was too late. The other girls grabbed her and pushed her underwater.

Kaho mentioned that the pool was really nice today. Karen let go of Mami and said that she was also grateful. Mami came up from the water sputtering and wondered where the heck was Yamada. Yamada, in his apartment, suddenly sneezed.

Hinako was on a rubber duck inner tube floating on the surface. Aria was doing it also with her parasol. Marie, Shirayuki, and Chikage were relaxing in the deck chairs. But Chikage looked concerned as she flipped over one of her Tarot cards.

Wataru was just sitting by the edge of the pool watching the others play. Then Mamoru came up to him and asked if he was ready for his first lesson. "Are you ready, older brother?" she asked, as she bent over. Then Wataru said sure and got up. I believe that he said that he wanted to know how to swim before the summer was finished.

Yamada was in his apartment looking at his "As Seen On TV" kit that he bought. It was "Bob Stanback's Swimming Lesson", complete with a guide book and a videotape. It seemed that it was an American product that had been sold in Japan. Yamada seemed to be deathly afraid to learn, but he had changed into his swim trunks. Then he managed to press the play button.

"Lesson 1" was printed in English on the TV. Then Bob came on the screen and began speaking in English quietly. A Japanese voice actor would then talk over his dialogue in Japanese. (Kev's Note: Sadly, I wish that they hadn't done this, as the English dialogue sounded like they were using proper English, and it would have been funny to compare the two languages). Apparently, the first lesson was to stick your face into a bowl of water repeatedly so you wouldn't be afraid of getting wet. But Yamada couldn't even put his face into the mixing bowl filled with water because he was so scared.

Meanwhile, Wataru was practicing putting his face in the shallow end of the pool with Mamoru. Mamoru was telling him not to give up. Afterwards, Mamoru told him it was to get him used to the water. Wataru said that he wasn't afraid of it. Then Hinako splashed water on him. She wondered what he was doing. She and Aria were wearing inner tubes around their waists.

Yotsuba, Kaho, Sakuya, Karen, and Haruka were running toward Wataru. But Kaho fell down again. They said that they would help him. Then Rinrin said that she had something that would help him not be afraid of getting wet. So she pulled out a large bazooka. Mami couldn't believe that she had such a thing. She blasted a water blast at Wataru and he almost fell backwards into Mamoru.

Then the other girls quickly started splashing water on everyone. Rinrin shot another round of her water bazooka and it knocked over Mami. Mamoru whispered to Wataru that perhaps they would work more on it the next day.

The next day, Wataru was looking unhappy as he rode the escalator back to the Welcome House. Yamada was standing there waiting for him, looking very arrogant. He sounded very jealous that Wataru was with all of his cute sisters in the pool. But he said that he had Bob Stanback's Swimming Lesson. Wataru had no idea what he was saying. Yamada said that he was up to Lesson One.

Back at the house, there was a sign saying that the pool was closed temporarily for a private function. Wataru went inside and Mamoru was back in the pool doing laps. She got out of the pool. Wataru mentioned something about the swimming lesson tape from Yamada, but Mamoru said something like that they'd do fine without it.

Wataru practiced holding his head underwater for several seconds at a time. Then he was using a kickboard and using it to travel slowly across the pool.

That evening, Shirayuki had prepared another creative meal. Apparently she had made some noodle dish with some interesting sauce. Then Wataru tried some and said that it was very good. Mamoru whispered something to Wataru, perhaps about eating more carbohydrates. Then the other girls talked about going to the pool the next day. But then the other girls began to fight because they all wanted to go swim with Wataru. But instead of deciding who he would see, he only mentioned that he was finished with dinner. Mamoru put her hand on his leg and whispered that she'd see him later that night for more practice.

That evening, Mamoru went to Wataru's room but she didn't see anybody there. Then she heard somebody splashing in the pool and smiled. Wataru was practicing putting his head into the water again like on the first day. Mamoru mentioned that tomorrow would be his first day to go real swimming. Wataru said that this couldn't be happening. But Mamoru only laughed saying, "Come on!"

[eyecatch]

The next morning, the girls all left to go on a picnic. Wataru waved at them goodbye as they left the house. He turned around and saw that Mamoru was hiding in the house as she had not gone with the others.

Mamoru and Wataru were at the school's indoor pool and they were doing more practice. Mamoru was holding Wataru's arms as he was kicking in the pool. Afterwards, Wataru showered and he left the school with Mamoru. They walked home together and Mamoru seemed to really like spending time with him.

Back home, the others were serving curry rice for dinner. Mamoru took Wataru's plate and gave him more rice as this was to give him more energy. She made a "gambatte" gesture at Wataru, and he responded in turn. That evening, Wataru practiced some more kicking with Mamoru.

The next day, Wataru was doing more swim practice with Mamoru, as she held his hands and he kicked. Mamoru mentioned that perhaps he was close to diving soon. But Wataru looked very depressed as he felt like he wasn't getting anywhere with all the practice. She looked saddened by this, but she quickly changed expression and told him not to give up.

Back at Yamada's apartment, Yamada was still watching the tape. Apparently he was still on Lesson One. He still didn't have the courage to put his face into the bowl even one time.

Wataru was writing a letter to Akio. In his e-mail, he sounded like he was full of hope and things were working well. But when he stopped typing, he looked very depressed and he wasn't sure if this was working out all that well. But then Mamoru suddenly ran into his room, surprising him. She wondered why he acted so shocked. But then she told him to give it his best tomorrow and then she wished him goodnight. Then she left. Wataru sighed and sent the letter to Akio. But Wataru didn't see that Mamoru was still outside of his door, and she had a sad look on her face.

The next day, Wataru was waiting out by the school pool. Mamoru ran in late and she was still dressed. She apologized and said that something came up and she couldn't teach him today. So she said that he could practice on his own, and she left quickly. But Wataru was lying by the side of the pool instead, and thought to himself how bad he felt for not being able to improve despite how hard Mamoru tried.

It was dusk and Wataru was walking home by himself. Suddenly Mamoru ran up to him, out of breath. She said that he had given her a scare as she went by the school pool and didn't see him. She had something for him, and held out a gift bag. Wataru opened it and saw that it was swimming goggles like the ones she had. She said that perhaps it would be like a luck charm when he swam, so she hoped it would help him.

The next day, Mamoru ran to the pool and looked hurt when Wataru wasn't there. That evening, Mamoru was lying in bed, and her feelings were hurt. Wataru was lying in his own bed, and his swimming towel and goggles were lying on his desk untouched. He thought to himself, "Mamoru, I'm sorry... But I just can't..."

That night, Mamoru stood by the pool with a kickboard, almost as if she was waiting for someone.

The next day, Mami was holding a whistle saying, "Okay, everybody! Is everyone ready?" Sakuya and Aria were riding on a large inflatable dolphin, and Sakuya was holding a large foam paddle. On the other end of the pool, Karen and Hinako were also riding a dolphin, and Karen was holding a foam paddle. Then Mami blew the whistle and they began paddling toward each other. When the two paddling teams met, they began whacking each other with the paddles trying to knock each other off. Mami was refereeing the match.

Wataru was sitting by the edge of the pool looking very unhappy. Mamoru was by herself at a distance, also looking a bit sad. Wataru noticed that she was staring off into space. She was looking at her kickboard that had a pair of goggles sitting on them. Wataru looked very guilty and thought that perhaps he could give it one more try.

Just then, Karen gave a big swing of her foam paddle and knocked Sakuya's dolphin over. Sakuya popped out of the water, laughing. But then she looked for Aria, and saw that she slipped under the water and wasn't surfacing. Mamoru seemed shocked. But then she saw that Mamoru had run and gotten his goggles and was running to the pool. Wataru dove into the pool, and Mamoru had a very pleased expression on her face.

However, Sakuya had already grabbed Aria and asked if she was okay. She said very slowly that she was okay, but then she said, "Older brother..." Sakuya looked up and saw that Wataru was swimming toward them. Well, dog paddling very slowly, actually. He had to grab onto the float toy. Aria was very excited. Then Mamoru swam up to him saying, "You did it!" Wataru couldn't believe it himself.

Later, the other girls were cheering on Wataru as he was dog paddling around the pool. Mamoru seemed to be really proud of him. Yamada was in the bushes watching him with his bowl of water. Yamada was upset, as he couldn't even put his face in the water yet.

At dusk, Wataru was still dog paddling around the pool. Mamoru told him that it was great that he finally learned how to swim. Wataru said that it was because she was a good teacher. But Mamoru said that it wasn't, and she said something that I didn't understand.

Later, Wataru thought about his letter to Akio mentioning his exciting day with swimming with the girls. He said that tomorrow he would give it his best also.

Back at Yamada's apartment, the TV was saying something about how the character couldn't give it his all. Yamada was watching and feeling depressed. He still had his bowl of water in his lap.