10 Second Anime - Amanchu! Advance - Episode 2

Hikari meets a kid watching an octopus nest. The Diving Club watches the big fireworks show together.

Episode 2 - "The Story of Midsummer and Sparkling Eyes"

Hmm.

There were a couple of themes connecting the two separate stories in this episode. The overall uniting theme for the Summer Break is "making memories," and that's still very much in evidence. Hikari continues to collect her Special Events and Mato even remembered a long forgotten memory of the same fireworks show she watched this week. However, with Futaba away at a relative's funeral, Hikari made memories without her.

The first theme was "secrets." Futaba, being the shy and socially anxious girl coming out of her shell, always saw secrets as a way of keeping things from her, as a negative thing. It added to her fear of being excluded, which is a form of bullying among girls. From what I remember, her classmates weren't really trying to exclude her, but her reserved nature got mistaken for being aloof or having her own things to do. It was a big deal in the first season for her to make a leap and outwardly express her desire to try something new. Here, Futaba learned that secrets can be fun, as a way to build excitement and anticipation. The secret is only temporary, and the revelation is a fun thing to experience too.

For Hikari's story with Kokoro, the secret name was used as a bargaining chip. I'm just going to spoil the other secret of Kokoro's gender with my own speculation. He's a boy. He's embarrassed about his girly sounding name. He's probably has a twin sister (as if we haven't seen that already in this show...), and feels the need to differentiate himself by being tan and proclaiming manliness in everything. Even a mother octopus protecting her eggs... That kind of reminds me of Elfman from Fairy Tail. I base this wild speculation on a couple of scenes from the opening credits showing him posing as a manly sailor and then later a girl with similar colored hair holding hands with a blonde girl in the local school's uniform.

The other kind of secret between Hikari and Kokoro was that their time spent together was being joked about as a "date." This caused a pang of jealousy or fear of exclusion in Futaba, but she quickly realized that Hikari is the kind of girl to make friends fairly quickly with anyone. Even if that person doesn't consider themselves friends with Hikari! She's that kind of person.

The other theme connecting Futaba with Kokoro through Hikari was death. Ultimately, Amanchu is a slice-of-life show about coming of age. Obviously, the circle of life and death will make itself felt in such a show. We saw that last season with finding the kitten Ohime. This time around, the occasion of a funeral and the death of a mother octopus brought that theme to the fore. It was a good lesson for Kokoro that the Sea and Nature are unforgiving. Even if a mother can protect her nest, it still means she'll die before they hatch. But if she didn't, new life couldn't be born.

Oh, there was a third theme, but it's more of a symbol. The firework explosion was the payoff for Futaba's lesson on secrets being fun and the octopus hatchling explosion was the reward for Kokoro learning that death is linked to new life. Hikari got to see two big fireworks shows!

Heh.

Ooh, a mysterious girl! Or boy?

Man, I'd be annoyed with a weird older girl sneaking up on me too.

Octopus! Mama!

That's cold. The kid doesn't want to exchange names.

Saying it right now. He's a boy. He's just embarrassed by his girly name. Come on, kid. Give her your nickname then. Sheesh.

Totally a boy. Wants to get tan, leathery skin like a fishing boat sailor. He calls everything "manly," even a mother octopus guarding her eggs!

Hikari totally thinks he's a girl.

Aw. Futaba calls right away instead of just continuing the texting.

Secrets are fun! It's a girl's ultimate weapon! This is true, since they can be used for good and evil.

This kid is obsessed with octopuses. He's got one on his big tank top.

Yeah, I'd be embarrassed with Kokoro for my name too. Such a girl's name.

Mad mama tako!

Yes! Mato-chan Sensei day drinking beer!

Chakamon needs to stop playing with that fan.

Ha! Hikari was on a "date" with a "cute girl." I think Kokoro would blush by powers of ten at the thought of this.

And then we have the fireworks show. Yukatas on cute girls! The twins wear comfortable clothes. But! Everyone wants to see Ai's monkey yukata! Me too!

Oho! VIP seating for the fireworks! Ultimate Secret Weapon!

Aw. Little Mato-chan was adorable.

Bah. This stupid kid is sad about a missing octopus. Read up on octopuses already.

Hikari knows what's what. The eggs are still there. Mama Tako did her job.

Baby octopus fireworks!

Kokoro made a Special Summer Event too!

I got a feeling lots of fun and confusion will be made of Kokoro coming to school with a less tan doppelganger in a dress. Let's see if my pure speculation pans out.

Next time, Futaba makes more Summer vacation memories.