Otogi Juushi Akazukin 5
Souta and Ringo's class is going on a bit of a trip to do some drawing outside, so Akazukin and Shirayuki want to come along to protect Souta. They're staying home. Shirayuki tells Souta to call on her through the wind if he's even in trouble... During class, Souta decides to draw flowers, of course, talking to them while he draws. His classmates seem to be impressed with his ability, saying he'll be something big someday. Very understanding classmates there. And even if his classmates think he's odd, Souta's got his osananajimi (and tsundere), Ringo, there... he doesn't pay much attention to her appeals, though (^^;;)
Souta and Ringo walk through a garden of roses -- it's kinda like a date, Ringo says. Souta doesn't seem to think so.. well, he obviously hasn't been on a date. Neither has she... but he can't keep on thinking of her as just an osananajimi. Souta notices something ahead and runs off (^^;;) There, a girl is sleeping...
Meanwhile... Akazukin, Shirayuki, and Val-sama are, as usual, trying to find Souta... and Akakzukin's nose goes into action, smelling a crepe stand nearby (^^;;) Akazukin and Shirayuki get pulled away by somebody saying that it's already begun.. What? A cosplay contest, which Akazukin, Shirayuki, and Val-sama win. Not the time for that, really...
Back with Souta and Ringo -- the girl wakes up and sends vines toward them. Souta calls out to Shirayuki, his voice reaching her over the wind...
As luck would have it, Gretel shows up as Ringo and Souta are under attack by that girl's vines. But when Gretel attacks, the vines protect him. Who is she? Very sleepy, the girl says she's Ibara@Miyuki Sawashiro (in a very Aruru-like voice). A nightmarian then shows up, but right on time Shirayuki and Akazukin show up. Ibara's still not completely awake yet. Yet another odd one, Ringo says -- pretty much right (^^;;) Ringo and Souta run away from the battle... but the flowers there tell Souta that they should run. A nightmarian pops up from the ground, ripping up the flowers, one of which Souta takes.. Then Gretel catches Souta from behind. Souta manages to get free, the flower he was holding now being stomped by Gretel. Ibara finally wakes up -- in a very Shinku-like voice, she asks Gretel is she was the one that awakened her. Cue Ibara, Shirayuki, and Akazukin putting their powers together for a powerful atta.... or maybe not -- nothing comes after the jusiiiii~ there (^^;;) Anyways, Ibara seems to be pretty darn powerful, able to easily match Gretel. Akazukin and Shirayuki get rid of the nightmarians, but Gretel gets away after using a gravity spell.
Gretel returns to her onii-sama empty-handed. But that's fine, he's got other plans to find out where the key is. Hansel puts his hand on Gretel's face -- yup, she's a brother-con ;) But Hansel doesn't like people that mess up...
Ibara introduces herself once again. She seems to be the type that's in a really bad mood when they wake up, so that's why she attacked at first... The garden's a mess now, through.. but not to worry -- Ibara's an earth mage, so she uses her magic to make things grow back, so it's all good for now :)
Yet another weird one as Ringo said with Ibara. I wouldn't expect a normal character to show up in the first place... Anyways, she is kinda cute, and Miyukichi's great as usual. Is Ibara going to end up living together with Souta like Akazukin and Shirayuki? The harem grows yet again. Speaking of that -- the sooner Gretel changes sides and becomes part of Souta's harem, the better ;) Well, it won't really matter if Souta still thinks flowers >>>>>>>> osananajimi and such, though. Are you really in middle school? (^^;;)
Animation quality this time wasn't that great again, but checking the preview it looks like it'll recover next time. Sounds like a Ringo episode from the title :)
Oof... art was.. pretty bad in spots. Distractingly so. Poor Akazukin in particular was off model in a lot of shots. Still, I like Ibara.
oRZ
As another person puts it, I'm surprised Shota doesn't get beaten up on a daily basis for talking to flowers.
I find Akazukin actually getting upstaged constantly by the other characters. I wonder why her name is even in the title.