Bethel Anime Club

Episode 4 Synopsis (“Alien and Beginner Waitress Bath”):

A mysteriously fedora-ed and sunglass-ed figure is eating at the upperscale restaurant at which Karna works… and eating, and eating. And if you don’t know where this is going by now, you haven’t been watching the show: it’s NieA, and after she’s full she leaves and sticks Karna with the bill (the oh-so-kind manager tells her that he’ll take it out of her paycheck).

Meanwhile, Mayuki is chatting with Chiaki, who’s complaining that her allowance is late. Chiaki is suitably impressed when Mayuki says that she has to get by on her own, and in order to do this she’s had to get a job as a waitress. Actually, to be honest, she’s a food delivery girl; and although Mayuki feels badly that she twisted the truth, she is now employed at “European Restaurant Karuchie.” When Mayuki gets home and prepares to leave for her job, she discovers that NieA (whose turn it is to clean up the bath) is not around… and the little nuisance has constructed another junk UFO—not to mention eaten all of Mayu’s emergency food reserves! You know how Mayuki is a shy and socially awkward girl? Um… not when she’s mad at NieA… anyway, as she makes for the door, Mayu gets a call from her mother letting her know that some old friends from her hometown have moved to Tokyo. Mayuko is interested in the news but she seems strangely uncomfortable while speaking with her mother… some breach between them in the past, perhaps?

Mayuko arrives at work to find that Karuchie’s owner and sole employee, Shuei Karita, has not yet turned on the sign. His 7-year old daughter, Chie, does it for him and in the process shows herself to be many times more capable than her slightly clumsy and plate-smashing yet good-natured father. But Chie cleans up his messes and their banter is gentle, so it seems like Mayu has fallen in with a very good crowd.

Meanwhile, a mysterious young man with a bandana and dreadlocks is standing outside the Enohana bathhouse with two enormous bags of rice. After staring at the sign for a while he marches in and asks for “Chigasaki.” Unfortunately he inadvertently enters the women’s side of the bath and a freshly-blown-up Yoshinen has to pull him aside for a little chat. It turns out that the rice is for Mayuko and he’s happy to go find her at her place of employment.

Unfortunately, Karuchie is just as broke as every other organization Mayuko’s involved with: they haven’t gotten a single customer all night, her paycheck is being deferred until they get some money (Chie angrily tells her father that he can’t do that, but it seems that if he literally has no money he can), and she spends most of her on-duty time playing video games with Chie, who absolutely whoops her butt. Finally they get a take-out order (although it’s for a more Japanese than European dish) and Mayu hops on her bike to deliver it—riding right past the young man with the rice, who continues on until he reaches the restaurant. He arrives about the same time as the night’s first take-out customer, none other than Karna (who develops an immediate crush on this mysterious stranger).

As Mayuko rides home from her delivery she nearly runs into NieA, who is desperate to show off the incredibly valuable junk phonograph she found. Mayu is less than impressed, and after thoroughly chewing NieA out for eating the emergency food supply (Menchi? Nooo!) she makes the finishing blow by declaring that she will eat that night for free at Karuchie—and NieA will get nothing. After a brief chase sequence, Mayuko arrives back at the restaurant to finally meet, as he reveals his name to be, Genzo (the guy from her hometown her mother called about). She doesn’t recognize him at first but his gift of rice is more than enough to jog her memory.

NieA arrives and is also pleased with the rice, but unfortunately Karna is still there and the usual matter-antimatter thing happens between them. During the course of the explosion, Karna shouts that because NieA stuck her with the bill at the beginning of the episode she now has to eat a trashy place like Karuchie frequented by poor aliens and cram students. This is too much for Chie, who says that Karna is being rude and insensitive and mean, and when Genzo takes Chie’s side Karna leaves slightly humiliated. Chie also runs outside, however, and Mayu follows her to find her crying. The two sit in a wrecked car and discuss things: Chie feels sad because all her father’s doing is trying to live out his dream (he’s even named his restaurant after her), but snot-noses like Karna can only see the surface poverty. Even though they’re trying their best, Chie can see that all of the important people in her life are, to an extent, outcast merely because of their circumstances. But she doesn’t stay down for long, and when they return her father says that he’ll close the restaurant for the night since everyone’s probably already tired. Mayu and Genzo say their farewells, and he promises to bring rice again.

That night Mayuko reflects in her diary that her small white lie to Chiaki really was a very bad thing: Chie isn’t afraid of the fact that she’s not very well off. Why should Mayu be ashamed of her poverty? Finally, things seem to be looking up for our heroine. They might look up more if she ever manages to see Genzo as anything more than a walking rice dispenser…