Week 5 Summary
Episode 5 Summary (Alien and Dried-Up Amusements Bath):
In the red! In the red! In the red! Yes, Kotomi is mad again: the bath-house is loosing so much money that she cant even afford snacks for the management meeting. (This is why NieA is not present.) Theyre in serious trouble, Kotomi says: they need to find a way to bring in customers, and fast. (Yoshinen begins to say that hes heard rumors of a mysterious body scrub bubbling up around the crater, but is immediately shot down.) Kotomi gives a little speech about the history of the bath-house, about how in its glory days people came not just to clean their bodies but their souls: to socialize, to communicate. If they can make the bath-house a place for modern-day communication, they can generate enough word of mouth to revive their negative profits. Kotomi asks if they can do any events that relate to communication—and at that moment NieA walks in, carrying a basket of junk: old motherboards shes scavenged from a video arcade thats going out of business. Although Mayuki is predictably annoyed, Kotomi is thrilled. Ill take it! she crows. Theyre to hold the first-ever Enohana Bath-house Video Game Tournament, and hopefully to bring in loads of new customers!
After pushing the very heavy game machines back to the bath-house (with NieA sitting on top) Mayu heads for work, accompanied by Genzo, who has stopped by to deliver some Prushy. (A soft drink. Its because his father told him to. No, really, it wasnt because hes madly in love with Mayu and desperately wanted to see her honest!) Genzo buys a meal while Mayu and Chie chat about the game contest, which promises luxurious prizes. Chie is thrilled, and certain that shell win. To everyones surprise, Karna shows up (lured in by the spicy Chinese bowl) and although shes not exactly apologetic, Chie is unexpectedly nice to her and Genzo’s presence (along with NieAs absence) keeps her under control. Chie manages to convince Genzo to participate in the tournament with Mayuki, since it’s cute when couples attend together. (Mayuki placidly tells her not to tease grown-ups while Genzo turns redder than a beet.) As soon as she hears this Karna leaps up and announces that shell challenge Mayu in the tournament, and she will CRUSH HER! Mayuki is a little bit surprised by this outburst, but at least Karnas actually paid for her food this time
The big day rolls around and Kotomi is crushed to find that the huge crowd in front of her door is, apart from Karna, composed completely of children (Chies school friends). The children are not overly impressed when Kotomi tells them that the Grand Prize for beating all three of the Enohana Iron Men and the Secret Boss is a Gold Pass for free baths—they want money, free game play, and food (OK, thats just NieA). An infuriated Kotomi tells her team that they must be sure that none of the children win a prize, and Mayu wonders exactly what happened to the concept of communication. Chie is the first challenger, and her opponent is the Enohana Iron Man of Fire, Yoshinen. (Theyre playing a game in which Yoshinen starts fires and Chie tries to put them out.) Hes not so sure about his abilities, but when Kotomi tells him to go for it well he really goes. Unfortunately some of the kids peek around the barrier and, seeing him mashing buttons like a maniac, say that he is scary and evil. Poor Yoshinen tries to defend himself by saying that hes a very kind and safety-conscious man who loves his job, but as he does so Chie wins the game.
Karna is up next against the Enohana Iron Man of Fist, Genzo. Properly speaking Genzos not bad at the fighting game they play, but the wildly confident Karna is truly defeated by NieA, who begins to tease her about her crush. Although Karnas martial arts skills are better in real life than in the game world, shes away from her position for too long and Genzo wins. (Karna immediately threatens bloody vengeance against Mayu, who looks completely lost.) He holds his own against several more challengers, but ultimately a thumb cramp puts him out of the running.
The final opponent is Thousand-Hand Kanon: actually NieA sitting on top of Mayu, with both of them covered by a big blue sheet. They play a space combat game and with six limbs (both of their hands plus NieAs feet) they crush every challenger with ease. (This is not good for NieAs ego.) Finally Chie is the last kid left, and all of the little brats are desperate to see her win. NieA starts complaining that shes thirsty and Kotomi throws her a drink, but she takes so long imbibing it that Mayuki loses the game.
After the fight is over, Chie faces the final boss: Old Woman Enohana herself. They play a running game that basically consists of hitting the same buttons over and over again as quickly as possible, and Chies convinced that no old lady could ever beat her. But beaten she is, for the old lady has a secret weapon: her hands shake so much that she can hit the buttons quickly enough to make her game character break the sonic barrier. Chie and the rest are shocked, to say the least.
The episode ends with Chie admiring her prize for effort—a goldish plate—and Kotomi and Yoshinen admiring their prize: an electrical bill that puts them right back into the read. Ah, another failed day at the Enohana Bath-house