Search - Pretear - Vol. 3 on DVD

Himeno strikes back, but uh oh...so does Fenrir

Daniel J. Hamlow | Narita, Japan | 07/20/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The third disc of Pretear consists of Episodes 8-10. For much of episode 8, the heroine, Himeno Awayuki, is totally depressed. She is unable to prêt anymore with the Leafe Knights because deep inside, she doesn't want to fight, blames herself for being useless, and goes AWOL, causing great worry among her parents and the Knights.

For the first time, though, it looks as if Himeno and her stepsister, the introverted Mawata, are getting along. However, something Mawata says forecasts the direction she is heading towards. "It would be great if you could live alone by yourself. ... If you are alone, you can't hurt anyone, nor will you get hurt." Two sides of the coin, being alone, and being free, are demonstrated here. Himeno, on the other hand, sees so much going on with Mawata, being pretty, having a great figure, and having good grades, but comments that she never sees her smile.

Being a Pretear also involves the will and determination to protect people, so when Fenrir shows up with the nearly dead Leafe Knights to taunt Himeno, she finds that will and preting with Hayate, whose rancor against her has dissipated, scores a victory against Fenrir's towering mushroom-like demon larva. In fact an evolving part in this series is pushing Hayate as a love interest to Himeno. Although both clumsily fumble without any verbal commitment, at least here they're on good terms.

Back to Mawata, whose introversion, good grades, and lack of smiles I can relate to. Her late father was the only one who understood how she felt, and after his death, she felt alone, and still does. She has never felt so emotionally weak before. That makes her ripe prey for the Princess of Despair, who wants to use her as a puppet of darkness, but something still holds her back. What's striking is how the animators drew Mawata's dead eyes as Fenrir tries to remove her soul-very effective picture of someone who's lost all hope.

There is a bit of silliness in Episode 9, where the sight of a bug darkening the ceiling is mistaken by the Awayukis (save Himeno) as a ghost, which is an excuse for them to put on silly costumes to go ghost-hunting. And since when is a bunny costume relevant to ghost-hunting? But that's mixed with the realization that somehow, the Awayuki mansion is the center for the appearance of demon larvae, for which the Leafe Knights search the mansion extensively.

Not much happens with Mayune, the older and mean stepsister, but there is a scene when en route to brush Himeno's teeth with some spicy toothpaste while she's sleeping, she is drawn slithering along the floor like a snake, more than a hint of how sneaky she is. She settles for brushing the bald head of the hapless chauffeur/butler Tanaka instead, giving her demented loony laugh in the process. Despite chafing at Mayune's practical jokes, Himeno does show some compassion. She decides to leave the mansion, seeing that the situation has become too dangerous and she doesn't want her family to get entangled. As a gesture of farewell, she spots an obvious trap by Mayune, and just to cheer her stepsister, deliberately falls into it just to make Mayune happy.

However, the Leafe Knights are dealt a blow when one of their number, who has silently loved Fenrir when she was Takako the Pretear, defects to join her. And the end of Episode 10 has Fenrir and her new lackey finishing out victorious in this round, leading to the concluding three episodes in the 4th DVD.
"