Amagami SS - Episode 23

Despite bouncing back quickly from her illness last episode, it seems that Ayatsuji's absence from school, no matter how brief, has put preparations for the Founder's Festival somewhat on the rails, with teachers agreeing that cutting out some events might not be such a bad idea.  Of course, Ayatsuji herself is determined not to let that happen, but can she really get everything organised and ready on time?

In a blindingly rare moment of common sense, Tachibana suggests roping some of their classmates in to helping them with preparations, and despite her initial stubbornness she agrees to this plan, doing a stand-up job of persuading people to offer a hand courtesy of the good-natured, friendly side of her public persona.  Despite this initial flood of generosity, things soon begin to turn sour as one group of girls in particular look for a way out of this new work-load, and that way comes by attacking Ayatsuji for allegedly flirting with Tachibana.

After taking so much of this, Ayatsuji flips, allowing her "dark side" to come to the fore as she gives the girls in question a verbal roasting - an outburst which has the desired effect in the short-term, but only leaves Ayatsuji isolated in the long run as she finds herself practically bullied while all the helpers she'd gathered previously drift away aside from a handful of Junichi's friends.  As for Tachibana himself, he manages to receive a decidedly clumsy confession from Ayatsuji to cement their relationship, although come the end of the episode this no longer seems such a certainty with Tachibana's suggestion to ask for forgiveness and more help from her classmates replied to with a slap from Ayatsuji, before her mental state seems to go off the scales completely.

Although some of its drama was a bit forced and contrived this episode, and to be honest it's confession was a bit out of the blue (swinging from Ayatsuji considering Tachibana "interesting" last episode to kissing him this), Tsukasa has certainly done enough to continue making this particular Amagami SS story arc the most interesting so far on account of the swings and roundabouts of her personality.  It looks as though this imbalance in her behaviour is going to fuel this story right until the end, and I can't say that I'm too disappointed in that - it makes Junichi's reactions all the more interesting, while keeping Ayatsuji herself up front and centre as an intriguing individual.  We're pretty much guaranteed a happy ending, but I'm still curious to see where the final episode of this arc is going to go.