Mahoraba ~Heartful Days~ - 06

I love Tama-chan.

I'm not alone, either. Everyone loves Evil Tomoyo - or at least everyone who loves casual cruelty, which, it's long been clear, is a large portion of the US anime fanbase.

And I love how she's appointed herself both guide to and guardian of Those Things Ryushi Was Not Meant To Know. Or master, even - she grants boons and metes out punishment with the air of a capricious overlord. I've even decided to believe that she was completely aware of the mythological implications of "stay right behind me." (Or be lost in this dangerous, unknown place!)

In fact, the whole episode had a gloriously Campbellian structure - and if you have a few minutes free, I suggest passing them by following that link and matching up the outline. (Particular amusement can be had by debating the exact division between the Threshold Guardians and the Road of Trials.) Tama-chan sets up the story and inserts herself into the Wise Mentor role so easily I'm starting to think she's read Campbell too.

So throw all that together, and suddenly the episode's story isn't just a "test," it's a Rite of Passage, which has me scrambling to come up with more than a high-school knowledge of such things - or, failing that, to apply a little high-school knowledge.

See, Wikipedia's entry on rites of passage (and I apologize for linking Wikipedia twice in one entry - it's just too easy to put off writing posts by surfing it) has a link to "hazing," which, of course, is exactly what Haibara, Megumi, and Tamami have been doing to Ryushi with the sleep deprivation. This is Narutakisou's initiation.

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