List of A Little Princess Sara episodes
A Little Princess Sara is a 1985 Japanese television series based on Frances Hodgson Burnett's 1905 children's novel A Little Princess. The series was produced by Nippon Animation under the direction of Fumio Kurokawa and scriptwriting by Ryūzō Nakanishi. Princess Sarah premiered on 6 January 1985 on Fuji Television, designating it as the 11th series of Nippon Animation's World Masterpiece Theater staple for a span of 46 episodes [1] in which two pieces of theme music performed by Satoko Shimonari were used for the opening and closing of each episode.
Theme songs
The song "Hana no Sasayaki" (花のささやき?, "Whisper of a Flower")
is sung as the opening song while the song "Himawari" (ひまわり?, "Sunflower") is sung as the closing theme. Both songs use lyrics written by Rei Nakanishi while the melodies in both cases are composed by Kōichi Morita and arranged by Katsuhisa Hattori.[2]
Episode list
| # | Title | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Miss Minchin's Seminary for Young Ladies" "Minchin Joshi Gaku'in" (ミンチン女子学院) | 6 January 1985 |
| The story begins with Solicitor Barrow explaining Headmistress Minchin the childhood prologue of our well-read protagonist Sara who is acclimating herself to London after concluding a lengthy voyage from India with her father Captain Ralph Crewe; while the Headmistress and her sister Amelia lead Solicitor Barrow through an exhibition of her living arrangements at the Seminary to audit for any last-minute deviant diagnostics, the carriage ride to the Seminary becomes the backdrop for Sara to exhibit the full scope of her book knowledge about London. Upon arriving at the Seminary where Amelia leads her inside upon greeting her, Sara speculates upon the Headmistress's character as a person oblivious of the irony endemic to her inquiry along with the concourse Ralph prosecutes with the Headmistress prior to her tour of the school; as if to reply that inquiry, the Headmistress delivers unto Peter a scathing castigation that is only extinguished when Sara becomes enthralled with the pony and points out that Peter has successfully driven the carriage to the Seminary. While the whole conflict does eventually attain a win-win resolution, it ultimately sows the seeds for the Headmistress to become aggressively authentic. | ||
| 2 | "Emily the Doll" "Emirī Ningyō" (エミリー人形) | 13 January 1985 |
| The enrollment contract now in force and Sara's things set to arrive at the Seminary along with the exhaustive London wardrobe bankrolled by Ralph for his paternal piece of mind, all that remains is to create some euphoric memories before Ralph has to prosecute his return voyage back to India—something that Sara is not at all shy about doing!!! Satisfied with the time spent at St. Paul's Cathedral, Sara signals an interest in having a doll as she leads Ralph on a scavenger hunt through London while defining the strict parameters that her doll Emily has to have; as the window-shopping adventure runs its course, Ralph is at a loss for where else to look while poor Peter is left shivering in the cold as he is forced to move the carriage around to avoid the consequences for illegal parking. The citywide scavenger hunt now at its conclusion when Sara spots an exhibition doll that flawlessly complies all of her previously itemized parameters, Ralph finds that actually acquiring the doll is easier said than done when the most sincere and dexterous sales pitch fails to polarize the proprietor for ceding the goose even for Sara's sake!!! Sara's childlike feminine charisma dexterously resolving the matter of the doll is of no utility in regards to the colorful speculative analytical concourse within the walls of the Seminary among the students as they watch Sara's items being brought in; after repulsing a voyeur attempt by Jessie and Gertrude, the Headmistress shares her perspective of Sara as a spoiled problem child to be endured since Crewe-ke is gladly footing the bill to help deal with the Seminary's administrative overhead. Now settled into the Seminary, all the paternal and filial sentimentality in the world fails to mask the reality that Sara and her father Ralph will ultimately have to go their separate ways; while the Headmistress is pleased at Sara bravely coping with her father's departure, Sara begins to weep in anguish of her choice against seeing off Ralph. | ||
| 3 | "First Day of Class" "Hajimete no jugyō" (はじめての授業) | 20 January 1985 |
| After crying herself to sleep last night from watching her father Ralph being chauffeured to the wharf for his return voyage back to India, Sara wakes up to find a beautiful winter scene right outside her window prior to her personal maid Mariette arriving to catalyze Sara bootstrapping herself for her first day of class; meanwhile, Lavinia Herbert is quite upset at the prospect of getting into really hot water with the Headmistress because of her three roommates—two of which are her cohorts Jessie and Gertrude. Sara calmly having breakfast in her room serves as a stark contrast to the dining room downstairs where a typical breakfast scene at the Seminary is demonstrated where Lavinia is chronically frustrated with Lottie Lei and Ermengarde St. John—especially when Ermengarde makes a clumsy mistake for which the Headmistress promptly scolds her!!! The Seminary's housecat Cesar catalyzes Sara's arrival in the Headmistress's office where Sara is explained the major rules of the Seminary prior to being given the French book necessary for class; once Lavinia directs the astounded Sara to her seat as the other girls recover themselves from the astonishment of Sara's corporeal dimensions, the Headmistress takes a moment to proudly introduce Sara along with her prologue about her Bombay-to-London ocean voyage. Lavinia's introduction of the other students complete with some insight of the Headmistress's past behavior becomes the forum for the monumental misunderstanding that is the ultimate shock of the Headmistress's professional life and ignites her long vendetta against Sara: formal instruction in a language is of null utility to its native speakers!!! | ||
| 4 | "Ermengarde the Good Friend" "Shin'yu Āmengādo" (親友アーメンガード) | 27 January 1985 |
| While Sara has settled into her groove at the Seminary oblivious to the Headmistress's declaration of war against her, Ermengarde St. John has learned to catch her laughs where she can when her clumsiness with French is read as a signal for Lavinia to lead Jessie and Gertrude in ridiculing her after class in spite of Sara leading her through the French status solicitation to one's aunt—the irony thereof integral to the family commerce that Ermengarde nearly overlooks. Upon Lavinia-tachi (Lavinia with Jessie and Gertrude in convoy) explaining Sara through a skit of derisive crass comedy the comprehensive scope of Ermengarde's academic clumsiness, Sara promptly repulses the persecution and shows Lavinia-tachi the door prior to comforting Ermengarde who explains Sara her prologue of having little confidence in herself; the girls now fast friends once they exchange prologues, the only obstacle is the pesky rule of the Headmistress's consent being necessary to leave the Seminary. Amelia is sympathetic to Ermengarde's predicament as she explains Sara the Headmistress's absence until dusk and the necessity of returning before then; while Lavinia-tachi fumes at their insult along with computing the appropriate recourse, Sara and Ermengarde set course toward the house of Ermengarde's aunt Eliza who flawlessly plays the role of a gracious host. The sole and ultimately fatal flaw in this outing is that Sara makes the logistical error of forgetting that Amelia's consent is conditional on dusk being complied as the curfew; thanks to Lavinia-tachi, Sara and Ermengarde are astounded to find that the infuriated Headmistress is eager to introduce herself at the conclusion of their Cinderella adventure as the evil stepmother!!! | ||
| 5 | "Lottie the Crybaby" "Nakimushi Rotti" (泣き虫ロッティ) | 3 February 1985 |
| Due to the Headmistress not realizing or caring about how she does her job, Lavinia Herbert has held the role of class representative at the Seminary for a long time; for Lottie, the emphasis for the weekly trip to church is on the girls being exhibited like jewelry for the Headmistress's sake rather than for the girls' spiritual development when Lavinia leading the girls to church inspires several bystanders to marvel at the sight oblivious to the fact that Lavinia feels no compunction about being rough on poor Lottie when it would have made sense to leave her behind rather than forcing her into the herd. Sara's suspicions of there being a deviant diagnostic are further bolstered when the Headmistress's harsh reaction prompts the anguished Lottie to run off somewhere inaccessible; while the subsequent wild goose chase resolves itself fairly quickly with the Headmistress making the choice for whether Lottie returns to the Seminary, resolving the deviant diagnostic that ignited the whole hullabaloo in the first place is quite a different matter when Lottie is throwing an absolute temper tantrum that even tries the patience of the relatively mellow Amelia!!! Seizing the moment of when Lottie hits her head on the floor, Sara ultimately has to capitalize on her prologue as a motherless child to demonstrate her sympathetic comprehension of Lottie's plight; upon learning that Lottie has no memories of her mother, Sara demonstrates a measure of iconoclastic innovation to get Lottie back on track toward a euphoric epilogue. | ||
| 6 | "Becky, Covered in Ash" "Hai-kaburi Bekkī" (灰かぶりベッキー) | 10 February 1985 |
| The Headmistress reading the letters of the students prior to charging that they be sealed and proliferated gives way to Amelia's proposal of availing Sara as the vector thereof much to Lottie's delight when Amelia allows the small child to accompany Sara on the errand; while the errand goes over well enough, Sara comes upon an illiterate girl named Becky that is searching for Miss Minchin's Select Seminary for Young Ladies wanting to see the head of the place which Sara reads as a reference to the Headmistress whose disgust at Becky's presence in her office prompts her to bellow for Amelia to summon the head maid Molly. The Headmistress explaining Sara her predilection for the servants working behind the scenes prior to exprobating Amelia for wielding Sara in her subterfuge becomes the preamble for it immediately being demonstrated the contemptuous perspective of Becky as a pack animal unworthy of even being allowed to first get settled in by the very circumstances of James introducing himself prior to Molly charging Becky the delivery of coals among many other chores caring nothing that the poor girl is absolutely out of her element and lacks the default data necessary for dexterous operation in the urban environment as evidenced by Cesar's territorial challenge sending Becky for a spill complete with coal scattered everywhere that now has to be regathered; if that is not enough, Becky inadvertently ignites a divergent concourse between Lavinia and Sara over who is a worthy audience for storytelling!!! It ultimately takes a strong ethical stand from Sara to prevent Becky from being discarded into the streets just when it looks like the unlucky country girl has exhausted what scant patient goodwill she has been allotted; as the exhausted Becky prosecutes her home commute with orders to wake up early in order to ignite the fire, Sara commiserates with Becky's plight as the question is raised whether Becky being fired is the lesser of two evils. | ||
| 7 | "Class Representative" "Daihyō Seito" (代表生徒) | 17 February 1985 |
| Peter arriving to find Becky cleaning the front steps early one Sunday morning starkly contrasts all the girls preparing for their church commute which is about to take an inconceivable turn when Lavinia finds to her horror that one of her childish pranks has backfired on her when the Headmistress encourages Sara to lead the convoy and explains the girls her volition of exhibiting them before the Mayor and her VIP entourage at the cathedral along with prosecuting a demonstration class—the groundwork thereof making a right train wreck of poor Becky!!! Lavinia's frustration is amplified even further when the Headmistress decides that Sara is of much greater utility to her as the class representative; not realizing that the Headmistress is wielding Lavinia's jealousy to her own ends, Sara plays along much to the Mayor's delight while Lavinia continues to fume and compute her revenge. So ecstatic is the Headmistress at how the day has gone that she gives everybody the latitude to enjoy herself as she pleases that Lavinia ultimately reads as a signal to take her revenge when Sara brings out her pony Jump for everybody to enjoy; even without the precise cause of Jump breaking into a panicked gallop, Lavinia has made her declaration of war against Sara absolutely incontrovertible: I will take you for EVERYTHING you have. | ||
| 8 | "A Kind Mistress" "Shinsetsu-na Ojōsama" (親切なお嬢様) | 24 February 1985 |
| Usually seen at her big sister's beck and call, Amelia Minchin is quite competent as a teacher in her own right as she takes Lottie and Ermengarde's clumsy errors in stride while leading the girls through an ameliorative alignment exercise whose core concept Sara comprehends with near-congenital proficiency; while counseling Ermengarde through the exercise, Amelia makes the ill-considered comparative reference to Sara that prompts a nasty reaction from Lavinia. Puzzled by Becky replying her only with brief comments, Sara inquiring this matter during the intermission before the dance lesson becomes the forum for Mariette to explain Sara the Seminary's injunction regarding student-servant fraternization complete with the synopsis of the difficult work charged of Becky. As was the case with the ameliorative alignment exercise, the dance lesson and the preceding customization thereof ends up as the forum for Lavinia to fume at Sara once again outclassing her; while Sara does her thing, Becky takes it upon herself to demonstrate that she would have loved to live like a princess prior to falling asleep while cleaning Sara's room. Upon waking up to find Sara looking fondly upon her, Becky finds that the ultimate irony is that a princess is defined by how she behaves toward other people rather than her residential assets; considering the sympathy and humility she has expressed for Becky's plight along with offering her room as a safe harbor complete with a parting gift of snacks, Sara is well on her way to being a princess—if she is not one already. | ||
| 9 | "The Letter from India" "Indo Kara-no Tegami" (インドからの手紙) | 3 March 1985 |
| Sara Crewe has built up quite a following at the Seminary among the students that has enabled her to assume the class representative role that Lavinia is extremely bitter about losing as poor Lottie is anguished to have demonstrated unto her; after censuring Lavinia, Sara proposes a tea party in a bid to befriend everybody at the Seminary. While out and about with Ermengarde to buy provisions for the party, it is apparent that Sara has Becky's well-being at the forefront—just what the doctor ordered when James and Molly declare an empty belly for Becky making an honest mistake. Jessie and Gertrude are astonished but relieved that Sara has not frozen them out of attending the party where they come clean about their perspective of Lavinia who arrives thereafter with an epiphany about the greed of the Headmistress that pollutes the festive ambiance; true to Lavinia's attempted admonition, the Headmistress is in ecstasy when she has it explained to her that her father Ralph has invested in some possibly lucrative diamond mines that are expected to be a crucial income engine well into Sara's adult life. Becky now having a meat pie to fill her stomach as she retires for the night is ultimately cold comfort to the fact that Sara somehow senses that this is the calm before the storm; while it would be nice if the diamond mines are bountiful, Sara is pragmatic enough to realize that what her father is doing is no different from gambling in a casino which can never be made bankrupt. | ||
| 10 | "Two Gifts" "Futatsu no purezento" (二つのプレゼント) | 10 March 1985 |
| The gamble that Captain Crewe is taking on the diamond mines in India once again comes to the forefront when Lottie exhorts Sara an explanation of where in India the diamond mines are located; as Sara is explaining Lottie and Ermengarde this, Lavinia interjects a denigration that ironically helps impart some pragmatism to the speculation when the Headmistress tells Amelia that she is going to verify the rumors for herself from Solicitor Barrow who explains the geological prologue of there being diamonds in India. Caring nothing of the epilogue, the greedy and giddy Headmistress wastes no time announcing Sara's upcoming birthday and taking Sara shopping in spite of the fact that Amelia has much better counsel in the regard; a reminder from the shopkeeper that this needs to be Sara's decision, the Headmistress calms down somewhat. The polished diamond ultimately spawned from all the carbon is that Becky's synthesis of a home-made gift in spite of James and Molly's determination to really make her pay dearly for it demonstrates the importance of giving a gift from the heart with the expectation of nothing in return from the recipient. | ||
| 11 | "The Birthday of the Princess" "Purinsesu no Tanjō-bi" (プリンセスの誕生日) | 17 March 1985 |
| Peter's excitement and the festive ambiance at the Seminary in preparation for Sara's birthday obfuscates Lavinia's stormy frustration at the excessive opulence of the planned party that Sara herself actually concurs; the Headmistress now in seventh heaven over the fruit of her customization efforts, Sara's birthday party now begins in earnest once Peter and Becky finish bringing in an intricately detailed dollhouse. In spite of abiding Sara's exhortation against sending Becky and Peter away, the party becomes a vivid forum for the Headmistress to demonstrate her greed and her hypocrisy when Solicitor Barrow arrives with the news of Ralph Crewe's destitute demise oblivious to Becky hearing all the gory details!!! Even with having used poor Becky as a punching bag for her outrage, the disgusted Headmistress ultimately decides to crash Sara's party with the news of her father's death and an order to immediately leave the Seminary while Mr. Barrow decides to take everything away from Sara; considering the timing of his arrival, it seems that Mr. Barrow already has a head start having ruined Sara's ninth birthday party. | ||
| 12 | "The Dark Room in the Attic" "Yaneura-no Kurai Heya" (屋根裏の暗い部屋) | 24 March 1985 |
| While Sara divides her energies between grieving and preparing to leave the Seminary, the disgusted Headmistress angrily barks orders to disperse the party prior to accompanying Mr. Barrow who takes inventory of Sara's possessions and declares his intention to begin the arrogation by reminding Sara that every item in the room belongs to him before he leaves with the Headmistress to a nearby room to discuss what is to be done with Sara. Mr. Barrow admonishing the still-disgusted Headmistress against being so hasty with this matter becomes the preamble for Sara's new life as a maid to work off the financial losses before setting course for the stables where he rides off with the carriage and the pony pulling it while the Headmistress storms upstairs to take back the very dress Sara is wearing; after watching helplessly as Peter is ejected, Sara takes one last look at her old room before complying the Headmistress's orders to her office. Even though he is taking away her possessions without a second thought about her ruined birthday party, Mr. Barrow ultimately leaves behind the parting gift of a far more temperate Headmistress Minchin that has decided labor for Sara in the kitchen; guided by Amelia to her room in the attic, Sara is forced to really reflect upon her fall from grace. | ||
| 13 | "A Day of Hard Work" "Tsurai Shigoto no Hi" (つらい仕事の日) | 31 March 1985 |
| Hugging her doll Emily, Sara divides her energies between pondering her plight and praying away the Boogie Man—the latter of which fortunately turns out to be a very distraught Becky that has brought her a few things from the party the Headmistress broke up. Relieved that she is not bearing the burden of this alone, Sara reminds Becky that they are both girls regardless of where they grew up; since Becky is her senpai in being a servant, she gives Sara a syllabus of what lies ahead complete with a promise of her perpetual proximity before retiring for the night. The next morning, Sara awakens to a beautiful morning whose appreciative appraisal is a rather clumsy affair considering that she sees her former possessions being transported away along with her former personal maid Mariette being ordered off the premises by the Headmistress who mocks Sara's desire to mourn her father Ralph as she leads the orphan downstairs where Molly directs her through what she is to be doing; while waiting for the classroom to empty, Sara mourns the days that she was among the students pouring out of the classroom only to find that she has garnered quite a hen convention around her!!! While cleaning the classroom, Sara processes the Headmistress's hostile reaction to her exhortation about continuing her studies to ultimately conclude that successfully completing her education is the key to defeating the Headmistress's subjugation and leaving the Seminary—an alpha objective that can be accomplished with some helpful allies in the right places. | ||
| 14 | "The Late-night Guest" "Shin'ya no Okyaku-sama" (深夜のお客さま) | 7 April 1985 |
| Although she is adapting well, Sara is still somewhat out of her element as is evidenced when James charges her the transportation of a hot heavy pot to the dining room one morning; Becky's intercession in this capacity is of null utility when the Headmistress's injunction illuminates the effect of Sara's rapid drop in status much to Ermengarde and Lottie's astonishment. Not satisfied with the mealtime drama, Lavinia decides to lead Jessie and Gertrude through persecuting Sara which has the effect of unnerving the other students who are too intimidated to take a stand; later that evening, the derision of Lavinia-tachi (Lavinia with Jessie and Gertrude in convoy) catalyzes Ermengarde's decision to set course for the attic. Sara has taken to independent nocturnal study sessions in order to cope with the anguish of her plight; some encouragement from Becky complete with a candle later, Sara prosecutes her home commute to find Ermengarde awaiting her arrival determined to get the story straight from the horse's mouth. The ensuing conversation ultimately demonstrates the flaws of the Headmistress's tyranny and how Sara has made lemonade of her plight; Ermengarde's mind now at ease and Sara's heart now much lighter in spirit, the challenge is now to successfully smuggle Ermengarde back into place past the sleeping Headmistress!!! | ||
| 15 | "Peter, The Child of the Streets" "Machi no ko Pītā" (街の子ピーター) | 14 April 1985 |
| After quickly getting over her chagrin of falling asleep while reading a book in bed, Sara looks over at the ocarina she received from Peter and reflects upon her prologue with him as she plays a brief tune while watching the sparrows eat—the wages thereof a mordacious harangue from Molly. Complying Molly's orders to scrub the front porch sets the stage for Sara's very awkward encounter with her former classmates preparing for their church commute complete with a unique farewell from Lavinia that prompts a couple of ladies to compare notes about who the better class representative is; for Sara, there is no time to contemplate the Headmistress repulsing her exhortation for permission to attend church when James explains the plaza known as Covent Garden to which he charges Sara her first shopping run. The route to Covent Garden is rife with reminders of Sara's former status as an aristocrat alongside her late father Ralph; if that is not anguishing enough, Sara gets an expensive jolt of reality to the caboose before she even gets to do any shopping!!! Much to her relief, Peter's loyalty to Sara ultimately transcends their former boss-employee relationship when Peter wheels and deals for the necessary produce to keep Sara out of hot water at the Seminary; still, considering James and Molly's emphatic elation, one does have to wonder if Peter's intercession is in Sara's long-range best interests. | ||
| 16 | "Lottie's Adventure" "Rotti no bōken" (ロッティの冒険) | 21 April 1985 |
| Even with allies that behave toward her character instead of her checkbook, one would think that Sara would get a break after demonstrating her proficiency prosecuting the daily shopping trips charged her by Molly and James in spite of being robbed on her first shopping run; Peter's insightful intercession offers Sara no providence from her adversaries as is demonstrated when Molly barks at her about cleaning the students' rooms. Everybody is in a frenzy to effect her punctual arrival to class when Sara and Becky make their way upstairs; in the case of the younger students, it takes on a personality of its own when Lottie misplaces her school book much to Lavinia's frustration for which Sara is powerless to intercede—especially with the arrival of the Headmistress with a chip on her shoulder!!! The Headmistress delivering Sara a scathing castigation of distance from the students along with her sour perspective of Ralph Crewe sets the stage for poor Lottie to become even more confused with Jessie and Gertrude's derisive comedy skit along with Becky guiding her out of the nether backstage; her disgust and frustration at its zenith, Lottie vandalizes her class artwork before firmly deciding to get the answers from the horse's mouth when she has a nightmare that night. As if to acknowledge the bravery in the small child's journey, the Seminary's cat Cesar leads the nervous Lottie to the attic but declines to accompany her upstairs where Lottie's panicking ultimately brings Sara running to the rescue; an insightful night of feeding the rats and the birds complete with a breathtaking view of the urban landscape at dawn later, both Lottie and Sara are galvanized to face their fates. | ||
| 17 | "Friends with Little Melle's Family" "Tomodachi o miru To Kazoku no Ritoru Mere" (友達を見ると家族のリトルメレ) | 28 April 1985 |
| Molly and James have conducted themselves as stern taskmasters to drive home the point that Sara is now as much a plebeian as they themselves as per the Headmistress's orders; fortunately for Sara, they also have an appreciation for a job well done and the honorable humility to acknowledge it. The only flaw is James and Molly's intense aversion to the idea of anyone scavenging for scraps of food along with their sour perspective of Sara because of her dead father Ralph; bolstered by some food scraps that Becky has smuggled on her behalf, Sara pulls herself together and demonstrates that she has partially nullified the isolation of the attic by befriending one of the rats—one of which she has given the name Melle. Sara is initially puzzled at the level of caution Melle is demonstrating but soon realizes the rationale for it right before Ermengarde pays Sara a nocturnal visit during which she conquers her fear of rats only to find to her horror that the two rats that she should dread are not the tiny furry kind when Lavinia detects her smuggling while Gertrude loudly cries foul prior to fetching the Headmistress whose castigation for the crime comes with the volition of incarceration complete with an empty belly. Upon Becky explaining this to her, Sara realizes that Ermengarde's silence about why she took the scrap of bread is ultimately protecting her from the Headmistress's wrath since exterminating the rats requires a lengthy investigation to appraise the scope of the problem; the impracticality of the Headmistress's despotic rule is emphatically illuminated with the successful prosecution of Sara's subsequent smuggling operation. | ||
| 18 | "The Sad Maypole Celebration" "Za Kanashii meipōru Shukuga" (ザ悲しいメイポール祝賀) | 5 May 1985 |
| Going from riches to rags has been a dramatic shift with which Sara has done her best to cope since she has Becky and Peter to help counterbalance the denigration of the Headmistress and the persecution of Lavinia along with Ermengarde and Lottie that disagree with how Sara is being treated just because Captain Crewe died bankrupt; none of Sara's allies is in a position of power to advance the perspective of money and human character being completely independent when she is forced to perform the grueling behind-the-scenes grunt work that makes it possible for the other girls to participate in the May Day festivities. After a scathing castigation for sloppy hunger-inhibited labor, Sara is charged a shopping trip that is of much greater danger and difficulty because Peter cannot help transport the hefty payload home. The ultimate silver lining in the home commute is a compassionate boy named Donald that gives Sara a small token of encouragement; while Donald only intended for Sara to buy something edible for herself, Sara is really having driven home the bitter lesson that British society views money as a function of human character. | ||
| 19 | "Messages to India" "Messēji Ni Indo" (メッセージにインド) | 12 May 1985 |
| Right on the heels of Sara having it driven home that the penniless are expected to accept their station of people behaving toward them as animals unworthy of human joy is when the Headmistress comes upon all the letters Sara has sent to Ralph and decides that as a prime opportunity to visit unto Sara a power trip that Amelia is powerless to forestall or derail; even as Becky commiserates with her anguish, Sara realizes that life goes on and that she has to somehow pull herself together as she is charged a shopping run during which Solicitor Barrow explains her the gory details of Ralph's final moments culminating in his penniless death. Fortunately for Sara, Peter knows how to get some more satisfactory answers as he beckons for Sara to follow his lead; while it is child's play for Sara to write a letter, searching for a ship bound for Bombay with an amenable captain is quite an adventure. For Sara, her payload of high-quality produce is ultimately of null utility against Molly's blistering reproof about the requisite inordinate time period Sara was out and about complete with a declaration of an empty belly that evening; still, aside from perhaps intercepting the reply from the Bombay police, Sara has successfully scored a near-irreversible blow against her detractors that lasts for several weeks. | ||
| 20 | "The Mystery of the Resident of the Special Room" "Za Nazo No Za Kyojū-sha No Za Tokubetsu-shitsu" (ザ謎のザ居住者のザ特別室) | 19 May 1985 |
| As if she has received prior instruction to this effect from the Headmistress herself, Lavinia is prosecuting another derogatory curriculum for Sara when she angrily flings her boots at Becky with orders to have them polished by someone else; in spite of Ermengarde's attempted protest, Lavinia's compiled curriculum gradually becomes clear upon Sara's arrival which becomes the forum for the consolation prize that Sara treasures—subtle but visible signs that Lavinia's arch-duchy of anguish is starting to crumble. Molly charges Sara and Becky preparation of the special room for a new resident amid speculative concourse as to who she could be along with all the details of her character and prologue; while out and about to gather the ingredients needed for the new resident's special meal catalyzed in no small part by Peter capitalizing on the goodwill Sara has built up with the shopkeepers, Sara has the truth demonstrated right before her very eyes: Lavinia reclaiming her previous status as the Headmistress's favorite student complete with the special room!!! While unable to restore her previous status, Sara ultimately finds a way to pervert Lavinia's arrogance to her detriment and has demonstrated that Lavinia's parents have far more honor than their daughter does; as an unexpected bonus, the Headmistress is given pause to ponder how she has behaved toward Sara. | ||
| 21 | "The Sadness Within Tears" "Za Kanashimi Uchi Namida" (ザ悲しみ内涙) | 26 May 1985 |
| Seeing Lavinia and the Headmistress get the tables turned on them for once is itself a significant accomplishment; still, Sara finds to her horror that neither has really learned her lesson when the very distraught Becky rushes into the room anguished over her recent confrontation with Lavinia who continues to wield Sara as her personal maid although her father has expressly forbidden it. As has been demonstrated in the past, Lavinia's trap involves wielding the ambiguity of what is considered clean and impertinent to Sara's detriment; it is during the confrontation with the Headmistress that Sara demonstrates that she has successfully found her groove to cope with the oppressive circumstances. Astounded and frustrated that Sara has so effortlessly stalemated her, the Headmistress angrily excoriates Molly and James for their lack of success in breaking down Sara's spirit which prompts them to really outdo themselves by charging Sara two consecutive shopping trips—the second of which is a rainy-day scavenger hunt throughout London in which Sara's shoe is run over by a churlish carriage coachman. Now forced to carry her damaged shoe as part of the payload, the lengthy search for an open produce stand and the home commute with the requisite potatoes ultimately drive home the impact of Ralph's destitute demise; a soldier catalyzing Sara's efforts to retrieve her payload after a stumble is of null utility when Molly and James charge both Sara and Becky the consumption of the germinating spuds. | ||
| 22 | "The Party in the Attic" "Pātī De Yaneura heya" (パーティーで屋根裏部屋) | 2 June 1985 |
| A routine mail call becomes the preamble of a dangerous opportunity when Amelia announces that she is needed to resolve an urgent contingency deviant diagnostic in the family without making alternate arrangements to forestall the mice playing in the cat's absence; while Ermengarde covets her payload while confirming her nocturnal plans with Lottie, Sara is anguished to find that Peter helping to transport the provisions does not extend to quelling the stormy politics endemic to arriving home when dinner is behind schedule. An empty stomach the sentence applied, Sara sets to work alongside Becky who advises retiring for the night; while Sara is pleasantly surprised at the distressed Ermengarde paying her a late night visit, the Headmistress intercepts Becky and arrogates her payload—a meat pie meant for Sara. Ermengarde's retrieval of the care package from her aunt becomes the preamble for Sara to ultimately lead the three girls through an exercise of her immense imagination; while the four girls are enjoying themselves, Lavina delivers them on a platinum platter right before the vindictive Headmistress!!! | ||
| 23 | "The Friendly Baker" "Za yasashii pan shokunin" (ザ優しいパン職人) | 9 June 1985 |
| As if to supplement the sour ambiance of the Headmistress crushing the party, Sara awakens one rainy morning to Becky proposing that the girls search for some leftover food so that they do not collapse from hunger during the work day; for the girls, the inordinate time period required for the search gives Molly plenty of time to intercept them as they are about to feast. What Sara fails to realize is that the Headmistress is anxiously grappling with an administrative contingency deviant diagnostic with nobody to use as a scratching post; in spite of Lottie immediately jumping to the forefront with her account of Lavinia-tachi's prank (Lavinia with Jessie and Gertrude in convoy), it does not change the fact that the Headmistress is literally madder than a wet hen!!! Castigated and now charged a retaliatory rainy-day mail run, Sara struggles to find a homeostasis between her personal ethics and her empty belly which only intensifies when she finds a fourpence coin in front of a bakery where the baker encourages her to buy some bread; galvanized by successfully mailing the Headmistress's letter and bolstered from the sage counsel of a priest that it is okay to think about oneself at times, Sara makes a stopover at the bakery where she encounters a street urchin in far more dire straits than her. Sara's highly customized intercession prior to resuming her home commute ultimately inspires the baker to follow suit with offering the street urchin shelter; back at the Seminary, Sara partially nullifies the punitive volition of an empty belly visited unto Becky and her. | ||
| 24 | "Emily's Fate" "Emirī no unmei" (エミリーの運命) | 16 June 1985 |
| Sara has done very well to have built up the goodwill of the local shopkeepers and the majority of her classmates along with both Becky and Peter; none of them can proactively forestall Lavinia being given license from the Headmistress herself to be especially nasty to Sara as a birthday present. In spite of the rather suspicious timing of Lavinia and Sara crossing paths before the former leads the latter upstairs, Sara is not daunted as she capitalizes on the euphoric circumstances to have a heart-to-heart with Lavinia to determine where she stands; while Sara interprets Lavinia's reply, the party room being readied becomes the backdrop for a very candid snapshot of the Seminary's social environment among the students with Lavinia as the class representative complete with a editorial from the seminary's cat Cesar of the whole affair being an exercise in absolute hypocrisy as Sara is escorting Lavinia to the party. Lottie and Ermengarde being forced to give gifts against their will is quite tame compared to Lavinia's real reason for wanting Sara at the party: acquiring Sara's doll Emily. The ultimate lesson of this whole circus is that the Headmistress has allowed Lavinia to have so much power over the other students which she has been abusing with impunity and that it takes the entire student body rallying behind Sara to challenge this situation; Emily now back in her possession while Lavinia is decried as the class tyrant, Sara finds much to her relief that Sensei Dufarge sympathizes with her plight to the tune of a French book complete with encouragement to keep on studying. | ||
| 25 | "Cinderella for a Day" "Shinderera No Ichi Hi" (シンデレラの一日) | 23 June 1985 |
| Being the scholarly bookworm she is, Sara is naturally quite chagrined to find that she has fallen asleep while studying the French book Sensei Dufarge has given her; while Sara bootstraps herself to begin her workday, the Headmistress explains the other students her intention to exhibit them in action before the Mayor and her VIP entourage complete with an admonition to not embarrass the Seminary—very sage counsel that the Headmistress herself is being forced to heed when Sara visits unto her the dangerous opportunity that she does: the Mayor wanting to see Sara in action!!! The Headmistress does not want it being widely known that she makes servants of students that have family problems; still, the Seminary will financially implode in on itself if nothing is done. When inquired his perspective, Sensei Dufarge suggests having Sara temporarily serve as the class representative to secure the Mayor's approval not realizing the immense logistical Pandora's box necessary for the subterfuge to succeed as Amelia has discovered when Lavinia has the whole class cowed into refusing to cooperate until Lottie and Ermengarde break the ice. As predicted, Sara's almost congenital proficiency in French demonstrated by Sara flawlessly reciting a poem from memory as the temporary class representative ultimately impresses the Mayor into helping the Seminary; for Sara, Sensei Dufarge and the Mayor also end up inflaming the Headmistress's smoldering frustration—and Sara is right in the blast radius!!! | ||
| 26 | "The Young Teacher for the Younger Students" "Za jakunen sensei no okosama ni gakusei" (ザ若年先生のお子様に学生) | 30 June 1985 |
| Sara's newfound tutelage role has Becky in absolute seventh heaven when Amelia arrives with a zero-hour proclamation for Sara to do her thing after she talks with the Headmistress who decides to go on a power trip in spite of the fact that she is granting a concession that Sara herself has offered earlier; galvanized by Sensei Dufarge's encouragement, Sara goes to gather Lottie-tachi (Lottie with Susan, Penelope and Jane in convoy) along with Ermengarde to begin her first day as a tutor in earnest. Sensei Dufarge listening to Sara do her thing with Ermengarde and Lottie-tachi, Becky in seventh heaven even when James charges her a shopping trip that Peter catalyzes, the Headmistress giddy as a schoolgirl about the current circumstances. . . it looks like things are on the up-and-up for Sara—and that is the deviant diagnostic with the whole picture when the Headmistress explains Amelia her long-range subjugation curriculum for Sara prior to setting forth to appraise her progress. For Sara, there is no readily available and credible means to ultimately exhibit the immense scope of the progress with Ermengarde and Lottie-tachi when the livid Headmistress imparts her stamp of approval; even with Lottie interposing herself long enough for Sensei Dufarge to explain his professional perspective on the matter of availing parables, one has to wonder if being a part-time teacher is a truly a step up for Sara or a more insidious form of subjugation and persecution. | ||
| 27 | "The Departure of Master Dufarge" "Za shuppatsu no Shūshi Dufarge" (ザ出発の修士Dufarge) | 7 July 1985 |
| When Sara and Becky prosecute their home commute after a hard day's work, there is usually nobody awake to challenge their passage to their rooms in the attic; still, Lavinia-tachi (Lavinia with Jessie and Gertrude in convoy) has been charged the French translation of her home bound letters—a task for which she lacks the requisite data volume to unilaterally prosecute the enterprise—and she is not accepting absolutely not as an answer. Even with Becky's support, doing Lavinia-tachi's homework still throws off her homeostasis when Sara has to take the time to go deliver her handiwork before going to her own class; while Gertrude and Jessie are astounded at Sara's handiwork, it does nothing to prepare them for the fact that Sensei Dufarge has quickly discerned Lavinia-tachi's subterfuge and has made crass comedy of the fact that she is still very clumsy in reading French. For Sensei Dufarge, Lavinia is effectively the headmistress of the Seminary and what she says goes; while Headmistress Minchin is not exactly storming over to him breathing fire as a dragon on Lavinia's behalf, she does get it across to Sensei Dufarge that she wants him to retire—the hullabaloo among the students and Lavinia chuckling to herself the epilogue of her efforts. Upon Becky explaining her Sensei Dufarge's decision, the distraught Sara takes to prosecuting a mad dash through London to ultimately get the truth from the horse's mouth; once Sara is finished crying out her anguish, what ensues hereupon is a melodramatic father-daughter moment between Sensei Dufarge and Sara not unlike that with Ralph prior to his return to India. | ||
| 28 | "The Hubbub of Summer Vacation" "Za sawagi no natsuyasumi" (ザ騒ぎの夏休み) | 14 July 1985 |
| As if the retired Sensei Dufarge has personally given them his blessing, the students are excited about the upcoming summer furlough which starts in earnest upon their parents' arrival—an event for which Lottie leads the charge to rendezvous. James grousing about the headache of having to prepare the students' meals contrasts with Molly prompting Sara and Becky about the students' shoes; meanwhile, Lavinia gives a syllabus of her summer vacation plans before leading Jessie and Gertrude through one last derisive comedy skit at Sara's expense whose zenith is a pair of suitcases whose combined mass is too great for Sara to safely transport alone. Becky and Ermengarde pick up on Sara's well-subdued anguish at seeing the reunited families not realizing that Sara has put into perspective her plight of being a penniless orphan with nowhere else to go . . . at least until Molly and James charge her a shopping run that includes acquiring some soap that sets the stage for Becky to dexterously utilize her technique of acoustically appraising soap chemical concentration. As she and Sara are finishing their home commute with the requisite payload, Becky's ear for authenticity is ultimately of null utility to the fact that the balance sheet cares nothing of Becky catalyzing a successful shopping run with its declaration of Becky as too expensive to maintain; the Headmistress's subsequent interpretation of this data could end up far worse than Becky's outright dismissal!!! | ||
| 29 | "Becky's Return Home" "Bekkī no o kaeshimasu katei" (ベッキーのを返します家庭) | 21 July 1985 |
| Cesar walking around the empty Seminary dormitories as if he were a sentry gives way to James and Molly enjoying the peace and quiet so much that they are hostile to even preparing Becky a meal to tide her over during her journey!!! Fortunately, the Headmistress is a bit more generous when she gives Becky her salary complete with an admonition for her prompt return to prosecute the hefty preparations necessary for the next semester. The payload of Amelia's correspondence firmly in hand, Sara sets course for the railway station with Becky who expounds excitedly about the circumstances of her arrival in London after a brief stopover to purchase a homecoming gift; after the train leaves with Becky aboard it, Peter and Sara lament their common plight about being stuck in London before heading their separate ways. Becky's destination is a small town known as Ashfield where she is ultimately able to spot her little brother Teddie and her little sister Martha hard at work but not at all shy about running to greet her; the full scope of Becky's family now illuminated during dinner, Sara reflects upon the circumstances as she cleans up everything and prepares to call it a night. | ||
| 30 | "The Indian Gentleman" "Za Indo Shinshi" (ザインド紳士) | 4 August 1985 |
| Having reconciled herself to being alone in the attic while Becky is on summer furlough in Ashfield, Sara wakes up to throw some bread crumbs to the sparrows as per her morning routine; while watching the sparrows eat their fill, the house next door catalyzes Sara's speculation of a family's large population of children possibly becoming her playmates -- that is, if she can successfully negotiate for it from the powers-that-be . . . one of which is the very impatient Molly bellowing at her to deliver breakfast in bed to the Headmistress!!! The grateful Headmistress decides for prosecuting a power trip as she charges poor Sara that the windows in the classroom be cleaned along with messenger duty to Amelia: "'no room service for you". The only silver lining equalizing the unjust burden charged of Sara is a letter from Becky explaining Sara her adventures while on furlough; once the workday is history, the conclusion of Becky's letter to Sara gives way to Cesar coming upon a work convoy initiating renovation operations unto the house next door while Solicitor Carmichael has it confirmed that it is all systems go for all the logistical parameters as far as the house is concerned. A temporary layover during the home commute from Covent Garden with the requisite produce sets the stage for Sara ultimately displaying her insight of Sanskrit artwork and furnishing before repulsing James and Molly's hostile ignorance thereof; if that is not enough, Molly inadvertently ends up having Sara witness the Indian lascar Ram Dass unload his master Thomas Carrisford from the carriage before her very eyes!!! | ||
| 31 | "The Monster in the Attic" "Za bakemono de za yaneura heya" (ザ化け物でザ屋根裏部屋) | 11 August 1985 |
| Staring out at the morning scene before her, Sara shifts her attention to the attic of the adjacent house hoping to be greeted by at least one of the child citizens of the family there prior to throwing some bread for the sparrows and prosecuting her work commute to another day of being charged various chores around the Seminary by everybody from the Headmistress to James. The Covent Garden shopping trip James charges her becomes the forum to illustrate that Thomas's health is starting to deteriorate along with Sara's hopes of having some playmates next door . . . in the unlikely event that the Headmistress sees any benefit for her in allowing Sara to play outside, that is. Sara's mundane home commute with the payload produce intensifies somewhat when she encounters Becky outside of the Seminary agonizing over the epilogue of her early return coercing uneconomical sustenance of the Headmistress who replies Sara's exhortation on her behalf with deferring Becky's salary to next month minus the cost of food; almost as soon as she begins to unpack her luggage, Becky hears a screeching sound in her room that sends her racing downstairs in a panic. It turns out that Ram Dass is having trouble with his pet monkey Surya that has decided to ultimately leap over to the Seminary as if to introduce itself in earnest by causing such a corybantic circus that poor Cesar ends up suffering for; a strategic chase gives way to the girls having a new friend in the Indian lascar Ram Dass . . . and being in hot water with Molly. | ||
| 32 | "The Secret on the Other Side of the Wall" "Za himitsu no za sonota sokumen no za kabe" (ザ秘密のザその他側面のザ壁) | 18 August 1985 |
| A typical workday at the Seminary becomes exciting when Becky sees a medical house call being made next door before Sara reminds her to stay on task that gives way to Amelia inadvertently galvanizing the Headmistress's hatred of Sara with gossip of how Thomas Carrisford is a bachelor diamond prospector with James and Molly following suit in deriding Sara because of Ralph's involvement in that business. Setting aside his contempt for the moment, James charges Sara a shopping trip to Covent Garden where Sara has another encounter with Donald Carmichael who acknowledges his human fallibility with the coin he had given her and explains Sara the results of his family's analysis of her along with a syllabus of his prospective destination. Sara and Becky cleaning the classroom becomes the forum for Thomas's prologue to be explored in earnest as he converses with Solicitor Carmichael. Thomas Carrisford has arrived in England to prosecute the penance of ultimately taking unto himself Ralph's "Little Missus" as his ward to tell her that the diamond-prospecting business venture has borne fruit once he successfully locates her; while this is a very noble volition, the only problem is that both Thomas and Solicitor Carmichael are completely overlooking the fact that there is a boarding school right next door . . . and that its Headmistress has read his business partner's destitute demise as a signal to treat Sara "Little Missus" Crewe like an animal for nullifying the utility of her school's French-based curriculum and injuring its economy!!! | ||
| 33 | "The Mistreatment of the New Semester" "Shin Gakki no Ijiwaru" (新学期のいじわる) | 25 August 1985 |
| The utility of James and Molly's brusque demeanor as standard operating practice is promptly extinguished since the two are in the same boat as Sara and Becky having been charged the preparation of a community meal among other things to ready the Seminary for the returning students; as if to confirm James's precognitive crass comedy, the Headmistress leads Becky and Sara through an inspection of their handiwork. Much to poor Becky's chagrin, the Headmistress is in no mood for crass comedy or sparrow bodily exhaust on the exterior windowsill when a contingency deviant diagnostic with Amelia forces her to charge Sara with escorting Lavinia from the wharf where Sara has another encounter with Donald who delivers her a syllabus of his father's current commerce that flawlessly describes her situation but not a technique for bridging the gap to obviate the voyage to Paris. Governess Herbert and Lavinia walk onto the scene prior to charging Sara a large carriage for their payload; once back at the Seminary, it becomes very clear that the tour across Europe has given Lavinia plenty of time and inspiration to compile a new curriculum of persecution just for Sara. Sara is horrified to learn that the privilege of self-defense has a hefty price when the furious Headmistress ultimately cares nothing about Sara's side of the story nor Becky and Lottie coming to Sara's aid as she charges Sara the engagement of a glass repairman; an encounter with Peter and the sixpence Sara got from Donald is just what the doctor ordered for successfully getting the window restored and Becky's salary being left intact. | ||
| 34 | "Redemption in the Storm" "Arashi no Naka no Tsugunai" (嵐の中のつぐない) | 8 September 1985 |
| For the wet and cold Sara, the clever cerebral computation that secured Becky's politico-financial homeostasis with the Headmistress cannot protect Sara from an ill-maintained attic room or from James that seems hell-bent on driving Sara to an early grave by way of hypothermia when he charges her the replenishment of the coal inventory caring nothing of the tempest raging outside; as if that is not enough, Sara also has to fuel the furnaces in her current condition. Cesar has somehow sensed that Sara needs a bit of feline compassion; the furnace in Lavinia's room now energized, Cesar and Sara quickly find that their comfort -- and Cesar's messy disapproval of Lavinia's cruelty -- has a hefty price: a rainy-day laundry run in addition to the usual grocery shopping. While Becky watches her with helpless anguish, Sara sets course for the dress shop where she found Emily whose proprietor fondly remembers her and agrees to help her; while the proprietor sets to work cleaning Lavinia's dress, Sara is horrified to discover that the only thing to be had in Covent Garden is a nasty case of pneumonia from the unnecessary commuting to and fro. As has been vividly demonstrated, the only acknowledgment that Sara ultimately gets for what is essentially a suicide mission is slander and very stormy office politics led by the Headmistress herself; between the punitive labor and the poor maintenance, Sara just might end up discarded with the refuse in the very near future!!! | ||
| 35 | "On the Brink of Death" "Kiesōna Inochi" (消えそうな命) | 22 September 1985 |
| The tempest outside having run its natural course is small comfort to Sara being bedridden with a high fever that Becky tries her best to treat on her own; for Becky, James and Molly are far more upset at the disrupted homeostasis of being able to cook breakfast as soon as they wake up. If Molly manhandling her like a rag doll is not enough, Sara is then treated like a bio-hazardous pariah on the medical counsel of the chronically inebriated Dr. Wild; frightened of the whole Seminary being quarantined from the community macro-economy, the Headmistress decides to paint a far rosier picture of Sara's plight and enjoins distance from Sara of all the students. Lavinia's crass comedy ultimately prompts Ermengarde to risk drawing the Headmistress's wrath when she goes to appraise Sara's status for herself and propose that her aunt Eliza be commissioned the synthesis of an antipyretic for Sara's sake; even with Peter catalyzing the home commute, a diminished fever does not compensate for the fact that Sara has been very poorly maintained for the labor charged her per the volition of the Headmistress. | ||
| 36 | "The Beginning of the Magic" "Mahō no Hajimari" (魔法のはじまり) | 29 September 1985 |
| Surya's antics with Boris lighten the ambiance as Ram Dass analyzes the data he has gathered of how very poorly maintained Sara is while Thomas concludes that the can has been kicked down the road right into a cul-de-sac where there has to be a solution to the problem; after a hearty laugh complete with a reminder against being seen, Ram Dass sets off on his mission. Meanwhile, Becky is tending to Sara as the medicine synthesized by Ermengarde's horticulturist aunt is doing its job before heading downstairs to report on the situation with Sara to the Headmistress who divides her energies between fuming at the injustice of the situation because of how it hurts her business and pondering the logistics of exporting Sara as a measure of damage control before harshly ordering the other girls back to class; upon seeing that things are settling down somewhat, Ram Dass decides to make his move of quickly gathering data about Sara's status and living conditions while Peter fumes about how he cannot be of utility when Sara needs her friends the most before leading Becky to the Cathedral to pray for answers. As if he has picked up on Peter and Becky's anxiety for Sara's well-being, Ram Dass initiates his "Magical Paradise" curriculum that night of an epic feast to ultimately celebrate Sara conquering the exhaustion-catalyzed pneumonia after correcting all the deviant diagnostics that indicate Sara is as an animal; once Sara and Becky reconcile themselves to the fact that this is no mirage, they have a proper dinner and get a good night's rest in warm blankets with a roaring fire warming the room. | ||
| 37 | "The Pandemonium in the Attic" "Yaneura Wa Dai-konran" (屋根裏は大混乱) | 6 October 1985 |
| While relieved that the "Magical Paradise" is not a fly-by-night phenomenon, Sara and Becky find that it cannot dispel the necessity of the commute down to the kitchen to start the fire and catalyze the preparation of breakfast much to the astonished delight of James and Molly -- the latter of which suspects a deviant diagnostic at play. Sara is led through the lesson "What sounds too good to be true usually is" when Molly takes her before the Headmistress whose intense displeasure about paying Dr. Wild's fee costs Sara her instruction stewardship with Ermengarde and Lottie-tachi (Lottie with Susan, Penelope and Jane in convoy) when an inspection of her room comes up empty thanks to Ram Dass having cleared everything away just in the nick of time; while the Headmistress fumes at the dent Sara has visited unto the Seminary's economy even after lashing out at Molly and James who then pay it forward, Peter anxiously entreats the assistance of his chimney sweep friend Jim in smuggling himself into the Seminary to appraise Sara's status for himself -- a task easier said than done with the Headmistress still in foul spirits over Sara's costly medical repairs!!! Once he and Jim are allowed inside, Peter has an awkward encounter with Cesar warmly greeting him and nearly letting the cat out of the bag only to not find Sara asleep in her attic bedroom. Much to the ashy dismay of both Headmistress-tachi (the Headmistress with Molly and James in convoy) and Lavinia-tachi (Lavinia with Jessie and Gertrude in convoy), the soot ultimately settles for the relieved Peter to discover that Sara is still at the Seminary in good health and is happy to see him even though she and Becky will now have to clean up after him; as an ancillary bonus, Sara and Becky find that Ram Dass has delivered them his "Magical Paradise" curriculum -- version 2.0!!! | ||
| 38 | "The Magic Dispelled" "Kowasareta mahō" (こわされた魔法) | 13 October 1985 |
| Sara wakes up to find that the magic has not disappeared as she summons Becky to her room for breakfast; while grateful for the nutritious food and the warm bedding, Becky still has the nagging suspicion regarding the authenticity of the "Magical Paradise" and that there is somebody that will want something of them in return for the feast. Ram Dass is in seventh heaven watching Sara and Becky converse during breakfast prior to prosecuting their work commute to the kitchen where James and Molly are quite surprised at the girls energetically preparing breakfast after starting the fire oblivious to the fact that Molly and James have never learned the rudeness of looking a gift horse in the mouth or that the Headmistress is not exactly happy for Sara's full recovery as she suspects the presence of a deviant diagnostic; while Sara and Becky are happily at work, the frustrated Headmistress directs Molly and James through shadowing Sara while she inspects Sara's room for insight. Not realizing that Molly is shadowing Sara, Peter inadvertently inflames matters as he recounts his previous adventure in smuggling himself into the Seminary as he shares an apple with Sara after catalyzing her grocery shopping. Sara and Becky have the shock of their lives that night when the disgusted Headmistress ultimately makes a cameo appearance with an austere curriculum of her own!!! | ||
| 39 | "A Cold Night in the Stable" "Umagoya no Samui Yoru" (馬小屋の寒い夜) | 20 October 1985 |
| While she might not know all the intricate details of how Sara copes with being in the attic, it becomes apparent that the Headmistress was quite thorough in preparing her punitive curriculum as she charges James the arrogation of the "Magical Paradise" and Molly the relegation of Sara to Jump's former stable; even as Sara takes in stride the new circumstances, Becky and Ermengarde are quite distressed at the Headmistress openly showing her hatred of Sara even as Lottie leads the rest of the students in demonstrating silent support of Sara with the exception of Lavinia-tachi (Lavinia with Jessie and Gertrude in convoy). Sara preparing the fire in the classroom sets the stage for it to be demonstrated that the Headmistress has added Sensei Pascal to the payrolls; again harshly ordered away, Molly charges Sara the refurbishment of the "Magical Paradise" dinnerware while James charges Becky a shopping trip at Covent Garden. Ram Dass and Thomas dividing their energies between commiserating with Sara's plight and computing their next move gives way to Peter deciding forthwith to accompany the distraught Becky back to the Seminary to prosecute another smuggling operation only to find that reversing the Headmistress's dysfunctional programming is ultimately of far greater difficulty -- and utility -- than physically transporting Sara out of the Seminary by force; as an unexpected ancillary bonus, Ermengarde demands Lavinia an explanation for her persecution of Sara only to learn that there are overtones of immense collusion between the Headmistress and Herbert-ke. | ||
| 40 | "Miss Amelia's Tears" "Ameria Sensei no Namida" (アメリア先生の涙) | 27 October 1985 |
| Sara dividing her energies between trying to shiver away the cold temperatures of the stable and bootstrap herself to begin her workday gives way to an announcement that the Headmistress has to prosecute some politics with the Mayor; as such, Amelia is left in charge much to the delight of the girls -- especially Sara and Becky. Amelia wants to take the girls on a field trip after church complete with a hand-delivered and home-made picnic lunch; the intricate and inflammable proactive logistics resolved, Sara and Becky setting course for the park to deliver the picnic lunch becomes the forum by which they are forced to resolve the contingency deviant diagnostic of Amelia being dry docked complete with the endemic hard landing whose debilitating damage completely wrecks the outing and does not make the Headmistress's evening at all!!! In addition to exhorting Peter's assistance in transporting Amelia back to the Seminary, poor Sara has to also prosecute a scavenger hunt through a destitute portion of London for the inebriated Dr. Wild whose assessment of Amelia's injury as something easily reversible is availed as the preamble for Amelia to ultimately acknowledge the human fallibility that has caused Sara's plight complete with an account of her collaborative prologue with Maria Minchin[3] before she became the headmistress of the Seminary; for Sara, Amelia's confession does not include any sanctuary from the Headmistress's lack of compassion or gratitude. | ||
| 41 | "The Party of the Spirits" "Yōsei-tachi no Pātī" (妖精たちのパーティー) | 3 November 1985 |
| If helping to resolve Amelia's ambulance misadventure along with playing audience to the subsequent bedside confession of acknowledging the human fallibility that drives the Headmistress's scathing hatred of Sara are not enough, Amelia then announces her interest in hosting an evening party to welcome All Saints' Day whose logistics are completely outside the bounds of even primitive reason when Lavinia wants everyone to have her own pumpkin!!! Sara and Becky setting out towards Covent Garden becomes the forum by which Thomas and Ram Dass set in motion a far more insidious curriculum when they recruit the dress-making proprietor into synthesizing a care package for Sara; in spite of Molly's injunction against fraternizing with him, Peter is a potent force in helping Sara and Becky transport back all the necessary groceries. Aside from the usual flare-ups during the preparation process, Amelia knows quite a few party games and actually does a good job supervising the party once the Headmistress steps aside; for Sara, the Headmistress having a quiet midnight snack in her room while James and Molly go spend an evening out on the town does not mean smooth sailing when Lavinia decides to pollute the "Divination Tempest" even though it is only a game with none of Amelia's interpretations meant to be taken seriously. Furious at the results and seeing that Lottie has wandered away from the pack, Lavinia seizes the opportunity to lead Jessie and Gertrude through a prank that ultimately panics the poor child into igniting an immense inferno whose swift expansion threatens to engulf the whole Seminary -- starting with the absolutely terrified Sara!!! | ||
| 42 | "Driven Away on the Snowy Day" "Yuki no hi no Tsuihō" (雪の日の追放) | 10 November 1985 |
| In spite of her successful escape with Emily and the photograph of her late parents, Sara soon finds that the one inferno from which she needs providence is the rabid fury of the Headmistress who refuses to accept that the fire was an accident even with Amelia's attempts to play the devil's advocate; realizing that the inferno has incinerated her prospects of staying in the Seminary, Sara promises her allies a subsequent engagement as she complies the Headmistress's exile order not realizing that this is one of the Headmistress's power trips. Amelia happily beginning her search gives way to Peter having found Sara moping by a river; upon Sara explaining what happened, Peter brings her home to his parents -- the journey thereof providing insight as to how the other half lives. Moved by the sympathetic comprehension of her plight at the Seminary, Sara decides that it is best that she work on ultimately having her own micro-economy rather than having Peter's parents take care of her; fortunately, Maggie is a far nicer taskmaster than Molly is when she has Mary show Sara the ropes in selling matches. | ||
| 43 | "The Wonderful Parcel of Happiness" "Shiawase no Suteki na Kozutsumi" (幸せの素敵な小包) | 8 December 1985 |
| Freed from the unjust burden of complying the Headmistress's tyrannical administration of the Seminary, Sara has taken quite well to selling matches in spite of the feast-famine cyclical caprice endemic to that enterprise; Sara is experiencing one of those famine days whose sole commercial silver lining is Donald stopping the carriage to buy some matches as a gesture of charity. Just as she prepares to get back to work, Peter rushes onto the scene to exhort Sara's company back to his house where Amelia is prepared to make some emphatic entreaties for Sara's return to the Seminary on the penalty of facing the Headmistress's wrath -- a sample of which has been visited unto Becky in spite of not having the requisite data. The joyous and sentimental reunion with Lottie and Ermengarde along with Becky brought about when Amelia returns with Sara quickly gives way to the fact that the recess away from the Seminary has not convinced the Headmistress to clear Sara off her list as she gets right to the feature presentation -- a parcel of unknown content and origin that arrived in the interim. It seems that Thomas's humanitarian curriculum has ultimately taken flight just in time much to the astonishment of the Headmistress who charges that Sara try on one of the outfits whose flawless fit catapults Sara from animal to aristocrat in the Headmistress's mind; upon having the "Magical Paradise" dinnerware and bedding returned to her much to James and Molly's disgust, Sara calls it a night after composing a letter of gratitude. | ||
| 44 | "Ah! It Is the Child!" "Ā! Kono ko da!" (ああ！ この子だ！) | 15 December 1985 |
| Not realizing that Ram Dass has paid her a late night visit, Sara is beside herself in delight as she shows Becky the desk where she placed the letter she wrote last night; while Sara bootstraps herself to begin her school day, Thomas's seventh heaven from reading Sara's letter is not enough to dispel several deep-seated anxieties about the kind of person the "Little Missus" has become during the time period after her father's death. Donald inadvertently stirs the pot as he recounts how he bought some matches from Sara but not any data that could identify her or even help locate her. As if having realized that the resolution of this mystery is going nowhere fast if left to itself, Surya decides to take matters into his own four hands with a leap over onto the Seminary's roof; while Sara is not shy about promptly taking him in to partake of the warm fire, it does spawn quite a conundrum of a dystopian epilogue at the Headmistress's hands regardless of whether Sara keeps Surya hidden away in the attic or risks detection during the requisite smuggling operation to restore homeostasis. Sara decides for the gambit with Becky acting as a guide to the egress which succeeds -- except for Lavinia detecting Sara's departure when Amelia charges her the retrieval of a book she forgot to bring to class. As predicted, Solicitor Carmichael's journey to Paris has ultimately turned out to be a fool's errand -- especially when Surya plays heavily on the lack of common sense when Sara herself walks right over to align all the pieces of the puzzle in place as Ralph's "Little Missus". | ||
| 45 | "Miss Minchin's Regret" "Minchin Inchō no Kōkai" (ミンチン院長の後悔) | 22 December 1985 |
| Sara being in absolute seventh heaven as she gets acquainted with Thomas and Carmichael-ke after having been successfully smuggled out of the Seminary with Surya starkly contrasts poor Becky finding to her horror that she is stuck with the aftermath of the subterfuge in the form of an enraged Headmistress until Lavinia intercedes with the requisite data of Sara's whereabouts; after a session of pacing her office like a mad bull and speculating on Sara's motives, the Headmistress decides to take matters into her own hands as she sets course to retrieve Sara with no qualms about dragging her back by force if need be. Catalyzed by the perspective of mapping Sara's future being a game that two can play, Solicitor Carmichael has prepared a whole body of legal paperwork to establish Sara as the heiress to the "failed" diamond mines along with preparing a skit of aristocratic crass comedy to deliver the good news; while Carmichael-ke customizes Sara, Solicitor Carmichael's diatribe expounds in detail the epilogue that has been lost in the shuffle as a result of Solicitor Barrow's greedy contempt for his late boss. Coming to grips with Sara's tardy coronation as a "diamond princess" complemented by the response from the Bombay police detailing the legal aftermath of Ralph's "destitute" demise is bland compared to Maria Minchin[3] finding to her astonishment that her submissive little sister Amelia has ultimately found the gonads to place the buck right where it belongs and threaten to implode the Seminary's micro-economy with the data of her sister's treachery; while Maria[3] weeps, Becky finds that Ram Dass has initiated his "Magical Paradise" curriculum version 5.0 -- this time, under Sara's direction to convey an emphatic message: "I am coming back for you in the very near future, Becky." | ||
| 46 | "Until the Day We Meet Again" "Mata Au-hi Ma'de" (また逢う日まで) | 29 December 1985 |
| Sara having become a "diamond princess" and Maria Minchin[3] eating a well-earned serving of humble pie served to her piping hot by her own little sister . . . both outcomes have been a long time coming considering everything that has preceded this euphoric epilogue; still, there are quite a few unresolved loose ends as is evidenced by the girls' frenzied preparation for the Christmas party. Maria[3] is moping in her office dreading for the epilogue of the Seminary if she were ever taken into custody for how she has mistreated Sara when Amelia walks in encouraging her to cheer up; supplementing this counsel, Molly indicates that Thomas Carrisford and Solicitor Carmichael are complying Sara's wish to deliver the Seminary a hefty Christmas donation along with her continued academic attendance much to the delight of the other students that have gathered around Sara in a euphoric and boisterous hen convention that inspires Jessie and Gertrude to see the light in spite of their prologue of being Lavinia's partners-in-crime. About the only thing greater as a cause cèlèbre for the hen convention is Lavinia finally burying the hatchet with Sara; if that is not enough, the ensuing party becomes the preamble for exhibiting several epilogues -- Sara's pony Jump, Sara's parrot Bonaparte, and the hungry street urchin Anne -- before the necessity of some legal loose ends in India rears its head. Everybody is ultimately sad to see Sara go even though the journey with its crucial commerce is estimated to require four months at which point Sara will return to England and spend time with everybody as she completes her education; however, there is one exception: even though she no longer hates Sara, Lavinia plans to permanently return to America. | ||
References
- ↑ Stingray. "Anime Adaptation sequence". Retrieved May 2, 2011.
- ↑ Internet Movie Database. "Anime Music Data". Retrieved March 17, 2011.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Icotaku. "Character Analysis -- Miss Minchin". Retrieved October 13, 2011.
| ||||||||||||||