Anime Best in Show

Healer Girl Episode 5 Review – Best In Show

Quick SummaryBest MomentSetupDeliveryOther Posts

Healer Girl Episode 5 Review – Quick Summary

In Healer Girl episode 5, “Blue Skies, Green Mountains, River Battles and the Galactic Station,” Hibiki Morishima invited Ria Karasuma, Shouko Nagisa, Reimi Itsushiro, and Kana Fujii to visit her family farm. After they arrived, Reimi was shocked – and dismayed! – to learn that Ria was actually a friend of the family! Will she be able to withstand her own feelings of jealousy? Will she try to marry one of Hibiki’s brothers to get closer to Ria? And what will she do when she learns Kana’s secret?

Note: This post may include spoilers, so be cautious.

Favorite Quote from Healer Girl Episode 5

Healer Girl Episode 5: Shouko knows Reimi really well!

I think Shouko earned that smug expression! Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Reimi certainly has strong feelings for Ria! I’d say it’s a crush given its intensity, but whatever it is, Reimi is serious about it. So much so that she reacted with extreme jealousy when she learned Ria was old friends with Hibiki’s family. 

In fact, according to Ria, she was “related to the Morishimas on my mother’s side.”

Declaring that this development was not fair (by repeating the phrase about a dozen times until even Kana was showing a bit of annoyance), Reimi had a sudden idea.

“I’ll just have to join this family, too!” she said heatedly. 

She hadn’t noticed that Shouko had come up beside her to she could repeat Reimi’s next statement “I’ll just have to join this family, too” in perfect synchronization.

“Knew you’d say that,” Shouko said in a smug voice (04:12).

I think Shouko might be the most emotionally intelligent person in this series. At least, she anticipated Reimi’s reaction perfectly!

Best in Show Moment for Healer Girl Episode 5

Healer Girl Episode 5: Hibiki seemed surprised at Kana's musical power

This was pretty close to my expression at this point. Did I see what I think I saw? Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Setup: Intentional Ambiguity is Intentional

There’s a moment in this episode that struck me, all the more so because it was intentionally vague. At least, I think it was intentional. It’s hard to know without asking the writer. But see what you think of this.

Remember when Kana told the story of why she’d decided to become a healer? An asthma attack on an airplane flight put Kana in a bad way. She’d run out of inhaler, so that was nothing her parents could do. Kana told her friends and Hibiki’s siblings that this mysterious woman had sung her back to health. Kana even included a description of the imagery she saw as the woman sang her song of healing.

Healer Girl Episode 5: Reimi didn't know what to think of Kana's abilities

Reimi didn’t quite know what to think of Kana’s story – or her abilities. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

When Kana finished her story, she was surprised to see her friends staring at her in disbelief. Kana thought she’d said something wrong until Reimi and Hibiki confirmed what they thought they’d heard. Namely, that even before training, Kana could see the song-created imagery.

“Seriously, what’s with you?” Reimi asked (09:54).

We’ve seen other indications that Kana has an uncanny affinity with musical imagery. Back in episode 1, Ria seemed surprised at the power of Kana’s visuals, even when singing a calming song. And in my favorite moment in this episode, I think we got a hint of something more.

Delivery: Just How Powerful is Kana?

Just after seeing the Milky Way framed by the fractured mountain, Hibiki led everyone back down the mountain using a different path. She took them to a still lake. Fireflies blazed all around. You could hear a background song, but Reimi, Hibiki, and Kana were clearly talking – in normal voices. 

In that normal voice, Hibiki said that her father had proposed to her mother here, and that she was glad to share this place with her friends. Warmly, with all the honesty that seems to come naturally to Kana, she said (19:52), “Thanks, Hibiki-chan!”

Did you see what happened next? Hibiki’s expression turned to surprise when she looked at her friend. An instant later, Hibiki found herself within a musical image with Kana flying up to her. “I’m so glad we got to come here!” Kana said with happy enthusiasm. Kana didn’t notice; Kana seems to take the images for granted. As Kana gushed about how much this moment meant to her, Hibiki just looked on, the shock still evident on her face. 

Healer Girl Episode 5: Did Kana's joy spontaneously create musical imagery?

Kana’s joy seemed to spontaneously create musical imagery – at least, I think it did! Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Did Kana just conjure the magical imagery – without singing a note? Did the joy that welled up in her soul invoke it? I’m not sure, because I think there’s room for interpretation here. There was a song going on in the background, after all. But I seriously think that Kana’s abilities are such that she unconsciously triggered the imagery and enveloped Hibiki within it.

I’m not sure what that means, but I thought it was seriously cool! 

What did you think of meeting Hibiki’s family? What were your favorite moments? Feel free to let me know in the comments!

Healer Girl Episode 5: Other Posts

Other Anime Sites

This Site (Crow’s World of Anime!)

tcrow
Copyright 2022 Terrance A. Crow. All rights reserved.
https://www.crowsworldofanime.com

Please let me know what you think!

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.