SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:
Chiharu cites a racing series where the protagonist doesn't give up despite overwhelming odds, which catches Nagi's attention. She then cites a boxing series with a similar situation. Chiharu points out that Nagi's belief that she would win was based on her being the protagonist, and as such, she must act like a protagonist and do whatever it takes to overcome adversity to triumph. Further, Chiharu strongly reminds Nagi that only Nagi got herself into this situation, so Chiharu demands to know what Nagi can make of herself in this situation if she's the protagonist.
Nagi considers Chiharu's words, wondering why she got into this in the first place. She thinks of how she was born into the wealthy Sanzenin family and had been bored for a long time. Thus, her real reason for getting into this doujinshi competition wasn't to defeat Ruka or keep Hayate, but for herself so she would accomplish something and not simply be born into it.
With that, Nagi finds her resolve and tells Chiharu that she doesn't need the ruined manuscript, even if some of the pages are fine. She's going to do it all from scratch, something Chiharu thinks she won't have time to accomplish. Nagi says she's going to become a genius manga-ka who sells a trillion copies, and as such, she'll overcome this problem on her own.
Maria is surprised by this but jumps into help. Maria is saddened that she never comforted Nagi, which Ah-tan notices, mentioning that Maria's role as mother is no longer required.
Thoughts/Review:
I had figured that Nagi would start over, and that's what she did here. Of course, I didn't think it would go quite in the fashion that it did, but this is fine.
While Chiharu's usage of sports manga/anime metaphors did create the spark within Nagi, I liked how they weren't what actually the element that caused Nagi's "engine" to fire up. Nagi went beyond her fears of losing Hayate to Ruka and back to the root of everything just prior to when she met Hayate in that park at the vending machines. I never put a lot of thought into it back then as I considered the manga to be just a gag-comedy title, but I do remember wondering why a girl who was always the target of kidnappings would venture away from a party alone just because she was sick of the smell of tobacco.
Now, it all becomes clear. Nagi has always complained about being bored at various points in the series, so now it makes sense to me why Nagi would do this. Risking her life for a bit back on that snowy, Christmas Eve alleviates the boredom, if only for a time.
Throughout it all though, the only thing that Nagi has consistently done, even if poorly, is continue a dream to be a manga-ka. After Isumi kept her from giving up as a young child, Nagi has tried, even if she got stuck on that hideous Brittany concept. She's been overconfident at times due to her privileged state, but now that push is coming to shove, she's returned to the beginning, centered herself, lost the distractions, and she'll have a finished manga. Doing things for one's self is the key to any success, thus we have a way for Nagi to succeed and defeat Ruka, something I wasn't sure would happen.
Another interesting element from this chapter is Maria. We've long known that Maria is Nagi's surrogate mother. How many times did she tell Hayate not to spoil Nagi so much? Here, she was going to do her own form of spoiling Nagi by comforting her after her inevitable failure, but this time, Nagi pulled herself up with her own two hands. Maria is in an unfamiliar spot and I do feel for her.
That being said, I think Ah-tan is wrong in her assessment that Maria's role as mother is no longer needed. Whether in success or failure, Maria should be there for Nagi and I've no doubt that Nagi will seek her out in either instance.
In the end, another good drama chapter with Nagi making a comeback like Rocky.
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