Drop (episode)

Drop, (ドロップ, Doroppu), is the 44th episode of the Sket Dance anime.

Summary
Chiaki asks Sket Dan to find a candy box that has a photo of her and Akina on it. To her surprise, Chiaki learns the truth why Akina broke her friendship with Chiaki. Will Chiaki find the candy box before Akina moves away?

Plot
Bossun and the gang find their clubroom littered with Chuuma's bottles and experiments. Later, Chiaki enters the room for a request to find a candy box much to Sket Dan's surprise. Bossun thinks Chiaki looking for candy related stuff is a trend.

While the gang looks for the candy box, Chiaki talks about her friend Akina who they become friends quickly. While the two eat lunch, Akina talks about how much they had eaten. Chiaki tells her that she got yellow, and two learn it means wealth. When Akina got pink, she sees it means love, but she did not tell Chiaki. Then, Misato appears and asks Chiaki for a candy drop. Chiaki hands him one which is green. (Akina looks in shock) Akina asks Chiaki why she did it, and she yells at her for sharing it with him. She rants about how they been sharing candy since April and now it's an odd number. Akina throws the candy box with their photo on it. From that point on, Chiaki and Akina's friendship breaks, and the two drift apart. Then, in a store, Chiaki remembers the candy box when her little brother picks the box of Pelipop candy.

The flashback ends, and it suddenly rains. Bossun tells them that they will search for it tomorrow. In the streets, Chiaki runs past Akina without realizing it's her. Akina could not tell Chiaki as she zips by her. In the Sket Dan clubroom, Hime and the others stare at the rain, and Hime goes to Chiaki's homeroom. Misato tells her that Chiaki is absent due to a cold. Later, Hime goes to Chiaki's house and find out that Chiaki's brother is trying to cook for his sister. Chiaki's brother somewhat insults Hime by saying that girls like you are terrible at house work. Hime states that her cooking was the best at the Gachinko Vivage game. Meanwhile, Chiaki gets a nightmare about having no lucky drops for Akina. When she wakes up, Hime greets her with a meal. Chiaki thinks her friendship with Akina is just about the candy box, but Hime tells her to value all friendship. Back at school, Chiaki learns from Misato that Akina is moving away and that she had confessed having feelings for Misato. At the same time, Hime hears their conversations.

At the school during the rain, Chiaki sees her friends (the Sket Dan) searching for her candy box. Then, Jogasaki appears; after the Sket Dan messes up his name, Jogasaki tells them that he saw Yoshimura cleaning the area. Chiaki and the Sket Dan asks the janitor to search the warehouse of collected trash. Yet, they find a lot of trash bags. Soon, Bossun finds Chiaki's beloved candy box. Even though the job is done, Bossun tells them that their request is not complete yet. On the next day, Chiaki and Akina meet again; Akina shares lucky drops with Chiaki. They both got white. Akina cries upon seeing what white meant. She apologizes to Chiaki while crying; Chiaki hands her candy box. Suddenly, Chiaki and Akina see many balloons floating in the sky by the Sket Dan. Later, the gang fool around in the Sket Dan room while Chiaki looks at the label that tells the viewers what the colors meant.

Gallery
Please check out the episode's image gallery!

Cast and Credits

 * Ryōko Shiraishi: Hime "Himeko" Onizuka
 * Tomokazu Sugita: Kazuyoshi "Switch" Usui
 * Hiroyuki Yoshino: Yūsuke "Bossun" Fujisaki
 * Minako Kotobuki: Akina
 * Satomi Satō: Chiaki Takahashi
 * Jōji Nakata: Tetsuji Chūma
 * Nobuaki Kanemitsu: Mitsuru Jōgasaki

Manga and Anime Differences

 * Start of the story: In the manga, Sket Dan is playing with the helium gas tank. Bossun shows that inhaling helium makes his voice a higher pitch. Compared to the anime, Chuuma appears and tells them that their room is serving as a temporary storage for his scientific tools and experiments.
 * Alterations with the Flashback: The manga has Chiaki's flashback combined with Misato's explanation of Akina's moving away. Chiaki didn't get sick in the manga because it did not rain.
 * Jogasaki and Chiaki's little brother did not appear in the manga.