Maria†Holic episode 12 final

Praying to her departed mother, Kanako expresses how much has happened these past three months at Ame No Kisaki.
Now, the day has finally come for Kanako to rejoice, for it is the last week before the summer holidays begin which means they will have swimming class every day!

When Yuzuru and Sachi ask Kanako why she’s so happy, Kanako soon thinks of seeing all the girls in swimsuit and has an explosive bloodnose.
Rushed to the infirmary, she quickly recovers, assuring the school nurse and her teacher Kumagai that she can attend the afternoon swimming classes.

To her surprise Kumagai and the nurse both state they will attend as well since they bought new swimsuits anyway. Kanako is even more dazzled once she sees all the girls dressed in two piece swimsuits instead of the normal school type swimsuits.
Sachi explains that Ame No Kisaki doesn’t enforce wearing school swimsuits but lets the girls wear any swimsuit they like.

As her eyes take in all the swimsuit clad maidens around her, Kanako soon faints, falling in the pool. Thanks to a quick reaction of the gym teacher, Kanako is brought out of the water and given mouth to mouth resuscitation.
Relishing in the touch of the gym teacher’s lips, Kanako couldn’t be happier when her friends, Kumagai and the school nurse all demand to give her mouth to mouth too.

With a jolt Kanako awakens, pondering how long she was out after nearly drowning. Her heart shatters when Mariya tells her it has all been a dream and that she missed the first day of swimming class since she slept right throughout the day.

Kanako’s troubles do not end there though as she has a violent allergic reaction when the priest Kanae Touichirou visits her. When she starts to mumble incoherently and faints, the priest pulls her in his arms, making matters only worse.
Due to going through such an ordeal, Kanako is bedridden the next day and again misses out on swimming class.

Attending class the following day but still lethargic, Kanako finds tonburi (とんぶり, mountain caviar) in her desk and later kikurage (キクラゲ, mushroom) in her school bag.
The usual suspects Honoka and her friends quickly claim to be innocent and it looks like poor Kanako is now being targeted by fervent admirers of Kanae who are jealous the priest has so much attention for her.
Kanako later has a true feast from eating all the mountain related delicacies, but her intestines quickly complain, forcing her to miss on swimming class again due to being nauseous.

Determined to not fall victim to any food poisoning or upset intestines again, Kanako decides to visit Ryouchou the next day for some advice, but as she enters Ryouchou’s room she surprises a melancholic dorm leader looking at her own old school swimsuit.
Ryouchou does not let this slide and Kanako’s screams of terror soon echo throughout the dorm. Not unexpectedly, she misses swim class again.

The next morning, Kanako is on edge and avoids the pitfalls that previously did her in. Ready and healthy to attend swim class, she cries tears of despair when swimming is cancelled due to heavy rain.

Depressed because she has missed out on all swimming classes, Kanako rejoices when she hears there will be a special swimming competition event involving all students.
When Kanako goes to bed early in anticipation, an irritated Mariya has Matsurika play another brainwashing tape, causing Kanako to become a school swimsuit hater and fundoshi lover (褌, the traditional Japanese underwear for men, similar to that worn by sumo wrestlers).

Barely able to attend the swimming event, Kanako starts to throw a fit about loving fundoshi. When the students gather in the pool for a mock battle where a set of three students carry a fourth as rider, Kanako sets her sights on Mariya, intent on exposing her as male in retribution for the brainwashing she was put through.
Heading for Mariya like a crazed beast, Kanako slips, causing Sachi who rode on her back to fall and tear off Mariya’s swimsuit, revealing a very ample, female bosom.

Realizing it is actually Mariya’s sister Shizu, Kanako finally snaps out of it and returns to her normal self with an explosive bloodnose that dyes the water red.

Waking up in the nurse’s office, Kanako apologizes to Shizu, but Shizu says it’s alright and that she mustn’t mind. Then Shizu notices Kanako’s rosary…

As grand finale the swimsuits by the pool summer episode!

It was a truly hilarious episode that largely focused on Kanako, she never looked cuter, more perverted, victimized and so unlucky before!
Alas we saw little of Mariya and nothing really in terms of the overarching plot, which was kind of disappointing considering this is the final episode.
In terms of story, everything is left wide open and ends with a cliffhanger when Shizu discovers Kanako’s pendant.

Overall I greatly enjoyed this series, it had me laughing in my tears most episodes and the combination of cliché yuri elements mixed with well timed humor, paradoxical character traits, topped off by Shaft’s typical use of alternative animation, lighting, color use and other nice visual feats made it a great series.

From reading others’ impressions, not everyone seems to have enjoyed the series that much, but for me it just clicked. I went in with no real expectations save for it to be a yuri tinted series and I was offered a great series that perfectly catered to my personal taste in terms of yuri and trap comedy elements.

The whole dynamic of the utterly perverted Kanako, the sadistic trap Mariya, the verbal jabs the duo shared, were all truly fantastic and I loved their chemistry.
Only wish it had some more consistency in the romantic chemistry between them which was gradually hinted at but which we saw little of towards the end.

I do regret the ending was left so wide open, the latest episodes we saw little of Mariya and the overall plot, which only makes me crave for a second season to come soon so we can see what happens between Kanako and Mariya.

It was a great show and I hope to see more of it!