Shinku cannot stand imperfection, for to accept imperfection is to deny her purpose in life--to become the perfect doll, Alice. Suigintou is by design imperfect--for Shinku to deny imperfection, to deny the possibility of a defective doll like herself ever seeing their father again is to deny her very existence, and their friendship. It was all sweet lies: Shinku's kindness was one born of pity, and oh did she revel in the fact that her poor, inferior sister could never meet their father. Shinku's mere existence feeds Suigintou's insecurity, one that quickly transforms into spite and malice. This fundamental divide in disposition spirals out of control, with both of them losing something precious to each other. Hate born from affection is so much more potent than mere contempt: such uncontrollable hatred leads to a relationship beyond reconcile.
These two episodes play on this very simple difference between the two dolls, mainly from Suigintou's point of view. The moment that love turns into hate, showing the contrast between the tones and emotions of both states is what makes the drama coming from this simple premise work. Such drama does not benefit from complex sub-plots and numerous characters with varying motivations and allegiances: Suigintou herself is single-minded towards her goal, and wears her emotions on her sleeves. The simplicity of premise and plot amplifies the gravity of the exchange of raw emotions between Shinku and Suigintou: everything they say and do is genuine, because it's all they have. To hell with subtlety: from the opening and ending visuals and lyrics, to every single line of dialogue between the two characters, these two episodes perfectly encapsulate Suigintou's descent from insecurity and confusion into madness, borne of love towards her father, fueled by hate towards everything that would get in her way. The dialogue and use of props is just beautiful, only made better by Tanaka Rie's marvelous acting, who's able to act out both the meek, dependent, and weak side of Suigintou and her boiling rage and jealousy towards Shinku superbly.
I'm slightly miffed at the very end of the second episode because I don't think it showcased the full outburst of their conflict: the pay-off suffers a bit as a result.
If only the entire series was as intense and well-executed as these two episodes.
