Impression
We had an episode full of laughs and surprises this week! I think we all knew, to a certain degree that Riki x Rin was the one solid pairing to run with – I did consider the possibility of romance during Kurugaya’s arc, but J.C. Staff only ever decided to dip their toes into uncharted territory there. This time, they dived in with no hesitation whatsoever! I was genuinely surprised by how fast everything was paced – I only expected this episode to get Riki on the topic of romance with Suginami’s confession, perhaps thinking of Rin after some deliberation. At least, that’s how it’d have played out if this was Season 1. With only 13 episodes to work with, it’s good that they’re hitting the ground running.
Rin really is cute. I must admit, I’ve never really thought much about it before – the alternating slice of life and drama never made much room for that. It looks like Riki didn’t either; he was way more flustered about everything than Rin was! And unlike normal confessions you see these days, everything was just so… casual! Rin just nonchalantly said they should go out, and Riki just agreed! I think I know how Riki feels when he says everything hasn’t sunk in yet – because it hasn’t sunk in for me either. Riki and Rin previously shared a good, if platonic relationship – I was indeed surprised by how quickly that improved to romance. I loved his talk with Kyousuke, by the way. It was almost like he was asking permission to date Rin, even though Kyousuke already knew it’d happen. Kyousuke sounded happy, and I’m glad he was okay with it.
Yet… that foreboding atmosphere was everywhere. For starters, there was that weird scene with Kud, Mio and Haruka walking off into the distance, after seemingly saying their goodbyes. It was unnervingly similar to what happened with Kurugaya last episode… more questions and still no answers it seems 😀 Kyousuke was left alone in the unquiet darkness – he’s been depicted like this many times now, and it can’t be a coincidence. If we tie that together with his air of wisdom and the constant foreshadowing of his departure, there’s no doubt that he’s in the middle of all this.
Lastly, Riki and Rin have been given their final task! It really has been a while since the last one. Maybe I’m over-thinking this, but it almost feels like the task was only given to them because they’re now a couple. In other words, it was triggered when they decided to go out. It now seems more likely than ever that Kyousuke’s the guy behind them, who therefore holds the “secret of the world”. While the task seems pretty basic, I’m sure that there’s more than meets the eye to volunteering themselves for a certain activity.