Impression
Wow, that was heart-wrenching. Even though the episode tried its best to maintain a cheerful front (at least until the end) every bit of it was painful for Satone, who now plays a major role in the story after having been a supporting character for most of the series. Arguably, the rest of the show won’t focus so much on Rikka and Yuuta’s relationship as much as it will on Satone’s and Yuuta’s – and I’m okay with that. Satone could benefit from a bit more character building, and I think I’m emotionally invested enough in her to care about how everything pans out.
If last week wasn’t a blatant enough sign, Satone has once again fallen head over heels in love with Yuuta, and like last time, she’s chosen the road of suffering – to hold everything in and watch from afar, while staying strong to her chuuni desires and hoping that she’ll fall out of love eventually. The difference is that this time, Yuuta isn’t single any more – and by watching him from afar Satone’s forced to watch him interact with Rikka while her own feelings grow stronger, all alongside the tragic realization that her love is unrequited. It was pretty painful watching her keep trying to forget him throughout the episode, and seeing her feelings grow even more. Satone’s not making herself a contender for Yuuta’s love at all, and in that sense it’s not really a love triangle – she’s bottling everything up because she knows she’s got no chance, and in doing so she’s destroying herself from the inside out. It’s actually really sad, because in the end Satone’s a good girl. She’s trying her best to not get in the way of Rikka and Yuuta, and she’s getting hurt over it.
Her sticker (ironically shaped like a heart) keeps falling off, symbolising her growing love – although Rikka’s able to sustain both chuunibyou and romance at the same time, it looks like it’s not something Sophia can do. She’s quickly starting to see her powers vanish, and her declarations sounded really forced for a lot of the episode. It’s even more ironic that, despite being the most unfamiliar with her, it’s Touka who notices Satone’s feelings first, enlisting everyone’s favourite wingman and her group to help her out. I don’t think Mori Summer-chan can do much else than offer a few words of encouragement though, because ultimately it’s something for Satone, Rikka and Yuuta to work out – arguably just even Satone herself. I’m certainly not a fan of the road she’s decided to go down – it was terrible watching her force herself to listen to a list of things Yuuta’s done together wtih Rikka on purpose, while trying to hold in her tears. At this point, I really want her to confess to Yuuta, no matter how futile it is – the poor girl doesn’t deserve to go through all this pain.