Episode 8
This episode focuses on the book “Fermat’s Last Theorem” by Simon Singh. Endou is in the middle of reading it, whereas Sawaku is attempting to read it but having difficulty wrapping her head around all the math. Sawaku is jealous that Endou is further ahead in the book than she is, and annoyed that he makes condescending comments which such readers might sometime make towards other readers who are struggling with a particular book.
The conversation turns to adults who lecture students on studying more, and eventually gets so heated (because Sawaku’s a loudmouth) that Shiori, who’s working in the cafe Sawaku and Endou are at, comes over and tells them to keep it down.
Shiori asks Endou what he’s reading, and Shiori brings up how the insides of book jackets often contain spoilers in their synopses. Sawaku points out that the latest book she’s borrowed from Shiori brings her total up to ten, and suggests that she’s starting to really understand the sci-fi genre now.
This comment flips Shiori’s bitch switch yet again, and she goes off on a rant about how wrong Sawaku is, complete with table-flipping. Poor Endou is left wondering why Shiori’s so pissed off as his uneaten parfait slides down his face. ^^;;
Episode 9
Shiori and Sawaku are in the library together, and Sawaku cheekily points out that Shiori seems to like reading books with black covers “because [she] thinks they’re fancy.” Shiori realizes that this is true but it wasn’t intentional! Shiori panics further when Endou walks by and says that this love of black covers makes her look like an otaku.
A few minutes later, Sawaku and Shiori leave school and wait for the bus together. They discuss a well-known quote from a famous book, and whether the kanji for the word “border” should be read as one way or another. Sawaku declines both options and comes up with a third.
Just as the bus pulls up Sawaku realizes she’s forgotten her scarf, and as she runs back to school she yells for Shiori to wait for the next bus. Shiori pulls out the book she’s reading (“Ice” by Anna Kavan), and then realizes her fingers are going numb as she attempts to read in the winter cold. (Do note she’s still wearing her uniform skirt too! Brrr!)
Sawaku returns before long and heats up Shiori’s cold hands with her warm ones. Sawaku reveals she keeps a hand warmer in her pocket, and says she’ll give one to Shiori later.
Shiori fangirls over her book’s artistic cover, and Sawaku pulls Shiori over to the next bus as it pulls up to their stop.
My thoughts: These episodes are cute, but since they’re pretty one-note I’m getting kind of glad the series is almost over. Sometimes when the characters get super energetic their voices speed up and get high-pitched, and I find it annoying at times.
Some of the comments this series makes about hardcore readers and some of their quirks really hit home and make me laugh. Like yeah it definitely pisses me off when book jackets have spoilers in their summaries, because I’ve had a couple of books ruined for me that way. And I too like the feeling of a new book, such as the “new book” smell and the way the pages stick together slightly as they’re turned for the first time. #bibliophile Ahhh books, how I love you so ~