All I have to say right off the bat is where the hell was this show earlier in the season? Why are we getting all of this character development only now in the last route?? *headdesk*
THIS is what Seiren should have been from the beginning. “This” being all the character and relationship development, that is. As Vantage said, Kyouko has a bit of an advantage over the other two romantic interests because she’s Shouichi’s childhood friend, so their relationship is already established. We know they like spending time with each other and they have many of the same interests, both of which being things between them that go back many years. (Think kid!Shouichi dressing up in his sister’s magical girl costume, with Kyouko present to watch him pose.) But still, I feel like the other routes could have had Shouichi and his love interest far more engaged with each other.
It’s pretty clear that both Kyouko and Shouichi are starting to realize their feelings for each other, but because they’ve pegged each other as they “girl next door” type of friend, they’re currently not brave enough to act on those feelings. Well at least not until near the end of the episode, when Shouichi uses Ikuo’s rejection as motivation to start shaping up and “being a man” for Kyouko.
There are several events which bring Shouichi and Kyouko closer throughout this episode, including a near-accident with Kyouko almost being hit by an ignorant driver, and Kyouko bringing Shouichi along to watch her shop for underwear. Kyouko’s success with the ornament decorations also forces Shouichi to finally see Kyouko as a high schooler and no longer a middle schooler. Actually the underwear-shopping scene seemed to also contribute to that little realization too. ^^;; Yeah that was awkward as fuck, just saying.
On a side note, that underwear-shopping scene was kinda WTF. Kyouko had a couple of good points (that it is relatively normal for a guy to go underwear shopping with a girl), and it was kinda a cute way to tease that she seems to think of them as a couple even though they’re not dating, but it was still… weird. Of course Shouichi’s gonna get turned on and of course he’s going to be uncomfortable. I guess the creators just wanted to show that Shouichi’s starting to think of his childhood friend as more than just a friend?
What else… there was a random cameo with the girl from an earlier episode who stops by the Home Ec Club just to borrow some soy sauce. Ummm, ok. Maybe she’ll show up again in the last episode?
So overall, I’m very happy with this route. I’m guessing that Kyouko’s the girl Shouichi kisses in the OP, but time will tell. I’m just glad that out of the three routes, at least one has a cute love interest who is getting some real character development and growth. Finally, there is an episode that actually focuses on Shouichi’s potential romantic relationship with a girl. Hikari was just ugh, Toru was a little better, but Kyouko feels the most real to me so far.
I still have no idea what it is with this route and panties though. Like seriously. Underwear ornaments, really?