… wtf?? Seriously, WTF Seiren?!?!? X_X
I will say right now and up front that there is nothing wrong with fetishes. It’s ok to like panties, or wearing clothes belonging to the opposite gender, and so on. As long as everyone involved is consenting and it’s safe, I have nothing against fetishes.
That being said, Seiren‘s new apparent focus on panties is definitely not my thing. I really did NOT need the full view up-skirt shot of a child’s underwear. Even if it’s only of a young Shouichi wearing his sister Tomoe’s panties. Maybe I’m overreacting, but between that view, the creepy smile on the pedophile’s man’s face as he was watching kid!Shouichi in his sister’s magical girl outfit, and present-day Shouichi and Kyouko discussing his sister’s underwear choice, this episode was way too 
much ick. Just no. I’m not even going into the quick flash later in the episode of kid!Shouichi’s bare bum being spanked by Kyouko’s mom.
*clears throat* I’m happy to say that Seiren is now on its final route. Finally. Shouichi’s love interest will be his childhood friend Kyouko Touno (and if I butchered that spelling I’m sorry), who is one year younger than him in school. They’ve grown up together (hence the flashback at the beginning of the episode of Kyouko following Shouichi around as he wore his sister’s magical girl outfit), and initially Shouichi makes it pretty clear that he thinks of Kyouko as being rather childish. Apparently having a rather flat chest and still being into magical girls makes one childish.
I wasn’t very impressed with the scene where Shouichi and Kyouko come across Takeshi (the kid in the arcade with the eyepatch from Toru’s route) and his friend Rin attempting to re-enact a transformation sequence from GusGal. Shouichi seems to imply that Rin can’t get it right because she’s too young, while Kyouko thinks Rin can’t nail it because she’s female and “can’t handle it”, although Takeshi insists that the “part-timer” working at Takeshi’s family’s bar (Hikari) is able to do it. Shouichi then says that maybe that girl is exception. *facepalm* Like ok, way to reinforce the sexist notion that females can’t do things because of their gender, thanks Seiren. -____-
Where I do give Seiren credit, however, is for having a main (male) character who is unabashedly into magical girls. Or at least he used to be. We see that Shouichi is familiar with one of Kyouko’s favourite series Magical Girl Papri (the character he cosplayed in the flashback), and he is even able to strike a transformation pose from another series too. So Shouichi gets a thumbs up for that from me.
Anyways, after school Shouichi and Kyouko end up at a cafe for all-you-can-eat pancakes. They discuss what Shouichi could do to be more “manly” (again, thanks for the stupid stereotypes Seiren), but it ends with Shouichi telling Kyouko why people still treat her as younger than she is. This obviously hurts Kyouko, though she tries to brush it off and not let Shouichi see how much his words affect her.
Back at home, Shouichi and his sister Tomoe talk about romance and high school relationships, and she tries to give him a reality check. Tomoe tells her big brother about the reason why she was up on the roof with Captain Trek, and she tells him about the Home Ec Club at school. The latter seems like an odd conversation insert, but it will become relevant later.
Over at her house, Shouichi’s words are still echoing in Kyouko’s head. She resolves to try to act her age, which to her means getting rid of her Magical Girl Papri manga. She tries to donate them to the community center (who obviously reject the donation given how graphic the series has become) but fails. Rin finds Kyouko in the park but becomes upset when she flips through one of the manga volumes, and this is when two girls from school find the pair. One girl distracts Rin with magic tricks while the other invites Kyouko to try out the Home Ec Club after school.
Kyouko shows up that evening with Shouichi, and introductions are made. The students from the Home Ec Club are Koharu Uno, and Nao Tokioka, and they’re quick to kick Shouichi out into the hallway while they finish their preparations for the club’s evening event. It turns out Nao and Koharu are holding a moon-viewing party, and they were making snacks when Shouichi and Kyouko showed up. Shouichi was kicked outside because the girls needed to change into their kimono. Given that Shouichi can be a bit of a pervert, this was probably for the best.
The party proves to be a bit of an eye-opener for Shouichi. Seeing Kyouko in formal attire paints her in a new light in his mind, and he’s clearly starting to find himself attracted to her. The episode ends with Kyouko deciding to join the Home Ec Club.
My thoughts: It goes without saying that I’m looking forward to Seiren being over. It’s not my thing, end of story. NEXT.