As expected, Yuzuki was their key to Antarctica but it all played out differently than how I imagined. Yuzuki offering them her place in the expedition was a surprise. I had thought the trio would just beg her to take them, which is what they were about to do with her agency, but the convincing took a different tone.
Yuzuki is an angel, just like the rest of the girls. Having friends is what any person wants and Yuzuki refuses to go to Antarctica so she can go to high school and make real friends. As a child actress, she’s dealt with constantly moving and going to new schools, while also being preoccupied with work, so making close connections with her peers has been difficult or even impossible. It’s even more sad when we see the girls that supposedly were her “friends” only agreed because of her celebrity status. The only person in her life really is her mother, who is also her manager. She’s a successful but lonely girl who wants a semblance of a normal teenage life and Antarctica would just hold her back. The girls listen to her story and Mari hugs her. I loved how the girls were honest in saying that they weren’t really best friends. Even though they get along really well, they’ve barely known each other for barely a month, the only reason they’re a group is because they all have the same goal of wanting to go to Antarctica. They’ve never properly hung out with each other, but they hold their hands out and ask Yuzuki if they could accompany her to Tokyo. Elated at finally hanging out with friends, Yuzuki bursts into tears. She immediately phones 
her mothers and agrees to go to Antarctica, but only if Shirase, Mari, and Hinata goes with her, and she accepts. The episode ends with the four girls in the museum with excitement for their coming trip, and Yuzuki’s happiness.
When it comes to plot, there wasn’t much of it. This was all focused on introducing Yuzuki and character development. As always, the chemistry among the girls is fantastic. Their interactions should be more interesting with Yuzuki around, as she’s a lot more calm and level headed compared to them. The comedy in the first half was fun, particularly Shirase’s reaction to almost getting Yuzuki’s role and Mari and Hinata trying to back her up. The comedy and drama are balanced really well, making you laugh from the jokes to smiling from the heartwarming moments. I’m just really glad the show has been pretty consistent with that. The characters, as well, are just fantastic. I can’t get over how close to perfection this show is. And I had said that Hinata was my favorite, but now I honestly can’t pick my favorite because I love them all so much.
Now that their trip to Antarctica is basically sealed, we should see them leaving pretty soon! But I wonder since Yuzuki is the one that wants the girls to come with her, will the production company be paying for their expenses? If so, it should be great for the expedition as Shirase has quite the sum of money that can go towards maintenance costs.
We might be seeing the quartet leave for their expedition in at least two more episodes, but before that, I think we’re going to see at least one more piece of drama. I felt pretty bad for Mari’s friend, Megumi, when she was turned down to hang out. I’m pretty sure we’ll have an episode centered around Megumi feeling left out and ignored, and maybe not being totally supportive of Mari going to Antarctica because she’ll be left alone. I don’t think Megumi is going to join them, because she’s not in the art or the opening, so her and Mari are going to have to come together and talk if Megumi even mentions anything. Also, there’s that mysterious woman that was in the post credits scene who seems to be a friend of Shirase’s mother. Maybe she was part of the expedition her mother was in? If so, I hope she doesn’t deliver bad news.
Oh yeah I expect some drama but let’s face it: they’re going. I do like the idea of spending some time on Megumi, because this whole show is about friendship. I don’t quite care as much about drama that just creates false tensions about whether they’ll go (i.e. what I suspect of the mysterious woman).
Um…by the way, no matter the particulars of the girl’s family situations, shouldn’t there actually be some point where at least one adult says something?! Or how about a teacher? Not that I expect exact realism but still…I would prefer that over the fake drama angle.
Oh don’t worry, they’re definitely going. But I think the reason why no one has said anything is because the girls so far are keeping it a secret from everyone. They’re probably not going to tell their families or their school until the very last minute, and that might be another piece of drama we’ll get.
Or we won’t get the realism and they’ll just go. 😛