What a ride this week’s episode of Hisone to Masotan was! Last week’s preview left many viewers wondering if there would be romance in this show, some welcome with open arms and others fear it may disturb the charming balance that the show has managed to achieve so far. Personally I’m on the ‘I’ll be okay with it either way’ team, probably. I really like Okonogi, so I was looking forward to an episode that gave me a bit more insight into him and I am glad I got it.
The episode opens with the vice-minister Iiboshi in a budget meeting ominously saying that he needs this money to protect the future of the country. Later on, we learn that the base officials got a new mission: to figure out if there’s change of the OTF pilots being romantically involved with someone and if so, to foster the feeling and then break them up. It seems cruel and harsh that they get these kind of orders, I was very shocked! It turns out that apparently falling in love affects the connection between the D-pilot and the OTF, so to prepare for the upcoming ritual, this has to be avoided.
Okonogi gets called to the higher ups office and there he meets a ‘matchmaking expert’ who shows this chart of who can be possibly involved with who. Okonogi is the only one who could be seen wooing Hisone, but he’s flustered and profusely affirms he’s not interested in her that way. Hitomi is seen as potentially popular and it’s made known that Eru is already being approached by someone. On the other hand, Ririko is seen as a lost case. There’s some reason in this conclusion though, as we see her next trying to buy a manga magazine only to get baited by Iiboshi into getting information out of her colleagues.
The highlights of this episode include Ririko being completely oblivious to the fact that Eru is actually a little interested in Zaito. Hitomi’s hands on approach in finding a partner who might be similar to Futomomo was charming and very funny and then Ririko’s quest in trying to ask questions out of her coworkers just for the change of reading her beloved Kingdom. Lots of fun character interaction in this episode!
Of course, we can’t overlook the central part of it though: Okonogi has gotten tickets for a movie and permission to go on a date with Hisone. It’s really nice that neither of them seems particularly nervous about it. It’s just an outing. I really enjoyed their conversation while they rest at the family restaurant and both of them openly admire and encourage the other with the end result of them becoming friends. I am still rooting for them romantically, but it seems hard pressed the show will go down that route now. Either way, I hope they still continue to show Okonogi and Hisone becoming closer.
The procedure of the ritual is still a mystery, so I hope there will be more info unveiled about it in the next episode. For the time being, I’m the most interested in what’s the deal with Iiboshi and the Joie lady though.