Headpats, blushing, and head-to-chest embraces galore. All the characters are so good and this is still the beginning. We’ve only just hit the halfway point!
Miku is straight up pulling moves on Uesugi. She even made it into the same bed as him. Points for boldness, even if she was sleepy. And Ichika is wing-womaning it so hard. Plus, that look on everyone’s face when Uesugi was revealing his top 3 traits in a woman. AND THEN NINO YELLING OUT AT THE END. This is what I’m watching for. While I find myself supporting Miku like 60% of the time, anytime one of the other sisters gets a scene, like Ichika on the balcony, I just have to root for them. Ichika is so goddamn close to usurping best girl for me. It gets closer every episode.
So, the pressure is definitely on for Uesugi. Midterm exams are coming up and the father isn’t playing around. His shiny watch is sparkling and he’s sitting villain style, chair turned away from the camera. We’ve seen more studying in general, but we haven’t seen any hard results yet. I’d guess that everyone besides maybe Miku is still a long way off from passing though. Still, I’m surprised a 30% is considered a passing grade. Every place has different standards I guess. I’m used to 65% being a fail. Which is like saying, ‘you should probably know 2/3s of the material to pass.’ Whereas a 30% is less than a third. It’s probably just a different system though. That might not be a huge deal because the sisters are actually really studying now. Well, except Nino. I wonder how Uesugi will convince her to study because right now if she just fails on purpose she wins. My money is either on, her ‘dere’ coming out at the last minute or she realizes that she’ll have to retake the test and miss out on a trip or something? I don’t know. But still. I guess the festival and fireworks really got everyone on board last episode.
And poor Itsuki! I was definitely not expecting her to be affected so hard. That scene where she’s crying in her room, ahh, that felt so awful to watch! I got actually upset. Uesugi went in on her way too hard. That was legit a pretty intense fight to be having, let alone in public. I really want him to apologize to her, like now. Not to mention, when she borrows Miku’s headphones to go study alone, she offhandedly mentions it’s because she doesn’t want to hold up the session. Girl, please. I don’t think you can get more off track than they already were. It sucks that it looks like she’s been holding back from studying with them because she was worried she’d slow down the process. She tries so hard too. I just want her to be happy. I want her to join in on the harem fun-times. It feels like even Nino has had more fun than Itsuki. She seems very caught up in her pride. Once Uesugi apologizes, I’m sure she’ll come out of her shell a bit more.
This actually leads into two other reasons why I’m loving this show. Uesugi has somehow maintained not wanting to date any of them and the sisters aren’t being destructive towards each other in their pursuits for love. It’s not even like he’s dense. He understands what’s going on, at least to a normal extent, and has expressly said he’s not interested in dating. It makes sense, when you consider his financial situation and that he has to take care of Raiha.
About the typical destructive harem, the girls actually have a very high-key supportive environment. Obviously Ichika likes him, but she still pulled for Miku to make a move. All the girls have expressed varying amounts of interest in him but the bond between sisters is, like, keeping it fun and playful. It’s beyond science. Who knew you could use the sister dynamic to stabilize what is usually the destructive tendencies of the harem rat race.
Also, I like that the crushes are developing still. I feel like a lot of romances are like, ‘he’s hot. Oh, and I guess he has a personality’ or, worse, there’s just no reason for the affection to begin with. The slowly building love events are making the show a lot more realistic and I appreciate that.
These things all really put a refreshing spin on the harem. In most cases, it feels like if you’ve watched one you’ve watched most. Shows like Gotoubun are like diamonds in the rough. I heard this episode left out an important Yotsuba story piece, which kinda sucks, but I also heard it might fit better later on in the story and maybe that’s why they did it. She has a scene in the OP that makes it look like her backstory is going to be really dramatic. It’s also easy to tell by how cheerful she is. Usually those types are hiding something big.
The next episode is titled ‘Liar McLiarface’. I don’t know what the hell that is referencing, but it sounds like some more drama is coming our way!
About the ‘Liar McLiarface’ title, maybe it’s a reference to this:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boaty_McBoatface
In 2016 there was some brouhaha when a UK scientific organization made a poll to name their next research vessel, and the most popular name was Boaty McBoatface. In the end, they named it with a more serious name and used that one for an onboard autonomous submarine.