Parts one and two of episode ten, provide an emotional conclusion to the events of episode nine. While the third part reaches back to episode two for inspiration, and the set up for the long awaited summer vacation episode.
Tensions have been high between Shirogane and Kaguya since the events of last episode. It’s a complicated situation for Kaguya, on the one hand she should be very thankful that Shirogane did nothing to her. On the other hand, why didn’t he? Laying not but a finger on her in that situation? Is she that unattractive?
Shirogane is justifiably angry that after all of his self-restraint, she is still mad at him. So this grudge passes through time internally, despite apologizing to one another there is much resentment between them that needs to be worked out and it all comes to a boil over the most mundane of things. A slice of cake.
The principal sends two slices of cake to the student council room. A little simple math equation, if there are two pieces of cake and one of the pieces is eaten by Ishigami. How many pieces of cake does that leave for Shirogane and Kaguya. If you answered one, you’d be absolutely right. However, their grudge causes them to keep trying to offer the cake to the other. Then they drag in stories of things they remember the other saying involving cake in the past.
Ishigami, destroyed by guilt and the pressure of it all runs from the room and goes to find Fujiwara as she is clearly the only person who can stop them from fighting. Just as the two of them come to an agreement to share the cake and eat at the same time. A cute romantic moment, the punchline hits and Chika runs into the room and takes the cake for herself.
A loss for both Shirogane and Kaguya, no cake and they don’t make up yet.
Part two begins with both Shirogane and Kaguya asking for advice on how to clear the air between them. Shirogane seeks help from Ishigami and Kaguya seeks help from, um, that girl who asked her for love advice earlier in the series. I never really bothered learning her name. This really just ends with the two of them figuring out the solution on their own, as the other two aren’t the best at giving advice and besides. Neither Ishigami or the other girl can truly know how Shirogane and Kaguya feel.
So at the end of this part we get the sweetest moment in the anime. A truly adorable moment, where Shirogane says that he didn’t exactly ‘not lay a finger on her’, he laid a single finger on her. A finger to her lips, and she runs up and presses her finger to to his lips and it is just adorable. They call it even and agree to let things return to normal from there.
The third part they face a question, a question that we have faced before. What to do for summer vacation? A student council vacation was on the planning board before, and of course, to pick between mountain or beach. That is the job of Chika Fujiwara, she chooses, the beach. For herself, in Hawaii, without the rest of them.
Then there is studying time, then there is the Tomato throwing festival. So her summer vacation is booked and she can’t be bothered to go on a trip with the student council. Ishigami to the rescue, he mentions that this might be the only year that he gets to spend the summer with his seniors on the student council and so they start trying to find an event that works for everyone.
They settle on a festival. The idea of watching fireworks with Shirogane really interests Kaguya. Chika completely gets upset and tries to guilt them, despite the fact she is going on not one, but two trips without them and Ishigami calls her out on her hyporocy. She leaves, making him feel bad on her way out and for once, the other two stop him from leaving in his depressed stupor and tell him that he was right. Which he really was.
I think this might of been one of my favorite episodes of the series. A lot of the episodes have been great, but that second part where they made up was just really heart warming and adorable. Everything about this episode was generally perfect, from the sweet moments to the comedic timing.
I can’t wait for next episode, the festival should be fun to witness. Though I am a little sad that we aren’t going to see festival Chika, unless she skips out on going to Spain.