Honestly, Kaguya felt a little heavy this week. Just, in general compared to usual. Maybe it was the absolute distance between the core cast that made it feel awkward.
Episode 11 basically serves as Summer Vacation, part 1. The unfortunate part of Summer Vacation part 1 is, that they made absolutely no plans to hang out during this time. Which leaves Kaguya and Shirogane sitting in their houses wishing they could contact one another. Shirogane types and deletes messages like a blushing school girl, Kaguya has a mental breakdown about Twitter and honestly. Hayasaka is the biggest mood of the episode when she just wants a bath!
Part 1.
Ai Hayasaka wants to get soaked. Is the biggest mood of the episode, this girl works so hard and has to put up with Kaguya’s mood swings and whims and all she wants to do is take a nice relaxing bath. A nice relaxing bath that keeps getting interrupted by Kaguya’s absolute lack of knowledge on how to use technology. First Kaguya thinks she broke the internet when she can’t read the captcha to make her own Twitter account, Then she thinks she got banned when Shirogane just has a private account. Lastly, she just can’t bring herself to push the follow button and let Shirogane know that she wants to see his Twitter page.
Every time she runs into a problem, she runs in and rips poor Hayasaka from her bath.
As someone who deeply values her alone time in a nice relaxing hot bath, I can’t imagine how annoyed I would be. I really felt for Hayasaka and in the end. I hope she got her nice warm bath.
Part 2. Chika Fujikawa really wants to eat it.
Is honestly just a story about how Chika unknowingly gives a salary man a mid-life crisis by just eating ramen. There is really nothing too this part, it’s a guy sitting and judging Chika on how she eats her ramen and she impresses him and makes him long for his youth. Chika Fujiwara, best girl so epic she can give men mid-life crisis’s over food! Congratulations Chika, you’ve done it and you don’t even know it. On an off topic though, now I like, really want some ramen.
Part 3. Miyuki Shirogane wants to see you.
Is basically about Miyuki trying to contact Kaguya, but absolutely failing in doing anything productive. They both go to the school in the hope of seeing one another, but miss each other completely.
Nobody wins this episode, the contest between Miyuki and Shirogane is at an absolute standstill because they are too stubborn to talk to one another first. At least we have the fireworks and the festival to look forward too in the next episode.
Oh, that was only parts 1-3. That take place before the credits, the credits roll and we step into “I can’t hear the fireworks, part 1.” which is honestly the most depressing and heavy that this show has ever gotten. As Kaguya speaks of all of the things that she has never gotten to do. As we see her have to cancel her shopping trip with Chika and the others as she’s summoned by her father.
As we see him absolutely neglect her.
There is still some hope in this part as we see Chika and the others cancel their plans so they can go with Kaguya later. Kaguya even mentions that even though there is so much sadness in her life, there is also a lot she feels absolutely blessed for.
I really liked this part of the episode at the same time that I felt it was, perhaps a little too depressing. It does very much show us what life has been like for Kaguya the entire time she was growing up, which is absolutely vital to understanding her character. At the same time, I feel like it would of done better if it was the start of an episode and we could progress the story into a lighter note from there, rather then ending on such a debbie downer.
Well, that’s what episode 12 is for!
Next week is the last episode of the season and I know it’s not really going to provide any emotional closure for Shirogane and Kaguya. The manga is still ongoing, and the likelihood that this will end on some kind of joke in the same vein of Monthly Girls Nozaki-kun is pretty high. I can only hope we get another season, but if we don’t. As of right now, I have no real complaints about where we are. We’ll see how I feel at the end of the season, but right now, i’m content.