Oh man, this was an incredibly solid episode. I feel like they were able to fit a whole lot of content into just a short amount of time and they did all of it very well. While it certainly isn’t sunshine and rainbows for at least three of our girls, I’m glad they’re able to develop each of them in a very compelling manner. Sure, it can be really frustrating to watch, but dang these are some really solid characters!
As I said before, a lot went down in this episode, but in all honesty I don’t know if I have much more to say that I haven’t already said before. Generally, my opinion about each of the girls hasn’t changed, but I am still curious to see what each of them will do next. I may not like what they’re about to do, but man I’m just on the edge of my seat trying to guess what will happen next!
I’ll start off by talking about Kazusa because that opening while she was walking to school with Izumi as just wonderful. I loved the way they portrayed her feelings of noticing things around her. I feel like since episode one, this is really the first time that we’ve seen Kazusa in a genuinely happy state of mind. But we go right back to worrying about Izumi as soon as the two of them are home alone. Except, unlike previous episodes the two are now trying to figure out what to do differently now that they are a couple, rather than just childhood friends. I really liked how this moment was portrayed because it was pretty darn innocent. Sure, between the two there might have been thoughts about ess-ee-ecks, but I mean… that’s the driving factor of this anime. But overall, things are looking pretty well for these two… provided Sugawara isn’t successful in winning Izumi over.
As with previous episodes, I really really disagree with what Sugawara is trying to do. Overall, it’s a really great way to ruin friendships and I’ll be pretty upset if they pull a “who cares about boys, as long as we’re all best friends forever :)”. I think we’ve gone way past the point of turning back so we’ll just have to wait and see. And I think what frustrates me most, is that she’s still a very interesting character. I’m interested to know what she’s going to do next… I’m just not happy about it! Of course, this has to do with her history with the old theater director and even now he’s pushing her to do these sorts of things. We’ve had both Kazusa and Izumi express that he is just a straight up creep, but because of the infatuation the two of them had for each other, albeit probably different reasons, she will keep coming back to him. It’s clear that she doesn’t want to fade into the scenery, and currently that’s what things are looking like for her. Yet, she’s still going to try to take center stage even if it means severing the friendships she’s made.
For me, the most impactful moment of this episode was when Momo got the courage to talk to Sugawara. And quite honestly, I feel really bad for her. From the very beginning she hasn’t been interested in boys at all. And she’s been very supportive of her friends and what they are going through, despite none of them really helping her out in return. So watching her try to convince Sugawara that it’s not worth throwing away a friendship for a boy and having Sugawara basically shrug it off, was honestly really sad! I hope that she’s able to find happiness in all the conflict and confusion.
But let’s talk about Hitoha as well. She is also going down a not so good path. I understand why she’s doing what she’s doing, but it still makes me very nervous to unfold. It all started out with trying to get experience for writing a book, but due to circumstances she’s developed some feelings or at the very least attachment to Milo-sensei. I really hope that in the next episode the two of them will actually sit down and have a serious conversation. Hitoha realizes that she’s not in love with him, but rather just interested in having ess-ee-ecks and Milo takes a step back to apologize for letting her behavior continue. But I mean, where’s the drama in all of that?
I know we still have at least three more episodes so there’s definitely a lot more drama to come, but if anything I hope that Amagi and Sonezaki develop a healthy relationship and Sonezaki becomes a lot closer with the gyaru (whose name I unfortunately have not learned). Ideally, all the girls would be happy in the end, or at least satisfied with what has happened, but we’re just getting warmed up to the drama. We’re not through the heat of it, in fact we’re just getting started.
