So I thought Rena was Sorane’s little sister because they look practically identical. So color me surprised when it’s revealed that she’s Motoi’s little sister, and not Sorane’s. And considering how obsessed he is with Sorane…and it seems like he’s actually in love with her, even going so far as to say that they’ll be happy together and he’ll come home to a homecooked meal from her.
Uhhhhh…
So misunderstandings continue to happen because Maina and Eripiyo don’t know how to talk to each other for some reason, and the staff members never even told Maina that her ONE fan had sent her a box of haiku strips but they accidentally lost them. Which drives me insane because it adds to the many misunderstandings between them. I really do like this show, but the one thing I can’t stand are misunderstandings that can be easily avoided but they just keep piling up here. It’s frustrating because I feel like there hasn’t even been an inch of progress made yet.
So it’s the usual where Eripiyo, Kumasa, and Motoi all go to Cham Jam events but the biggest thing is that we meet Rena, Motoi’s little sister. She had gone with her brother to Girls Festa and became a Maina fan because she thought she was the cutest. Of course this makes Eripiyo happy because someone else realizes the greatness of Maina, but then that happiness kind of becomes jealousy when she sees how enthusiastic and happy Maina looks when interacting with Rena. And it’s totally understandable for her to feel this way. Eripiyo had read in a magazine article with a Maina interview about her ideal man type, and Eripiyo does her best to match the description with Hitler stache and all. But Maina always comes off as cold and disinterested when interacting with Eripiyo, and it continues to hurt Eripiyo because of her fear of rejection. So I think it’s more obvious now that Maina has a thing for Eripiyo, but because she’s so incredibly shy the interactions are always so awkward. She never tells her what’s on her mind, so Eripiyo just thinks she doesn’t like her. I don’t blame her for feeling that way.
Eripiyo did start off as a really intense fan, but she’s loosened up a bit (kind of) and the things she says aren’t totally out there. In the end she realizes that she can’t take Maina to the Budoukan on her own so she wants to cut back a bit and fangirl with Rena, and possibly more people that’ll be Maina’s fan. Things would progress even more if Maina would actually speak the hell up and say what’s on her mind. “You should stay as you are, Eripiyo.” Don’t say it in your head, say it out loud. :/
The train scene at the end could have been perfect. I thought it weird and annoying that Eripiyo would just switch train cars instead of striking up a conversation with Maina. But thinking about it, with the weird idol culture it might seem wrong for fans and idols to interact outside of idol time. I guess it would be unfair to the fans? I don’t think a small conversation would be a big problem, but idol culture is kind of scary and I don’t know all the unspoken rules. Then again, Maina barely has fans, she only gained another one just this episode so would it really be a big deal?
The show continues to be fun but the dynamic between Eripiyo and Maina is really frustrating. They obviously like one another, Maina probably more so, but the misunderstandings are already getting on my nerves. I used to tolerate this a lot more but I guess I’m just burned out on romance having a ton of misunderstandings. Communication…please, communicate.
